Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky says phone call with Trump and Macron after G7 ‘could change a great deal’ – UK Times

The Admiral Grigorovich, a Russian frigate, fired warning shots after making attempts to contact the yacht, the MoD claimed, in order to prevent a potential collision. Russia’s defence ministry has claimed its sailors were acting “in strict accordance” with international shipping regulations.

While this is being viewed as an isolated incident, it came days after tensions between the UK and Russia spiked when Britain seized a sanctioned vessel transiting through the Channel.

In Russia’s Belgorod border region, local officials said a Ukrainian drone strike killed one man in his car.

On Wednesday, Moscow had accused Ukraine of attacking a bus carrying Belarusian schoolchildren, an accusation Kyiv said was “false”.

In ​the southern Russian region of Rostov, a Ukrainian drone attack killed one, ‌injured two and caused a fire at two commercial facilities, ​local officials said.

Emmanuel Macron has said that president Donald Trump “took notice” of the fact that Russia was not seeking peace.

Speaking at a press conference at the G7 summit, the French president said Washington acknowledged that Moscow was not looking to end its war in Ukraine.

He said the G7 had “showed a real change in the approach from the US on Ukraine”.

Trump had earlier suggested that the US could impose sanctions on Russia if it did not take steps to end the war.

Kyiv has come under attack from Russian missiles in the early hours today, Kyiv authorities ⁠said, as they urged residents to take shelter.

A Reuters witness heard explosions in Kyiv and authorities in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy said one person was killed in a drone attack.

Air strike alerts were issued for most of Ukraine’s territory.

“The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic missiles. Stay in safe places until the ⁠air raid alert is over!” Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military ​administration, ⁠said in a Telegram post early on Thursday.

The attack came just hours after Trump said Russia was losing more soldiers than Ukraine, after he suggested that both ‌Russian president Vladimir Putin and Zelensky seemed open to doing something about the war.

Thick plumes of smoke with flames were seen in the early hours of Thursday in southeastern Kapotnya district in the Russian capital of Moscow, a Reuters witness said.

It ‌was not immediately clear what ‌the source ‌of the fire was. The ⁠Moscow oil refinery is located in the area. Over three dozen drones heading ‌for Moscow ​were downed ‌overnight, ⁠mayor Sergei Sobyanin said ⁠on Telegram.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said late on Wednesday he had spoken to US president Donald Trump and French president Emmanuel ⁠Macron in a “coordinating conversation” at the close of the G7 summit in Evian.

“This was an important coordinating conversation which could change a great deal,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

“I am ⁠grateful to President Trump ​for ⁠his attention to Ukraine and for his readiness to help bring peace closer. I am grateful ⁠to Emmanuel for the excellent organisation of the summit ​and ⁠the consistently strong joint ‌work,” he said.

Zelensky, in a subsequent post on Telegram, said he had discussed the outcome of the Evian summit with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte in Brussels.”The main thing is working on strengthening our defence and getting US licences to produce air defence systems,” Zelensky wrote.

A drone attack killed one, injured another two people and caused a fire at two commercial facilities in the southern Russian region of Rostov, regional governor Yuri Slyusar said on Telegram.

He ‌added that a ⁠locomotive was also damaged after drones attacked the town of Gukovo, saying ‌that ​defence systems continued ‌to ⁠repel the ⁠attack.

The Admiral Grigorovich, a Russian frigate, fired warning shots after making attempts to contact the yacht, the MoD claimed, in order to prevent a potential collision. Russia’s defence ministry has claimed its sailors were acting “in strict accordance” with international shipping regulations.

While this is being viewed as an isolated incident, it came days after tensions between the UK and Russia spiked when Britain seized a sanctioned vessel transiting through the Channel.

Here’s a timeline of the UK-Russia incidents at sea since the war in Ukraine began: