Ukraine-Russia conflict reside: Kyiv foils latest drone and missile assaults by Putin’s forces as Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant hit once more

Ukraine and Britain have signed a framework settlement to cooperate within the defence and arms manufacturing sector, officers stated in Kyiv, a part of a wartime effort to build up Ukraine’s home weapons business by working with allies.

The doc was signed at a navy business convention in Kyiv that was attended by about 30 British defence firms who visited to debate potential joint ventures with Ukrainian weapons and defence producers.

“It is the first intergovernmental agreement on cooperation,” Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine’s Minister for Strategic Industries, instructed reporters after the signing ceremony.

“Today British companies are working with Ukrainian companies and looking for opportunities to produce more weapons jointly.”

Greg Hands, UK Minister for Trade Policy, stated he hoped the settlement would carry positive factors for Ukraine on the battlefield and in addition profit its battered economic system in the long run.

Kyiv has downed dozens of Putin’s drones and two guided missiles as Ukraine was accused of hitting a Russian-controlled nuclear energy plant.

The Ukrainian Air Force claimed 14 out of 17 attack drones launched by Moscow have been downed and two of a number of guided missiles concentrating on Odesa and Mykolaiv have been destroyed.

Energy infrastructure in Mykolaiv was broken because of the attack, disrupting energy provide for a number of hours. There have been no casualties within the assaults, the navy stated.

A wider conflict in Europe is “no longer a fantasty” and the continent ought to put together for conflict with Russia, the EU’s prime diplomat warned.

“Russia threatens Europe,” each via its ongoing conflict in Ukraine and hybrid assaults on EU member states, Josep Borrell stated.

“War is certainly looming around us,” stated Mr Borrell. “A high-intensity, conventional war in Europe is no longer a fantasy.”

Volodymyr Zelensky invited US presidential candidate Donald Trump to Ukraine, saying he was open to listening to his proposal for ending the conflict.

The Ukrainian president, nonetheless, was sceptical about options involving giving up the captured area to Russia, saying such a deal would pave the best way for extra Russian conquest sooner or later.

“If the deal is that we just give up our territories, and that’s the idea behind it, then it’s a very primitive idea,” Mr Zelensky instructed The Politico.

“I need very strong arguments. I don’t need a fantastic idea, I need a real idea, because people’s lives are at stake.”

Russians within the metropolis of Orsk gathered in a uncommon protest Monday calling for compensation following the collapse of a dam and subsequent flooding within the Orenburg area close to the border with Kazakhstan.

Protests are an uncommon sight in Russia the place authorities have persistently cracked down on any type of dissent following President Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine. Hundreds of individuals gathered in entrance of the executive building in Orsk Monday, Russian state information company Tass stated, whereas movies shared on Russian social media channels confirmed individuals chanting “Putin, help us,” and “shame.”