For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.
The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT.
3:41 a.m.: A fan of the Everton Football Club who has been helping Ukrainian refugees was brought on the field to take a penalty kick during the Premier League team’s preseason match against Dynamo Kyiv.
Paul Stratton, a 44-year-old Liverpool municipal worker, has traveled to Poland to deliver supplies to refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Stratton, in full Toffees uniform, came on as a substitute toward the end of Everton and Dynamo’s “match for peace” at Goodison Park on Friday night.
Everton manager Frank Lampard gave him instructions before Stratton tucked away his penalty kick. He then ran toward the stands to celebrate and was congratulated by Everton players.
The goal didn’t count, and the game finished 3-0. The match was broadcast live nationally in Ukraine, the club said.
Proceeds will go to humanitarian charities supporting the people of Ukraine.
2:31 a.m.: The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. think tank, said in its latest assessment of the conflict in Ukraine that Russian forces conducted ground assaults around Bakhmut and Donetsk City, as well as southwest of Izyum. One assault east of Bakhmut made limited gains, the update noted.
Ukrainian forces, meanwhile, disrupted a Russian ground assault in Kherson Oblast with preemptive artillery strikes, the update said.
1:22 a.m.: “Our moral duty is to support Ukraine with military equipment and train Ukrainian troops,” said Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas. “We must clearly understand that if we do not stop the aggressor in Ukraine, we will have a war in our countries.”
12:02 a.m.: John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, commenting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call for civilians to evacuate, says it is not the first time authorities there have issued that call. Herbst told Reuters it could be because of expectations of heavier fighting rather than fuel shortages.
“I don’t know why Zelenskiy issued the call,” he said. “What I do know is that there has been fierce fighting in Donetsk. The Russians took (neighboring) Luhansk (oblast) several weeks ago. I expect further fierce fighting in Donetsk.”
Herbst said he did not expect Russia to capture the rest of Donetsk given the longer logistics lines they would need and the Ukrainian forces’ use of advanced long-range artillery and rocket systems provided by the United States and others.
