Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump envoys ‘disrespectful’ for visiting Moscow not Kyiv, Zelensky says

Two Russian shadow fleet tankers spotted crossing British waters

Chernobyl is too radioactive for humans – but wild animals are thriving like never before

German woman with bomb in her rucksack detained in Russia over alleged Ukraine plot

Pope Leo calls for ‘weapons to fall silent’ in Ukraine and commends ceasefire in Lebanon

Key Points

• Zelensky says Trump’s envoy visiting Moscow and not Kyiv is ‘disrespectful’
• Russia claims its forces took 1,700 square km of Ukraine so far this year
• Ukraine claims attacks on Russian warships in occupied Crimea
• EU set to unlock €90bn loan for Ukraine with Orban’s exit
• Germany and France propose limited 'associate' membership of EU for Ukraine

EU set to unlock €90bn loan for Ukraine with Orban’s exit

The European Union and Hungary are aligned on the need to clear a €90bn loan for Ukraine, Hungarian outgoing prime minister Viktor Orbán said.

The Kremlin-friendly leader was the only impediment to the critical funding being pushed through by the EU, and his successor Peter Magyar has said he seeks smoother ties with Brussels and while looking out for Budapest’s financial interests.

Almost 10 days after losing the elections, Orbán yesterday said Hungary will lift its objections to the loan as it has “received an indication from Ukraine” via Brussels that Kyiv was ready to restore oil deliveries via the damaged Druzhba pipeline that runs from Russia via Ukraine.

Kyiv ​says ⁠the pipeline was shut due to a Russian attack in late January.

“Once oil deliveries are restored, we will no longer stand in the way of approving the loan,” said Orbán, who earlier claimed the repair of the pipeline as a condition to clear the loan but has repeatedly caused obstruction in the coalition’s relief work for Ukraine.

The pipeline is set to be opened today, clearing the way for the loan, reported Bloomberg.

Two Russian shadow fleet tankers spotted crossing British waters

Two sanctioned tankers, part of Russia’s shadow fleet, made transit through British waters on Monday, The Independent can confirm.

The AURA 1 and INA, two crude oil tankers, crossed into British parts of the North Atlantic Ocean over the weekend, according to MarineTraffic. The two vessels could be seen transiting around 60km apart from each other as they headed in opposite directions near the Hebrides as early as 7am on Monday morning.

AURA 1, flying under a Panamanian flag, departed from Russia’s Ust-Luga cargo port on 9 April and crossed into British parts of the North Sea on Saturday before 3pm, transiting through the Scottish isles as part of its passage to Port Said, Egypt. The tanker was one of the latest to be sanctioned by the Foreign Office (FCDO) on 24 February.

Two Russian shadow fleet tankers spotted crossing British waters

Russia attacks Ukraine with 145 drones and missiles overnight

A major overnight Russian attack on Ukraine is continuing, the Ukrainian military said in an update this morning, with at least 143 drones and two missiles fired so far.

Russian forces attacked Ukraine with two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 143 Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas and other types of drones, the Ukraine Air Force said, adding that around 80 of the UAVs were Shahed loitering munitions.

The attack is still underway and several Russian drones are still in Ukrainian airspace, the air force said in an 8am update.

At least 22 drones have struck 17 locations and falling drone debris has been recorded at seven locations, officials said.

Six injured as Russia attacks medical facility in Ukraine

At least six people were injured in a Russian drone attack on the city of Sumy overnight, officials said.

One of the drones struck a residential area, while another hit the grounds of a medical facility, said regional governor Oleh Hryhoriv.

The injured include a 17-year-old girl who was hospitalised along with two men, and another person who received treatment at the scene, said Serhii Kryvosheyenko, head of the Sumy city military administraion.

Locals also reported numerous explosions across the city. One of the strikes caused a fire, damaged residential buildings, cars and a medical facility.

Watch: Zelensky says Trump’s envoys visiting Putin and not Kyiv is ‘disrespectful’

Russian interior minister arrives in North Korea for talks

Russian interior ​minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev arrived in North Korea for talks on cooperation between the ⁠two allies, the ministry's spokesperson Irina Volk said early on Tuesday.

"Issues of cooperation between ⁠the two ​countries ⁠in the field of law enforcement will be ⁠considered," Volk wrote on Telegram. ​Pictures ⁠showed the ‌minister being greeted on arrival in Pyongyang.

Russia and North ‌Korea have forged closer ‌relations since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and in ⁠2024 signed a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty" during a visit to Pyongyang by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The pact includes a mutual defence provision.

