Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces hit apartments in Kyiv with overnight drone attack, officials say

Russia has launched an overnight drone attack on Kyiv, hitting apartment buildings and sparking several fires throughout Ukraine’s capital despite agreeing to a limited ceasefire, officials have said.

Emergency services were dispatched to Kyiv’s historic Podil district after drones hit two high-rise apartment buildings there and started fires, said Timur Tkachenko, the head of the capital’s military administration.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged people to stay in shelters, but said there were no immediate reports of injuries. Kyiv, its surrounding region and the eastern half of Ukraine were under air raid alerts on Saturday night.

It came a day after Vladimir Putin’s forces launched a drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing three members of the same family and wounding 14 others, according to officials, who said residential buildings, cars and communal buildings were set on fire.

Kyiv and Moscow agreed in principle on Wednesday to a limited ceasefire after US president Donald Trump spoke with the countries’ leaders, though it remains to be seen what possible targets would be off limits to attack.

Russia hits apartments and sparks fires with overnight drone attack on Kyiv, officials say

Three members of same family killed in Russian drone attack on Zaporizhzhia

'Coalition of the willing' to meet in Paris next week, says Volodymyr Zelensky

Trump: Negotiators ‘dividing lands’ with full ceasefire will to come ‘pretty soon’

Talks on Ukraine peacekeepers will accelerate next week, with ‘nothing off the table’

Ukraine still in talks with US about minerals deal, spokesperson says

Saturday 22 March 2025 23:49 , Andy Gregory

Russia has launched an overnight drone attack on Kyiv, hitting apartment buildings and sparking several fires throughout Ukraine’s capital, officials have said.

Emergency services were dispatched to Kyiv’s historic Podil district after drones hit two high-rise apartment buildings there and started fires, said Timur Tkachenko, the head of the capital’s military administration.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged people to stay in shelters, but said there were no immediate reports of injuries from the attacks that also sparked fires in at least two other districts of the capital. Kyiv, its surrounding region and the eastern half of Ukraine were under air raid alerts on Saturday night.

Reuters staff reported hearing several blasts in what sounded like air defence units in operation.

Saturday 22 March 2025 23:00 , Andy Gregory

Saturday 22 March 2025 22:01 , Andy Gregory

Moldovan authorities have issued an international wanted notice for a missing pro-Russian member of parliament, who disappeared the day he was handed a 12-year jail sentence on corruption charges.

A second pro-Russian parliamentarian, due to be sentenced next week, has also disappeared, officials said.

Both are associates of Ilan Shor, a fugitive business magnate also jailed for his part in a mass fraud scheme who now leads a political party from exile in Moscow. Moldova’s pro-European government accuses him of trying to destabilise Chisinau.

The warrant for politician Alexandr Nesterovschi was issued late on Friday and interior minister Daniela Misail-Nichitin said attempts to locate him had failed. Authorities in neighbouring Ukraine and Romania had found no trace of him. Ms Misail-Nichitin said police had considered whether Nesterovschi, who was granted Russian citizenship as his sentence was being announced, was hiding in the Russian embassy, but that had proved to be untrue.

Mr Nesterovschi was accused of accepting money from a criminal group to finance the activities of Shor’s “Victory” bloc. Politician Irina Lozovan, awaiting sentencing on similar charges, has also disappeared.

Shor was sentenced to 15 years in prison two years ago in connection with the disappearance of $1bn from the banking system in Moldova’s “theft of the century” in 2014-15. He fled initially to Israel then to Moscow, now has Russian citizenship and has evaded all attempts to extradite him.

Moldovan courts have banned political parties linked to Shor, who has organised noisy anti-government protests in the capital.

Saturday 22 March 2025 21:02 , Andy Gregory

With Donald Trump floating the idea of taking control of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, my colleague Tom Watling has this report on the location and details of the facilities in the US president’s sights:

Mapped: Which Ukrainian nuclear plants could Trump take as part of ceasefire deal?

Saturday 22 March 2025 20:04 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine’s military have reported 70 combat clashes along the frontline so far on Saturday as of 4pm local time.

The heaviest fighting was once again reported in the direction of Pokrovsk, the key Donetsk city which has for months been central in Vladimir Putin’s sights – an axis of fighting in which the casualty rate is believed to be particularly high since fighting intensified there last year.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said in their update on Saturday afternoon that Russia’s forces had also launched artillery attacks in Sumy, Chernihiv and Karkhiv, with fighting ongoing in the latter region, near the settlement of Vovchansk.

