Ukraine launches drone attack on Russian factory ahead of peace summit
Nizhny Novgorod governor Gleb Nikitin said in an online statement that drones targeted two 'industrial zones' that caused unspecified damage along with the three casualties.
Advertisement
A Ukrainian official said at least four drones launched by the country's security services, or SBU, struck a plant in the city of Arzamas that produced components for the Khinzal 32 and Khinzal 101 missiles.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operations, said the Plandin plant produces gyroscopic devices, control systems and on-board computers for the missiles and is an 'absolutely legitimate target' because it is part of the Russian military-industrial complex that works for the war against Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers from air-defence unit of 59th brigade fire at Russian strike drones in Dnipropetrovsk region (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)
Russia's defence ministry said its air defences intercepted and destroyed a total of 39 Ukrainian drones overnight and Monday morning over several Russian regions as well as over the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014.
The summit, which US President Donald Trump will host in Alaska later this week, sees Mr Putin unwavering on his demands to keep all the Ukrainian territory his forces now occupy but also to prevent Kyiv from joining Nato with the long-term aim to keep the country within Moscow's sphere of influence.
Advertisement
Mr Putin believes he enjoys the advantage on the ground as Ukrainian forces struggle to hold back Russian advances along the 600-mile front.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insists he will never consent to any Russian annexation of Ukrainian territory nor give up his country's bid for Nato membership.
European leaders have rallied behind Ukraine, saying peace in the war-torn nation cannot be resolved without Kyiv.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also spoke with Mr Trump on Sunday, Mr Merz's spokesman said on Monday, but did not disclose the contents of the talks.
Advertisement
Spokesman Steffen Meyer reiterated that the German government 'has always emphasised that borders must not be shifted by force' and that Ukraine should decide its own fate 'independently and autonomously'.
Meanwhile, on the front lines, few Ukrainian soldiers believe there is an end in sight to the war, other than a brief respite before Moscow resumes its attacks with even greater might.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
44 minutes ago
- Times
Trump: I'll invite Zelensky to my next Putin meeting
President Trump has suggested he will hold a meeting with President Putin and President Zelensky 'almost immediately' after his summit with the Russian leader in Alaska on Friday. Trump floated the possibility of the three-way meeting during an event at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Wednesday. 'There's a very good chance we will have a second meeting that will be more productive than the first,' Trump said after he had held a call with Zelensky and European leaders. 'If the first one goes OK, we will have a quick second one. I would like to do it almost immediately, and we'll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelensky and myself if they'd like to have me there.' Trump said the meeting with Putin on Friday was just 'setting the table' for the second meeting. However, he added: 'There may be no second meeting because if I feel that it's not appropriate to have it, because I didn't get the answers that we have to have, then we're not going to have a second meeting.'
BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
Viable chance of Russia-Ukraine ceasefire, says Keir Starmer
There is a "viable chance" of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said, ahead of Friday's summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir two leaders are meeting in Alaska to discuss how to end the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders, who are not attending the meeting, held a joint call with Trump on Wednesday to reiterate their the call, Sir Keir said Ukraine's "territorial integrity" had to be protected and that "international borders cannot and must not be changed by force". Zelensky Last week Trump warned there could be "some swapping of territories, to the betterment of both", leading to fears Ukraine may have to give up some areas in order to end the bloody conflictUkraine has insisted it will not accept Russian control of land it has seized, including Crimea, while Moscow wants to maintain also wants assurances that Ukraine will not join the Nato military alliance and a limit on the size of its army. Addressing a virtual meeting of the European leaders following the call with Trump, Sir Keir said "any ceasefire would have to be lasting and to be lasting it would need security guarantees"."That is why we set up this coalition of the willing," he added. The coalition is a group of mainly European countries who have pledged to provide military support to Ukraine - including potentially boots on the ground - in order to deter Russia from breaching any agreed peace deal. Sir Keir said the coalition had "credible" military plans ready that could be used in the event of a ceasefire. He said the leaders of the group were also ready to increase economic pressure on Russia if necessary, for example through increasing sanctions. He also praised Trump's efforts to reach an agreement, saying: "For three-and-a-bit years this conflict has been going on and we haven't got anywhere near the prospect of an actually a viable solution, a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire."Now we do have that chance, because of the work the president has put in."Following his call with European leaders, Trump told a press conference there was a chance of a meeting between Putin and said he would use his initial meeting with Putin to "find out where we are and what we're doing", adding: "We'll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelensky and myself, if they'd like to have me there."He also warned Putin that he would face "very severe consequences" if he did not agree to end the war after Friday's summit.
BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
Trump-Putin meeting: European leaders tentatively hopeful after call with Trump ahead of Ukraine summit
European leaders appeared cautiously optimistic after holding a virtual meeting with Donald Trump on Wednesday, two days before he meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss ending the war in reportedly told the Europeans that his goal for the summit was to obtain a ceasefire between Moscow and also agreed that any territorial issues had to be decided with Volodymyr Zelensky's involvement, and that security guarantees had to be part of the deal, according to France's Emmanuel to Trump had allowed him to "clarify his intentions" and gave the Europeans a chance to "express our expectations," Macron said. Trump and Vice-President JD Vance spoke to the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Finland and Poland as well as EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Nato chief Mark Europeans have been sidelined from the hastily organised summit in Alaska and their phone call today was a last-ditch attempt to keep Ukraine's interests and the continent's security at the forefront of Trump's an extent, it seemed to work. On Wednesday evening Trump rated the meeting "a ten" and said Russia would face "very severe" consequences unless it halted its war in also said that if Friday's meeting went well he would try and organise a "quick second one" involving both Putin and in their statements European leaders restated the need for Kyiv to be involved in any final decision – betraying an underlying nervousness that Putin could ultimately persuade Trump to concede Ukrainian land in exchange for a ceasefire."It's most important thing that Europe convinces Donald Trump that one can't trust Russia," said Poland's Donald Tusk, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stressed the leaders had "made it clear that Ukraine must be at the table as soon as follow-up meetings take place".If the Russian side refused to make any concessions, "then the United States and we Europeans should and must increase the pressure," Merz the US-Russia summit was announced last week, Trump has made several references to "land-swapping" between Kyiv and Moscow – sparking serious concerns in Ukraine and beyond that he could be preparing to give in to Putin's longstanding demand to seize large swathes of Ukrainian Wednesday morning Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexey Fadeev reiterated that Russia's stance had not changed since Putin set it out in June the time Putin said a ceasefire would start the minute the Ukrainian government withdrew from four regions partially occupied by Russia - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. He also said Ukraine would need to officially give up in its efforts to join the Nato military to know about Trump and Putin's meeting at an Alaska military baseWhy did Putin's Russia invade Ukraine?These are maximalist demands which neither Kyiv nor its European partners see as has said he is convinced that Russia would use any region it was allowed to keep as a springboard for future invasions.A way to counter this threat could be security guarantees - intended as commitments to ensure Ukraine's long-term statements issued after the phone call with Trump, several European leaders said such guarantees had been mentioned and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that "real progress" had been made in that the spring the UK and France have been spearheading efforts to create a so-called "Coalition of the Willing" - a group of nations who have pledged to deter Russia from further invading Wednesday the group said it stood "ready to play an active role" including by deploying "a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased" - although the shape, composition and role of such a force is yet on the front lines, Russia's summer offensive continues to press on. Referencing the sudden advance of Moscow's troops near Dobropillya, in the embattled Donetsk region, Zelensky said Putin was pretending that sanctions were not effective at damaging the Russian economy."I told Trump and our European allies that Putin is bluffing," the Ukrainian president said, urging them to apply "more pressure" on his part, Trump appeared to admit that even when he meets Putin face-to-face he may not be able to get him to stop killing civilians in Ukraine."I've had that conversation with him... but then I go home and see that a rocket has hit a nursing home or an apartment building and people are lying dead in the street."So I guess the answer to that is probably no."
