Russia arrests Igor Girkin ex-security officer who led operations in Ukraine
RIGA, Latvia — Russian authorities on Friday detained Igor Girkin, a former Russian commander in Ukraine and prominent war blogger, reportedly on charges of promoting extremism — marking the first time Moscow has taken action against a fervent supporter of the war in Ukraine but one who voiced loud criticism of Russian leaders and their often botched military strategy.
Criticizing the war and the military is illegal in Russia, and authorities have cracked down mercilessly on those expressing antiwar views, including schoolchildren. But Russian law enforcement has ignored fierce, often fiery, criticism from pro-war hawks who have lambasted battlefield decisions, decried repeated military setbacks and demanded harsher attacks on Ukraine.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Russian authorities on Friday detained Igor Girkin, a former Russian commander in Ukraine and prominent war blogger, reportedly on charges of promoting extremism — marking the first time Moscow has taken action against a fervent supporter of the war in Ukraine but one who voiced loud criticism of Russian leaders and their often botched military strategy.
Criticizing the war and the military is illegal in Russia, and authorities have cracked down mercilessly on those expressing antiwar views, including schoolchildren. But Russian law enforcement has ignored fierce, often fiery, criticism from pro-war hawks who have lambasted battlefield decisions, decried repeated military setbacks and demanded harsher attacks on Ukraine.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russian forces held a live-fire exercise in the Black Sea on Friday, and also struck granaries in Ukraine’s port region of Odessa, ramping up tensions days after Moscow pulled out of a U.N.-backed grain export deal.
- Two children were killed in a Russian artillery strike on a village in the Donetsk region.
- Russian authorities detained Igor Girkin, a former Russian commander in Ukraine and prominent war blogger, on Friday.
- The CIA director suggested that Putin could still seek revenge on Wagner Group chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin over his short-lived mutiny.
- Tensions around maritime activity are simmering and the price of wheat futures has risen, though it has not reached its May 2022 high.
- Zelensky called for limits on funding cultural activities during the war in his nightly address.
More live updates here.
- Russian forces held a live-fire exercise in the Black Sea on Friday, and also struck granaries in Ukraine’s port region of Odessa, ramping up tensions days after Moscow pulled out of a U.N.-backed grain export deal.
- Two children were killed in a Russian artillery strike on a village in the Donetsk region.
- Russian authorities detained Igor Girkin, a former Russian commander in Ukraine and prominent war blogger, on Friday.
- The CIA director suggested that Putin could still seek revenge on Wagner Group chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin over his short-lived mutiny.
- Tensions around maritime activity are simmering and the price of wheat futures has risen, though it has not reached its May 2022 high.
- Zelensky called for limits on funding cultural activities during the war in his nightly address.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan it was an “absolute priority” to restore the Black Sea corridor, where ships carry Ukrainian grain to the world, according to the Ukrainian leader’s office. Turkey’s presidential office acknowledged the two held a phone call Friday and discussed the grain deal from which Russia withdrew this week.
- U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said millions of people are at risk of hunger after Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal.
- Zelensky described the Crimean Bridge as a target for Ukraine that must be “neutralized.” “This is not just a logistical road, this is the road used to feed the war with ammunition,” he said at the Aspen Security Forum.
- Radar imagery appears to show newly arrived vehicles and equipment in Belarus, at a rumored base for fighters from the Wagner Group.
More live updates here.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan it was an “absolute priority” to restore the Black Sea corridor, where ships carry Ukrainian grain to the world, according to the Ukrainian leader’s office. Turkey’s presidential office acknowledged the two held a phone call Friday and discussed the grain deal from which Russia withdrew this week.
- U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said millions of people are at risk of hunger after Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal.
- Zelensky described the Crimean Bridge as a target for Ukraine that must be “neutralized.” “This is not just a logistical road, this is the road used to feed the war with ammunition,” he said at the Aspen Security Forum.
- Radar imagery appears to show newly arrived vehicles and equipment in Belarus, at a rumored base for fighters from the Wagner Group.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- A drone struck a skyscraper in Moscow early Monday, shattering glass on its 17th and 18th floors, Russian officials reported. The wreckage of a second drone was found on Komsomolsky Prospect, a thoroughfare in central Moscow. Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said there were no casualties.