Saturday 22 March 2025 19:08 , Andy Gregory

Police have said they are not treating the death of Oleg Gordievsky – an 86-year-old Soviet KGB officer who helped change the course of the Cold War by covertly passing secrets to Britain – as suspicious.

Historians consider Gordievsky one of the era’s most important spies. In the 1980s, his intelligence helped avoid a dangerous escalation of nuclear tensions between the USSR and the West.

Born in Moscow in 1938, Gordievsky joined the KGB in the early 1960s, serving in Moscow, Copenhagen and London, where he became KGB station chief. He was one of several Soviet agents who grew disillusioned with the USSR after Moscow’s tanks crushed the Prague Spring freedom movement in 1968, and was recruited by Britain's MI6 in the early 1970s. He has lived in England since defecting in 1985.

Surrey Police said on Saturday that officers were called to an address in Godalming on 4 March, where “an 86-year-old man was found dead at the property”. It said counterterrorism officers are leading the investigation, but “the death is not currently being treated as suspicious” and “there is nothing to suggest any increased risk to members of the public”.

Saturday 22 March 2025 18:11 , Andy Gregory

For Donald Trump, talks with the Kremlin are a path to ending the Ukraine conflict as fast as possible. And if there’s a Nobel Peace Prize in it for him, all well and good. Securing some great deals for US business would be even better. For Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, talks are a path to victory and to the victor, the spoils. To get there, the KGB veteran has read Trump like a book.

Trump is obsessed by his image as the king of the art of the deal. Putin has clocked that and is only too happy to offer Trump the prospect of every kind of deal he can to con the White House into handing over something much more worthwhile. Renewed influence over Ukraine, a lifting of sanctions and a future where Russia is treated as a great power again.

Read the full analysis from Owen Matthews below:

The evil genius detail in Putin’s ‘deal’ with Trump reveals Russia’s true plans

Saturday 22 March 2025 17:16 , AP

One year since the Moscow concert hall attack killed 145 people, Russian officials asserted on Saturday that it was planned and organised by “the special services of an unfriendly state”.

The aim, according to a a statement by Svetlana Petrenko, the representative of the Russian Investigative Committee, was to “destabilise the situation in Russia”.

Though she did not specify the “unfriendly state,” she noted that “six Central Asians” currently outside of Russia had been charged in absentia and placed on Russia’s wanted list for allegedly recruiting and organising the training of four of the suspected perpetrators.

The four men, all of whom were identified in the media as citizens of Tajikistan, appeared in a Moscow court at the end of March last year on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.

According to Petrenko, 19 people are currently in custody in Russia in relation to the attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall.

A faction of the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the massacre in which gunmen shot people who were waiting for a show by a popular rock band and then set the building on fire. But Russian officials including president Vladimir Putin have persistently claimed – without presenting evidence – that Ukraine had a role in the attack. Kyiv has vehemently denied any involvement.

Saturday 22 March 2025 16:21 , Andy Gregory

With Ukraine’s troops having retreated from swathes of territory seized during their incursion into Russia’s Kursk region last August, the Reuters news agency has spoken to some Ukrainians who have cast doubt over the operation’s efficacy.

Mariia Pankova, whose friend Pavlo Humeniuk has been missing for nearly four months after being deployed to Kursk, said tearfully: “I’m just not sure it was worth it, adding: “We're not invaders. We just need our territories back, we do not need the Russian one.”

Soldier Oleksii Deshevyi, a 32-year-old former supermarket security guard who lost his hand while fighting in Kursk in September, said he saw no logic in the operation.

“We should not have started this operation at all,” he said, speaking in a rehabilitation centre in Kyiv, where he has spent the past six months adjusting to life after injury.

Yet despite her doubts over the operation in Kursk, with Donald Trump now negotiating with Vladimir Putin in a bid to end Russia’s war, Ms Pankova cast doubt over the possibility of a peace deal which prevents Russia from returning to seize more Ukrainian land – and is herself considering joining Kyiv’s armed forces.

“Every time that someone tries to, let's say, sell some piece of Ukraine, they just have not to forget what we already gave,” she said. “How many lives our people gave for that.”

Saturday 22 March 2025 15:24 , Andy Gregory

Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia’s influential Security Council, has met Serbia's outgoing deputy prime minister Alexandar Vulin in Moscow and discussed anti-government protests in his country, Russian state news agencies have said.

Both referred to the protests as an attempted “colour revolution” – a term used to describe pro-Western protests that toppled governments in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan in recent decades.