Under ‌the terms of the ​treaty, North Korea ‌sent some ⁠14,000 soldiers to fight alongside ⁠Russian forces in western Russia's Kursk ‌region ​after a ‌large Ukrainian incursion.

Chernobyl is too radioactive for humans – but wild animals are thriving like never before

Across the Chernobyl exclusion zone, a radioactive landscape too dangerous for human life, the world’s wildest horses roam free. Przewalski’s horses – stocky, sand-coloured, and almost toy-like – graze an area larger than Luxembourg.

This desolate territory was created on 26 April 1986, when an explosion at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant sent radiation across Europe, forcing the evacuation of entire towns and displacing thousands. It remains the worst nuclear disaster in history.

Four decades on, Chernobyl (Chornobyl in Ukraine) remains too dangerous for humans. Yet, wildlife has moved back in. Wolves now prowl the vast no-man’s-land spanning Ukraine and Belarus, and brown bears have returned after more than a century. Populations of lynx, moose, red deer, and even free-roaming dogs have rebounded.

Chernobyl is too radioactive for humans – wild animals are thriving like never before

Russia claims its forces took 1,700 square km of Ukraine so far this year

Russian forces took ⁠1,700 square km (656 square ⁠miles) ​of ⁠territory in ⁠Ukraine ​so far ⁠this year ‌and are advancing ‌in all ‌directions, Russia's ⁠top general, chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov ‌said ​on ‌state television ⁠today.

The claims from Russia come after intelligence assessments in March showed that Russian advances have slowed as Ukrainian forces continue to contest the initiative along the war frontline.

Ukrainian commander-in-chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi stated on 30 March that Ukrainian forces are prioritising conducting counterattacks in areas where Russian forces are the weakest in order to retake and maintain the operational and strategic initiative.

Zelensky says Trump’s envoy visiting Moscow and not Kyiv is ‘disrespectful’

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the regular visits from US president Donald Trump’s envoys to Moscow and not Kyiv were “disrespectful” at a time when peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have stagnated.

Former real estate magnate turned diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have flown to Moscow several times and met Russian president Vladimir Putin as recently in January. In December, they spoke for four hours before the American diplomats toured the Russian capital.

A smiling Putin told Witkoff he was glad to see him and asked him about his and Kushner's walk around Moscow, which included a stroll across Red Square past the mausoleum of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin to the towers of the Kremlin.

They are yet to travel to Kyiv even once, however, having only hosted the Ukrainian delegation in Miami.

“I consider their arrival is needed by them, not us... It's disrespectful to come to Moscow and not Kyiv, it's just disrespectful. I understand we have complex logistics... If they don't want to, we can meet in other countries," Zelensky said.

“We should not make the arrival of Jared and Wikoff some sort of special sensation because, first of all, we are in contact with them," Zelensky said in his interview to Ukrainian outlet ICTV.

“They are in contact (with us) over the phone, and it is over the phone that they express their desire to continue communication and negotiations."

Hungary's Magyar calls on Ukraine to restart Druzhba as soon as possible

Hungarian election ​winner Peter Magyar has called on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to reopen the damaged Druzhba pipeline as soon as it is functional, and for Russia ⁠to resume oil shipments through it.

Hungary's outgoing government, led by prime minister Viktor Orban, and Slovakia have been in a dispute with Ukraine over the suspension of Russian oil supplies over Ukrainian territory through ⁠the Soviet-era pipeline. Kyiv ​says ⁠the pipeline was shut due to a Russian attack in late January.

"If on the Ukrainian side the ⁠Druzhba pipeline is ready for oil shipments, then they ​should ⁠kindly reopen it as they ‌had promised," Magyar told a news conference after the first meeting of his parliamentary group.

"And from Russia, we expect ‌them to start feeding oil (into the pipeline) ‌in line with the contracts, because this will not work without either."

The pipeline could open today, according to a report by Bloomberg, restoring oil flow between Hungary and Russia.

Germany and France propose limited 'associate' membership of EU for Ukraine

War-hit Ukraine should only be granted limited “symbolic” benefits and some form of "associate" membership of the EU as part of a peace deal to end the war with Russia, according to German and French proposals.

Though Paris and Berlin have drafted their own suggestions for what a fast-tracked integration into the EU might look like for Ukraine, according to the FT, both fall some way short of Ukrainian hopes.

According to Germany’s proposal, Kyiv would be allowed to sit in on ministerial and leaders’ meetings but would not have voting rights and would receive “no automatic application” of the shared EU budget.

The French proposal, which would described Ukraine as a country with "integrated state status", would exclude Kyiv from EU farming subsidies.

