Ukraine-Russia struggle newest: Ukraine-Russia struggle newest: Kyiv’s audacious Operation Spiderweb ‘was like raid that killed Bin Laden’ | EUROtoday

Ukraine has been invited to a Nato summit in The Hague this month, Mark Rutte, the navy bloc’s chief, mentioned on Wednesday, with out specifying whether or not this meant Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky would attend.

“I invited Ukraine to the summit. We will as soon as possible bring out the programme with more details,” Rutte informed reporters earlier than a gathering with defence ministers in Brussels.

Asked whether or not Zelensky personally had been invited, Rutte solely mentioned the programme could be revealed sooner or later.

Vladimir Putin’s troops greater than doubled their positive factors of Ukraine in May in comparison with April, figures present.

Blackbird Group evaluation confirmed Russia seized 538 sq. kilometres of Ukraine all through May, in contrast with 185 sq. kilometres in April.

This was the quickest price of advance this 12 months and second highest since Russia illegally invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the group mentioned.

The highest price of advance since then was November 2024, which Ukraine known as the “most powerful Russian offensive” because the struggle started.

Russia captured 750 sq. kilometres all through this month, equal to 25 sq. kilometres a day, in accordance with the group.

Russia occupies round 115,432 sq. kilometres of Ukraine, or roughly 20 per cent of the nation.

By Kate Devlin, Whitehall Editor

Nato secretary basic Mark Rutte has informed member nations to “we have to go further and faster” on defence spending, amid an expectation the alliance will drive Keir Starmer to comply with allocate 3.5 per cent of GDP.

Defence spending “keeps us safe” Mr Rutte informed a press convention forward of a gathering of defence ministers.

On Monday the prime minister’s daring plans to rework the UK’s defences have been overshadowed by a row over cash after the prime minister did not decide to a agency date to boost spending to three per cent of GDP.

The Labour chief was warned Britain might not be transferring rapidly sufficient to counter the quickly rising threats from nations resembling Russia.

Sir Keir and different Nato leaders are below strain from US president Donald Trump to quickly improve spending, to wean Europe off a dependence on Washington for navy help.

US President Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy mentioned the danger of escalation from the struggle in Ukraine was “going way up” after Ukrainian forces used drones to strike nuclear-capable bombers at a number of airbases deep inside Russia.

Ukraine mentioned it attacked airfields in Siberia and Russia’s far north over the weekend, putting targets as much as 4,300 km (2,670 miles) from the entrance strains of the battle.

“I’m telling you, the risk levels are going way up – I mean, what happened this weekend,” Trump’s envoy, Keith Kellogg, informed Fox News.

“People have to understand in the national security space: when you attack an opponent’s part of their national survival system, which is their triad, the nuclear triad, that means your risk level goes up because you don’t know what the other side is going to do. You’re not sure.”

The UK pledged on Wednesday to produce 100,000 drones to Ukraine by the top of the present monetary 12 months in April 2026, marking a tenfold improve, after saying the unmanned aerial autos had remodeled the best way wars are fought.

The authorities on Monday endorsed an independently-produced Strategic Defence Review, which requires a extra deadly, tech-driven military to counter rising threats, together with attainable Russian aggression.

Britain, one in every of Ukraine’s staunchest Western supporters, plans to be taught from Kyiv’s greater than three-year battle towards Russian invasion, throughout which drones have remodeled the battlefield.