Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump and Zelensky to discuss air ceasefire after Russian attack triggers Kyiv fires – UK Times

Ukrainian air attacks killed two people and wounded 17 others in strikes on the southern Russian cities of Rostov-on-Don and Belgorod, regional ⁠authorities said this morning.

In Rostov-on-Don, a major export hub near the Sea of Azov, ⁠a couple from the same family ⁠was killed and another five people were wounded, including two of whom were in ⁠critical condition, regional governor Yuri Slyusar said in a ⁠Telegram post.

Falling drone debris caused fires at a number of locations, including warehouses, and windows were blown out in a residential apartment building, he added.

In Belgorod, ‌which like Rostov-on-Don is close to the Ukrainian border, a drone attack wounded 12 people, including two children, and caused a ⁠fire in a residential building, regional authorities said separately on Monday.

Ukrainian and American officials have discussed a proposal for an air ceasefire, according to a report, which they plan to offer Russia as part of a new push to revive peace talks.

Kyiv has previously made similar approaches to Russian president Vladimir Putin which have been turned down, but Ukrainian officials believe that pressure on Russia’s economy from ongoing Ukrainian drone and missile strikes may soften Putin’s stance, a source told Reuters.

The proposal is expected to feature in face-to-face talks between Volodymyr Zelensky and US president Donald Trump in Washington DC on Tuesday.

Iran foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said a Ukrainian ⁠attack on an Iranian commercial vessel “cannot go unanswered”.

Iran said the attack in the Caspian Sea resulted in an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another. Araqchi made the comments in ⁠calls with EU foreign ​policy chief ⁠Kaja Kallas and ‌Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, Araqchi posted on X.

Lavrov, in a statement posted on the Russian foreign ministry’s website, offered condolences in connection with the death of a sailor in the attack.

Lavrov said Araqchi thanked local authorities in the Russian region of Astrakhan, where the vessel started its journey, for helping the crew “and stressed the ‌need to put an ​end to such adventures by ‌the Kyiv regime”.

The ⁠statement also said Araqchi ⁠informed Lavrov of “continuing diplomatic efforts aimed ‌at de-escalating ​tension in the Middle ‌East”.

Britain will hand over intellectual property behind its new “Stone Cloak” electronic warfare system to Ukraine, enabling the war-hit nation to produce the technology at scale, PM Andy Burnham will announce today.

The tablet-sized device is designed to block Russian detection of any drones it is fitted to.

The Ministry of Defence has already given thousands of the jammers to Ukrainian forces to bolster their drone operations.

Following its deployment in Ukraine, the technology is expected to be incorporated into the UK’s next generation of long-range strike weapons, including Project Brakestop, the Government’s initiative to develop low-cost cruise missiles.

Prime minister Andy Burnham will welcome Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as his first international visitor today, in a move that underscores London’s steadfast support for Ukraine, Burnham’s office said.

The two leaders are expected to meet at a naval base, where they will hear how UK-led training programmes are helping strengthen ⁠Ukraine’s armed forces ​and ⁠deliver results on the battlefield, according to Downing Street.

“Britain stands with Ukraine, shoulder to ⁠shoulder, and our support remains unwavering,” Burnham said ​in ⁠a statement.

“Russia should be ‌in no doubt of our resolve, and we will not back down until we achieve ‌long-lasting and just peace for Ukraine,” the PM said.

During the visit, Burnham and Zelensky will meet more than 200 Ukrainian military personnel and sailors who have ⁠spent the past three weeks in Britain taking part in Exercise Sea Breeze, a maritime security and counter-mine exercise designed to prepare participants for future missions in the Black Sea.

A Ukrainian drone attack wounded 12 people, including two children, ⁠in the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border with Ukraine, regional authorities said in the early hours today.

Several apartments in a residential building and more than 15 cars caught fire in the attack, the post added.

In Rostov-on-Don, ‌a major export hub on the Sea of Azov ‌in southern Russia, a Ukrainian ‌air attack damaged an apartment building, mayor Aleksandr Skryabin said in ⁠a post on Telegram.

A couple was killed in the Russian southern city of Rostov-on-Don in a Ukrainian air attack overnight, regional governor Yuri Slyusar said in a Telegram post.

At least five people were ‌also injured ‌with two of ⁠them in critical condition, he said, adding that falling drone debris caused fires ‌at a ​number ‌of ⁠locations, including ⁠warehouses.

Viktoria Terekhova shipped virtually her entire summer collection of children’s clothes last week to the giant warehouse of online retailer Wildberries at Elektrostal, east of Moscow.

Within a couple of days, it was destroyed in a Ukrainian drone strike.

Fashion designer Terekhova says she lost 12,000 ⁠items, amounting to about 45% of her company’s total inventory, and another 4,000 items in attacks on Wildberries hubs in southern Russia.

Eight Wildberries warehouses accounting for more than 10% of the company’s storage capacity have been attacked since July 18 in a wave of strikes against Russia’s leading online retail company.