This was CNBC's live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine on Sunday. See here for the latest updates.
The U.S. Embassy to Ukraine on Sunday condemned the latest attack on a holy monastery in Eastern Ukraine that for months has housed refugees. In Kyiv, missile strikes hit a train-repair facility and other infrastructure.
The U.K. Ministry of Defence said Russia is using separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, which it said suggests Moscow is trying to limit casualties sustained by its own regular troops.
Both sides have claimed gains in territory and cities in Ukraine's eastern region as tough street fighting continues.
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The UK will supply Ukraine with multiple-launch rocket systems
Britain is sending Ukraine multiple-launch rocket systems that can strike targets up to 50 miles away — in a coordinated response with the U.S. to Russia's invasion, Reuters reported.
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"These highly capable multiple-launch rocket systems will enable our Ukrainian friends to better protect themselves against the brutal use of long-range artillery, which (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's forces have used indiscriminately to flatten cities," Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement, according to Reuters.
The U.S. also said last week it is supplying Ukraine with High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. Rockets from the HIMARS can travel more than 43 miles, according to the U.S. army.
The U.K. said Ukrainian forces will be trained on how to use the new systems in Britain, according to Reuters.
— Chelsea Ong
Closed airspace reportedly forces cancellation of Russian foreign minister's visit to Serbia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's visit to Serbia has been canceled after countries around Serbia closed their airspace to his aircraft, a senior foreign ministry source told the Interfax news agency.
The source confirmed a Serbian media report that said Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro had closed their airspace to the plane that would have carried Moscow's top diplomat to Belgrade on Monday.
There was no immediate comment from the Russian foreign ministry.
Serbia, which has close cultural ties with Russia, has fended off pressure to take sides over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic agreed last month that Russia would continue supplying natural gas to Serbia, while other countries have been cut off for refusing to pay for Russian gas in roubles.
— Reuters
About 800 people are hiding in bomb shelters under chemical plant in Severodonetsk, regional governor says
Roughly 800 people are hiding across several bomb shelters located underneath the Azot chemical factory in Severodonetsk, the head of the Luhansk region military administration told CNN.
"There are locals there, who were asked to leave the city," Serhiy Haidai told the news outlet. "But they refused. There are also children there, but not many of them."
NBC News could not immediately verify the claims.
Regional Ukrainian officials later said that Russian forces fired on the Azot factory and hit an administrative building and a warehouse where methanol was stored, CNN reported.
Severodonetsk is now split between Russian and Ukrainian control, Haidai said, according to an NBC News translation.
— Jessica Bursztynsky
Ukraine misses out on World Cup after losing 1-0 to Wales
Ukraine missed out on qualifying for the World Cup after the war-disrupted team was beaten 1-0 by Wales in the European playoff final for the FIFA soccer showpiece.
Andriy Yarmolenko inadvertently headed the ball into his own net while trying to clear Wales captain Gareth Bale's first-half free kick.
While Wales heads to a first World Cup in 64 years — opening against the United States in November — this was an agonizing end to Ukraine's emotionally charged mission to qualify for Qatar while remaining under invasion by Russia.
— Associated Press
Nearly 100 people evacuated from Lysychansk after days of shelling
Police, volunteers and Ukraine's State Emergency Service evacuated 98 people from the Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast after Russian forces attacked the city, according to an NBC News translation of a Telegram post from Serhii Haidai, Luhansk's governor.
"The situation with the shelling is difficult, so the residents of Lysychansk have finally realized that they will not be able to wait. 98 people chose security," Haidai wrote, according to an NBC News translation.
The city has come under Russian attack for days. The Guardian published a video from Ukraine's national police force that shows damaged buildings. A fire station was destroyed, according to Iuliia Mendel, a former spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. On Friday, Alex Crawford of Sky News posted a photo on Twitter of a mass grave in the city.
— Jordan Novet
Russia again targets Ukrainian Orthodox Sviatohirsk Lavra
Ukrainian officials said Russia bombed a temple in Ukraine's Sviatohirsk Lavra monastery, a sacred site along the Donets River in Donetsk Oblast that has housed fleeing civilians since the war started in February.
The site is a "national architectural monument," according to the Ukraine Institute. Russia also lodged attacks there in March and in May.
Videos circulated on social media showed the building engulfed in flames. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church said it didn't yet have information on whether there were any casualties.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that 113 churches in the country have been targeted by Russian shelling since the invasion began, and he called on Russian church leaders to make "a clear condemnation of each of those who condone aggression."
"Russia is deliberately and systematically destroying Ukraine's cultural and historical heritage, as well as social infrastructure, housing, and everything necessary for normal life," Zelenskyy said.
