Putin assaults Ukraine port after Moscow accused of mendacity over Black Sea ceasefire

The Ukrainian president says Russia’s in a single day drone assaults have been proof that Russia needed the struggle to pull on.

Russia launched 117 drone assaults by the night time, and the important thing Ukrainian Black Sea port metropolis of f Mykolaiv was struck.

Volodymyr Zelensky stated many areas got here beneath assault from Russia, regardless of the nations reaching an settlement to finish assaults within the Black Sea and begin working in the direction of a ceasefire.

“Final night time, there have been one other 117 proofs in our skies of how Russia continues to pull out this struggle – 117 strike drones, most of them Shaheds. A big quantity have been shot down by our air defenders,” he stated on X.

“Dnipro, Sumy, Cherkasy, and different areas got here beneath Russian assault. There was a large drone strike on Kryvyi Rih – focusing on an area enterprise and civilian infrastructure. In Okhtyrka, Sumy area, houses, shops, and civilian infrastructure have been broken. Communities in Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia areas additionally got here beneath hearth.”

Defence Secretary John Healey says he’s “proud” of the UK’s main position in constructing a ‘coalition of the prepared’ to assist Ukraine.

Mr Healey was requested about US particular envoy Steve Witkoff’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine struggle, after Mr Witkoff dismissed Sir Keir Starmer’s plans for a peacekeeping drive as being primarily based on a “simplistic” thought.

Talking on BBC Radio 4’s In the present day programme, Mr Healey stated: “I am proud that the UK, alongside France, is main the coalition of the prepared, prepared to face by Ukraine within the occasion of a negotiated peace simply as now we have by the struggle.

“And we’re responding to the US problem to European nations just like the UK to do extra to assist Ukraine.

“We’re responding to the requirement of Ukraine to say, ‘look, post-ceasefire, what are the safety preparations that give us the boldness that any negotiated peace will, as President Trump has stated, be a sturdy peace’.

“That is what we’re making ready for: the success of the negotiations we have seen, long run, in Saudi Arabia, however the way forward for Ukraine as an unbiased sovereign nation that has been preventing so arduous for its future over the past three years in opposition to Putin’s unlawful invasion.”

Whereas Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky stated he would instantly observe the ceasefire, Russia stated they might solely halt motion if sure situations together with the lifting of sanctions was met.

In a single day, Russia launched a drone assault on town of Mykolaiv, a key Black Sea port.

Oleksandr Vilkul, the pinnacle of the navy administration, described it as the most important drone assault on town because the struggle started.

“Apparently, that is how the occupiers ‘need peace’,” he wrote on telegram.

However as world affairs editor Sam Kiley writes from Odesa, Ukraine has been beating Russia within the Black Sea – which has been essential in getting Vladimir Putin to the negotiating desk.

World Affairs Editor Identical Kiley has frolicked with the Ukrainians preventing Russia on the Black Sea. Watch right here:

Ukrainians have paid respects to a volunteer medic, Oleksandr “Bohushâ” Oliynyk, who was reportedly killed in service.

Russia’s international minister says the US might want to implement the brand new deal permitting cargo ships to move by the Black Sea.

“We are going to want clear ensures,” Sergei Lavrov advised the Russian state Channel One tv.

“And given the unhappy expertise of agreements with simply Kyiv, the ensures can solely be the results of an order from Washington to Zelensky and his staff to do one factor and never the opposite.”

Mr Lavrov stated Russia needed this not solely to have the ability to make a revenue however to additionally assist enhance meals safety in Africa and the International South.

“We wish the grain and fertiliser market to be predictable, in order that nobody tries to ‘ward us off’ from it,” he stated.

Ukraine’s President has welcomed the progress on a ceasefire however says Russia’s actions over the subsequent few days will present the world whether or not the Kremlin is severe about peace.

Volodymyr Zelensky warned that any motion taken by Russia to go in opposition to the brand new settlement to cease focusing on ships within the Black Sea needs to be met with drive.

“How Russia behaves within the coming days will reveal lots – if not the whole lot. If there are air raid alerts once more, if there’s renewed navy exercise within the Black Sea, if Russian manipulations and threats proceed – then new measures will have to be taken, particularly in opposition to Moscow,” he stated in his nightly video.

The president stated Russia was already “actively deceiving” mediators and mendacity about its actions.

“Moscow at all times lies. And it is dependent upon the world – on all those that actually want peace – whether or not Moscow will likely be allowed to lie once more,” Mr Zelensky stated.

“We in Ukraine will do the whole lot to make sure that the agreements work out and that there aren’t any strikes. However the Russians should know and should realise: in the event that they perform strikes, they’ll face a powerful response and they’ll bear the duty.

Mr Zelensky identified that Ukraine had come to a 30-day ceasefire settlement, however it was Russia that refused to simply accept it.

“It’s Russia’s stance that’s prolonging this struggle,” he stated.

Ukraine’s navy says it shot down 56 of the 117 Russian drones that have been deployed throughout the preventing fronts.

The Basic Workers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated the drones got here from a number of totally different instructions, together with Kursk and Crimea

The Ukrainian military stated it efficiently shot down 56 of the drones within the south, north, east and centre of Ukraine. An extra 48 drones have been misplaced, however Ukraine stated no consequential injury was precipitated.

Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of “manipulation” after Moscow stated it might solely comply with cease firing on ships within the Black Sea if different situations are met.

The US stated earlier on Tuesday that it had secured separate agreements from each Ukraine and Russia to a truce that may defend key transport routes.

However the Kremlin has now stated the settlement won’t come into impact until Russia receives sanctions aid first, and the hyperlinks between some Russian banks and the worldwide monetary system are restored.

Mr Zelensky has stated his understanding was that the truce agreements didn’t require sanctions aid to come back into drive and would take impact instantly, calling the Kremlin’s assertion an try and “manipulate” the offers.

As one of many first steps to ending the struggle in Ukraine, members of the US delegation have sought to have Moscow and Kyiv halt their assaults on one another’s vitality amenities and property within the Black Sea.

However it’s nonetheless not instantly clear when both settlement will take impact.

“They’re already attempting to distort agreements and, in reality, deceive each our intermediaries and the complete world,” Mr Zelensky stated in his nightly video deal with.

“How Russia behaves within the coming days will reveal lots – if not the whole lot. If there are air raid alerts once more, if there’s renewed navy exercise within the Black Sea, if Russian manipulations and threats proceed – then new measures will have to be taken, particularly in opposition to Moscow,” he stated.

Russia launched an in a single day drone assault on the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv that gives the war-hit nation with entry to the Black Sea, officers stated.

The mayor of Mykolaiv stated there have been emergency energy outages early as we speak within the metropolis, following a report by the area’s governor that seven drones have been destroyed in a single day over the area.

It was not instantly clear whether or not the ability cuts have been precautionary or a results of the in a single day assault on Mykolaiv.

Russia additionally attacked Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown Kryvyi Rih in a single day, in an assault which sparked fires and broken buildings however precipitated no deaths, the pinnacle of town’s navy administration stated.

“Apparently, that is how the occupiers ‘need peace’,” wrote Oleksandr Vilkul, the pinnacle of the navy administration, on Telegram.

He described it as the most important drone assault on town because the struggle started.

“Most significantly, there have been no deaths or accidents.”