Russia-Ukraine war latest: Zelenskiy to meet Sunak in London; France to send Kyiv military aid – live | Ukraine

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, has reported that “the air force shot down four Shahed attack drones and one Orlan reconnaissance drone in the east around midnight, the command said.”

The claims have not been independently verified.

Britain to send long-range attack drones to Ukraine

London’s elected mayor Sadiq Khan has also commented on Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to the UK today. He told viewers of Sky News:

I think it is important we show our solidarity. We, of course, had a great time on Saturday [referring to hosting the Eurovision song contest on behalf of Ukraine], but the serious stuff is not to forget the plight of those in Ukraine.

Many women older Ukrainians and children are in London. And it’s really important we’ve opened our doors to Ukrainians

The men are fighting bravely against Putin’s forces, and it’s really important that not just our prime minister, but President Macron and European allies provide continued support to the brave people of Ukraine.

Sunak: ‘UK is sustaining our support to Ukraine’

A Liverpool man has spoken to the PA news agency, saying there were “so many extremely moving moments” during a trip made by a group of fellow aid workers to his home town for the Eurovision song contest.

Tim Johnson, a 37-year-old IT consultant, brought a group of volunteers: six Ukrainians and six Poles; who have worked with Ukrainians affected by war, to the UK to take part in Eurovision events.

Two of the group travelled from Ukraine via Warsaw, while the others joined Johnson from Poland, to watch two rehearsals for the Eurovision song contest and watch the grand final in Liverpool’s fan village.

One of the volunteers received a message during the show that her Ukrainian home of Ternopil had been attacked shortly before the Ukrainian band, Tvorchi, was to perform.

Johnson said the news of the missile strike on Ternopil – which is also the home town of the Ukrainian act – was a “moment of sheer fear and panic”.

“I had to get her very quickly out of a maintenance gate and try to make a call to check if everyone was alright and luckily her family were, but it’s just another example of what they’re going through.”

In the run-up to the final, the group draped Ukrainian flags on the statue of the Beatles on Liverpool’s waterfront. Johnson said the large flag attracted the attention of passersby, saying: “Literally hundreds of people gathered around taking photos and nobody said a word but you could just feel the huge outpouring of support there.”

He continued: “It was one of those lump-in-the-throat moments. It’s hard not to be moved by so many people gathering around like that and the silent support.”

On Telegram, Andriy Yermak from Zelenskiy’s office has added a little more detail about the Ukrainian president’s trip to London, saying:

Today there are important meetings in London. We are working on strengthening the defense of Ukraine and supporting our progress with Nato.

Zelenskiy will be attending the next major Nato summit in person, with Ukraine pushing for more concrete steps and a timetable for joining the alliance.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy to meet Rishi Sunak in London on Monday

The defence of Bakhmut continues and recent days have shown that Ukraine can move forward and counter the Russian forces there, the commander of Ukrainian ground forces, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Monday.

“The advance of our troops along the Bakhmut direction – that is the first successful offensive operation in the city’s defence,” Reuters quotes Syrskyi as saying on Ukraine’s media military centre Telegram channek.

“The last few days have shown that we can move forward and destroy the enemy even in such extremely difficult conditions. The operation to defend Bakhmut continues. All necessary decisions for the defence have been made.”

It has been impossible for journalists to independently verify the battlefield situation in fiercely contested Bakhmut for months, with both sides engaged in the war issuing claims and counter-claims about progress.

Russia’s air defences compromised, says UK MoD

Russia’s air defences continue to be compromised after a core airbase in the western part of the country was struck by several uncrewed aerial vehicles on 3 May, the latest UK intelligence briefing has said.

Russia’s Seshcha Airbase, located 150km north of the Ukrainian border, has played a major role in enabling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is also used to launch uncrewed aerial vehicles towards Kyiv.

The briefing said:

The VTA [Russia’s Military Transport Aviation] is a well-resourced element of the Russian Air Force, essential for transport across the vast country. Russian leaders will be concerned that Russia’s air defences continue to be compromised, holding at risk key strategic assets such as VTA bases.

Top Chinese envoy to visit Ukraine, Russia on ‘peace’ mission

A top Chinese envoy will begin a tour of Ukraine, Russia and other European cities on Monday in a trip Beijing says is aimed at discussing a “political settlement” to the Ukraine crisis, Reuters reports.

Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, will also visit Poland, France, Germany on the multi-day trip, the foreign ministry announced Friday without providing a detailed schedule.

He is the most senior Chinese official to visit Ukraine since Russia invaded in February last year, and his trip could coincide with the beginnings of a long anticipated counteroffensive by Ukraine to recapture territory seized by Russia.

Increasingly regular series of Russian drone and missile strikes are likely part of a new campaign focussed on Kyiv aimed at degrading Ukrainian abilities to conduct counteroffensive operations, according to US a thinktank.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its daily update on Monday said Russian forces conducted another series of drone and missile strikes over Saturday and Sunday night. It comes after the forces have conducted at least 10 series of strikes throughout Ukraine since 19 April.

It reported the new air campaign has been more regular than previous Russian campaigns against critical infrastructure, however the forces are using fewer high precision missiles.

Here are the latest images coming across the wires from Ukraine:

Wagner head offered to reveal Russian troop locations to Ukraine

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary force, offered to reveal the position of Russian troops to the Ukranian government, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing leaked U.S. intelligence documents.

Wagner’s soldiers have been at the forefront of a bloody Russian offensive to take the city of Bakhmut. In exchange for Ukraine withdrawing its soldiers from the area, Prigozhin in January offered to tell its intelligence service the positions of Russian forces, the Post reported.

The paper said Ukraine rejected the offer.

Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has publicly threatened to withdraw his mercenaries from the area around Bakhmut, where they are at the vanguard of the Russian offensive, unless they receive much-needed ammunition.

He said Tuesday in an audio message that he and his men would be regarded as traitors if they abandoned the area.

The Post reported Prigozhin’s offer came through his contacts with Ukraine’s intelligence service.

France to send dozens of armoured vehicles, light tanks to Ukraine

France will send to Ukraine in the coming weeks dozens of armoured vehicles and light tanks, including the AMX-10RCs fighting vehicles, according to a joint statement issued after President Emmanuel Macron’s talks with Ukraine’s president, Reuters reports.

After a working dinner that lasted more than three hours between Macron and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the French presidency indicated that Paris was also concentrating its efforts on supporting Kyiv’s air defence capabilities against Russian strikes.

After securing a bumper $3 billion new military package from Germany over the weekend, Zelenskiy said in Berlin on Sunday that Kyiv and its allies could make a Russian defeat “irreversible” as early as this year.

A source at the French presidency told reporters that additional, more modern defence systems would be made available to Ukraine.

G7 leaders to target Russian energy, trade in new sanctions steps

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations plan to tighten sanctions on Russia at their summit in Japan this week, with steps aimed at energy and exports aiding Moscow’s war effort, said officials with direct knowledge of the discussions, Reuters reports.

New measures announced by the leaders during the May 19-21 meetings will target sanctions evasion involving third countries, and seek to undermine Russia’s future energy production and curb trade that supports Russia’s military, the people said.

Separately, U.S. officials also expect G7 members will agree to adjust their approach to sanctions so that, at least for certain categories of goods, all exports are automatically banned unless they are on a list of approved items.

That change could make it harder for Moscow to find gaps in the sanctions regime.

The exact areas where these new rules would apply are still being discussed.

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