“Western intelligence services are behind the colour revolution in Serbia and would like to bring another government to power in Serbia. We will not allow this,” the Tass news agency quoted Mr Vulin as claiming, without providing evidence.

The previous day, Mr Vulin said that Russia’s spy services had assisted Belgrade authorities in responding to the protests – in a move which critics said revealed the extent to which Serbia’s government has become dependent on Moscow.

Mr Shoigu said on Saturday that both countries maintained regular dialogue and exchanged information “including with a view to countering ‘colour revolutions’”, adding: “This helps to prevent destabilisation of the situation in brotherly Serbia in the changing geopolitical environment.”

Students, backed by teachers, farmers and workers, have maintained daily protests across Serbia since last November, when 16 people died in a roof collapse at a train station in the northern city of Novi Sad, which they blame on corruption.

Earlier this week, Serbian parliament formally approved the resignation of prime minister Milos Vucevic, who offered to step down on 28 January, triggering a 30-day deadline for the formation of a new government or the calling of a snap election.

Saturday 22 March 2025 13:18 , Tom Barnes

Ukrainians living in bombed-out Kherson tell The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley how Russian drones target them as they go about their daily lives – and how their brutal injuries are cared for in a hospital forced underground:

Russian drone pilots hunting Ukrainian civilians on the streets ‘like a video game’

Saturday 22 March 2025 12:28 , Tom Barnes

Russia reserves the right to a "symmetrical response" to Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Friday of blowing up a Russian gas pumping station in a border area where Ukrainian troops have been retreating. Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure in three years of fighting, and Ukraine has struck energy facilities in Russia.

"As in 2022, provocations are being used again with the aim of disrupting the negotiation process. We are clearly warning that if the Kyiv regime continues its destructive line, the Russian Federation reserves the right to respond, including with a symmetrical response," the ministry said.

Saturday 22 March 2025 10:54 , Tom Barnes

President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Ukraine's Donetsk region on Saturday, where he met commanders of drone units near the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk.

Ukrainian troops have for months been fending off Russian assaults around the city, where Moscow's forces have been slowly advancing to try to eventually capture the entire region.

"I visited the command post of the Tactical Group Pokrovsk and met with the commanders of the Drone Line, which united the finest unmanned systems units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Zelenskiy wrote on X.

"I received a report on the defense of the Pokrovsk direction, the operational situation, and the progress of the missions. I honored our warriors with state awards."

Drones have transformed warfare since the start of Russia's February 2022 invasion, and Ukraine has sought to elevate drone units and boost domestic production.

This month, Kyiv's defence ministry said it would purchase around 4.5 million first-person view (FPV) drones in 2025, mostly from domestic producers, more than doubling last year's rate.

Saturday 22 March 2025 09:45 , Tom Barnes

South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said on Saturday that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia must stop, and North Korea should not be rewarded for its wrongdoings in the course of bringing about the end of the war in Ukraine.

Cho also said it is important for South Korea, Japan and China to faithfully carry out UN sanctions against North Korea, and to put efforts into stopping North Korean provocations and bring about its complete denuclearisation.

Cho was meeting his Chinese and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo on Saturday, in the first such trilateral talks since 2023.

Saturday 22 March 2025 08:58 , Tom Barnes

Three people were killed and 12 wounded in a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian officials said, in an attack that underlined Moscow's intention to continue aerial strikes despite agreeing to a limited ceasefire.

Regional head Ivan Fedorov said on Saturday that "residential buildings, private cars, and social infrastructure facilities were set on fire" in the attack on Friday night, and published photos showing emergency services scouring the rubble of damaged residential buildings for survivors.

The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia fired 179 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday.

It said 100 were intercepted and another 63 "lost," likely having been electronically jammed.

Officials in the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions also reported fires breaking out due to the falling debris from intercepted drones.

Russia's Ministry of Defence, meanwhile, said its air defence systems shot down 47 Ukrainian drones.

Saturday 22 March 2025 07:00 , Alex Croft

Ukraine accused Russia of bombing its own gas infrastructure in an effort to undermine ceasefire talks.

Putin’s top security adviser met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and discussed Ukraine.

The US is said to be seeking new terms for US access to minerals in Ukraine to include control over Kyiv’s nuclear power plants, the Financial Times reported.

Britain is set to accelerate plans next week for a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine, including a discussion about how it can operate and the structure.

Zelensky announced the ‘coalition of the willing’, the countries willing to support Ukrainian peacekeeping efforts, will meet in Paris next week.

