Ukraine war latest: Russia says it is considering nuclear shift - and tells West it is 'playing with fire'; US leads drills after North Korea warhead test (2024)

The US, Israel and Ukraine are all in talks to provide Ukraine with up to eight Patriot air defence systems, according to the Financial Times.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for NATO members to send his country the US-made Patriot systems as it battles intensifying Russian attacks.

The FT said the deal would likely involve Israel first sending the systems it plans to retire to the US, before they are handed over to Kyiv.

Sources with knowledge of the negotiations told the paper the outlines of the deal have been discussed between ministers and senior officials from each of the three countries.

Mr Zelenskyy said in May that Kyiv urgently needed at least seven more Patriot missile systems to ward off Russian strikes against its power grid, civilian areas and military targets.

Pictures have emerged this evening of the aftermath of Russia's latest airstrike on the northeastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv.

Emergency services said earlier that five people were injured and buildings were damaged in the attack (see 17.55 post).

Russian forces launched an assault on a new front in Kharkiv in May, after months of fighting focused on the east.

Ukrainian troops have repelled Russian forces from a neighbourhood in the frontline town of Chasiv Yar, a Ukrainian military official has said.

Nazar Voloshin, a spokesman for the Khortytsia operational-strategic group, told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency that Russian forces had been pushed out of the Kanal neighborhood in the east of the town.

Mr Voloshin claimed Moscow's forces were not slowing down in their push to break through in Chasiv Yar, and said two assault operations were ongoing.

"Ukrainian defenders reliably hold the defence in this area and give a decent rebuff to the Russian aggressor," he told the agency.

For context: Chasiv Yar, a strategically-important town in the eastern Donetsk region, has long been a Russian target.

It has been pummelled by Russian air, artillery and drone strikes for months now, as Moscow views the town as a gateway to launch direct offensives against several Ukrainian "fortress cities".

Chasiv Yar had a pre-war population of more than 12,000, but now only a few hundred residents remain.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged EU leaders to make good on their promises to provide his country with military aid after the bloc signed a security agreement underlining its support for Kyiv in the long term.

"Fulfilment of every promise is important, not only in terms of protecting lives but also to destroy the Russian illusion that they will achieve something by war," he said at the summit in Brussels today.

The Ukrainian president thanked countries that have so far promised equipment and arms aid, but pointed out that they were "needed urgently on the battlefield".

He also urged more help on "the urgent things - air defence, that is one".

The EU-Ukraine security agreement entrenches the EU's commitment to help Ukraine in nine areas of security and defence policy - including arms deliveries, military training, defence industry cooperation and demining,

In essence, it encapsulates what the 27-nation bloc has been doing for the country since the start of the war.

But the EU has made a specific commitment to the "predictable, efficient, sustainable and long-term provision of military equipment" for Ukraine.

Kyiv in return has promised to uphold European values and continue on its reform path in preparation to join the EU.

Five people have been injured in Russian airstrikes in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, according to emergency services.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said the strikes hit a residential area of the region, partially destroying one building and damaging others - including a school - as well as cars.

Crews at the scene said five people were hurt.

The windows and gates of the local fire station were also damaged, the emergency service said.

While the apparent gains made by Russia during its spring offensive in Kharkiv were the focus of much of the news coverage of the way in May, a new report indicates any progress made by Vladimir Putin's troops came at a significant cost.

According toUKand other Western intelligence agency sources cited by the New York Times, more than 1,000 Russian soldiers were injured or killed each day last month.

However, the newspaper also cites US officials as saying Moscow is continuing to recruit between 25,000 and 30,000 new soldiers a month - roughly as many as it is losing from the battlefield.

American officials told the outlet that Russia achieved a critical objective of Mr Putin in creating a buffer zone along the border to make it more difficult for the Ukrainians to strike into the country.

But, the Western officials said, this did not threaten Kharkiv and was ultimately stopped by Ukrainian forces.

A Russian official currently in charge of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region says it's time to "burn everything Ukrainian down to the root" until "there is no trace left".

Dmitry Rogozin, who was previously head of Russia's space agency, posted on his Telegram channel that there could be "no truce" with Ukraine as it would mean "certain death for our children and grandchildren".

"This time we need to burn everything Ukrainian down to the root," he said.

"Together with their bastard literature, delusional history, cannibalism of the 'ancient Ukrainians', passion for fascist 'aesthetics' and servility towards the West.

"Burn it so that there is no spirit left. No truces. Any truce, let alone reconciliation, is certain death for our children and grandchildren."

The comments come as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted three resolutions relating to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Among them is recognition of Russia's intent in destroying Ukraine's cultural heritage and identity.

As we've been reporting today, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been in Brussels for an EU summit.

The Ukrainian president signed three defence agreements — two individual deals with Lithuania and Estonia, plus one with the EU.

The agreement with the EU confirms commitments to help Ukraine in areas of security and defence policy.

So far the texts of the agreements with Estonia and Lithuania have not been made public but both countries firmly support Ukraine’s NATO accession.

Lithuania's president Gitanas Nauseda and Estonia's prime minister Kaja Kallas have also declared their commitments to allocate no less than 0.25% of their GDP for military aid for Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy will hold talks with Polish prime minister Donald Tusk next month.

Mr Tusk announced the talks after speaking to Ukraine's president in Brussels.

"The EU understood what Poles have known since the beginning of this war: the defence of Ukraine is the defence of Europe," he said.

Talks between the two leaders will take place before the NATO summit on 9 July in Washington.

The Russian spring offensive into Kharkiv shows the existing level of international pressure on Moscow is insufficient, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

Kyiv's military says it has stabilised the situation after Russian forces launched an assault on a new front in Ukraine's northeastern region.

It was Vladimir Putin's second attempt to advance on Kharkiv, after Ukrainian troops successfully repelled his forces following the invasion in 2022.

Speaking in Brussels today, Mr Zelenskyy said the attack "proves that the existing pressure onRussia for the war is not enough."

The EU today signed a security agreement that entrenches its commitment to help Ukraine in areas of security and defence policy.