Ukraine-Russia conflict newest: Putin to cut back Victory Day parade amid army gear shortages | EUROtoday

Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement final month that the Navy may board ships belonging to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” has had no clear affect on the quantity passing via British waters, based on a brand new Reuters evaluation.

In the month after Sir Keir’s risk on 25 March, at the very least 98 Russian vessels topic to UK sanctions transited its waters, about the identical ⁠as every of the final three months.

The UK has a complete of 544 vessels ​linked to Russia’s “shadow fleet” on its sanctions record.

There ​has ⁠been no announcement of any boarding or detention of the ships, which usually have an opaque possession construction and may transport oil, grains and ⁠arms, usually in help of Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.

LSEG monitoring knowledge reveals that 63 ​ships ⁠handed inside 12 nautical miles of the ‌shoreline within the English Channel, probably the most direct route between the Baltic Sea and southern Europe.

Another 35 travelled via Britain’s Exclusive Economic Zone, which extends as much as ‌200 nautical miles from the coast, primarily round north ‌Scotland.

A Ukrainian drone strike sparked a “massive” hearth at a Russian oil refinery in Tuapse on Tuesday, as Kyiv stepped up its efforts to focus on a essential generator of funding for Vladimir Putin’s conflict chest.

It was the third assault on the Black Sea port facility in lower than two weeks because the Ukrainian army sought to disrupt the Russian oil and fuel business, which accounts for an enormous slice of Moscow’s federal price range.

After the Ukrainian army claimed duty for the newest strike, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin stated in remarks that have been broadcast on Russian tv that “drone attacks against civilian ⁠infrastructure are becoming more frequent”.

“The latest example is the strike against ​energy ⁠facilities in Tuapse,” he added, “which could potentially cause serious environmental consequences.”

The president dispatched Aleksandr Kurenkov to Tuapse where the emergency situations minister said the situation was “difficult however controllable”.

A Ukrainian drone assault brought on a serious hearth at a Russian oil refinery within the metropolis of Tuapse yesterday, officers stated, in what president Vladimir Putin described ⁠as proof of elevated Ukrainian assaults on civilian targets.

It was the third assault on the Black Sea port in lower than two weeks.

Ukraine’s army confirmed it had carried out the strike, the newest in a collection designed to disrupt Russia’s oil business and slash income that helps Moscow fund the conflict in Ukraine.

Putin, in feedback broadcast on Russian tv, stated: “Drone strikes against civilian ⁠infrastructure are becoming more frequent.

“The latest example is the strikes against ​energy ⁠facilities in Tuapse, which could potentially cause serious environmental consequences,” he said.

Putin said regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev had reported there were no major threats.

“It seems there are no serious dangers, and people are managing to ⁠deal with the challenges they face on the ground,” he added.

Ukraine used interceptor systems to shoot down more than 33,000 Russian drones of various types in March, a record monthly figure since Moscow launched its all-out invasion more than four years ago, Ukraine’s defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov claimed.

Ukraine’s offensive capabilities have also improved, with the country’s forces have more than doubled the range of their deep-strike capabilities since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

At that time, Ukrainian forces were able to hit military targets about 630km (400 miles) away, it said. They are now striking targets as far as roughly 1,750km (1,100 miles) behind enemy lines, the ministry said in a statement.

That improvement has allowed Ukraine to hit Russian oil installations that provide crucial revenue for Moscow’s war effort. It has also targeted manufacturing plants that supply Russia’s armed forces.

Ukraine has accused Russia of cannibalising soldiers on the battlefield as basic supplies dwindle.

A Ukrainian intelligence source told The Sunday Times they had evidence of at least five instances of Russian soldiers eating their comrades, according to their fellow soldiers.

Ukrainian military intelligence provided the newspaper with photos and purported intercepts of audio transmissions between senior Russian officers that they say evidence their claims.

In one case, an infantryman was ostensibly caught after killing two soldiers and attempting to eat the leg of one of his victims while stationed near Myrnohrad, in the Donetsk region, in November 2025.

The incidents, if true, were said to be “seemingly isolated and limited in number”, occurring within the winter the place provide chains have been stretched.

The Embassy of the Russian Federation in London stated it noticed “no reason to comment” on the allegations, calling the claims “fabrications”.

First got here the infantry, subsequent the missiles, then the drones.

Now, after greater than 4 years of a bloody and grinding conflict in Ukraine, remote-controlled floor robots are assuming command over the battlefield.

Last Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Ukraine’s third Separate Assault Brigade had regained territory solely utilizing a mixture of unmanned floor automobiles (UGVs) and drones – a mission he says was a primary within the conflict.

“The occupiers surrendered, and the operation was carried out without infantry and without losses on our side,” he went on, referring to an operation from the northeastern Kharkiv area final yr, through which Ukrainian infantry occupied a place gained utilizing the UGVs.

Ukraine’s defence minister says the nation’s forces shot down a report 33,000 Russian drones of varied sorts in March, marking the best month-to-month determine since Moscow’s full-scale invasion started over 4 years in the past.

It comes as Ukraine’s domestically developed long-range assault drones struck a Russian oil refinery and terminal on the Black Sea for the third time in lower than two weeks, prompting native evacuations as a precautionary measure.

Kyiv has developed superior, battle-tested drone know-how, which has confirmed essential in resisting Russia’s bigger army and has attracted worldwide army curiosity. Ukrainian officers report that interceptor drones, as a part of a complete air defence system, at the moment are being sought by Middle Eastern and Gulf international locations for cover amid the conflict in Iran.

Ukrainian forces have evacuated a 77-year-old girl within the embattled Donetsk area utilizing a floor drone, its army stated.

“From battlefield tool to rescue mission. @ab3army defenders used a ground robot to pull a 77-year-old woman out of a frontline danger zone. War tech saving lives,” the defence ministry of Ukraine stated, sharing a video of the evacuation operation on X.

The girl was seen strolling alongside a highway hit by drones and artillery shells within the Lyman space when the drone operators from the sixtieth Brigade’s unmanned floor techniques unit noticed her.

Without scaring her, the drone operators positioned a blanket on the platform and left a message studying, “Grandma, get on!”.

The floor robotic is seen transferring beneath incoming shells to extract the aged girl from the frontline space.

Ukraine has accused Israel of permitting the import of grain it says Russia stole from occupied territories, prompting a pointy change between officers in Kyiv and Jerusalem.

President Volodymyr Zelensky stated {that a} vessel carrying grain had arrived at an Israeli port and was getting ready to unload, calling the commerce unlawful and warning of sanctions in opposition to these concerned.

Israel claimed that the vessel had not entered the port and had not but submitted its paperwork. The MarineTraffic.com marine monitoring web site confirmed the ship had been in Haifa for a number of days.

“In any normal country, purchasing stolen goods is an act that entails legal liability,” Zelensky wrote on X, including that Ukraine’s intelligence companies have been getting ready sanctions concentrating on corporations and people taking advantage of the shipments.

“We will also coordinate with European partners to ensure that the relevant individuals are included in European sanctions regimes,” he stated.