Donald Trump said a full ceasefire would come “very soon”, claiming that negotiators were “dividing up” Ukrainian land.

Saturday 22 March 2025 05:01 , Alex Croft

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Vladimir Putin of attempting to “delay and add conditions” to any ceasefire in Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesperson said on Friday.

The prime minister spoke to EU chiefs along with the leaders of Turkey, Norway and Iceland, the spokesperson said.

“The Prime Minister began by updating on his recent call with President Zelenskyy, and said it was clear President Putin was trying to delay and add conditions to any meaningful ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

“The Prime Minister also outlined the new military sub-planning groups, across land, sea, air, regeneration and reconstruction, which would continue discussions across three intensive planning days next week,” they added.

The leaders discussed the importance of keeping up investment in military equipment to outpace any European threats.

Saturday 22 March 2025 04:01 , Alex Croft

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that “all nuclear power plants belong to the people of Ukraine” after reports that his US counterpart Donald Trump said an American takeover of the country’s nuclear power would offer the “best protection” for it.

In their first conversation since Mr Trump verbally attacked Mr Zelensky in the White House and had him thrown out, the US president reportedly suggested Washington take ownership of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

But Kyiv says the discussions referred only to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian occupation.

Jane Dalton reports:

Zelensky defies Trump, warning: Hands off my nuclear power stations

Saturday 22 March 2025 02:00 , Alex Croft

Saturday 22 March 2025 01:00 , Alex Croft

Saturday 22 March 2025 00:01 , Alex Croft

Moscow has been accused of bombing its own gas infrastructure in order to sabotage an energy ceasefire deal with Ukraine.

Ukraine’s general staff has denied that its forces struck a key gas pumping station in Sudzha, and instead said it had been “repeatedly shelled by the Russians themselves”.

The army accused Russia of seeking to pin the blame on Ukraine with “groundless” accusations its military was involved – all to undermine any truce and longer peace deal currently being negotiated by Donald Trump and the US.

“The Russian federation is intensifying its discrediting campaign against Ukraine,” it said.

Athena Stavrou reports:

Moscow accused of bombing own gas infrastructure to undermine ceasefire deal

Friday 21 March 2025 23:01 , Alex Croft

Volodymyr Zelensky visited the site of one of the initial battles in the war with Russia today, alongside the president of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel.

Heavy fighting in Moshchun lasted for most of March 2022 before Ukraine successfully repelled Russian forces, less than 30 kilometres from Kyiv. Zelensky said the village was a symbolic and “deeply memorable” place for Ukrainians.

“The battles for Moshchun against the Russian occupiers played a crucial role in the defense of Kyiv, and therefore the defence of our entire country,” Zelensky said on X

“Together, we honoured the memory of our fallen warriors who fought for Ukraine’s freedom, and expressed our gratitude to all the heroes — thanks to whom we are here today – in Ukrainian Kyiv, in our independent state. And it will always be this way – we will definitely preserve Ukraine’s independence.”

Friday 21 March 2025 22:01 , Alex Croft

Friday 21 March 2025 20:29 , Alex Croft

Kyiv has accused Russia of illegally pressuring Ukrainians in occupied territories to change their legal status, in an apparent move to enforce Russian nationality on Ukraine’s occupied citizens.

It comes after Moscow issued a presidential decree ordering Ukrainian citizens living “in Russia without legal grounds” to “regulate” their status.

While there was no clear explanation on what it meant by “regulate”, Moscow has been pressing Ukrainians in those areas to obtain Russian citizenship.

Holding a Russian passport in the occupied territories has been made necessary for Ukrainians who want to access healthcare, retirement income, social services, or prove property ownership. A Russian law stipulated that anyone in the occupied territories who did not have a Russian passport by 1 July 2024 was subject to imprisonment as a “foreign citizen”.

Kyiv’s foreign ministry spokesman, Heorhii Tykhyi, said the move was a "despicable act".

"It is yet another step in Russia's campaign of discrimination, persecution and forced displacement of Ukrainian citizens from their homeland, or forcing them to acquire foreigner status," he told a briefing in Kyiv.

Russia, which regularly denied accusations of carrying out abuses, did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to its foreign ministry.

Friday 21 March 2025 19:29 , Alex Croft

A huge fire has broke out earlierat a Russian gas and pumping station after it was rocked by a major explosion.

The facility in Sudzha is in Russia’s Kursk region near the border with Ukraine.

It was once used by Gazprom to export gas to Europe from Russia visa Ukraine, until Kyiv decided to end the agreement in January this year.

