EU looks for natural gas alternative to Russia; fighting rages in Severodonetsk

Temporary silos will be built along the border with Ukraine to help export more grain to address a growing global food crisis, President Joe Biden said.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent blockade of the Black Sea port has stalled the export of Ukrainian grain, ratcheting up the cost of grain.

"I'm working closely with our European partners to get 20 million tons of grain locked in Ukraine out onto the market to help bring down food prices," Biden said. "[The grain] can't get out through the Black Sea because it'll get blown out of the water."

Ukraine and Russia have laid sea mines since the war started. About 84 foreign ships, many with grain cargoes onboard, are stuck in Ukrainian ports, Reuters reported.

Biden also said the U.S. is planning to export Ukrainian grain by rail, but noted that Ukrainian track gauges are different from those in Europe and the grain will have to be transferred to different trains at the border.

"So we're going to build silos — temporary silos — on the borders of Ukraine, including in Poland, so we can transfer it from those cars into those silos, into cars in Europe, and get it out to the ocean, and get it across the world" Biden said, adding that the plan was taking time.

— Chelsea Ong

Russia has banned dozens of British defense officials, journalists, and media representatives from entering the country, according to Reuters.

The move is in response to Western sanctions and the "spreading of false information about Russia," Reuters said citing the defense ministry.

Among those banned are about 20 defense personnel, and 29 journalists and members of media organizations such as BBC, the Guardian and Times newspapers, the report said.

"The British journalists included in the list are involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and events in Ukraine and Donbas," the ministry said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Moscow has permanently banned hundreds of Americans and Canadians from entering the country, including U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

— Chelsea Ong

Russian troops control about 80% of Severodonetsk and have destroyed all three bridges leading out of the last city in Luhansk that's partially held by Ukraine, according to the Associated Press which cited the governor of Luhansk.

Ukrainian forces have been pushed to the industrial outskirts of the city because of the "scorched earth method and heavy artillery the Russians are using", the AP said, citing Governor Serhiy Haidai.

Haidai said that a mass evacuation of civilians now was "simply not possible" due to the persistent bombing and fighting.

However, he added that there was still an opportunity to get civilians out of the city because Russian soldiers have not completely blocked off the city yet.

"There is still an opportunity for the evacuation of the wounded, communication with the Ukrainian military and local residents," he told the AP.

Out of a pre-war population of 100,000, only 12,000 people remain in Severodonetsk, the news agency reported.

More than 500 civilians are sheltering in the Azot chemical plant, which is being attacked by
Russian troops, Haidai said.

The Russian defense ministry has said it will open a "humanitarian corridor" on Wednesday to allow Ukrainian civilians sheltering in the plant to leave the complex.

— Chelsea Ong

The UN has determined that nearly two-thirds of Ukraine's children have been displaced since the start of Russia's war.

"I would say every single child in Ukraine, their lives have been touched by this war. They've either lost a family member or they have either witnessed trauma themselves," explained Afshan Khan, the regional director for the UN Children's Fund, or UNICEF, to reporters at the United Nations.

"With two-thirds of the children in the country on the move, we cannot say that a single child's life has not been touched," added Khan, who recently completed a UN mission trip to cities in Ukraine.

"Now the question is how severely are these kids impacted? What have they witnessed in terms of killing or maiming of their family members or whether they've fled or their home has been destroyed, whether they've lost friends? These are all things that for a child without adequate support is a recurring nightmare," she said.

Khan also said that the staggering number of schools destroyed by Russian strikes in Ukraine presents another grim challenge for child development.

— Amanda Macias

Coordinated global sanctions may not immediately affect the Kremlin's ability to finance its defense industrial base or its ongoing war in Ukraine, Russian economy expert Richard Connolly said.

"The Russian state's ability to finance the war and its military remain pretty robust," said Connolly, director of the Eastern Advisory Group and a fellow at the Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies. 

"Even in the event that Moscow has to run a budget deficit. It's got plenty of fiscal room to do this. It has an extremely low debt level, it doesn't need to borrow abroad, it can borrow from domestic sources of cash," he explained. "And at the moment, it has this very positive cash flow. So for as long as the political will is there in the Kremlin and for as long as export prices remain high, I don't see any immediate financial constraints confronting the Kremlin."