Both say this status could be granted quickly to Ukraine once the war is over, and that it would be a stepping stone towards full integration into the bloc – a process that would still require Kyiv to navigate extensive bureaucratic hurdles.

A Ukrainian official told the FT that Kyiv was wary of watered-down membership being offered as a poor substitute for true EU member status, but accepted that some elements could be useful.

“We call it ‘shadow membership’,” the official said.

Watch: Three injured as Russian night strike hits Ukraine’s Velykyi Burluk, rescuers battle blaze

Ukraine claims attacks on Russian warships in occupied Crimea

Ukraine's GUR military intelligence has ⁠struck two "large" Russian landing ships ⁠in ​Russian-occupied Crimea, ⁠it said ⁠yesterday.

At ​the ⁠time ‌of the strike, which ‌occurred overnight ‌on Sunday, the ⁠ships that are part of the Russian Black Sea ‌Fleet were in ​Sevastopol ‌Bay, ⁠GUR ⁠said.

EU set to unlock €90bn loan for Ukraine with Orban’s exit

The European Union and Hungary are aligned on the need to clear a €90bn loan for Ukraine, Hungarian outgoing prime minister Viktor Orbán said.

The Kremlin-friendly leader was the only impediment to the critical funding being pushed through by the EU, and his successor Peter Magyar has said he seeks smoother ties with Brussels and while looking out for Budapest’s financial interests.

Almost 10 days after losing the elections, Orbán yesterday said Hungary will lift its objections to the loan as it has “received an indication from Ukraine” via Brussels that Kyiv was ready to restore oil deliveries via the damaged Druzhba pipeline that runs from Russia via Ukraine.

Kyiv ​says ⁠the pipeline was shut due to a Russian attack in late January.

“Once oil deliveries are restored, we will no longer stand in the way of approving the loan,” said Orbán, who earlier claimed the repair of the pipeline as a condition to clear the loan but has repeatedly caused obstruction in the coalition’s relief work for Ukraine.

The pipeline is set to be opened today, clearing the way for the loan, reported Bloomberg.

Russia flies bombers over Baltic Sea

Russia's defence ⁠ministry said it flew ⁠Tu-22M3 ⁠long-range ​bombers in ‌a planned flight over ‌neutral ‌waters in the Baltic Sea, the Interfax news agency ‌reported.

Russia carried out a similar exercise earlier this year in January, saying such flights are in compliance with international law.

Moscow claims that all flights of aircraft of Russia’s Air Forces are carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace.

Its forces conducts regular flights over neutral waters, including the Arctic Ocean, the North Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Baltic and the Black Seas.

Russia says it detains a German woman with a bomb in her rucksack

Russia's security service said on Monday it had detained a 57-year-old German woman with a bomb in her rucksack as part of what it framed as a false-flag operation directed by Ukraine.

Unverified footage showed a woman lying on the tarmac in a car park next to a rucksack, while armed men pointed their weapons at her. Sappers were shown blowing up the rucksack.

The FSB said the woman, who had a bomb with the equivalent of 1.5 kg of TNT, was targeting a law enforcement facility in the Stavropol region as part of a false flag operation directed by Ukraine.

The FSB said it had also detained a citizen from a country in Central Asia who thought he was acting on behalf of a "terrorist organisation" and had been due to detonate the bomb.

Russian interior minister arrives in North Korea for talks

Russian interior ​minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev arrived in North Korea for talks on cooperation between the ⁠two allies, the ministry's spokesperson Irina Volk said early on Tuesday.

"Issues of cooperation between ⁠the two ​countries ⁠in the field of law enforcement will be ⁠considered," Volk wrote on Telegram. ​Pictures ⁠showed the ‌minister being greeted on arrival in Pyongyang.

Russia and North ‌Korea have forged closer ‌relations since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and in ⁠2024 signed a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty" during a visit to Pyongyang by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The pact includes a mutual defence provision.

Under ‌the terms of the ​treaty, North Korea ‌sent some ⁠14,000 soldiers to fight alongside ⁠Russian forces in western Russia's Kursk ‌region ​after a ‌large Ukrainian incursion.

Watch: Firefighters battle blaze after Russian strike kills 16-year-old in Chernihiv

Russia's defence ministry said on Monday that Tu-22M3 long-range bombers carried out a planned flight over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, Interfax news agency reported.

Magyar calls on Ukraine to restart Druzhba as soon as possible

Hungarian election winner Peter Magyar called on Ukraine to reopen the damaged Druzhba pipeline as soon as it is functional, and for Russia to resume oil shipments through it.

