Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow launches third round of strikes in a week on Kyiv as Zelensky renews Nato bid – UK Times

A British general has been appointed to a key Nato command as the alliance shifts to a more European focus under pressure from Donald Trump.

Lieutenant General Nick Perry will take over Nato’s US-based Joint Forces Command (JFC) in Norfolk, Virginia, in September.

He will be the first British officer to command JFC Norfolk, a role usually undertaken by an American, and will be responsible for Nato’s operations in the High North and the Arctic, where the UK’s Carrier Strike Group is currently deployed.

The switch comes as European allies take over more leadership roles within the alliances, with Italy assuming command of JFC Naples and Germany and Poland sharing leadership of a third JFC in Brunssum, in the Netherlands.

The announcement of Lt Gen Perry’s appointment on Tuesday came as Sir Keir Starmer arrived in Ankara, Turkey, for a Nato summit set to be dominated by further rows about defence spending and questions about America’s commitment to the alliance.

President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a fresh appeal for Ukraine to be allowed to join the alliance, saying Ukrainian armed forces are highly experienced and would only boost Nato’s defence capabilities.

“I have a question for you. Do you really believe it? Do you really believe it would be right to leave outside Nato, a country and a people with this level of defensive capability?” Zelensky said, addressing the alliance’s leaders at the Nato’s defence industry forum.

“If we already have these capabilities, if Ukrainians already know how to fight like this, then it does make sense for these capabilities to become a part of the alliance’s collective defence that would make all of us stronger,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky, who is expected to meet with Donald Trump in Ankara today, highlighted Ukraine’s adaptability and its ability to strike deep inside Russia, hit Moscow’s oil refineries and other energy targets.

He said Ukraine’s armed forces are “eliminating” on an average 30,000 Russian troops every month.

The woman suspected of trying to kill a Ukrainian business tycoon in a bombing attack in Monaco last week was found dead in Ukraine with gunshot wounds to the head, Ukraine’s Security Service said.

A Ukrainian military intelligence officer confessed to killing the bombing suspect, Anastasiia Berezovska, with the help of a former law enforcement officer, said the security service, known as the SBU.

The military intelligence officer said he acted on his own and without the knowledge of his superiors, the SBU said.

Both men were detained on suspicion of murdering Berezovska, a Ukrainian national whose last known residence was in Germany, according to authorities.

They also “may have been involved in planning” last week’s bombing, Monaco prosecutor Stéphane Thibault said late Tuesday.

Authorities have not disclosed possible motives for the bombing attack, or the killing of Berezovska.

Based on the sophistication of the remote-controlled explosive device that was used, investigators in Monaco said last week that they believed multiple people were involved in the attack.

The bombing attack at an apartment building entrance in Monaco reportedly injured Vadym Yermolaiev, a tycoon with links to Russia. A woman and a child who were with him were also injured, and the Monaco prosecutor said last week that one of the victims was in a life-threatening condition.

The attack shocked Monaco, a coastal playground for the rich and famous known for its tax-friendly incentives, royal family and Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Ukraine has signed three more “drone deals” with Denmark, Estonia and the Netherlands, making available its expertise gained from more than four years of war with Russia, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Zelensky announced the deals in posts on social media on the sidelines of the Nato summit in the Turkish capital Ankara and said that Kyiv had ⁠now clinched nine such ​accords.

Zelensky has pointed to Ukraine’s need ⁠to boost defences against Russian ballistic missiles after two attacks on ‌the Ukrainian capital ​in the past week. At least 19 people died in Kyiv in ​the latest assault on Monday.

In announcing the deal with Denmark, Zelensky said the agreement “opens up greater opportunities for joint defence production, the exchange of expertise, and transparency in weapons exports”.

He said Denmark ⁠had been the first country to offer joint production in Ukraine “and it is absolutely fair that Denmark will now have access to Ukrainian exports of weapons tested in war”.

In a post on X at the end of the first day of meetings, Zelensky said ‌Ukraine “rightfully belongs here” and repeated that Kyiv’s ​main aim at the gathering was to “secure ‌more air defence and stronger ⁠diplomatic positions”.

Ukraine’s capital Kyiv ⁠came under a Russian missile attack in the early hours today, triggering fires and injuring at ⁠least two ​people, ⁠mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Klitschko said strikes in the capital had caused a fire in a storage area and a non-residential building in two areas on either side of the Dnipro River.

Two ⁠people were injured, with one requiring treatment in hospital.

The air alert lasted for about an hour.

A missile strike in the southern ‌port of Odesa ​earlier in the evening ‌injured 10 ⁠people, regional governor Oleh ⁠Kiper said. Eight were being ‌treated in ​hospital.

South Korea will provide a package of aid to Ukraine worth $100m that excludes any lethal weapons, a senior South Korean official said late on Tuesday.

The official ⁠was speaking in Ankara where South Korean president Lee Jae ‌Myung ​is ‌attending the ⁠Nato ⁠summit.

Through the grainy gray-and-white haze of thermal images streamed from a drone, Ukrainian pilots watch the roads that keep Russian forces supplied, hunting for targets with a fleet of midrange drones that is reshaping the battlefield.

In a basement command post in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, hundreds of kilometers from the drone over Russian-held territory, pilots wait for movement. When a vehicle appears, they will nudge the controller, sending the aircraft diving toward its target to disrupt Russian supplies deep behind the front.

“Our mission is to cut logistics,” said Kat, commander of Ukraine’s K-2 brigade, which fires midrange drones. “Cut off their supply lines, and the infantry on the front line have no food, no ammunition, no night vision, no batteries. Nothing. That’s how we’re wearing them down in every sense.”

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The body of Anastasiia Berezovska, 39, was discovered at around 11pm local time on Monday (9pm BST), law enforcement sources told Ukrainska Pravda.

Prosecutors ⁠said they also detained an employee of Ukraine’s military intelligence service (HUR), who said ‌he killed ​the ‌woman ⁠together with ⁠another suspect – reported to be a law enforcement officer.

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Europe finds itself in an increasingly precarious position amid the ongoing threat posed by Vladimir Putin and the withdrawal of US military support – and data suggests that defence spending has not kept up.

The dual risk posed by a belligerent Russia and a disengaged Washington has underlined the need to develop the continent’s military independence, European allies have said.

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