Ukraine war latest: British charity founder killed ‘in combat against Putin’s troops’

As Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban reportedly arrives in Kyiv today for his first visit to the Ukrainian capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion, we remind you of the below photo from last week.

Mr Orban and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky were pictured on the sidelines of a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels on 27 June in a heated exchange.

The details of the conversation have not been made public, but Mr Orban has consistently opposed weapons supplies to Ukraine and the country’s accession to the bloc.

During the inauguration of Argentine president Javier Milei last year, Mr Orban and Mr Zelensky were filmed in another heated exchange.

Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem Umerov will hold talks with US defence secretary Lloyd Austin in Washington today as the two discuss firming up military cooperation between the two countries, the Pentagon said.

“Secretary Austin and minister Umerov will discuss bilateral defence cooperation, regional security issues and ways to strengthen the defence partnership between the United States and Ukraine,” deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said at a press briefing, according to a transcript on the US Department of Defence website.

The talks come after Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his plea to Kyiv’s allies over the weekend for more weapons after a Russian air strike in Ukraine‘s Zaporizhzhia region killed seven people.

Last week, the administration said it would provide Ukraine with $150m worth of weapons and ammunition, including HAWK air defence interceptors and 155 mm artillery munitions

“The sooner the world helps us deal with the Russian combat aircraft launching these bombs, the sooner we can strike – justifiably strike – at Russian military infrastructure, military airfields, the closer we will be to peace,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address over the weekend.

But after two years of Kyiv’s asking allies for F-16 fighter jets to help it fight Russian forces, the planes are yet to arrive.

The US is the largest provider of military assistance to Ukraine in the war that Russia launched against its smaller neighbour with a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Explosions reverberated across the pre-dawn sky as Ukrainian air defences fended off a Russian attack on this small city in western Ukraine, home to an important air base and a frequent target of Moscow’s strikes.

Hours after the assault, the tidy streets of Starokostiantyniv had returned to a semblance of normality.

But the 27 June attack was a stark reminder of the challenges Kyiv faces as it rebuilds its depleted air force and deploys the first US-designed F-16s – fighter aircraft that Russia will be determined to ground or destroy.

The first planes are expected to arrive this month, and Ukraine hopes they will boost forces struggling to repel a Russian onslaught along the front line, which includes devastating glide bombs that F-16s could potentially disrupt.

Officials have not revealed where the F-16s will be based, but Moscow said after the strike on Starokostiantyniv last Thursday that it had targeted airfields it believed would house them.

The air base has come under frequent attack since the first days of Russia’s February 2022 invasion, including from drones and hypersonic missiles.

Residents of this historic military outpost of around 30,000 people, nicknamed Starkon, in Ukraine‘s Khmelnytskyi region have learned to adjust to the constant danger.

“In short, it’s ‘fun’ to live here,” said city official and local culture expert Vasyl Muliar with a wry smile, speaking after the recent attack.

A Ukrainian air force spokesman said the strikes presented “certain difficulties”, but would not undermine the delivery of F-16s or their use in battle.

Officials are tight-lipped about details of attacks on objects such a military bases and critical infrastructure.

Military analysts said the Russians were probably targeting air base infrastructure such as runways and storage facilities to make getting F-16s airborne more difficult, and, when they arrive, the Western jets themselves.

The Ukrainian military, which is low on air-defence ammunition, is also likely to be forced to move the prized planes around airfields, said Justin Bronk, of the Royal United Services Institute.

“Any ground-based air defence coverage can be saturated if the Russians care enough to fire enough missiles at one target,” he said.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban arrived in Kyiv this morning for talks with Volodymyr Zelensky, Orban’s press chief said.

Orban and Zelensky are going to discuss the chance to create peace and current issues of Hungarian-Ukrainian bilateral relations, Bertalan Havasi said.

Russian troops are forging through Ukraine‘s outgunned and undermanned defenses in a relentless onslaught, prompting the West to push for new weapons and strategies to shore up Kyiv.

That, in turn, has brought new threats by President Vladimir Putin to retaliate against the West — either directly or indirectly.

The moves by the West to blunt the offensive and the potential Kremlin response could lead to a dangerous escalation as the war drags through its third year — one that further raises the peril of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.

Russia took advantage of its edge in firepower amid delays in U.S. aid to scale up attacks in several areas along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front. Relatively small units are probing Ukrainian defenses for weak spots, potentially setting the stage for a more ambitious push.

Russian commanders are ordering their forces to kill surrendering Ukrainian soldiers in a plan to “terrify” droves of Russian troops into not giving themselves up.

Many newly conscripted and poorly trained Russian soldiers realise their lives are being squandered in human-wave attacks, according to Ukrainian officials.

Petro Yatsenko, a spokesperson for Kyiv’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, says orders to kill Ukrainians who could be taken prisoner come from the “highest level” – the Kremlin. The instructions are designed to “terrify” their own soldiers, he adds.

The department has representatives from various Ukrainian ministries, with the country’s military intelligence agency playing a key role.

Peter Fouche died on Thursday “in the battlefield” after getting badly injured “in combat against Russian forces”, Halyna Zhuk, commercial director and co-founder of Project Konstantin, said in a video message.

he Netherlands will supply Ukraine with the first of 24 promised F-16 fighter jets soon, the outgoing Dutch government said.

The necessary permits to deliver the jets to Ukraine have been granted, defence minister Kajsa Ollongren said in a letter to parliament ahead of a government transition today after months of coalition building following an election last year.

She did not specify how many planes would be in the first delivery and when they would arrive in Ukraine for security reasons.

The Netherlands has been one of the driving forces behind an international coalition to supply Ukraine with F-16s to strengthen its air defences against Russia.

The Dutch government earlier supplied F-16s to a training facility in Romania, where Ukrainian pilots and ground staff are being taught to fly and maintain the planes in battle.

In April, Ollongren said she expected promised deliveries by Denmark, the Netherlands and the United States to start within months.

Russian attack submarines have conducted missions around the Irish Sea twice since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, three people familiar with the matter said.

The first deployment of a Russian Kilo-class submarine close to the Irish Sea, happened around 18 months ago while the second occurrence took place more recently, the report added. Officials said the extent of the submarine movements went beyond what British officials had previously seen.

US officials were aware of the sub movements, the report further said citing two people familiar with the matter.

Russia’s and Ireland’s defence ministries, Britain’s foreign ministry and the White House have not issued a comment on the report.

The Kilo-class submarine is a diesel-electric attack submarine capable of firing Russia’s Kalibr cruise missiles, as well as torpedoes and naval mines, Bloomberg said.

Russia in 2022 said its navy would stage a sweeping set of exercises involving all its fleets from the Pacific to the Atlantic, the latest show of strength in its military standoff with the West.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney commented at the time that they were not welcome.

Volodymyr Zelensky pushed his allies from the US to provide more Patriot air defence systems as he met the leaders from the US House of Representatives last night.

“I held a meeting with a bipartisan delegation from the US House of Representatives. We discussed key areas of further American assistance, including additional air defense systems. This is critically important, as the Patriot systems save lives and protect infrastructure,” he said.

He added: “I thank US president Joe Biden, both chambers and parties of Congress, and the entire American people for their unwavering leadership in supporting Ukraine.”

In April this year, the US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington will provide Ukraine additional Patriot missiles for its air defence systems as part of a massive $6bn additional aid package.

The missiles will be used to replenish previously supplied Patriot systems. The package also includes more munitions for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS, and additional gear to integrate Western air defense launchers, missiles and radars into Ukraine’s existing weaponry, much of which still dates back to the Soviet era.