Hungary's outgoing government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Slovakia have been in a dispute with Ukraine over the suspension of Russian oil supplies. Kyiv says the pipeline was shut due to a Russian attack in late January.

“If on the Ukrainian side the Druzhba pipeline is ready for oil shipments, then they should kindly reopen it as they had promised,” Magyar told a news conference after the first meeting of his parliamentary group.

“And from Russia, we expect them to start feeding oil (into the pipeline) in line with the contracts, because this will not work without either.”

Recap: Ukraine police chief resigns following supermarket shooting

The national head of Ukraine’s police patrol division, Yevhen Zhukov, ⁠has resigned after a video showed officers running away during a shooting in Kyiv.

Six people were killed in the mass shooting while another eight, including a child, were injured, according to Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko.

“The police officers acted unprofessionally and disgracefully. As police officers, they should have been helping and rescuing our citizens. But they failed to assess the situation properly and left civilians in danger," Zhukov said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's defence ministry said it was working to procure 25,000 ground robotic systems to be deployed to the frontline in the first half of this year, its defence ministry said.

“Our goal — 100 per cent of frontline logistics should be performed by robotic systems,” defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.

Last week, president Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine’s army robots were able to recapture land from surrendering Russian forces in a battlefield first.

Ukraine clears the way for 90bn euro loan with pipeline repair

Ukraine expects oil to start flowing through the Druzhba pipeline again by Tuesday, paving the way for the country to unlock a massive 90 billion euro loan from the EU, according to a report.

Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that tests of the pipeline are set to go ahead this week, following urgent repairs.

The pipeline was damaged in a Russian attack in January, leading Hungary to veto the much-needed loan offered by the European Union. Landlocked Hungary depends on the pipeline for a steady flow of Russian oil.

Outgoing prime minister Viktor Orbán, an ally of Putin and a longtime thorn in Kyiv’s side, signalled on Sunday that he would be willing to lift the veto if Ukraine can get the pipeline up and running again.

EU diplomats told POLITICO that the loan could be approved as soon as Wednesday if the oil transit resumes in time.

Kyiv shooting death toll rises to seven

A man hit in a Kyiv shooting on Saturday has died in hospital, bringing to the seven the toll of those killed in the incident, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said on Monday.

A Russian-born man opened fire on passersby with an automatic rifle on Saturday before barricading himself in a supermarket with hostages, where he was shot dead by police.

"Sadly, a man died in hospital today from injuries he sustained and became the seventh victim of the terrorist act," Kravchenko said.

Kravchenko said an armed police patrol team had been called to the scene, but failed to act to stop the shooter or help the wounded.

"Instead, the patrol team, equipped with firearms and all the legal grounds to use them, in fact left the scene," he wrote.

"Because of the police officers' failure to take action, the man continued to move unhindered down the street and shoot at defenceless pedestrians."

Chernobyl is too radioactive for humans – but wild animals are thriving like never before

Chernobyl is too radioactive for humans – wild animals are thriving like never before

Russia detains German woman after bomb discovered in her rucksack

Russia's Federal Security Service stated on Monday that it had detained a 57-year-old German woman with a bomb in her rucksack as part of what it cast as a false-flag operation directed by Ukrainian intelligence.

Unverified footage showed a woman lying down on the tarmac in a car park while armed men pointed their weapons at her - and a rucksack that was beside her. Sappers were then shown blowing up the rucksack.

The FSB claimed the German woman, who had a bomb with the equivalent of 1.5 kg of TNT, was targeting a law enforcement facility in the Stavropol region as part of a false flag operation directed by Ukraine.

The FSB said it had also detained a citizen from a country in Central Asia who thought he was acting on behalf of a "terrorist organisation" and had been due to detonate the bomb.

"The actions of the man were coordinated by employees of the Ukrainian special services under the guise of members of one of the international terrorist organisations banned in Russia," the FSB said.

German woman with bomb in her rucksack detained in Russia over alleged Ukraine plot

Pope Leo calls for 'weapons to fall silent' in Ukraine and commends ceasefire in Lebanon

Russia lost billions of dollars in oil revenue due to strikes last month

Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure led to oil revenues losses of at least $2.3 billion (around £38 million) last month, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

“In March alone, Russia’s oil revenue losses from our long-range capabilities are estimated at no less than $2.3 billion in just one month,” he stated in his nightly video address.

The Ukrainian leader said he was “grateful to all our warriors for their precision” and said Ukraine would continue its attacks in April.

Firefighters battle blaze after Russian strike kills 16-year-old in Chernihiv

Russia has suffered more than 1.3 million casualties since 2022

Russia has suffered more than 1.3m military losses since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In an update by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence there had been 1,319,270 casualties as of Monday.