Connolly, who spoke on a panel hosted by Washington-based think tank CNAS, added that Russia historically maintains high defense equipment reserves.

"I'd be very surprised if they weren't high on the eve of the war and therefore, I would imagine that defense industrial enterprises will continue to produce in the months to come," he said. He also said that Russia has previously shown that it can source Western tech components used in its defense industry despite sanctions.

— Amanda Macias

A Russian court has extended WNBA star Brittney Griner's detention period by 18 days, Russian state media agency TASS reported, according to an NBC News translation.

Griner's arrest came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, triggering international backlash and a slew of punishing sanctions. The 31-year-old Olympian has been accused of smuggling hashish oil, a charge that carries up to 10 years in prison.

Last month, the State Department determined that Griner was being wrongfully detained in Russia and called for her release.

Once a pretrial investigation on Griner has concluded, a trial date will be set. Previous requests from Griner to be transferred to house arrest have been denied.

NBC News has requested confirmation from the Russian court and is awaiting a response.

— Amanda Macias

The U.S. Open will allow tennis players from Russia and Belarus to compete this year despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, which prompted Wimbledon to ban those athletes.

U.S. Tennis Association CEO and Executive Director Lew Sherr, whose group runs the U.S. Open, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that the USTA Board decided to let Russians and Belarusians enter the tournament because of "concern about holding the individual athletes accountable for the actions and decisions of their governments."

Sherr said athletes from Russia and Belarus will play at Flushing Meadows under a neutral flag — an arrangement that's been used at various tennis tournaments around the world, including the French Open, which ended June 5.

The U.S. Open starts on Aug. 29 in New York.

— Associated Press

As the globe coordinates global sanctions against Moscow and a segment of Russian society opposes the Kremlin's war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin may not be at risk of losing his power.

"I would say there are very few signs that he's at risk of losing power anytime soon," explained Andrea Kendall-Taylor, a senior fellow and director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, or CNAS.

Kendall-Taylor, a national security expert who specializes in Russia and authoritarian regimes, told a virtual audience at the CNAS National Security Conference that Putin's hold on power is nonetheless considerably weaker since the start of the war.

"I don't want to necessarily overstate public support for the war, because there is quite clearly a segment of society who opposes it," Kendall-Taylor said.

She added that in the scenario in which Putin was to die in office, another autocrat would likely replace him.

— Amanda Macias

European leaders visiting Israel expressed hope that natural gas supplies from the eastern Mediterranean could help reduce dependence on Russia as the Ukraine war drags on.

Israel has emerged as a gas exporter in recent years following major offshore discoveries and has signed an ambitious agreement with Greece and Cyprus to build a shared pipeline. New supplies could help Europe ramp up sanctions on Moscow.

"On the energy front, we will work together in using gas resources of the eastern Mediterranean and to develop renewable energy," Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said at a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Naftali Bennett.

"We want to reduce our dependence on Russian gas and accelerate energy transition toward the climate objectives we've given ourselves," he said.

Bennett said Israel was working to make natural gas available for Europe. His office said the two leaders also discussed shipping natural gas to Europe through Egypt.

— Associated Press

A sculpture titled "Balloon Monkey (Magenta)" by Jeff Koons, estimated to fetch a price of about £6,000,000 to £10,000,000, is shown in St James' Square adjacent to Christie's auction house in London.

The sculpture will be offered at an auction by Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk and his wife Olena Pinchuk on June 28 to raise funds for humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

— Getty Images

The United Nations has confirmed 4,432 civilian deaths and 5,499 injuries in Ukraine since Russia invaded its ex-Soviet neighbor on Feb. 24.

The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said the death toll in Ukraine is likely higher, because the armed conflict can delay fatality reports.

The international organization said most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as missiles and airstrikes.

— Amanda Macias

Russia's defense ministry has said it will open a "humanitarian corridor" on Wednesday to allow Ukrainian civilians sheltering in the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk a chance to leave the complex.

"Guided by humane principles, the Armed Forces of Russia and the formations of the Lugansk People's Republic are ready to carry out a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians," the ministry said, according to state news agency Interfax.

The corridor would be open from 8 a.m. Moscow time to 8 p.m., the ministry said.

