Ukraine-Russia war – live: Belgium pledges dozens of F-16 fighter jets as Putin’s troops ‘massing on border’

Vladimir Putin’s forces are believed to be gathering some 56 miles northwest of Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region

Putin will be made to pay to rebuild Ukraine, says US secretary of state

Belgium has pledged to send more than two dozen F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as part of a near €1 billion (£832 million) military support package.

The aid was announced as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Brussels for discussions with the prime minister, Alexander De Croo.

In a later statement, Mr Zelensky confirmed that they had signed a “bilateral security and long-term support agreement” worth €977 million. It included 30 US-made F-16 fighter jets that will be delivered to Ukraine incrementally until 2028.

Kyiv has asked its Western supporters to donate F-16 jets since the start of the war more than two years ago. They view them as vital to countering Russia’s aerial threat.

It comes as Russian troops are reportedly gathering on the Ukrainian border as they prepare for fresh offensive operations.

War-monitoring think tank The Institue for the Study of War said this concentration of forces are likely to be used to draw Ukrainian troops into the area and prepare to expand the Russian foothold in the northeastern border area of Kharkiv.

Key Points

• Belgium to provide 30 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as Zelensky lands in Brussels
• Spain provides more air defence missiles to Ukraine
• Russia dropped 3,200 bombs on Ukraine in May, Zelensky says
• Death toll in Kharkiv attack rises to 14

[28 May 2024 08:00 · Tom Watling]

Poland should not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, says foreign minister

Poland should not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said, as Kyiv struggles to repel Russian advances.

While Ukraine‘s Nato allies have vowed to supply the war-torn nation with money and weapons for as long as it takes to repel a Russian invasion, they have generally ruled out the possibility of sending soldiers to the country.

Asked in an interview whether Poland was ready to send troops to Ukraine, Mr Sikorski said: “We shouldn’t rule it out. We should leave Putin guessing as to our intentions.”

However, he did not specify what role Polish troops would play.

The interview was published in Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza, Italy’s La Repubblica and Spain’s El Pais.

French President Emmanuel Macron opened the door to sending troops to Ukraine and at a conference in Paris in February, suggesting that one area Western troops could help with would be to train Ukrainians in Ukraine.

Mr Sikorski himself has previously said that the presence of Nato troops in Ukraine is “not unthinkable”.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski looks on during a joint press conference as part of the Weimar Triangle talks with his German and French counterparts in eastern Germany (AFP via Getty Images)

[28 May 2024 07:45 · Tom Watling]

Belgium to provide 30 F-16 jets to Ukraine

Belgium will commit to equip Ukraine with 30 F-16 fighter jets with first deliveries planned for this year, news agency Belga has reported, citing the country’s foreign minister Hadja Lahbib.

The announcement comes hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy is due to meet with the government in Brussels later today.

F-16 fighter jets of the Romanian Air Force perform a fly by at the Black Sea, Defense, Aerospace and Security (BSDA) international exhibition in Bucharest (AP)

[28 May 2024 07:37 · Tom Watling]

Here are some of the latest photos from Ukraine

Good morning.

Below are some of the latest photos from Ukraine.

Young women take a selfie at the Constitution Square in central Kharkiv, northeast Ukraine (REUTERS)

A woman displays a portrait of a Ukrainian army serviceman at a memorial area with Ukrainian and other countries flags commemorating fallen Ukrainian and foreign fighters at the Independence Square, in Kyiv (AFP via Getty Images)

Spain's King Felipe stands alongside Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid (via REUTERS)

[28 May 2024 07:18 · Arpan Rai]

Before invasion, Putin told Germany’s Scholz Russia can change Ukraine’s borders

Before rolling out Russian forces into Ukraine in February 2022, Vladimir Putin had warned German chancellor Olaf Scholz that Russia could change Ukraine’s borders forcibly.

The Russian president had claimed that Ukraine is not an independent state and that Russia can unilaterally and forcibly change its smaller neighbour’s borders.

His remarks were mentioned by Mr Scholz at the Freedom for Democracy Festival in Berlin on Sunday.

Putin had said "Ukraine and Belarus are parts of Russia" and the German chancellor’s discussion with Putin demonstrated that Putin thinks that one can change borders "with the help of force."

“Putin has consistently demonstrated that he does not consider Ukraine an independent state with its own history, identity, and culture separate from Russia, as evidenced by his 2021 essay, "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians”; that his war aims include the total defeat of Ukraine; and that he has expansive territorial ambitions in Ukraine,” said The Institute for the Study of War in its assessment.

[28 May 2024 06:53 · Arpan Rai]

Spain provides more air defence missiles to defend against Russian glide bombs

On a visit to Madrid, Volodymyr Zelensky has secured a pledge of additional air defence missiles from Spain to help fight the about 3,000 bombs that he says Russia launches every month at Ukraine.