It also claimed to have taken out 11,884 tanks, 24,422 fighting vehicles, 40,396 artillery systems and 435 aircraft.

German woman arrested in suspected suicide bomb attack in Russia

Russia’s FSB security service has arrested a German woman that was found with a homemade bomb in her backpack.

The woman was allegedly plotting to blow up a law enforcement building in Southern Russia.

In a statement published by local media, the FSB said the woman, who was born in 1969, had been recruited by a citizen of a central Asian country who was working for Ukrainian security services.

The agency said the bomb was supposed to detonate remotely, which would have killed the woman.

She was reprotedly arrested in the city of Pyatigorsk, while her recruiter, who was born in 1997, was also arrested.

Bulgaria's Russian-friendly ex-president to win parliamentary election

The centre-left coalition of ex-president Rumen Radev has emerged as the clear winner of Bulgaria’s parliamentary election, the country’s central electoral commission said Monday, ending half a decade of political fragmentation.

During his presidency, Radev gained a reputation as being sympathetic to Russia. He repeatedly opposed EU efforts to send military aid to Ukraine for its war against Russia's full-scale invasion. He has often argued that supporting Ukraine risks drawing Bulgaria into the war and has favored reopening talks with Russia as a way out of the conflict.

Radev resigned from the mostly ceremonial presidency in January, a few months before the end of his second term, to launch a bid to lead the government in the more powerful role as prime minister.

His supporters are divided between those hoping he will put an end to the country’s oligarchic corruption and those lining up behind his Euroskeptic and Russia-friendly views.

Tired of political turmoil, Bulgarians give ex-president a convincing mandate for change

Ukraine says strike on Russia's Tuapse refinery started fire

Ukraine's military said on ⁠Monday that an overnight strike on ⁠Russia's ​Tuapse ⁠oil refinery ⁠hit reservoir ​tank storage ⁠and ‌started a fire.

The military ‌has also ‌hit an ⁠oil depot in Russian-occupied Crimea, the general staff said ‌in a ​statement ‌on ⁠the Telegram messaging ⁠app.

One dead after Ukrainian drone attack on Russian port

A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea port of Tuapse has killed one person and sparked a large fire, Russian officials said.

"Tuapse was subjected to another massive drone attack," Veniamin Kondratiev, governor of the Krasnodar region, ‌said on messaging app Telegram. "A fire occurred ‌at the seaport."

Kondratiev said one man was killed at the port and another injured, while debris from drones damaged several city buildings.

Kyiv shooting death toll rises to seven, mayor says

A man hit in ​a Kyiv district shooting on Saturday has died in hospital, bringing the toll of those killed in the ⁠incident to seven, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Monday.

A Russian-born man opened fire on passers-by with an automatic rifle on Saturday ⁠before barricading himself ​in ⁠a supermarket with hostages, where he was shot dead by police.

"The ⁠victim was in extremely serious condition. ​The ⁠doctors fought for his ‌life, but unfortunately they were unable to save him," Klitschko said on the ‌Telegram messaging app.

Watch: Firefighters battle blaze after Russian strike kills 16-year-old in Chernihiv

Chernobyl is too radioactive for humans – but animals are thriving like never before

Four decades on from the nuclear disaster, Chernobyl remains too dangerous for humans. Yet, wildlife has moved back in.

Wolves now prowl the vast no-man’s-land spanning Ukraine and Belarus, and brown bears have returned after more than a century. Populations of lynx, moose, red deer, and even free-roaming dogs have rebounded.

Read more here:

Chernobyl is too radioactive for humans – wild animals are thriving like never before

Ukraine to replace soldiers with 25,000 ground robots in bid to save lives

Ukrainian military is working to procure 25,000 ground robotic systems to send in the warzone against invading Russian forces in the first half of this year, its defence ministry said.

Defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Ukraine will double the total procured robotic systems throughout 2025.

“Our goal — 100 per cent of frontline logistics should be performed by robotic systems,” he said, adding that the expansion follows a meeting with domestic manufacturers of unmanned ground systems, where the ministry outlined its goal of scaling robotic support across the battlefield.

This comes just days after president Volodymyr Zelensky announced that in a rare historic battlefield first, Ukraine’s ground robotic systems of drones and ammunitions were able to recapture land from the Russian forces and saved 22,000 lives in the process.

Ukrainian forces carried out more than 9,000 logistics and evacuation missions using ground robots in March alone, and approximately 21,500 missions during the first quarter of 2026, according to the government.