Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv says it killed 12 FSB officers in drone swarm attack on Russian command centrenewsline24

The King’s youngest son, in a rare input on global matters, clarified he was “not here as a politician” but as “a soldier who understands service” and “a humanitarian”, though he did not mention Mr Trump by name.

Responding to the speech Harry made during a surprise visit to Ukraine, the US president told reporters: “I know one thing, Prince Harry is not speaking for the UK, that’s for sure. I think I am speaking for the UK more than Prince Harry.”

“But I appreciate his advice very much,” he added.

The European Union formally approved on Thursday a €90bn (£78bn) loan to Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia, ahead of an ⁠informal summit of the bloc’s leaders in Cyprus which Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will attend.

The loan is set to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s financial needs for the next two years. Economists had said Ukraine would start to run out of money by June if the EU loan was not disbursed by then, requiring deep cuts to public services.

“We are on our ⁠way to Cyprus with good news,” European Commission chief Ursula von ​der ⁠Leyen said.

“While Russia doubles down on its aggression, we are doubling down on our support to the brave Ukrainian nation enabling Ukraine to defend itself and putting pressure on Russia’s war economy,” she said.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected the idea of a partial EU membership for his war-hit nation.

Germany and France have proposed limited ”symbolic” or ”associate” EU membership for Ukraine as part of a peace deal, which would grant some benefits but exclude voting rights or full access to shared budgets.

“Ukraine does not need symbolic membership in the EU,” Zelensky said, speaking to reporters on his presidential WhatsApp chat on the way to Cyprus.

“Ukraine is defending itself and is definitely defending Europe. And it is not defending Europe symbolically – people are really dying,” he said.

Zelensky added that Ukraine is defending “shared European values” and therefore saying the country deserves full membership in the 27-strong bloc of countries.

Ukraine’s drone wing says it has killed at least 12 officers and injured 15 others in a strike on a command post of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in the Donetsk region on Wednesday.

Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi confirmed the attack yesterday and said Ukrainian forces used FP-2 drones manufactured by the Ukrainian defence company Fire Point.

The drones can carry up to 100kg payloads and are used for medium-range strikes.

The operation, during which operators carried out “eight precision strikes on the target,” was conducted by the Unmanned Systems Forces together with fighters from the 1st Corps of the Ukrainian National Guard’s Azov Brigade, the statement from Brovdi read.

He said the command post hit in the attack is responsible for sabotage operations, building intelligence networks, recruitment, carrying out terrorist attacks and arson, and coordinating Russian proxy forces.

Prince Harry made an unannounced visit to Kyiv and called on Russia’s president Vladimir Putin to end the war – a week after a massive Russian aerial attack on the country – and on ⁠US president Donald Trump to show leadership to help resolve the conflict.

By convention, the British royal family do not speak out on political matters, although King Charles and other senior royals have regularly voiced their support for Ukraine.

But Harry, on his third visit ⁠to the country since the war ​began, ⁠used far more explicit language than any of his relatives have done previously.

“President Putin, no nation benefits from the continued loss of life we ⁠are witnessing. There is still a moment – now – to stop this war, to ​prevent ⁠further suffering for Ukrainians and Russians ‌alike, and to choose a different course,” Harry said in a speech to a Kyiv security forum.

He called on Washington to do more to ‌bring about an end to the war.

“This is a ‌moment for American leadership, a moment for America to show that it can honour its international treaty obligations,” he said.

“Europe has stood up in profound ways,” said the British Army veteran ⁠who served in Afghanistan.

“The task now is to match endurance with speed, solidarity with scale, and commitment with consistency,” he said.

Russian diplomats have denounced the latest European Union sanctions imposed on Moscow in connection with its invasion of Ukraine, saying the new measures ⁠lacked UN legitimacy and infringed the rights of third countries.

Russian news agencies quoted a statement by diplomats at Russia’s mission to the European ⁠Union as saying ​the ⁠measures were meaningless without a decision from the UN Security Council.

“We would like ⁠to remind you that only sanctions imposed ​by the ⁠decision of the ‌UN Security Council are legitimate,” state news agency TASS quoted the statement as saying.

“All ‌others are unilateral coercive measures, ‌and essentially — arbitrariness and aggression that contradict international law and the UN Charter.”

RIA news agency said the ⁠statement accused the EU of restricting exports of specific goods to a number of countries cooperating with Russia and said this was “resorting to economic blackmail and extraterritorial application of sanctions”.

The EU adopted its 20th package of ‌sanctions against Russia over its war ​in Ukraine after Slovakia and Hungary ‌dropped their opposition to ⁠the move following the resumption of ⁠flows through the Druzhba oil pipeline.

The EU had initially ‌aimed to ​adopt the package ‌to mark the fourth anniversary ​of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.

Efrem Lukatsky, a Kyiv-based photographer for The Associated Press, was living in the city on April 26, 1986, when the explosion and fire struck the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, about a two-hour drive away. He has visited the plant and the “exclusion zone” around it dozens of times. He recalls the disaster that has haunted him and Ukraine for 40 years.

It began with whispers at work.

There was no official announcement about the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant when it happened in 1986 — only fragments of information passed quietly among colleagues.

I was in my late 20s at the time and was a specialized underwater welder for a Kyiv institute that sent me to offshore platforms and classified military bases across the Soviet Union.

See the photos and read Efrem’s piece here:

Donald Trump has said the Duke of Sussex “is not speaking for the UK” after Harry told the US to honour its obligations in the Ukrainian conflict.

Responding to the speech Harry made during a surprise visit to Ukraine, the US president told reporters: “I know one thing, Prince Harry is not speaking for the UK, that’s for sure. I think I am speaking for the UK more than Prince Harry.”

“But I appreciate his advice very much,” he added.

Mr Trump went on to ask: “How’s he doing? How’s his wife? Please give her my regards.”

Harry delivered a lengthy, impassioned speech at the Kyiv Security Forum on Thursday, saying he was “not here as a politician” but as “a soldier who understands service” and a “humanitarian”.

In a rare input on global matters, the King’s youngest son turned his attention to the US – although he did not mention Mr Trump by name – urging the “American leadership” to “honour its international treaty obligations” in its “enduring role in global security”.

Harry said: “The United States has a singular role in this story. Not only because of its power, but because when Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons, America was part of the assurance that Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders would be respected.

“This is a moment for American leadership, a moment for America, to show that it can honour its international treaty obligations – not out of charity but out of its enduring role in global security and strategic stability.”