Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky warns Putin has started WW3 and must be stopped ahead of four-year anniversary

Hungary has threatened to block a new package of European Union sanctions against Russia and stall efforts to help Ukraine, demanding the immediate resumption of Russian oil deliveries.

This ultimatum precedes a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday to discuss the bloc’s 20th round of sanctions, hoping for approval by the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Tuesday.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced his intention to block the sanctions in a social media video on Sunday, accusing Ukraine of deliberately withholding Russian oil shipments via the Druzhba pipeline.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has already started World War III and must be stopped.

“I believe that Putin has already started it [WW3],” he told the BBC.

“The question is how much territory he will be able to seize and how to stop him… Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves.”

The comments come amid fraught ongoing trilateral discussions to secure a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

As the war approaches its four-year anniversary, Russia insists Ukraine surrender key territory while Zelensky is reluctant to any agreement that does not contain robust security guarantees.

Ukrainians are continuing to have children and raise families in wartime despite a decline in birth rates since the outbreak of war almost four years ago.

“It’s scary. You don’t know their direction. We hide at home between two walls. Veronica recognises the air-raid sirens,” Valeriia Ivashchenko told The Guardian.

“When the invasion began, I didn’t have a kid. I want to continue to build our life here. War means you can only plan for the short or medium term.”

The United Nations has warned that women and girls in Ukraine are reaching a “breaking point” after four years of conflict.

One in three women-led organisations in Ukraine warned they may only survive six months or less with the current state of funding.

Attacks on energy infrastructure are also hitting women and girls hard.

“Those energy blackouts, they are not just technical disruptions,” chief of Humanitarian Action Sofia Calltorp told reporters in Geneva on Friday. “They directly undermine women’s safety, protection, and economic security.”

Families have been left without heating, electricity, and reliable shelter amid brutal winter conditions.

Calltorp explained that extended darkness, lack of street lighting, and disrupted transport “severely restrict women’s mobility and increase exposure to harassment and accidents”.

UN Women reported that 2025 had been the deadliest year for women in Ukraine, with more than 5,000 killed and 14,000 since the war began in 2022.

Russian athlete Dariya Nepryaeva was disqualified from the women’s 50km classic cross-country race at the Winter Olympics on Sunday.

The 23-year-old accidentally took a competitor’s skis during a mid-race equipment change.

Germany’s Katharina Hennig Dotzler finished ninth and said the skis she was left with were slower than those she would have used had her equipment not been taken.

“It was not the fastest one. This morning we tested four pairs of skis, and that was maybe the third or fourth. It’s a difference, but such things happen in sport,” she said.

Nepryaeva returned the skis and apologised. Russia and Belarus are not allowed to compete in the Olympics following the invasion of Ukraine but some athletes were permitted to compete individually.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has responded to Pope Leo’s call for an urgent ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

Speaking on Sunday during his weekly address, Pope Leo said peace in the region “cannot be postponed” and that ending the war is an “urgent necessity”.

Sybiha wrote in a post on X on Sunday: “We are grateful to His Holiness for his compassion and moral leadership. The Pontiff’s call for a ceasefire is very timely.

“The entire world wants Russia to finally cease fire and invest in diplomacy instead of new brutal strikes. We value the Holy See’s solidarity with Ukraine.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to investigate a “terrorist attack” in Lviv on Sunda, which killed a 23-year-old female police officer.

“A cynical and brutal terrorist act is being investigated in Lviv,” he said in a post on X on Sunday.

“There were two explosions, and the second occurred after emergency services had already arrived at the scene. Twenty-five people were injured.

“Tragically, one person – a 23-year-old police officer – was killed. My condolences to her family and loved ones. All the injured are receiving assistance. Some are in serious condition, and doctors are doing everything possible to save lives.

“The circumstances of this terrorist attack are now being fully analysed. Many facts have already been established.

“The perpetrators were recruited via Telegram. The attack was organized by Russia. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police, and the Security Service of Ukraine will present further details to the public. We have intelligence indicating that the Russians intend to continue carrying out such actions – in effect, attacks on Ukrainians. We must strengthen protection for our people.”

Russia has not responded to the claims.

Ukrainian authorities believe that an attack in Lviv that killed one person and injured 25 others was a “terrorist attack”.

They believe the incident is linked to Russian special services, according to the Financial Times.

The regional prosecutor’s office said police were called about a break-in at a store in the city centre shortly after midnight. The incident near the Lviv opera house led to an explosion that was followed by a second around 15 minutes later.

National police released CCTV footage that shows a hooded figure walking up to a bin and placing a package on the pavement in front of the store.

Writing ahead of the four-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion he said “2026 must be the year this terrible war ends” in the Telegraph on Sunday.

“I want to be the defence secretary who deploys British troops to Ukraine – because this will mean that this war is finally over,” Mr Healey said.

“It will mean we have negotiated peace in Ukraine. And a secure Europe needs a strong, sovereign Ukraine.”

He added: “I am proud of our UK leadership. I am determined that we will make 2026 the year this war ends.”