- The incident comes after another night of attacks on Ukraine’s Odessa region. Drones targeted port infrastructure along the Danube River, injuring six people and destroying a grain hangar, said Oleh Kiper, the regional governor.
- Ukraine attacked an ammunition depot in Crimea with drones overnight, the Russian-backed head of the peninsula said.
- Ukraine has taken back about half of the land that Russia initially seized in the invasion, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an interview with CNN.
- Ukrainian pilots will begin training with F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft developed by the U.S. Air Force next month, the Ukrainian Defense Minister told CNN.
More live updates here.
- A drone struck a skyscraper in Moscow early Monday, shattering glass on its 17th and 18th floors, Russian officials reported. The wreckage of a second drone was found on Komsomolsky Prospect, a thoroughfare in central Moscow. Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said there were no casualties.
- The incident comes after another night of attacks on Ukraine’s Odessa region. Drones targeted port infrastructure along the Danube River, injuring six people and destroying a grain hangar, said Oleh Kiper, the regional governor.
- Ukraine attacked an ammunition depot in Crimea with drones overnight, the Russian-backed head of the peninsula said.
- Ukraine has taken back about half of the land that Russia initially seized in the invasion, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an interview with CNN.
- Ukrainian pilots will begin training with F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft developed by the U.S. Air Force next month, the Ukrainian Defense Minister told CNN.
More live updates here.
Russia comes under global criticism for grain deal pullout, port attacks
Russia is facing a barrage of criticism from countries around the world — including some of its friends — for its strikes on Ukrainian ports and its decision this week to suspend participation in a U.N. deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea.
Senior diplomats at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday excoriated Russia’s moves, which have sent grain prices soaring and which officials warned would exacerbate global food insecurity, leading some people in the world’s poorest countries to starve.
“Russia is waging war on the world’s food supply,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said. “Russian exporters are already benefiting while millions who cannot afford higher-priced grain suffer, especially people in the Middle East and Africa. Let’s be clear: Russia has zero, zero legitimate reason to suspend its participation in this arrangement.”
Read the full story here.
Russia is facing a barrage of criticism from countries around the world — including some of its friends — for its strikes on Ukrainian ports and its decision this week to suspend participation in a U.N. deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea.
Senior diplomats at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday excoriated Russia’s moves, which have sent grain prices soaring and which officials warned would exacerbate global food insecurity, leading some people in the world’s poorest countries to starve.
“Russia is waging war on the world’s food supply,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said. “Russian exporters are already benefiting while millions who cannot afford higher-priced grain suffer, especially people in the Middle East and Africa. Let’s be clear: Russia has zero, zero legitimate reason to suspend its participation in this arrangement.”
Read the full story here.
Ukraine is now the most mined country. It will take decades to make safe.
In a year and a half of conflict, land mines — along with unexploded bombs, artillery shells and other deadly byproducts of war — have contaminated a swath of Ukraine roughly the size of Florida or Uruguay. It has become the world’s most mined country.
The transformation of Ukraine’s heartland into patches of wasteland riddled with danger is a long-term calamity on a scale that ordnance experts say has rarely been seen, and that could take hundreds of years and billions of dollars to undo.
Efforts to clear the hazards, known as unexploded ordnance, along with those to measure the full extent of the problem, can only proceed so far given that the conflict is still underway. But data collected by Ukraine’s government and independent humanitarian mine clearance groups tells a stark story.
Read the full story here.
In a year and a half of conflict, land mines — along with unexploded bombs, artillery shells and other deadly byproducts of war — have contaminated a swath of Ukraine roughly the size of Florida or Uruguay. It has become the world’s most mined country.
The transformation of Ukraine’s heartland into patches of wasteland riddled with danger is a long-term calamity on a scale that ordnance experts say has rarely been seen, and that could take hundreds of years and billions of dollars to undo.
Efforts to clear the hazards, known as unexploded ordnance, along with those to measure the full extent of the problem, can only proceed so far given that the conflict is still underway. But data collected by Ukraine’s government and independent humanitarian mine clearance groups tells a stark story.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- A drone struck a skyscraper in Moscow early Monday, shattering glass on the 17th and 18th floors, Russian officials reported.
- The overnight drone attack in Odessa lasted four hours, Ukrainian officials said on Telegram, part of a string of attacks in the port region since Russia pulled out of a U.N.-backed grain export deal.
- Ukraine attacked an ammunition depot in Crimea with drones overnight, the Russian-backed head of the peninsula said.
