Ukraine-Russia battle newest: Kyiv says it killed 12 FSB officers in drone swarm assault on Russian command centre
Ukraine‘s drone wing says it has killed at least 12 officers and injured 15 others in a strike on a command post for Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi confirmed the attack yesterday in occupied Donetsk, and said Ukrainian forces used FP-2 drones manufactured by the Ukrainian defence company Fire Point.
He said the command post hit in the attack is responsible for sabotage operations, building intelligence networks, recruitment, carrying out terrorist attacks and arson, and coordinating Russian proxy forces. The drones can carry up to 100kg payloads and are used for medium-range strikes.Moscow is yet to comment on the attack.
This comes as the European Union formally approved a €90bn (£78bn) loan to Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia, ahead of an informal summit of the bloc’s leaders in Cyprus which Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will attend.
The loan is set to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s financial needs for the next two years.
EU finally approves €90bn Ukraine loan – how will it aid the fight against Russia?
The loan is set to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s needs for the next two years. Economists had warned Ukraine would run out of money by June without the EU loan, necessitating deep cuts to public services.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen stated: “While Russia doubles down on its aggression, we are doubling down on our support to the brave Ukrainian nation enabling Ukraine to defend itself and putting pressure on Russia’s war economy.” The move underscores the EU’s continued commitment to Kyiv.
Prince Harry, on visit to Kyiv, tells Putin to ‘stop this war’
Prince Harry made an unannounced visit to Kyiv and called on Russia’s president Vladimir Putin to end the war – a week after a massive Russian aerial attack on the country – and on US president Donald Trump to show leadership to help resolve the conflict.
By convention, the British royal family do not speak out on political matters, although King Charles and other senior royals have regularly voiced their support for Ukraine.
But Harry, on his third visit to the country since the war began, used far more explicit language than any of his relatives have done previously.
“President Putin, no nation benefits from the continued loss of life we are witnessing. There is still a moment – now – to stop this war, to prevent further suffering for Ukrainians and Russians alike, and to choose a different course,” Harry said in a speech to a Kyiv security forum.
He called on Washington to do more to bring about an end to the war.
“This is a moment for American leadership, a moment for America to show that it can honour its international treaty obligations,” he said.
“Europe has stood up in profound ways,” said the British Army veteran who served in Afghanistan.
“The task now is to match endurance with speed, solidarity with scale, and commitment with consistency,” he said.
Russian diplomats say new EU sanctions are ‘economic blackmail’
Russian diplomats have denounced the latest European Union sanctions imposed on Moscow in connection with its invasion of Ukraine, saying the new measures lacked UN legitimacy and infringed the rights of third countries.
Russian news agencies quoted a statement by diplomats at Russia’s mission to the European Union as saying the measures were meaningless without a decision from the UN Security Council.
“We would like to remind you that only sanctions imposed by the decision of the UN Security Council are legitimate,” state news agency TASS quoted the statement as saying.
“All others are unilateral coercive measures, and essentially — arbitrariness and aggression that contradict international law and the UN Charter.”
RIA news agency said the statement accused the EU of restricting exports of specific goods to a number of countries cooperating with Russia and said this was “resorting to economic blackmail and extraterritorial application of sanctions”.
The EU adopted its 20th package of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine after Slovakia and Hungary dropped their opposition to the move following the resumption of flows through the Druzhba oil pipeline.
The EU had initially aimed to adopt the package to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
Watch | ‘How’s his wife?’: Trump slams Prince Harry after Duke of Sussex’s plea to support Ukraine
Ukraine says it is in ‘strongest frontline position in a year’ as Russian advance grinds to a halt
Andrii Sybiha credited the progress to Kyiv’s superiority in drone warfare and air defence, which he claimed had the ability to shoot down up to 90 per cent of attacks.
He added: “For us, the situation on the battlefield is about strengthening our negotiating position. We can shoot down up to 90 per cent of the targets that strike our cities… [Ukraine’s] position on the battlefield is indeed the strongest, or the most solid, it has been over the past year.”
