Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump Jr warns US could end support for Kyiv ahead of London peace talks

At least seven people were hurt after Russian drones hit a residential building in Okhtyrka, a city in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, according to governor Oleh Hryhorov.

The Sumy region, which borders Russia, has been subjected to almost continuous shelling and drone strikes since Moscow began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with the conflict now approaching its fourth year.

In a message posted on Telegram, Hryhorov said the injured residents were taken to a hospital, where two were admitted for further care, while the remaining victims were treated and later released.

He reported that the multi-storey building suffered significant destruction and noted that some occupants managed to reach the basement after air-raid alerts, while emergency responders helped evacuate others from higher floors.

The Independent is unable to independently confirm the details, and Moscow has not yet issued a response to the incident.

Both Ukraine and Russia maintain that they do not intentionally target civilians, although thousands — most of them Ukrainian — have been killed since the war began.

It is the revelation that should shake Britain to its core.

Yvette Cooper put it plainly: “Putin and his agents are an active threat to Britain’s citizens, our security and our prosperity.”

The prime minister held a call with Dick Schoof on Sunday morning, in which he briefed his Dutch counterpart on the meeting with Mr Zelensky and French and German leaders.

A Downing Street spokesperson said the pair “agreed the need for sustained international support for Ukraine’s defence” and “reiterated that Ukraine’s security is vital for Europe’s security”.

They both also committed to “always stand with Ukraine”, including through the “coalition of the willing” led by the UK and France.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that Moscow intends to seize full control of Ukraine’s Donbas region through military force, unless Ukrainian troops withdraw – a demand Kyiv has unequivocally rejected.

The declaration, made in an interview published on Thursday in India Today, follows Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which escalated an eight-year conflict between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces across the Donbas, comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Speaking ahead of a planned visit to New Delhi, Mr Putin stated: “Either we liberate these territories by force of arms, or Ukrainian troops leave these territories,” according to footage broadcast on Russian state television.

Thousands of allied troops could be sent to cities across Ukraine to help the army recover its strength and stand as an independent deterrent to Russian aggression – if both sides can agree to terms.

The Independent’s James C. Reynolds has more below:

Russian missile, drone and shelling attacks overnight and Sunday killed at least three people in Ukraine, after U.S. and Ukrainian officials wrapped up a third day of talks aimed at ending the war.

A man was killed in a drone attack on Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region Saturday night, local officials said, while a combined missile and drone attack on infrastructure in the central city of Kremenchuk caused power and water outages. Kremenchuk is home to one of Ukraine’s biggest oil refineries and is an industrial hub.

Still, no doubt, bathed in the warm, if also absurd, glow of being the first ever recipient of the Fifa Peace Prize, Donald Trump might be in the mood to promote a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, it would be nice to think. This would, aside from anything else, strengthen President Trump’s insistent claim on the Nobel Peace Prize, which has not quite been superseded in prestige by the cynical golden trophy that the president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, presented to him.

Mr Zelensky will meet Sir Keir in Downing Street along with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The meeting comes amid continued talks between Ukrainian and US officials on a Washington-backed plan to end the war. Ukraine’s negotiators were in Florida for three days last week for talks with Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

On Sunday, cabinet minister Pat McFadden said that Ukraine’s security and self-determination would be “at the heart” of the leaders’ discussions in London. He said that talks were at a “really pivotal moment”.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, who is due to step down in January, told a defence forum that a deal to end the Ukraine war was “really close” and that it now depended on resolving just two main outstanding issues.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has provided an update following a phone call with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

“The American representatives know the basic Ukrainian positions,” the leader said on Sunday.

“The conversation was constructive, although not easy.”

Zelensky is due to meet French president Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Keir Starmer as well as German leaders in London on Monday.