Ukraine war latest: Putin planning new ground invasion, warns Zelensky

Russia launched 90 drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine overnight, Kyiv has said.

Ukraine’s air defence units said it shot down 47 of the 90 drones and that 33 drones were lost “in reference to the Ukrainian military using electronic warfare to redirect them”.

Damage was reported in four regions in the north, centre and south of the country, the air force said without providing details.

It is unclear what was included in that letter, but former senior British officials who focus on Russia have suggested to The Independent that Moscow will try to extract maximal demands from Washington in exchange for a ceasefire.

Canada has contributed an additional CA$50m (£26.8m) to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, Ukraine’s energy ministry announced on Saturday, according to The Kyiv Independent.

This follows Ukraine’s receipt of the first tranche of a $1.7bn loan, secured through frozen Russian assets from Canada, as confirmed by Ukraine’s finance ministry on 13 March.

“As Russia continues its ruthless attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, leaving millions without electricity, water, and heat, Canada is proud… to continue the important work it is doing to help Ukraine repair its critical infrastructure,” said Canadian foreign minister Mélanie Joly in a statement.

“Contributions to the Energy Support Fund are directed toward purchasing equipment necessary for restoring energy facilities after enemy attacks and ensuring the stable operation of Ukraine’s energy system,” said Ukraine’s minister of energy Herman Halushchenko.

Watch as Sir Keir Starmer held a press conference after hosting a meeting with world leaders to discuss peace in Ukraine on Saturday, 15 March.

The prime minister urged countries in his “coalition of the willing” to keep pressure on Moscow after he warned Vladimir Putin not to “play games” over a ceasefire deal.

Around 25 world leaders joined Sir Keir for a virtual call on Saturday, including Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.

Donald Trump’s Oval Office attack on Ukraine’s president last month appeared to mark a very public realignment of America’s sympathies – away from Europe and towards Russia in a manner that few could have imagined during the Cold War years.

The Republican Party, now dominated by Trump’s “America First” MAGA movement, once considered the former Soviet Union “the evil empire” under Ronald Reagan and relished its collapse.

Today, the GOP stands accused of parroting Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric and some even refuse to admit the plain fact that Moscow began the war by invading its neighbor.

Ukrainian forces are rapidly losing ground in the Kursk region amid a major Russian offensive to recapture land which Kyiv hoped could be a crucial bargaining chip in peace negotiations.

In an attempt to divert Russian forces from the brutal frontlines in eastern Ukraine – and embarrass Vladimir Putin – Ukraine smashed across the border into the Kursk region in August, the biggest attack on Russian territory since the Nazi invasion of 1941.

Putin visited the western region for the first time since its seizure on Wednesday, in a sign of the confidence Moscow has that they will retake complete control of the region.

Three people, including a 7-year-old, were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Belgorod border region, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram, according to a Reuters report.

Two of the victims were hurt when a drone struck their house, sparking a fire in the Gubkinsky district, while the third was injured in an attack on the village of Dolgoye, Gladkov said.Alexander Gusev, governor of Voronezh and acting governor of Russia’s southern Rostov region both said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in their regions.

Russia’s defence ministry reported on Sunday that its air defence units destroyed 31 Ukrainian drones—16 were downed over the southwestern Voronezh region, nine over Belgorod, and the remainder over the Rostov and Kursk regions.

Ukrainian authorities reported multiple Russian drone strikes, including an attack on the northern Chernihiv region, where firefighters were tackling a blaze at a high-rise building ignited by the assault, according to Ukraine’s state emergency service.

The coalition of the willing is growing. The attendance list for Sir Keir Starmer’s video conference was impressive. The United Kingdom is now at the head of a roll call of 26 nations in support of Ukraine. These included all the larger countries in Europe, including Italy – even if Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, repeated her refusal to put troops into Ukraine under any circumstances.

The European Union itself was represented, even if not all its members were. So was Nato. And there were the leaders of four countries outside Europe: Canada, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. The coalition is also backed, Sir Keir said, by Japan. Canada was represented by Mark Carney, its new prime minister, who understands that his nation must stand up to Donald Trump as well as to Vladimir Putin if either threatens it.

Italy has no plans to deploy peacekeeping forces on the ground in Ukraine to support a potential ceasefire, prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s office announced on Saturday.

The statement followed the ‘coalition of the willing’ hosted by Keir Starmer, where members discussed ways to bolster Ukraine’s security in the event of a peace agreement with Russia.

Meloni joined the virtual meeting alongside leaders from 24 other nations.

“The Prime Minister confirmed that Italy intends to continue working with European and Western partners and with the United States to define credible and effective security guarantees, reiterating that national participation in a possible military force on the ground is not envisaged,” the statement said.