- Ukraine has taken back about half of the land that Russia initially seized in the invasion, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
- Russia is putting a “renewed emphasis on military induction for children,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Western partners of the Black Sea grain deal of failing to address global food insecurity.
- Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko met in St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian state media reported.
More live updates here.
- A drone struck a skyscraper in Moscow early Monday, shattering glass on the 17th and 18th floors, Russian officials reported.
- The overnight drone attack in Odessa lasted four hours, Ukrainian officials said on Telegram, part of a string of attacks in the port region since Russia pulled out of a U.N.-backed grain export deal.
- Ukraine attacked an ammunition depot in Crimea with drones overnight, the Russian-backed head of the peninsula said.
- Ukraine has taken back about half of the land that Russia initially seized in the invasion, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
- Russia is putting a “renewed emphasis on military induction for children,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Western partners of the Black Sea grain deal of failing to address global food insecurity.
- Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko met in St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian state media reported.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russia said it had the “right to take tough retaliatory measures” after claiming it thwarted two drone attacks in Moscow on Monday, which shattered windows on the 17th and 18th floors of a skyscraper but left no casualties.
- Ukrainian authorities continue to warn citizens of strikes in Odessa, a southern port city that has sustained Russian attacks for several days in a row, killing at least one person and injuring many more, including children.
- Ukraine’s defense minister said the country will continue to launch attacks on Crimea and the Crimean Bridge, which connects the peninsula to Russia.
- Experts found land mines on the periphery of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during a walk-through this week, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
More live updates here.
- Russia said it had the “right to take tough retaliatory measures” after claiming it thwarted two drone attacks in Moscow on Monday, which shattered windows on the 17th and 18th floors of a skyscraper but left no casualties.
- Ukrainian authorities continue to warn citizens of strikes in Odessa, a southern port city that has sustained Russian attacks for several days in a row, killing at least one person and injuring many more, including children.
- Ukraine’s defense minister said the country will continue to launch attacks on Crimea and the Crimean Bridge, which connects the peninsula to Russia.
- Experts found land mines on the periphery of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during a walk-through this week, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
More live updates here.
Putin appeared paralyzed and unable to act in first hours of rebellion
When Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, launched his attempted mutiny on the morning of June 24, Vladimir Putin was paralyzed and unable to act decisively, according to Ukrainian and other security officials in Europe. No orders were issued for most of the day, the officials said.
The Russian president had been warned by the Russian security services at least two or three days ahead of time that Prigozhin was preparing a possible rebellion, according to intelligence assessments shared with The Washington Post. Steps were taken to boost security at several strategic facilities, including the Kremlin, where staffing in the presidential guard was increased and more weapons were handed out, but otherwise no actions were taken, these officials said.
Read the full story here.
When Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, launched his attempted mutiny on the morning of June 24, Vladimir Putin was paralyzed and unable to act decisively, according to Ukrainian and other security officials in Europe. No orders were issued for most of the day, the officials said.
The Russian president had been warned by the Russian security services at least two or three days ahead of time that Prigozhin was preparing a possible rebellion, according to intelligence assessments shared with The Washington Post. Steps were taken to boost security at several strategic facilities, including the Kremlin, where staffing in the presidential guard was increased and more weapons were handed out, but otherwise no actions were taken, these officials said.
Read the full story here.
Ukraine remains defiant as Russia pounds Odessa and grain facilities
ODESSA, Ukraine — If the largest cathedral in this besieged port city survived Joseph Stalin, it will survive Vladimir Putin, said Myroslav Vdodovych, the chief priest of Transfiguration Cathedral, less than a day after a barrage of Russian missiles ripped the church apart alongside 24 other architectural monuments across the city.
Odessa, a critical southern port city, has been under nightly missile attacks since Russia’s president last week canceled a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey that allowed Ukraine to export its grain, lessening a global food crisis that had put a strain on the developing world.
Ukraine has responded with defiance — launching drone attacks on buildings in Moscow and on an ammunition depot in Crimea — while cleanup crews and parishioners cleared debris from the cathedral’s littered floors.
Read the full story here.
ODESSA, Ukraine — If the largest cathedral in this besieged port city survived Joseph Stalin, it will survive Vladimir Putin, said Myroslav Vdodovych, the chief priest of Transfiguration Cathedral, less than a day after a barrage of Russian missiles ripped the church apart alongside 24 other architectural monuments across the city.
