Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky arrives in UK as Starmer government vows ‘not to forget war in Europe’

This is because Ukraine estimates that Vladimir Putin can only recruit somewhere between 35,000 and 37,000 troops a month, despite staggering sign-up bonuses, extravagant salaries, and a $165,000 (£124,000) compensation package provided to the families of Russian soldiers killed in action.

According to Ukrainian and Western sources, if Putin’s ministry paid for all the Russian dead the war is generating every month – also estimated at around 35,000 – the cost would be $5.775bn (£4.35bn).

Defence secretary John Healey confirmed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit would take place on Tuesday.

Mr Healey told MPs yesterday: “Over the last month, we have delivered to Ukraine 3,500 drones, 18,000 artillery rounds and three million rounds of small ammunition.

“We face two conflicts on two continents, supported by an axis of aggression with similar tactics and similar technologies.

“I say this to the Ukrainian people on behalf of the UK: we will not forget the war in Europe and our total determination to stand with Ukraine remains steadfast, and we will welcome President Zelensky to this country tomorrow,” he said.

Russian ⁠air defence ⁠units have ​downed ⁠206 ⁠Ukrainian ​drones ⁠overnight, ‌including 43 ‌over Moscow region, ‌the ⁠Interfax news agency reported ‌this morning.

The Prime Minister said he would meet the Ukrainian president to maintain focus on the war despite international attention being diverted by the Iran conflict.

The rise in energy prices caused by the Middle East turmoil has benefited Vladimir Putin’s Russia despite the sanctions imposed to stifle the flow of funds to his forces.

The US temporarily loosened sanctions preventing other countries buying Russian oil and petroleum which was already loaded on vessels at sea to try to ease the pressure on global supplies triggered by the US-Israel strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation against Gulf states.

The conflict could also constrain supplies of air defence missiles for Ukraine because of the surge in demand in the Middle East.

At a Downing Street press conference, Sir Keir said he would meet Mr Zelensky “soon” because “it’s vital that we continue to focus on supporting Ukraine”.

Kenya said it had agreed with Russia ​that Kenyans would no longer be eligible for signing up to fight in the war with Ukraine ‌after the scale of Russian recruitment triggered anger in some African countries.

Kenyan foreign minister Musalia Mudavadi who met his Russian counterpart Segrei Lavrov said an agreement had been reached with Russia to no longer allow Kenyans to sign up to ​fight.

Kenya says that more than 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight, attracted by monthly salaries of several thousand dollars and bonuses of more than $6,000 for contract soldiers.

“His excellency has conversed with us on the issue of the welfare of Kenyans who are in Russia and more ​specifically those who are involved in the special operation,” Mudavadi said at a joint news briefing with Lavrov.

“And I want to make it clear that we have now agreed that Kenyans shall not be enlisted through the (Russian) Ministry of Defence – they will no longer be ​eligible to be enlisted,” he said.

“There will no further enlisting.”

He added that consular services would be organised through proper ​diplomatic channels for those Kenyans who had already signed up and required assistance.

Lavrov said that Kenyan citizens had voluntarily signed contracts to ‌fight alongside ⁠the Russian army.

Italy, France and seven other nations told the European Commission that a Russian liquefied natural gas tanker currently adrift in the Mediterranean represents an ecological threat, and they urged swift action on the issue, a letter showed on Monday.

“The precarious condition of the vessel, combined with the nature of its specialised cargo, gives rise to an imminent and serious risk of a major ecological disaster in the heart of the Union’s maritime space,” the letter seen by Reuters said.

Russia’s transport ministry said the Arctic Metagaz, carrying LNG from the Arctic port of Murmansk, was attacked earlier this month by Ukrainian naval drones launched from the Libyan coast. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for any such attack.

Russia has taken control of a dozen settlements in Ukraine in ​the first two weeks of March as part of advances along the front line in eastern and ‌southern Ukraine, Russian state-run news agencies reported quoting top general Valery Gerasimov.

The claims have not been confirmed by Ukraine and come at a time Kyiv is making rapid adavances on the battlefield. President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country’s armed forces had disrupted Russian plans for an offensive, with Moscow failing to reinforce its troops.

Gerasimov, the chief of Russia’s General Staff, was speaking during a ​visit to the southern grouping of forces and pointed to gains around major Ukrainian cities in the more ​than four-year-old conflict, known in Russia as a special military operation.

“The offensive is being conducted ⁠in all directions,” the Russian defence ministry quoted him as saying on its Telegram channel.

“In two weeks in March, 12 ​settlements have been liberated by units and military formations of the United Group of troops,” it said.

Gerasimov said Russian forces were “actively ​moving towards Sloviansk,” a heavily defended town in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region long seen as one of Moscow’s major targets.

Zelensky, speaking in his nightly video address after meeting Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russian assaults had become less intense.

“Ukraine’s defence forces have disrupted Russia’s strategic offensive operation that the enemy had planned for March,” he said.

Hollywood actor Sean Penn stepped out of a train carriage in central Kyiv yesterday, thousands of miles away from the glitz of Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre where he had failed to turn up to receive his third acting Oscar hours earlier.

Penn, 65, won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in the political thriller “One Battle After Another”, but skipped Sunday’s ceremony to travel to meet Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky in the war-battered capital.

Ukraine’s state railway operator posted a short video clip of Penn getting out of the train in the morning, saying it had kept his trip a secret until the very last moment.

“Now we can say it officially: Sean Penn chose Ukraine over the Oscars!” it said on its Facebook page.

Zelensky posted a picture of him meeting the actor in the presidential office in Kyiv’s barricaded government quarters.

The photo showed the black-clad president talking to Penn who was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. There were no immediate details on their conversation.

“Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is,” Zelensky wrote on the Telegram app.

“You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war. This is still true today,” Zelensky added.

Penn, a long-time advocate for Ukraine, has visited the country several times during the four-year war with Russia. He filmed a documentary about Russia’s invasion that premiered in February 2023.

Penn also lent Zelensky, a former comedian and actor, one of his other Oscars in 2022.

Russian air defence units downed at least 67 Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow yesterday, according to data published by the city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

On Monday morning, Sobyanin had listed 38 drones intercepted. In a long series of posts later, the mayor said a further 29 drones had been downed during the day, starting at about 8am (0500 GMT).

Sobyanin also said that air defence units had shot down around 250 Ukrainian drones approaching Moscow over the previous two days.

In its latest tally, the Russian defence ministry said air defence units had downed 59 Ukrainian drones from 4pm to 8pm over different parts of the country, including 13 targeting Moscow.