The Kursk region has been a key area in the war between Russia in Ukraine.

In August 2024, Ukraine launched an incursion into the region and captured an estimated 1,300 square kilometers of land, including the town of Sudzha.

However in recent weeks, Putin’s troops have re-captured much of the region.

Friday 21 March 2025 19:15 , Alex Croft

The separate tracks of European and US approaches to ending the Ukraine war have barely been clearer. Exemplifying the high ground that the prime minister has taken since Mr Trump re-established ties with Moscow, Sir Keir set the tone – before visiting Barrow-in-Furness and laying the keel for the next generation of UK nuclear-armed submarines. There, he made clear that nuclear deterrence was both necessary and effective.

Vladimir Putin, he said, feared Britain’s nuclear weapons as a “credible capability”. In other words, there was no reason for either the UK – or, by extension, the European members of Nato – to be intimidated by Russia. Or, he might also have said, by the United States threatening to leave Europe to rely on its own resources.

The British prime minister’s moral clarity on support for Kyiv, and the need for it to continue, has been quietly appreciated by his fellow European leaders, and more loudly by Ukraine. It has also contributed to a sense of European solidarity as the United States has increasingly seen to be on a different track.

Read more here.

Friday 21 March 2025 18:57 , Alex Croft

Russia’s Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu thanked Kim Jong Un for North Korea’s ongoing support in its war against Ukraine during a visit today, Russian state-owned news agency Tass reported.

North Korea has supplied vast amounts of weapons to Russia including artillery and ballistic missiles, and has sent up to 12,000 troops to support Russia’s army in its war with Ukraine, according to intelligence officials from the US, South Korea and Ukraine.

In late February, South Korea's spy agency said North Korea appeared to have sent additional troops to Russia. South Korean media put the number of newly sent North Korean soldiers at about 1,000 to 3,000.

Rachel Clun reports:

Russian official thanks North Korea’s Kim Jong Un for Ukraine war support

Friday 21 March 2025 18:41 , Alex Croft

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Vladimir Putin of attempting to “delay and add conditions” to any ceasefire in Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesperson has said.

The prime minister spoke to EU chiefs along with the leaders of Turkey, Norway and Iceland, the spokesperson said.

“The Prime Minister began by updating on his recent call with President Zelenskyy, and said it was clear President Putin was trying to delay and add conditions to any meaningful ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

“The Prime Minister also outlined the new military sub-planning groups, across land, sea, air, regeneration and reconstruction, which would continue discussions across three intensive planning days next week,” they added.

The leaders discussed the importance of keeping up investment in military equipment to outpace any European threats.

Friday 21 March 2025 18:30 , Alex Croft

Friday 21 March 2025 18:13 , Alex Croft

Ukraine has dismissed Moscow’s accusations that Kyiv’s troops committed war crimes in Russia’s Kursk region, describing them as “completely unfounded”.

"The Russian accusations of atrocities and crimes committed by Ukraine in Kursk Oblast are completely unfounded,” foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said.

“Ukraine has always adhered to international humanitarian law, particularly in ensuring the humane treatment of civilians in conflict zones, and has not violated these principles."

Moscow fabricates this “evidence base” to make false accusations against Kyiv, Mr Tykhyi added according to Ukrainska Pravda.

"All of this is false. The majority of local population and property in Kursk Oblast have been impacted by Russian bombardments, including targeted strikes,” he added.

Friday 21 March 2025 17:55 , Alex Croft

Volodymyr Zelensky has said a summit will be held next week for the ‘coalition of the willing’, the group of countries prepared to invest in peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.

The summit will be held in Paris, Mr Zelensky told a media briefing with the Czech president Petr Pavel, adding that it will address future security guarantees for Ukraine.

"Next week we have a bilateral meeting with President Macron. We have many issues to discuss. I hope the outcome of this meeting will be a good one,” he said.

The meeting will be followed by the summit, where countries among the coalition will discuss “what the infrastructure of the contingent will look like”, and “who is ready” to be part of peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine.

"I would like us to have some concrete outcomes. We have discussed this with President Macron," the Ukrainian president added.

Friday 21 March 2025 17:38 , Alex Croft

Friday 21 March 2025 17:21 , Athena Stavrou

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that “all nuclear power plants belong to the people of Ukraine” after reports that his US counterpart Donald Trump said an American takeover of the country’s nuclear power would offer the “best protection” for it.

In their first conversation since Mr Trump verbally attacked Mr Zelensky in the White House and had him thrown out, the US president reportedly suggested Washington take ownership of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

But Kyiv says the discussions referred only to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian occupation.