It added that Ukraine had requested the humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians including women, children and the elderly, who are at the chemical plant and had asked for it to lead to territory controlled by Kyiv in the neighboring city of Lysychansk. 

However, the Russian Defense Ministry rejected that proposal, regarding it "as an attempt to save the encircled units."

Ukraine's forces in Severodonetsk — the focus of intense fighting in recent weeks — now control only a minority of the city and there are concerns that the Azot chemical plant is being besieged similarly to the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, which ended in Russia taking control of the plant in late May.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday proposed that Ukrainian fighters at the Azot plant should "lay down arms" on Wednesday, calling on them to stop what it described as a "senseless resistance."

Russia said it guaranteed the safety of the soldiers and that they would be treated as prisoners of war, "as happened with those who had previously surrendered in Mariupol."

There are widespread concerns over the fate of Ukrainian fighters, and civilians, who were captured following the long-running siege of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol. Hundreds were reportedly taken to a detention center and then on to Russia.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine has again pleaded for more long-range weapons, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling journalists that these are needed to reduce Russia's current advantage.

"We have enough weapons. What we don't have enough of are the weapons that really hits the range that we need to reduce the advantage of the Russian Federation's equipment," Zelenskyy said at an online press briefing organized by Danish publishing house Berlingske Media, Reuters reported.

Ukraine has pleaded for more heavy weaponry from its Western allies, calling for additioanal howitzers, tanks, multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS) as well as other equipment such as drones.

The U.S. and U.K. has pledged longer-range weapons to Ukraine but there are concerns over how long it will take for Ukraine to receive these, given Russia's full-on assault on the Donbas in eastern Ukraine.

Earlier on Tuesday, Germany's Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said that Ukrainian troops will soon complete their training on German howitzers and these will be able to be deployed in battle.

— Holly Ellyatt

A top military official of separatist forces in eastern Ukraine has told Ukrainian fighters in Severodonetsk, the last city now partially held by Ukraine in Luhansk, that they must surrender or die.

The deputy leader of the "People's Militia" of the breakaway, self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" (DPR) told journalists on Monday that Ukrainian fighters in the city are now trapped after the last bridge in or out of the city was destroyed yesterday.

"Severodonetsk is actually blocked after they blew up the last bridge that connected it with Lysychansk yesterday," the deputy leader of the DPR's People's Militia Eduard Basurin said, the Associated Press reported.

"Therefore, the Ukrainian military units that are stationed there remain there (in Severodonetsk) forever. They have two options: either follow the example of their colleagues and surrender, or die. They have no other option," he warned.

— Holly Ellyatt

Pope Francis has again criticized Russia's invasion of Ukraine but also suggested that perhaps the war was "somehow ... provoked."

In the text of a conversation he had last month with the editors of Jesuit publications, Pope Francis said "what we are seeing is the brutality and ferocity with which this war is being carried out by the troops, generally mercenaries, used by the Russians."

But, he added, "the danger is that we only see this, which is monstrous, and we do not see the whole drama unfolding behind this war, which was perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented," he said, adding that the "interest in testing and selling weapons" was perhaps a contributing factor to the conflict.

"Someone may say to me at this point: so you are pro-Putin! No, I am not. It would be simplistic and wrong to say such a thing," Pope Francis said, adding: "I am simply against reducing complexity to the distinction between good guys and bad guys without reasoning about roots and interests, which are very complex."

— Holly Ellyatt

Russian forces have been shelling the city of Kharkiv and surrounding areas, with one person killed and five injured, including three children.

Oleh Synehubov, the head of the Kharkiv regional administration, said on Telegram that over the past 24 hours, Russian forces have been shelling Kharkiv city, as well as the Izyum, Bohodukhiv and Chuhuiv districts of the surrounding region.

A number of civilians were injured in the shelling, and in one town, Pechenihy, a three-month-old baby was injured and her 35-year-old mother died.

In Kharkiv, Russian missiles caused a fire in warehouses and lorries were reportedly on fire in the district.

In the Izyum area to the southeast of Kharkiv city, Synehubov said, Russian forces were trying to establish control over Bohorodychne and were preparing an attack on Sloviansk.