The Ukrainian war-time president said the country still urgently needs another seven US-made Patriot air defence systems to stop Russia hitting the power grid and civilian areas, as well as military targets, with devastating glide bombs that wreak wide destruction, Mr Zelensky said.

“If we had these modern Patriot systems, (Russian) airplanes wouldn’t be able to fly close enough to drop the (glide) bombs on the civilian population and the military,” he told a news conference in the Spanish capital.

Glide bombs are heavy Soviet-era bombs fitted with precision guidance systems and launched from aircraft flying out of range of air defences. The bombs weigh more than a ton and blast targets to smithereens, leaving a huge crater.

[28 May 2024 06:00 · Arpan Rai]

Kyiv says it will invite French military instructors to train troops in Ukraine

Ukraine’s top military commander Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said he has signed documents that will allow French military instructors to visit Ukrainian training centres.

General Syrskyi said he and Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov had a video call with French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu.

Paris has not confirmed any timeline for sending French military instructors to Ukraine.

The French defence ministry said it has been discussing sending French military instructors to Ukraine since president Emmanuel Macron met with European leaders in February this year to discuss European support for Ukraine, but did not explicitly confirm that France would send French military instructors to Ukraine.

[28 May 2024 05:33 · Arpan Rai]

Putin’s troops attack sweets manufacturer in Kharkiv, killing one

Russian forces attacked companies producing sweets and agricultural machinery in the besieged Kharkiv region, killing one 46-year-old woman, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine’s internal affairs ministry said two multi-purpose aerial glide bombs hit the companies, in an attack targeting the Kholodnohirskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts of Kharkiv.

“Two companies were hit, one of which produces sweets and the other specialises in the production of agricultural machinery,” the ministry said on its Telegram channel.

The attack injured 11 other people, it added.

[28 May 2024 05:01 · Arpan Rai]

Russian facility in captured Luhansk comes under fresh attack

The Ukrainian city of Luhansk, which is currently under Russian control, came under attack in the early hours of today for the second time in a week, officials in Moscow said.

There were at least two large explosions heard, said Rodion Miroshnik, a special ambassador for the Russian foreign ministry.

“It cannot be ruled out that the repeat strike occurred at the site where rescue teams are dealing with the aftermath of the previous missile attack,” Mr Miroshnik said.

Ukraine-appointed Luhansk oblast governor Artem Lysohor said the fire broke out near the infrastructure facilities of the former Luhansk Higher Military Aviation School and the nearby aircraft repair plant.

The attack comes just a week after Ukrainian forces targeted a Russian military base in Luhansk’s suburb of Yuvileine, he said.

[28 May 2024 04:48 · Arpan Rai]

Russia claims its forces have captured two Ukrainian settlements

Russia is claiming its forces have captured two villages in Ukraine, including one in the embattled Kharkiv region.

The Russian defence ministry said the settlements are Ivanivka in the Kharkiv region and Netailove in Donetsk.

Moscow’s claims have not been confirmed by Ukrainian officials, although they did admit that the Russian offensive had enjoyed “partial success” in Kharkiv.

Yesterday evening, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said it had repelled seven Russian advances in the Kupiansk sector.

Russian forces had recorded “partial success” in one of the areas of the Kupiansk sector, it added, and Ukrainian forces were “taking measures to stabilise the situation and prevent the enemy from advancing”.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think-tank monitoring the war, said Russian forces continued intense glide bomb strikes against Kharkiv city and elsewhere in northern Kharkiv Oblast yesterday.

“The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces fired 25 guided glide bombs against northern Kharkiv oblast during the day on 27 May, including two glide bombs against Kharkiv city. Ukrainian officials reported that Russian glide bombs struck an industrial facility and residential area in Kharkiv City, killing one and injuring 11,” it said.

[27 May 2024 22:00 · Athena Stavrou]

Frustrated EU ministers urge Hungary to stop blocking military aid to Ukraine

European Union foreign ministers urged Hungary on Monday to stop blocking measures to provide billions of euros in military aid to Ukraine, as long-simmering tension with Budapest boiled over.

Even before a meeting of the EU’s 27 foreign ministers began, Lithuania’s top diplomat Gabrielius Landsbergis accused Hungary of systematically blocking EU foreign policy positions.

“Almost all of our discussions and needed solutions and decisions by (the) EU are being blocked by just one country,” he told reporters as he arrived at the meeting in Brussels.

“We have to start seeing this as a systematic approach towards any efforts by (the) EU to have any meaningful role in foreign affairs.”

Estonia and Italy also expressed dissatisfaction before the meeting with Budapest’s blocking tactics. Diplomats say Hungary’s stance is often in line with Russia’s interests but Budapest insists it is advocating for peace