Read the full story here:

Zelensky defies Trump, warning: Hands off my nuclear power stations

Friday 21 March 2025 16:53 , Athena Stavrou

A fire has erupted at a gas pumping station in the Russian region of Kursk bordering Ukraine, after a huge explosion rocked the site.

The station has been a critical hub for Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine, before Kyiv refused to extend the agreement in January this year.

Once it passed through the station, it entered Ukraine’s pipeline system into Slovakia, before going onto the Czech Republic and Austria.

In 2023, almost half of all Russian gas exports to Europe were pumped through the station.

Friday 21 March 2025 16:36 , Athena Stavrou

• Three were injured and fires broke out after Russia launched a mass drone attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea port in Odesa on Thursday night.

• Ukraine accused Russia of bombing its own gas infrastructure in an effort to undermine ceasefire talks.

• Putin’s top security adviser met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and discussed Ukraine.

• The US is said to be seeking new terms for US access to minerals in Ukraine to include control over Kyiv’s nuclear power plants, the Financial Times reported.

• Britain is set to accelerate plans next week for a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine, including a discussion about how it can operate and the structure.

Friday 21 March 2025 16:19 , Athena Stavrou

Friday 21 March 2025 15:57 , Athena Stavrou

Serbia's deputy prime minister has said Russia’s spy services helped authorities respond to months of anti-government protests.

Students, backed by teachers, farmers and workers, have maintained daily protests across Serbia since last November, when 16 people died in a roof collapse at a train station in the northern city of Novi Sad, which they blame on corruption.

"I am very grateful to Russia's special services, which always support us in our fight against colour revolutions, primarily with information," Deputy Prime Minister Alexandar Vulin said in an interview with Russia's RIA state news agency.

"They know what danger hangs over Serbia," RIA quoted Vulin as saying.

Friday 21 March 2025 15:43 , Athena Stavrou

A military court has jailed a Soviet-era anti-war activist for 16 years.

The court in St Petersburg convicted Alexander Skobov of "justifying terrorism," the Prosecutor General's office said,

It said he had repeatedly posted information on social media "justifying carrying out terrorist acts, including calls to carry out illegal activity" and that he had taken part in the activities of a "terrorist organisation."

Skobov, who was jailed in the Soviet Union for his opposition to the authorities, publicly condemned President Vladimir Putin's decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 and has repeatedly said that Moscow should return any territory it had taken during the conflict.

Russian authorities have jailed outspoken critics of what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine, drawing fierce condemnation from Western human rights groups who say the crackdown amounts to a repressive clamp-down on free speech.

Friday 21 March 2025 15:29 , Athena Stavrou

Friday 21 March 2025 15:08 , Athena Stavrou

Ukraine does not consider a UN mission an alternative to the deployment of foreign troops or security guarantees to end the war with Russia, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.

"With all due respect, the UN will not protect us from the occupation or Putin's desire to come back," Zelenskiy said at a joint press conference with Czech President Petr Pavel in Kyiv.

His comments come after reports Emmanuel Macron is looking to the UN for alternatives to putting European troops on the ground.

The Telegraph reported that the French president was considering the possibility of a UN-led mission.

Friday 21 March 2025 14:59 , Athena Stavrou

Homeland defence is not some abstract concept to the countries bordering Russia, nor is the nuclear threat, says defence analyst Francis Tusa.

So, if the US could use a ‘kill switch’ to stop the UK from using Trident should an attack happen, how ready would we be?

Read the In Focus article here:

Missile interceptors and pamphlets in France: How Europe is preparing for nuclear war

Friday 21 March 2025 14:47 , Athena Stavrou

Ukraine is continuing to hold talks with the United States about a minerals deal, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday.

The White House said on Wednesday it had moved beyond "just the economic minerals deal framework" and was focused on peace between Ukraine and Russia.

It added Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US would sign the minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine shortly.

Earlier, it was reported by the financial times that Trump was seeking to extend the terms of the mineral deal to include control over Kyiv’s nuclear power plants.

Friday 21 March 2025 14:38 , Athena Stavrou

Poland’s prime minister has said the European Union has agreed it must be ready to defend itself against a Russian attack in five years.

Donald Tusk said EU countries currently spending less on defence were reluctant to accept the plan to be prepared by 2030.

“Behind the scenes... it stirred some emotions. Especially in countries that spend little on defence now. There are several large countries that still spend very little. And they don’t want to spend more. For now,” he told a press conference after an EU summit.