Odessa, a critical southern port city, has been under nightly missile attacks since Russia’s president last week canceled a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey that allowed Ukraine to export its grain, lessening a global food crisis that had put a strain on the developing world.
Ukraine has responded with defiance — launching drone attacks on buildings in Moscow and on an ammunition depot in Crimea — while cleanup crews and parishioners cleared debris from the cathedral’s littered floors.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russia said it had the “right to take tough retaliatory measures” after claiming it thwarted two drone attacks in Moscow on Monday, which shattered windows on the 17th and 18th floors of a skyscraper but left no casualties.
- As a result of Russian airstrikes on Odessa, 146 residential buildings were damaged, according to the Ukrainian armed forces.
- Ukraine’s defense minister said the country will continue to launch attacks on Crimea and the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, which connects the peninsula to Russia.
- Experts found land mines on the periphery of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during a walk-through this week, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
- Talks on resuming the Black Sea grain initiative are not happening, Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Vershinin said Tuesday, according to Reuters.
More live updates here.
- Russia said it had the “right to take tough retaliatory measures” after claiming it thwarted two drone attacks in Moscow on Monday, which shattered windows on the 17th and 18th floors of a skyscraper but left no casualties.
- As a result of Russian airstrikes on Odessa, 146 residential buildings were damaged, according to the Ukrainian armed forces.
- Ukraine’s defense minister said the country will continue to launch attacks on Crimea and the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, which connects the peninsula to Russia.
- Experts found land mines on the periphery of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during a walk-through this week, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
- Talks on resuming the Black Sea grain initiative are not happening, Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Vershinin said Tuesday, according to Reuters.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russia’s lower house has passed legislation that will raise the country’s maximum draft age from 27 to 30 as Moscow scrambles to find fighters for its war in Ukraine. The changes will be enacted on Jan. 1, according to an official Telegram channel. Current Russian law requires men between 18 and 27 to complete one year of military service.
- The United States will send Ukraine an additional $400 million in security assistance, the Pentagon announced. The package — which includes Stryker combat vehicles, small Hornet drones and a restock of artillery ammunition — adds to the more than $100 billion of aid that the United States has sent since the beginning of the war.
- Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has changed position ‘in preparedness to enforce a blockade on Ukraine,’ Britain’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday, noting the change since Moscow pulled out of the grain deal earlier this month.
More live updates here.
- Russia’s lower house has passed legislation that will raise the country’s maximum draft age from 27 to 30 as Moscow scrambles to find fighters for its war in Ukraine. The changes will be enacted on Jan. 1, according to an official Telegram channel. Current Russian law requires men between 18 and 27 to complete one year of military service.
- The United States will send Ukraine an additional $400 million in security assistance, the Pentagon announced. The package — which includes Stryker combat vehicles, small Hornet drones and a restock of artillery ammunition — adds to the more than $100 billion of aid that the United States has sent since the beginning of the war.
- Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has changed position ‘in preparedness to enforce a blockade on Ukraine,’ Britain’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday, noting the change since Moscow pulled out of the grain deal earlier this month.
More live updates here.
U.S. in no hurry to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles
The Biden administration is holding firm, for now at least, on its refusal to send long-range Army missiles to Ukraine despite mounting pressure from U.S. lawmakers and pleas from the government in Kyiv, according to U.S. officials.
Disappointment at the slow pace of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against entrenched Russian forces and a newly equivocal tone by President Biden have led to widespread speculation that the missiles will soon follow the path taken by other U.S. weapons systems that were first denied but ultimately approved during the 17 months of the war.
In late May, Biden appeared to alter his previously firm “no” on the possibility of ATACMS, the Army Tactical Missile System, saying for the first time that it was “still in play.” Weeks later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he and Biden had spoken about the missiles at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, but that no decision had been made.
Read the full story here.
The Biden administration is holding firm, for now at least, on its refusal to send long-range Army missiles to Ukraine despite mounting pressure from U.S. lawmakers and pleas from the government in Kyiv, according to U.S. officials.
Disappointment at the slow pace of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against entrenched Russian forces and a newly equivocal tone by President Biden have led to widespread speculation that the missiles will soon follow the path taken by other U.S. weapons systems that were first denied but ultimately approved during the 17 months of the war.
