Ukraine-Russia war latest: Belarus leader issues ominous threat to Zelensky over ‘one major target’ – UK Times

Ukraine received a new Iris-T air defence launcher from Germany on Saturday, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“We thank Germany for its constant contribution to protecting people; thousands upon thousands of lives have been saved thanks to such strong support,” Zelensky said on X.

“We ‌also need ⁠missiles for air defence systems to have sufficient capabilities to ‌repel ​Russian ‌attacks,” Zelensky said ⁠on ⁠Telegram.

Ukraine heavily relies on the Iris-T for its layered air defence system, which comprises of multiple different systems it sources from its allies.

The portable launchers can carry eight missiles each.

The German defence launcher is a short-range system capable of hitting targets at a distance of 12km (8 miles) and up to an altitude of 8km. It also has a medium-range system that can reach targets up to 40km (24 miles) and at an altitude of 20km (13 miles).

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has said his country has a “major” target in Ukraine in its sights.

Amid concerns about Minsk becoming more involved in the war, Ukraine’s commander of Unmanned Systems Forces had warned last week that his forces have identified 500 potential targets in Belarus.

“They may have identified 500 targets. But we have one major target, with precise coordinates, and it is very close to Belarus. They understand that too,” Lukashenko said yesterday.

Russia’s ally also claimed that Ukraine does not seek any conflict with Belarus.

“The Ukrainian military does not want any war with Belarus. I know that for sure,” he said.

“Because they understand that this means a thousand kilometres of additional front lines, a border – and a difficult border – between Belarus and Ukraine. Do they need that? No,” Lukashenko said.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said Kyiv is facing a limited window to hold effective peace talks with Russia, which will remain open until winter this year.

His assessment was based on Kyiv’s performance on the battlefield, with Ukraine regaining and holding the initiative.

Kyiv is better positioned to negotiate after Ukrainian troops regained the initiative in December 2025 and the window is expected to last till next winter, he told CBS News.

Zelensky said he has informed the US who are working on holding peace talks with Russia.

“It began in December 2025, Russia began to lose initiative on the battlefield,” Zelensky said.

“And from this point of view, I shared this information with our American partners. I said to them in January, I think that we have a window for the negotiations, because each month they will lose more and more people… So now we have this period of time before the winter. So I think that in winter — we have, before the winter, we need to find a way, diplomatic way, to sit and to speak,” he said.

Ukraine’s General Staff said Ukrainian drones struck the Saratov oil refinery in southwestern Russia, causing a large-scale fire.

It claimed the refinery has been supplying Moscow’s war effort.

The refinery belongs to Russia’s state oil enterprise, Rosneft. Local Russian governor Roman Busargin said Ukrainian drones had damaged civilian infrastructure, but did not give details.

Astra, an independent Russian news channel, said an oil refinery was on fire in the city of Saratov.

Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russia’s oil and gas facilities in recent months, arguing the energy sector funds and directly fuels Moscow’s more than four-year invasion.

“Tonight, our soldiers applied Ukraine’s long-range sanctions against an oil refinery in Saratov, Russia — approximately 700 kilometres (435 miles) from the front line. A significant achievement,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Ukraine’s General Staff also confirmed its forces were behind the strike on the facility in the town of Matveev Kurgan. Local authorities said a drone strike on the depot had caused a large-scale fire across a wide area.

According to its General Staff, Ukraine ​also struck the Lazarevo pumping station in Russia’s Kirov region northeast of Moscow, more than 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) from Ukrainian-controlled land.

The station helps ship Russian oil ​from Siberia to Belarus.

Regional governor Alexander Sokolov said drones had hit ​a facility in the Kirov region, without giving further details.

A Russian-appointed official said a Ukrainian drone struck an apartment building in ⁠a Russian-held part of southern Kherson region, killing a child and injuring 11 people.

Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed governor of the parts of Kherson region in eastern Ukraine under Moscow’s control, wrote on Telegram that the strike occurred in the city of Henichesk, on the shore of the Sea of Azov.

Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Friday that Russia was preparing a “massive” new strike against Ukraine as Kyiv renewed calls for western allies to accelerate deliveries of Patriot air defence systems.

In a Telegram post and later video address, the Ukrainian president said intelligence assessments indicated Moscow was preparing intensified attacks in the coming days. “We understand what Russia is preparing for and what it is counting on,” Zelensky said, urging Ukrainians not to ignore air raid alerts.

Zelensky also defended Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russian infrastructure, saying Kyiv would continue targeting Russia’s logistics networks and oil industry to weaken its war effort. “We are defending ourselves actively,” he said. “Everything that makes it harder for Russia to wage war helps bring peace closer.”

He added that Ukraine was working “with all partners” to strengthen air defences amid escalating Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Kyiv denied a Russian claim that a Ukrainian drone struck the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest.

Russia’s state nuclear energy company, Rosatom, said on Saturday that the drone exploded after tearing a hole in the wall of a turbine hall. Rosatom’s CEO Alexei Likhachev accused Ukraine of a “deliberate” attack.

“This afternoon, a Ukrainian kamikaze combat drone struck the turbine hall building of Power Unit No. 6, resulting in a detonation,” Likhachev said. He added there was no damage to main equipment.

Ukraine’s military said it did not target or strike the plant, and described the Russian claim as “yet another propaganda ploy.” A military statement said that it adheres to international humanitarian law and is aware of the “consequences of any actions targeting nuclear facilities.”

“Along the relevant section of the front line, there was no active fighting at the time of the incident, and no weapons were used,” it added.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, voiced “serious concern” in a post on X following the incident.

The IAEA said in an online statement on Sunday that its inspectors “observed damage to the exterior of a turbine building” that was “consistent with the impact of the drone.” It gave no details of where the drone may have come from, but said radiation levels at the site remained normal.”

During a site walk down, the team saw damage to a metal access hatch located several levels up in the building, as well as a few pieces of debris and burned optical fiber remains on the ground,” the agency said in a post on X. It added its inspectors had requested access to the inside of the turbine hall, “for further examination.”