Russia-Ukraine war: Finland will apply for Nato membership; missile strike destroys Lviv military facility – live

Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö says he is ready to meet Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over Nato membership concerns, according to reports from Turkish state media Anadolu.

Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö told reporters in the presidential palace in Helsinki:

Today, we, the president and the government’s foreign policy committee, have together decided that Finland … will apply for Nato membership.

Niinistö had called Russian president Vladimir Putin on Saturday to tell him of Finland’s plans to join the alliance. Putin said such a move would hurt Russian-Finnish relations.

Niinistö, referring to the phone call, added:

I, or Finland, are not known to sneak around and quietly disappear behind a corner. It is better to say it straight what already has been said, also to the concerned party and that is what I wanted to do.

Italian police thwarted hacker attacks by pro-Russian groups during the May 10 semi-final and Saturday final of the Eurovision song contest in Turin, authorities said on Sunday.

Reuters reports that during voting and the performances, the police cybersecurity department blocked several cyber attacks on network infrastructure by the “Killnet” hacker group and its affiliate “Legion”, police said.

The police also gathered information from the pro-Russian group’s Telegram channels to prevent other critical events and identified the attacks’ geographic location.

On 11 May, “Killnet” claimed an attack on the websites of several Italian institutions, including the Senate, Italy’s upper house of parliament, and the National Health Institute (ISS), ANSA news agency reported.

President Sauli Niinistö says Finland will apply for Nato membership

Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra has released a powerful video for their Eurovision-winning song which was filmed in the ruins of Irpin and Bucha.

The band’s lead singer Oleh Psyuk said:

I once dedicated this song to my mother, and when the war broke out, the song took on a lot of new meanings.

Although there is not a word about the war in the song, many people began to associate the song with mother Ukraine.

Moreover, society began to call it the anthem of our war!

But if Stefania is now the anthem of our war, I would like it to become the anthem of our victory.

At the “Art Weapon” festival in Kyiv dozens of Ukrainians chose to show their love for their nation by getting tattoos, with payments for them going to the Ukrainian military as donations.

The event took place at an abandoned Soviet-era factory on Saturday, Agence France-Presse reports.

A 20-year-old soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was getting inked for the first time. His tattoo was dedicated to Ukraine’s Azov regiment and the group’s fighters – many of whom are under attack at a steel plant in the besieged port city of Mariupol, including two of his friends.

It’s very difficult for me, but I can’t imagine what they feel. They told me they will stand for Ukraine until they die.

Nato must maintain its “open door” policy towards admitting new members, UK foreign secretary Liz Truss has said.

PA Media reports that following a meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Berline, Truss said security in Europe will be strengthened if – as expected – Finland and Sweden apply to join.

She said:

Nato’s open door policy is essential and if Finland and Sweden decide to apply to join, it is clear that they would strengthen the alliance and European security as a whole.

Truss said the meeting had agreed that they must continue to support Ukraine to help it to “push Russia out”.

Putin must face a sustained defeat in Ukraine, Russia must be contained and such aggression must never happen again. Ukraine’s security must come from it being able to defend itself. Allies must support Ukraine’s move to Nato-standard equipment, immediately providing artillery, training and the required expertise.

Nato’s deputy general secretary, Mircea Geoana, has congratulated Ukraine on their Eurovision triumph and said the win sends a message to Vladimir Putin, Reuters reports.

He said:

I would like to congratulate Ukraine for winning the Eurovision contest. And this is not something I’m making in a light way. Because we have seen yesterday the immense public support all over Europe and Australia for the bravery. Of course the song was beautiful, it is beautiful.

The Kalush Orchestra won with their entry “Stefania”, and Geoana sought to link its victory with Ukraine’s fight against Russia and the alliance’s solidarity with Kyiv.

Geoana said Nato wanted to send a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that despite starting the most “brutal and cynical” conflict since the Second World War, Ukraine continued to surprise with its bravery and the West with its unity.

So I’m saying that we are united. We are strong, (and) will continue to help Ukraine in winning this war.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tweets that he met with US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and says “more weapons and other aid is on the way to Ukraine.”

Further details on Germany’s position regarding Finland and Sweden’s potential bid for Nato membership.

Reuter reports comments from Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock:

Germany has prepared everything to do a quick ratification process.

If they decide to join they can join quickly…We must make sure that we will give them security guarantees, there must not be a transition period, a grey zone, where their status is unclear.

She was referring to the ratification period that can take as long as a year, during which the Nordic countries will not yet be protected by Nato’s article 5 which guarantees that an attack on one ally is an attack on all.

Some more now from Reuters on the military situation in Donbas, which has become the main theatre of the war over the past month.

• Earlier today, British military intelligence delivered a damning assessment of Russia’s Donbas campaign, saying Russia had lost about a third of the ground combat force deployed in February, had fallen “significantly behind schedule” and was unlikely to make rapid advances during the next 30 days.
• The Ukrainian military has reported a counteroffensive is underway near the Russian-held town of Izium, but Russian forces were advancing elsewhere in the Donbas region. Those reports have not been independently verified.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the situation in Donbas remained very difficult, and Russian forces were still trying to salvage a victory there. “They are not stopping their efforts,” he said.

Some more on Ukraine’s Eurovision song contest triumph.

Here is Ukraine’s Eurovision presenter and commentator, Timur Miroshnychenko’s ecstatic reaction to the news that his country had won.

He was broadcasting his Eurovision commentary from a bomb shelter.

Missile strike hits Lviv