CNBC was unable to immediately verify the information in the post.

— Holly Ellyatt

As Russia gradually seizes more territory in Ukraine and continues to pound various targets in the Donbas, analysts fear that Ukrainian fighters are losing the upper hand in the conflict and that a war of attrition is underway.

"I am worried about it," William Alberque, director of strategy, technology and arms control at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told CNBC. "There are huge risks that Ukraine will continue to lose land incrementally."

Alberque said there was still the possibility that the Russian line will collapse somewhere but what made this inflection point of the invasion dangerous was that Russia was now throwing everything it has at fully occupying eastern Ukraine.

"This is the part of the war that one really worries about because it's a war of attrition because it's just Russia throwing tons and tons of crap equipment into the battle. It's them using the Donetsk and Luhansk fighters as cannon fodder. It's them just drawing upon their huge human resources and there is the chance [Ukraine is] going to lose more land."

Read more here: 'Frozen conflict': Ukraine war could last 10 years or more if Russian forces aren't pushed back

— Holly Ellyatt

Although Russia's main objective remains the assault against the Severodonetsk pocket in the Donbas, the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense said Russian forces "have likely made small advances in the Kharkiv sector for the first time in several weeks."

The ministry, posting its latest intelligence update on Twitter Tuesday, also noted that Russia could be starting to leverage its industrial base for the war effort.

On June 10, the U.K. noted, an official within Russia's Military-Industrial Commission predicted that state defense spending will increase by 600-700 billion rubles (up to $12 billion), which could approach a 20% increase in Russia's defense budget.

"Russian government funding is allowing the country's defense industrial base to be slowly mobilized to meet demands placed on it by the war in Ukraine," the U.K. said. "However, the industry could struggle to meet many of these requirements, partially due to the effects of sanctions and lack of expertise."

The ministry said Russia's production "of high-quality optics and advanced electronics likely remain troubled and could undermine its efforts to replace equipment lost in Ukraine."

— Holly Ellyatt

The city of Severodonetsk in the Luhansk province — one of the last strongholds of Ukrainian forces in the area — has now seen all of its bridges destroyed, according to the governor of Luhansk, who said the evacuation of civilians is now impossible.

Severodonetsk has been the focus of severe fighting for weeks as Ukrainian soldiers have tried desperately to prevent the city from falling into Russian hands. The relentless bombardment from Russia has taken its toll, however, and at least 70% of the city is now controlled by its forces.

After an update on Monday in which he said only one bridge into the city was left, and that was critically damaged, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai updated the situation on Facebook Monday night saying "all bridges are destroyed, but Severodonetsk is not blocked. Communication with the city is there!!"

"Evacuation and transport of human cargo is impossible," he added

He added that the Russians have not completely captured Severodonetsk and that a part of the city was still under Ukrainian control.

— Holly Ellyatt

The United States could announce new military aid for Ukraine as early as this week, a defense official and administration official said.

The additional aid is likely to come from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which can be used for training, equipping, and advising Ukrainian forces. The U.S. has used more than $6 billion for USAI funds in fiscal year 2022.   

Another military aid package, with additional weapons and equipment, could also be announced as early as next week through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, the defense official said.

That would be the 12th drawdown of U.S. arms and equipment for Ukraine's defense.

Last month, Congress approved an additional $40 billion for aid to Ukraine after President Joe Biden's request for $33 billion.

— Chelsea Ong

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the capital city of Kyiv will "rebuild everything that was destroyed by the occupiers."

"We are dealing with absolute evil. And we have no choice but to move on," Zelenskyy said in his nightly address to the nation, delivered on the 110th day of its invasion by Russia.

He added that Ukrainian forces will "knock out the occupiers from all our areas."

"We will rebuild everything that was destroyed by the occupiers, from Volnovakha to Chortkiv, because this is Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.

"And it was our destiny to return and strengthen it."

— Amanda Macias

Russian servicemen patrol the ruins of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine. 

The Russian military had besieged the strategic port city for three months, only taking complete control in late May after a group of Ukrainian soldiers who holed up in the steel plant surrendered.

-AFP | Getty Images

Zelenskky calls Russian invaders ‘absolute evil’ on the 110th day of war; Mass grave excavated near Bucha