The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine called the attack "another senseless affront to Ukraine's people and culture" in a tweet.
— Emma Newburger
Russian airstrikes reportedly hit train-repair facility in Kyiv
Russian airstrikes reportedly destroyed a train repair facility in Kyiv this morning, an attack that comes as Ukraine struggles to export large volumes of grain in order to avoid global food shortages and mitigate rising prices.
Simon Shuster, a Time reporter, posted tweets containing photos of the damage, noting that a grain car plant was "wrecked beyond repair."
Russia claimed the airstrike destroyed tanks donated from abroad. But Alexander Kamyshin, the head of Ukraine's railways, claimed the Russians targeted the train repair factory.
"We don't have any military machinery on our factory," Kamyshin wrote in a tweet. "Only freight railcars that help us export grain and iron ore."
Some of Ukraine's primary export infrastructure, including rail yards, bridges and warehouses, have been targeted and damaged by Russian attacks. The attacks have stranded grain supplies in Ukraine, prompting fears over starvation in areas that depend on the grain, such as the Middle East and Africa.
— Emma Newburger
Ukrainians confront ruins in Druzhkivka
New photographs show people picking up their belongings after their homes were hit by a missile attack in Druzhkivka, a city in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast.
— Jordan Novet
Spain to deliver anti-aircraft missiles and tanks to Ukraine, El País reports
Spain is to supply Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles and Leopard battle tanks in a step up of its military support to the country, according to government sources cited by newspaper El Pais on Sunday.
Spain will also provide essential training to the Ukrainian military in how to use the tanks. It would take place in Latvia, where the Spanish Army has deployed 500 soldiers within the framework of NATO's Enhanced Advanced Presence operation.
A second phase of training could take place in Spain, according to the sources cited by El Pais.
The paper said Spain's defense ministry is finalizing a delivery to Kyiv of low-level Shorad Aspide anti-aircraft missiles, which the Spanish Army has replaced with a more advanced system.
— Reuters
Putin warns West against sending longer-range missiles, will strike harder
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a broad warning to the West that his military will strike new targets if the U.S. starts supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles, the TASS news agency reported.
Putin said in an interview aired on the Russia-1 TV channel that if those weapons are supplied: "We will draw the relevant conclusions and take our own means of attack, which, for the purpose of hitting the objects which we have not been hitting so far, we have enough of."
Putin did not elaborate on what targets he would attempt to strike.
Ukrainian officials have been asking the West for weeks to send advanced, longer-range rocket systems to aid them in the war. Officials in Washington have had to weigh the benefits of sending the weapons with the risk of provoking Putin into committing further atrocities.
President Joe Biden said in a New York Times op-ed last Thursday the U.S. would provide Ukraine with more advanced rocket systems and munitions.
— Jessica Bursztynsky
Eastern city Severodonetsk split between Ukrainian and Russian control, official says
Head of Luhansk RMA Serhii Haidai said eastern city Severodonetsk is now split between Russian and Ukrainian control, according to an NBC News translation.
That indicates gains for Ukrainian forces as the city was about 70% controlled by Russians two days ago, the official said. Haidai also said Russian occupiers lost a huge number of personnel and eight Russians were taken prisoner.
CNBC was not able to immediately confirm the report. The situation on the ground in Ukraine changes quickly.
In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, "The situation in Severodonetsk, where street fighting continues, remains extremely difficult."
— Christine Wang
Several explosions hit Ukrainian capital Kyiv, mayor says
Several explosions were heard in Ukraine's capital Kyiv after missile strikes on infrastructure, the city's mayor said, according to an NBC News translation.
Mayor Vitaliy Klychko said one person was sent to the hospital and that services were already working on the affected sites.
The mayor of another city in the region, Brovary, also urged residents to remain calm and in safe places after reports of enemy fire in the area.
CNBC was not able to confirm the report. Military developments on the ground remain difficult to confirm in a rapidly shifting situation.
— Christine Wang
UK says Russia using separatist forces in eastern Ukraine
Ukrainian forces in the contested eastern city of Sieverodonetsk have been facing off against Russian-led Separatist Forces originating from Luhansk, the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence said.
The ministry said these forces are poorly equipped and trained and lack heavy equipment, as compared with regular Russian units. It said using proxy troops is a Russian tactic that was previously seen in Syria and suggests a desire to limit casualties among Moscow's own forces.
CNBC was not able to immediately confirm the troop movements. Military developments can be difficult or impossible to confirm in the fluid situation on the ground.
— Christine Wang