“By 2030 Europe must be, in terms of army, weapons, technology, clearly stronger than Russia. And it will be.”

Friday 21 March 2025 14:23 , Athena Stavrou

The Prince of Wales rode in a Challenge 2 tank defending Estonia against Russian aggression after telling British troops he hoped his visit would “keep everyone on their toes”.

William, wearing a camouflage military uniform, googles and a helmet, travelled in the commander’s turret of the tank as it sped across muddy terrain in Estonia less than 100 miles from the border with Russia.

Friday 21 March 2025 14:16 , Athena Stavrou

Germany's budget committee has cleared the way for another 3 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine, parliamentary sources said.

The green light on Friday comes after chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz pushed through reforms to ramp up investment in defence.

The 3 billion euros include 2.547 billion earmarked by the finance ministry for Ukraine this year, topped up by other contributions, including a reimbursement from the European Peace Facility.

Friday 21 March 2025 14:02 , Athena Stavrou

A fire has erupted at a gas pumping station in the Russian region of Kursk bordering Ukraine, after a huge explosion rocked the site.

Both Kyiv and Moscow have denied responsibility for the attack, with both sides accusing the other of targeting the key facility near the Russian town of Sudzha.

Kursk has been the focus of fierce fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in recent weeks, as Vladimir Putin’s forces push to retake territory seized by Ukraine in a daring assault last year.

Read the full story:

Mapped: Where is key Russian gas pumping station hit by huge explosion

Friday 21 March 2025 13:50

Friday 21 March 2025 13:45

Asked whether the focus of discussions had shifted away from the prospect of ground troops for Ukraine, a Number 10 spokesman said: "No, nothing is off the table on any of these fronts, so I wouldn't start ruling anything out.

"But clearly thousands of troops will be required to support any deployment, whether that is at sea, on land or in the air."

Any deployment will require significant support and the firming up of "basic logistics of ... moving people and ensuring deployment rotations, so as the PM said we need to be prepared for all eventualities," the official said.

"We've moved into an operational phase now and what that means is ... bringing together military planners to look at the potential design of force structures, interoperability and what capability is needed to ensure a sovereign Ukraine is able to defend itself for generations to come.

"Next week, we'll continue to accelerate the pace and scale of operational planning with further meetings at our Northwood headquarters as we look forward more closely at the details and structure of any future force."

Friday 21 March 2025 13:16 , Rachel Clun

Russia’s Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu thanked Kim Jong Un for North Korea’s ongoing support in its war against Ukraine during a visit today, Russian state-owned news agency Tass reported.

North Korea has supplied vast amounts of weapons to Russia including artillery and ballistic missiles, and has sent up to 12,000 troops to support Russia’s army in its war with Ukraine, according to intelligence officials from the US, South Korea and Ukraine.

In late February, South Korea's spy agency said North Korea appeared to have sent additional troops to Russia. South Korean media put the number of newly sent North Korean soldiers at about 1,000 to 3,000.

Tass quoted Mr Shoigu as saying: "I would like to express my gratitude to our Korean friends for solidarity with Russia’s position on all critical geopolitical issues and on the Ukrainian issue in particular," when speaking with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday.

Mr Shoigu emphasised that Russia “highly values the achieved level of strategic relations between the countries and is committed to deepen them."

Friday 21 March 2025 13:04 , Rachel Clun

Western military planning to enforce a potential ceasefire in Ukraine is set to intensify in London next week as Downing Street said "nothing is off the table" over possible troop deployment for Kyiv.

Number 10 said "thousands" of personnel would be required to support any operation whether by "sea, on land or in the air" as allies prepare "for all eventualities" amid diplomatic efforts to end the war.

Officials from the so-called coalition of the willing will "accelerate the pace and scale" of work to consolidate proposals for possible troop deployment across land, air or sea to safeguard any peace deal, a No 10 spokesman said.

It comes after Sir Keir Starmer warned Vladimir Putin would face "severe consequences" for breaching any truce as he met defence planners for the first stage of talks at the UK's Northwood military headquarters on Thursday.

Downing Street on Friday said officials from allied countries will meet again at the same site next week to firm up a strategy to protect Kyiv as plans enter an "operational phase".

Friday 21 March 2025 12:59 , Rachel Clun

Volodymyr Zelensky visited the site of one of the initial battles in the war with Russia today, alongside the president of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel.

