Ukraine-Russia war latest: US ambassador to Kyiv to leave ‘over differences with Trump’

First came the infantry, next the missiles, then the drones.

Now, after more than four years of a bloody and grinding war in Ukraine, remote-controlled ground robots are assuming command over the battlefield.

Last Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade had regained territory exclusively using a combination of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and drones – a mission he says was a first in the war.

“The occupiers surrendered, and the operation was carried out without infantry and without losses on our side,” he went on, referring to an operation from the northeastern Kharkiv region last year, in which Ukrainian infantry occupied a position gained using the UGVs.

Ukraine’s defence minister says the country’s forces shot down a record 33,000 Russian drones of various types in March, marking the highest monthly figure since Moscow’s full-scale invasion began over four years ago.

It comes as Ukraine’s domestically developed long-range attack drones struck a Russian oil refinery and terminal on the Black Sea for the third time in less than two weeks, prompting local evacuations as a precautionary measure.

Kyiv has developed advanced, battle-tested drone technology, which has proven crucial in resisting Russia’s larger military and has attracted international military interest. Ukrainian officials report that interceptor drones, as part of a comprehensive air defence system, are now being sought by Middle Eastern and Gulf countries for protection amid the war in Iran.

Ukrainian forces have evacuated a 77-year-old woman in the embattled Donetsk region using a ground drone, its military said.

“From battlefield tool to rescue mission. @ab3army defenders used a ground robot to pull a 77-year-old woman out of a frontline danger zone. War tech saving lives,” the defence ministry of Ukraine said, sharing a video of the evacuation operation on X.

The woman was seen walking along a road hit by drones and artillery shells in the Lyman area when the drone operators from the 60th Brigade’s unmanned ground systems unit spotted her.

Without scaring her, the drone operators placed a blanket on the platform and left a message reading, “Grandma, get on!”.

The ground robot is seen moving under incoming shells to extract the elderly woman from the frontline area.

Ukraine has accused Israel of allowing the import of grain it says Russia stole from occupied territories, prompting a sharp exchange between officials in Kyiv and Jerusalem.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a vessel carrying grain had arrived at an Israeli port and was preparing to unload, calling the trade illegal and warning of sanctions against those involved.

Israel claimed that the vessel had not entered the port and had not yet submitted its documents. The MarineTraffic.com marine tracking website showed the ship had been in Haifa for several days.

“In any normal country, purchasing stolen goods is an act that entails legal liability,” Zelensky wrote on X, adding that Ukraine’s intelligence services were preparing sanctions targeting companies and individuals profiting from the shipments.

“We will also coordinate with European partners to ensure that the relevant individuals are included in European sanctions regimes,” he said.

King Charles has told Congress the United States lies at “the heart” of Nato in an apparent rebuke to president Donald Trump’s threats to leave the alliance.

In a historic address, he said Britain had committed to the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War, addressing the president’s claims the US has propped up Europe in military power.

“From the depths of the Atlantic to the disastrously melting ice caps of the Arctic, the commitment and expertise of the United States Armed Forces and its allies lie at the heart of Nato, pledged to each other’s defence, protecting our citizens and interests, keeping North Americans and Europeans safe from our common adversaries,” he said.

“Our defence, intelligence and security ties are hardwired together through relationships measured not in years, but in decades.”

Finnish president Alexander Stubb has said with Russia posing a threat to all of Europe, the continent may need Ukraine more than Ukraine needs Europe, lauding its war-tested military.

“Instead of us thinking that Ukraine needs Europe, perhaps we should think that we in Europe need Ukraine more,” Stubb said at a joint press conference yesterday in Helsinki.

“It is the largest, most efficient and most modern military in Europe,” he said.

Stubb and his Estonian counterpart Alar Karis expressed support for Ukraine’s desire to join both the European Union and Nato, at a time other members have said the war-hit nation may get a “symbolic membership”.

“We need to seriously start to think [about] how much Europe actually needs Ukraine, whether it’s EU membership or, as a matter of fact, Nato membership,” Stubb said.

A Ukrainian drone attack caused a major fire at a Russian oil refinery in the city of Tuapse yesterday, officials said, in what president Vladimir Putin described ⁠as evidence of increased Ukrainian attacks on civilian targets.

It was the third attack on the Black Sea port in less than two weeks.

Ukraine’s military confirmed it had carried out the strike, the latest in a series designed to disrupt Russia’s oil industry and slash revenue that helps Moscow fund the war in Ukraine.

Putin, in comments broadcast on Russian television, said: “Drone strikes against civilian ⁠infrastructure are becoming more frequent.

“The latest example is the strikes against ​energy ⁠facilities in Tuapse, which could potentially cause serious environmental consequences,” he said.

Putin said regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev had reported there were no major threats.

“It seems there are no serious dangers, and people are managing to ⁠deal with the challenges they face on the ground,” he added.

Russia will mark victory over Nazi Germany next month with a military parade on Moscow’s Red Square, but ⁠with no military equipment displayed in view of the operational situation in the war in Ukraine, the defence ministry said late yesterday.

The parade, traditionally held on 9 May, the day the Soviet Union signed Germany’s surrender, will this year mark the 81st anniversary of victory in ⁠what Russians call the Great Patriotic War.

No military hardware ‌will pass through the square, the ministry said.

“Military personnel from the higher military educational institutions of all types and individual branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will take part ‌in the parade as part of the marching column,” ‌the statement said.

The statement said representatives of certain educational institutions would not participate “and nor will a column of military equipment take part in the military parade in connection with the current operational situation”.

Ukraine used interceptor systems to shoot down more than 33,000 Russian drones of various types in March, a record monthly figure since Moscow launched its all-out invasion more than four years ago, Ukraine’s defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov claimed.

Ukraine’s offensive capabilities have also improved, with the country’s forces have more than doubled the range of their deep-strike capabilities since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

At that time, Ukrainian forces were able to hit military targets about 630km (400 miles) away, it said. They are now striking targets as far as roughly 1,750km (1,100 miles) behind enemy lines, the ministry said in a statement.

That improvement has allowed Ukraine to hit Russian oil installations that provide crucial revenue for Moscow’s war effort. It has also targeted manufacturing plants that supply Russia’s armed forces.