Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky seeks Patriots in return for sending drone experts to Middle East – UK Times

A Russian drone struck a passenger train in northeastern Sumy Oblast early on Sunday, according to Ukrainian media reports.

The attack occurred at around 5.30am local time and hit a train carrying about 200 passengers, local prosecutors told the outlet Suspilne. Authorities said no injuries were reported, and passengers were later redirected to their final destinations.

Ukraine’s state rail operator Ukrzaliznytsia said the strike was part of a broader overnight drone campaign targeting railway infrastructure across the country, with additional damage reported in Rivne Oblast, Zhytomyr Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast.

The drone was preliminarily identified as a Lancet drone, a strike drone widely used by Russia.

Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Ukrainian drone specialists would travel to the Middle East “next week”, as Kyiv seeks additional US air defence missiles in exchange for its battlefield expertise in countering drones.

Ukraine is facing a shortage of the costly PAC-3 air defence missiles supplied by the United States, and officials fear that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East could further disrupt supplies.

Asked how Kyiv intended to help the US and its Gulf allies counter drone attacks, Zelensky said it was too early to provide details.

“It is too early to say anything else at this stage,” he said, adding: “I think that next week, when the experts are on site, they will assess the situation and help.”

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said he and the newly elected Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten discussed joint arms production and strengthening sanctions against Russia’s “shadow fleet” during talks in Kyiv.

Speaking at a joint briefing, Zelensky said Russia’s war effort depended heavily on revenue from oil exports and urged European countries to take stronger steps to curb the movement of tankers transporting Russian oil.

“Russia’s war directly depends on Putin’s ability to earn money from oil. That is why it is so important for European countries to stop the movement of tankers carrying Russian oil, which are still numerous in European seas,” Zelensky said.

He also emphasised Ukraine’s unique experience in defending against Iranian-made drones used by Russia.

“It is important that we are producing weapons together with the Netherlands – and we will certainly continue and expand this joint work,” Zelensky said on X, adding that the two leaders had discussed investment and possible production volumes in detail.

In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up efforts to establish joint arms production with European countries, opening several factories to manufacture drones.

The U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran have raised concerns among Democrats and others about diminishing American stockpiles of certain weapons, illustrating a long-standing production problem that some experts say could present challenges if another conflict emerges.

Missile defense systems are under the most strain, according to experts, with Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors in high demand in Ukraine and Israel, respectively.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday that its air defence units had intercepted 234 drones over various parts of central and southern Russia over a nine-hour period, including six drones headed towards Moscow.

The ministry reported no damage or casualties during the period from 2pm to 11pm. The governor of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, said one farm worker was injured.

The Russia-installed governor of the eastern Donetsk region areas under Moscow’s control said a Ukrainian military attack killed a family of four in the town of Hirnyak near Pokrovsk – a Ukrainian logistics centre that has long been under pressure from Russian forces.

A representative of Russia’s Investigative Committee, now operating in Russian-held areas of Ukraine, said Ukrainian shelling had damaged a children’s clinic in Donetsk, the region’s main city.

Russian attacks in Ukraine killed at least three people and injured 20 others, including at least one child, regional authorities said on Sunday.

Ukraine’s airforce said Russia launched 117 drones overnight into Sunday. Ukrainian forces managed to down 98, they said.

Donetsk oblast reported that Russian attacks killed one civilian and injured 10 others in the Ukrainian-controlled part.

Kharkiv Oblast reported two people were killed in Russian drone and glide bomb attacks, which injured seven others, including a child.

Five were reportedly injured in Kherson oblast following artillery and air strikes hitting seven apartment buildings and 18 private homes.

Russia has lost 1,273,290 troops since the start of the full scale invasion in 2022, according to Ukraine’s armed forces.

The number includes 930 casualties suffered over the past day.

The figures, reported early Sunday, are broadly supported by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which assessed 1.2m casualties since Feb 2022 earlier this year.

That figure included killed, missing and wounded.

Russia has been attacking Ukraine’s gas production facilities in the central Poltava region for two days, causing damage, Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz said on Sunday.

“A number of critical infrastructure facilities have been shut down. Damage and losses have been reported,” Naftogaz said in a statement.

The main Ukrainian gas fields are located in the central Poltava region and in the north-east of the country in the Kharkiv region, bordering Russia.