Heavy fighting in Moshchun lasted for most of March 2022 before Ukraine successfully repelled Russian forces, less than 30 kilometres from Kyiv. Zelensky said the village was a symbolic and “deeply memorable” place for Ukrainians.

“The battles for Moshchun against the Russian occupiers played a crucial role in the defense of Kyiv, and therefore the defence of our entire country,” Zelensky said on X

“Together, we honoured the memory of our fallen warriors who fought for Ukraine’s freedom, and expressed our gratitude to all the heroes — thanks to whom we are here today – in Ukrainian Kyiv, in our independent state. And it will always be this way – we will definitely preserve Ukraine’s independence.”

Friday 21 March 2025 12:44 , Rachel Clun

Emmanuel Macron has reiterated his support for Ukraine following continued Russian bombardments.

“Once again last night, Russia showed that it sincerely does not want peace. Full support for the Ukrainian people,” he wrote on X, along with a picture of a building on fire.

His tweet followed an earlier post from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who shared video footage of firefighters battling large blazes and called for tougher sanctions on Russia.

“It is joint pressure on Russia, along with tougher sanctions and stronger defence support for our country, that paves the way to ending this kind of terror and Russia’s prolongation of the war,” Zelensky said.

“We expect real pressure on Russia from the United States, Europe, and all our partners. This is what will enable diplomacy to work. “

Friday 21 March 2025 12:30 , Athena Stavrou

Germany has seized a tanker believed to be part of a shadow fleet used by Russia to circumvent oil sanctions.

Spiegel magazine cited German security services who said the decrepit Panama-flagged ship, called Eventin, was found adrift off its northern coast in January.

The tanker is believed to have been heading from Russia to Egypt with cargo of around 100,000 metric tons of oil, worth some 40 million euros.

The German government declined to comment in detail but said "Customs measures are currently under way,” and the local customs authority said in a statement that the measures had not yet been made legally binding, without commenting further on the case.

Moscow has no information about the ship and no knowledge about its owner or reasons for its seizure, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, responding to a Reuters query.

Friday 21 March 2025 12:20

Putin’s top security adviser discussed Ukraine with Kim Jong Un on Friday, Russian media has reported.

Sergei Shoigu also discussed talks between Russia and the US with the North Korean leader, TASS news agency reported.

The top Russian official has visited North Korea on Friday as security ties between the countries advances.

Friday 21 March 2025 11:53 , Athena Stavrou

Editorial: Convened by the British prime minister, the meeting of military leaders from more than 20 countries to discuss a peacekeeping force for Ukraine may have jumped the gun. If they are to work together, the UK and EU must first negotiate some key differences:

Sir Keir’s ‘coalition of the willing’ is principled – and a rallying cry for Ukraine

Friday 21 March 2025 11:39 , Athena Stavrou

Some £25 billion worth of Russian assets have been frozen by the UK Government since the start of the Ukraine war, newly-released figures have revealed.

A report released by the Treasury on Friday revealed the total, which accounts for all assets that have been sanctioned by the UK since February 2022 when the invasion of Ukraine began.

Some 2,001 individuals and entities have been sanctioned under the regime as of March 2024, according to the Treasury.

Friday 21 March 2025 11:37 , Athena Stavrou

France has restored its gunpowder production, which it scrapped in 2007.

Explosives manufacturer Eurenco is set to produce some 1,200 tonnes of gunpowder pellets a year, rising to 1,800 tonnes, which would feed into about 100,000 artillery shells,

Most of these French-made artillery shells will head to Ukraine.

Backed by the government and with an investment of 100 million euros of which half came from an EU programme to support the bloc's defence industry, the firm put together new infrastructure in less than a year.

France has a tradition of producing gunpowder dating back to the 14th Century, and a long history of pride in being self sufficient in arms production.

Eurenco produced gunpowder as far back as World War One. But after the end of the Cold War, weapons production and supply chains were no longer a priority and governments scaled back.

Friday 21 March 2025 11:23

Russia accused Ukraine of being behind the attack on the Sudzha gas pumping station, saying it had been under the control of Kyiv's forces "until now" who had used it as a logistics base.

"The blowing up of an important Russian energy facility by Ukrainian army units retreating from the Kursk region is a deliberate provocation by the Kyiv regime," the defence ministry said in a statement.

"(This) should be viewed as part of a series of recent strikes against the energy infrastructure of the Russian Federation aimed at discrediting the peace initiatives of the president of the United States."

The region has been the focus of fierce fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in recent weeks, with Moscow’s troops recapturing much of the region which held by Kyiv since August last year.

Friday 21 March 2025 11:09