In late May, Biden appeared to alter his previously firm “no” on the possibility of ATACMS, the Army Tactical Missile System, saying for the first time that it was “still in play.” Weeks later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he and Biden had spoken about the missiles at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, but that no decision had been made.
Read the full story here.
Putin courts Africa at summit, but many African leaders stay away
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with African leaders in St. Petersburg on Thursday in a piece of diplomatic theater designed to portray Russia as a great power with many global friends, despite its war in Ukraine.
But only 16 African heads of state will attend — fewer than half of the 43 who came to the first Russia-Africa summit in 2019, according one official, a striking disappointment for the Kremlin despite a flurry of diplomatic efforts in Africa and a sign of dismay in African nations about a war that has raised food and fuel prices, hurting vulnerable populations. An additional 10 African states are sending prime ministers, Ushakov said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed the West for the reduced number, claiming there had been “absolutely unconcealed brazen interference of the United States, France and other states” to dissuade them from attending. “This is a fact, this is outrageous,” he said.
Read more here.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with African leaders in St. Petersburg on Thursday in a piece of diplomatic theater designed to portray Russia as a great power with many global friends, despite its war in Ukraine.
But only 16 African heads of state will attend — fewer than half of the 43 who came to the first Russia-Africa summit in 2019, according one official, a striking disappointment for the Kremlin despite a flurry of diplomatic efforts in Africa and a sign of dismay in African nations about a war that has raised food and fuel prices, hurting vulnerable populations. An additional 10 African states are sending prime ministers, Ushakov said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed the West for the reduced number, claiming there had been “absolutely unconcealed brazen interference of the United States, France and other states” to dissuade them from attending. “This is a fact, this is outrageous,” he said.
Read more here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said talks with his North Korean counterpart in Pyongyang would “contribute to strengthening cooperation between our defense agencies.”
- Ukrainian forces are mounting an attack along Russia’s front lines in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian and Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.
- Western-provided tanks are involved in Ukraine’s push to take ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Vladimir Rogov, a Russian official in Ukraine, said on Telegram.
- Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has changed position “in preparedness to enforce a blockade on Ukraine,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
- Russia’s Federal Security Service has arrested renowned Russian sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky on charges of “justifying terrorism,” sate-controlled news agency Tass reported.
- Only 16 African heads of state were set to attend a Russia-Africa summit on Thursday despite last-ditch diplomatic overtures.
More live updates here.
- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said talks with his North Korean counterpart in Pyongyang would “contribute to strengthening cooperation between our defense agencies.”
- Ukrainian forces are mounting an attack along Russia’s front lines in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian and Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.
- Western-provided tanks are involved in Ukraine’s push to take ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Vladimir Rogov, a Russian official in Ukraine, said on Telegram.
- Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has changed position “in preparedness to enforce a blockade on Ukraine,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
- Russia’s Federal Security Service has arrested renowned Russian sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky on charges of “justifying terrorism,” sate-controlled news agency Tass reported.
- Only 16 African heads of state were set to attend a Russia-Africa summit on Thursday despite last-ditch diplomatic overtures.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Ukraine has launched a new push against Russian lines, achieving some gains in the south, Kyiv said. A U.S. official said it was unclear “what the purpose” of these moves may be, adding that it could be the result of fresh troops probing Russian lines or replacing fatigued units.
- Ukraine’s military made advances south of the town of Orikhiv in the country’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, The Washington Post reported, citing Ukrainian officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
- Ukraine’s counteroffensive is not a stalemate, but it is not progressing as quickly as hoped, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday.
- Russian-backed actors are “amplifying incorrect statements such as that the Swedish state is behind the desecration of holy scriptures,” Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said, according to Reuters.
More live updates here.
- Ukraine has launched a new push against Russian lines, achieving some gains in the south, Kyiv said. A U.S. official said it was unclear “what the purpose” of these moves may be, adding that it could be the result of fresh troops probing Russian lines or replacing fatigued units.
- Ukraine’s military made advances south of the town of Orikhiv in the country’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, The Washington Post reported, citing Ukrainian officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
- Ukraine’s counteroffensive is not a stalemate, but it is not progressing as quickly as hoped, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday.
- Russian-backed actors are “amplifying incorrect statements such as that the Swedish state is behind the desecration of holy scriptures,” Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said, according to Reuters.
More live updates here.