Ukraine-Russia war latest: Russian spies tracked down and ‘eliminated’ after Kyiv assassination

A Republican senator and top ally to Donald Trump said the US president was showing growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back Russia.

It’s a cause that Trump, who during his campaign made quickly ending the war a top priority, had previously dismissed as being a waste of US taxpayer money.

“In the coming days, you’ll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves,” Graham said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.

He added, “One of the biggest miscalculations Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there’s going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table.”

Nato secretary general Mark Rutte is visiting Washington on Monday and Tuesday, afterTrump last week teased that he would make a “major statement” on Russia on Monday and as Ukraine struggles to repel massive and complex air assaults launched by Russian forces.

Senator Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who appeared with South Carolina lawmaker on CBS, said there is also growing consensus on Capitol Hill and among European officials about tapping some of the $300 billion (£222 billion) in Russian assets frozen by Group of Seven countries early in the war to help Ukraine.

“It’s time to do it,” Blumenthal said.

Russia and China’s foreign ministers discussed the prospects for ending the war in Ukraine in a meeting on Sunday.

Sergei Lavrov met Wang Yi in Beijing, and the pair also discussed their countries’ relations with the United Sttes, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing, days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. Putin has sometimes described China as an “ally”.

The meeting came after Lavrov’s three-day visit to North Korea, where Kim Jong Un said the country was ready to “unconditionally support” Moscow’s actions to resolve the conflict with Ukraine.

By day, the Ukrainian capital hums with life — crowded metros, dog walkers and children on playgrounds. By night, Kyiv becomes a battleground as Russia unleashes relentless drone and missile attacks that chase much of the population underground for safety.

The nighttime assaults have intensified in the fourth year of the full-scale invasion, with the number of drones sometimes exceeding 700. Swarms of 1,000 drones could soon become the norm, officials say.

Many people in Kyiv describe the recent attacks as the most terrifying of the war, and even residents who previously ignored sirens have been driven into bomb shelters in the subway system.

“During the day, you walk around, drink coffee, smile, meet friends, talk, have hobbies, chill,” said 25-year-old Karyna Holf. “But at night, you brace for death every time you hear the sound of a Shahed drone or a missile.”

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Ukraine’s security agency tracked down and killed Russian agents on Sunday who were suspected of shooting dead one of its senior officers in the Ukrainian capital.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the suspected Russian agents were killed in the Kyiv region after they offered resistance to arrest. A video released by the agency showed two bodies lying on the ground.

The agency said earlier that a man and a woman were suspected of being involved in the assassination of Ivan Voronych, an SBU colonel, in a bold daylight attack on Thursday.

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A team from the UN’s nuclear watchdog reported hearing “hundreds of rounds” of small arms fire at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Saturday night.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general, Rafael Grossi, said team members reported an unusually large number of shots, which were fired for about an hour from 10pm local time.

The team then saw “numerous small calibre casings” scattered on the ground near reactor units 5 and 6 on Sunday morning. They did not report any broken windows or other damage.

“Such military activity at or near a major nuclear power plant is clearly unacceptable,” Mr Grossi said in a statement.

The IAEA director general also reiterated his “deep concern” about the increase in drone use around nuclear power plants.

“We are seeing a clear escalation in drone strikes during this war, also affecting Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and potentially putting them in further danger. As I have repeatedly stated, any military attack on a nuclear site – with or without drones – jeopardises nuclear safety and must stop immediately,” he said.

Britain must prepare for the possibility of war with Russia within the next five years, the former head of the British Army has warned.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, who stepped down as Chief of the General Staff last summer, told The Telegraph that a conflict with Russia by 2030 was a “realistic possibility”.

“If Russia stops fighting in Ukraine, within months they could have the capability to launch a limited attack on a Nato member, which would require our support,” Sir Patrick said.

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Nato chief Mark Rutte will meet with US President Donald Trump when he visits Washington early next week.

Mr Rutte will be in Washington on Monday and Tuesday and will aslo meet with US secretary of state Marco Rubio and defence secretary Pete Hegseth, Nato said in a press release.

The press release did not give an immediate reason for Rutte’s visit but Trump said in a recent interview with NBC News that the US. would be willing to supply weapons to Ukraine via Nato and that he would make a “major statement” on Monday.

The Trump administration has so far only sent weapons authorised by former President Joe Biden, who was a staunch supporter of Kyiv.