Earlier this month, Agence France-Presse analysed data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and found that Russia had made almost no territorial gains across the frontline in March. It marks the country’s worst progress in two and a half years.
Russia says it foils a plot to bomb telecoms watchdog leaders
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said that it had foiled a plot to bomb senior officials at the country’s telecoms watchdog, the Interfax news agency reported this morning.
The FSB said the leader of the plotters was shot dead while resisting arrest.
A total of seven people were detained, the FSB said. The FSB said searches had found links to Ukrainian paramilitary units during searches.
“On 18 April 2026, a terrorist attack against Roskomnadzor officials, planned by detonating a vehicle using an explosive device, was foiled,” the FSB was quoted as saying.
EU has started push for 21st package of sanctions against Russia, Kallas says
The European Union has started pushing for a 21st package of sanctions against Russia, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said this morning, one day after the EU adopted the 20th sanctions package against Russia over Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
“We’re really pushing to go on with the 21st package of sanctions,” Kallas told reporters ahead of an informal summit of EU leaders in Cyprus.
“It sends a very clear signal to Russia that they can’t outwait us. It also sends a clear signal to Russia that Ukraine is more important to us than it is to them, and we will keep on supporting them.”
Ukraine’s defence minister says country’s ‘red lines’ won’t change
Ukraine’s defence minister Kyrylo Budanov has said his country’s negotiating position on giving up territory in peace talks is not going to change.
“No one in the world deals with the weak, and international law does not work without strength. To succeed in negotiations, we must be strong on the battlefield and united on the home front,” he said at the Kyiv Security Forum.
“Our ‘red lines’ remain unchanged: we will not recognise any territorial losses, and we are not going to trade our land. Any compromise must, first and foremost, serve Ukraine’s interests,” he said, in a post on X.
One of the main sticking points in talks between Russia and Ukraine so far has been Moscow’s demands that Kyiv forfeit more of its territory in the east, which Ukrainian officials have said is non-negotiable and will not be sacrificed.
Russia warns European states against hosting French nuclear bomber planes
Russia has issued a fresh threat and said any European countries that accepted deployments of French nuclear-capable strategic bombers would make themselves targets for attack by Moscow’s forces in the event of a conflict.
French president Emmanuel Macron announced plans in March to expand the country’s nuclear arsenal and said France may allow European partners to host its nuclear-capable aircraft on temporary deployments.
Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said in an interview published yesterday that this was part of an “uncontrolled build-up” of Nato’s nuclear potential, which posed a strategic threat to Russia.
He stressed Moscow’s concern about the potential French nuclear deployments to other European countries. Macron has said Paris is discussing such arrangements with Britain, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Sweden and Denmark.
“Clearly, our military will be forced to pay close attention to this issue in the context of updating the list of priority targets in the event of a major conflict,” Grushko told the state media group Russia Today.
“As a result, instead of the declared French strengthening of the defence of their allies – to whom, incidentally, they offer no ironclad guarantees – the security of these countries is in fact being weakened.”
Macron’s initiative is part of a drive by Nato’s European members to take more responsibility for their own defence, after frequent criticism of the alliance from US president Donald Trump, and in light of his threats to take control of Greenland from Nato member Denmark.
UK calls for release of OSCE security members
A senior UK diplomat has called for the immediate and unconditional release of OSCE special monitoring mission members, as he condemned Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine.
Ambassador Neil Holland, the head of the United Kingdom’s delegation to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), was speaking at the gathering of OSCE members in Vienna yesterday.
“This month marks four years since our colleagues from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine – Dmytro Shabanov, Vadym Golda and Maxim Petrov – were unlawfully detained by Russia and its proxies. They were detained while carrying out duties mandated by this Council, under a mission established by consensus, including by the Russian Federation,” Holland said.
He added that the continued detention of the members “remains a clear breach of OSCE commitments”.
He also condemned the threats from Russia during a meeting last week.
“This reflects a familiar attempt to intimidate and deter those who support Ukraine’s right to defend itself against an illegal and unprovoked invasion. It will not work,” the diplomat said.
Source: independent.co.uk
