Ukraine news live: 'Panicked' Russians evacuating families from occupied area - as six killed in Kharkiv shelling

Russian shelling on a residential district in Ukraine's second-largest city has killed six people and injured 16, according to a local official. 

Regional governor Oleh Synehubov said the attack hit the Saltivka district. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack, saying: "This is a devious and cynical strike on civilians with no justification, showing the powerlessness of the aggressor. We cannot forgive. We will avenge it." 

Footage of the scene showed emergency services at a building on fire surrounded by debris.

The head of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, a breakaway region controlled by pro-Russian separatists, has called for cooperation from North Korea. 

Separatist leader Denis Pushilin said he hoped the province and North Korea could achieve "equally beneficial bilateral cooperation agreeing with the interests" of their people, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea is one of only three countries - along with Russia and Syria - that have recognised the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, which make up Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.

It was previously floated that North Korean workers could be sent to help rebuild Russian-occupied areas, although the US has warned this would run against UN Security Council sanctions.

A Russian soldier has fled his country after criticising the invasion of Ukraine in a lengthy social media post. 

Pavel Filatyev appears to be the first Russian soldier to have documented the war in Ukraine in such detail, providing a day-by-day description of how his paratrooper unit was sent to mainland Ukraine from Crimea. 

Speaking to a Guardian journalist in Moscow just before he fled, he said: "I don't see justice in this war. I don't see truth here."

He continued: "I am not afraid to fight in war. But I need to feel justice, to understand that what I’m doing is right. 

"And I believe that this is all failing not only because the government has stolen everything, but because we, Russians, don't feel that what we are doing is right."

With his unit, Mr Filatyev entered Kherson and captured the seaport before digging in under heavy artillery fire for more than a month near Mykolaiv.

He was eventually evacuated when he was wounded and developed a severe eye infection that nearly blinded him. 

"We were sitting under artillery fire by Mykolaiv," he told The Guardian. 

"At that point I already thought that we're just out here doing b******t, what the f*** do we need this war for? And I really had this thought: 'God, if I survive, then I'll do everything that I can to stop this.'"

The wartime rivals will be meeting alongside EU mediators in the hopes of de-escalating growing tensions in the Balkans. 

Russia has been trying to further increase its influence in the region. 

Western officials overseeing the high-level talks will be hoping to at least eliminate increasing warmongering rhetoric from both sides. 

But there are slim hopes the rare face-to-face meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti could produce a major breakthrough. 

The meeting is being held in Brussels tomorrow. 

Drills have been carried out following repeated shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest of its kind in Europe. 

Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attacks near and on the facility in recent days, while officials have warned of the potential dangers of a nuclear accident. 

As part of the emergency drills, Ukrainian first responders wore full protective gear and dealt with a man pretending to be a victim. 

A radiation scan was carried out on him before he was laid onto a stretcher and put into an ambulance.

The first responders were then checked themselves for radiation before being hosed down and disposing of their gear. 

Ukrainian authorities said the drills would be repeated in the coming days.

Energy minister Herman Halushchenko said his government was very concerned about the safety of the plant, telling reporters: "That's why we're here, that's why we've created this group."

Russia and Ukraine have both said they want International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to visit the plant.

Australian authorities have stopped the construction of a new Russian embassy building in Canberra and called for it to be vacated within 20 days.

Moscow was granted approval to build in 2011, but the construction has been beset by delays for years. 

Australia's National Capital Authority said Russia had failed to meet a three-year deadline to finish construction, hence why the lease was terminated. 

It denied the decision was due to the war in Ukraine. 

The Russian embassy said it would be seeking legal advice to fight back against the "unprecedented and highly unwelcome move".

Following a series of explosions in Crimea, Russian forces have set up a checkpoint at the approach to a bridge leading to the annexed territory. 

Russian forces are checking the documents and cars of those crossing, according to Denys Savchenko, coordinator of the human rights organisation Crimea SOS.

"The occupation authorities have set up a checkpoint at the approach to the Kerch/Crimean bridge," he said, quoted in Ukrainian media reports. 

"And at the checkpoint, they are checking those who are leaving Crimea. In particular, they are checking documents, cars and personal belongings."

Mr Savchenko said the explosion at an ammunition depot in Crimea had caused a surge in people heading back to Russia. 

About 38,000 cars headed for Russia from Crimea at the time, he said. 

Our correspondent Alistair Bunkall has been speaking to residents of Kherson, which is under Russian occupation. 

Communication with the outside world is near impossible, and widespread protests have now turned into more subtle resistance.

Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive to take back lost territory could be about to begin. 

The country's Defence Intelligence today hinted at some movement, with a spokesperson saying: "In the near future, there will be very acute events on the entire front."

Andrii Yusov continued: "This is not about binding to any dates, however, we have to consider [the] factor of the Independence Day of Ukraine."

Ukraine's Independence Day is on 24 August. 

"The Main Directorate of Intelligence has been saying for a long time that August and September will be extremely important periods for the further development of events on the entire front," he said. 

The possibility of a counteroffensive in the south of Ukraine has been touted for weeks.

However, much of the action has so far been limited to striking Russian supply lines, air bases and ammunition depots. 

Nearly 20 experts and national security professionals have called on the US to supply more weapons to Ukraine, saying the war is at a "decisive moment".

Writing in The Hill, they said that failing to act was "unintentionally seizing defeat from the jaws of victory" and could present "grave dangers" to the US and its allies. 

"Out of an over-abundance of caution about provoking Russian escalation (conventional as well as nuclear), we are in effect ceding the initiative to Russian President Vladimir Putin and reducing the pressure on Moscow to halt its aggression and get serious about negotiations," they said.

"Moscow's imperialist war against the people of Ukraine is not just a moral outrage — a campaign of genocide aimed at erasing the Ukrainian nation from the map — but a clear danger to US security and prosperity."

They demanded the "strongest possible response" from the US government, saying that with the right weapons and support, Ukraine could win the war. 

"If it succeeds, our soldiers are less likely to have to risk their lives protecting US treaty allies whom Russia also threatens," they said.