Russia-Ukraine War Live: Unmanned drone attacks Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, UN monitors warn

Britain needs to increase defense and aid spending and strengthen its diplomatic and intelligence networks during the “most dangerous period” since the Cold War, a former top civil servant has warned.

Writing in progress independent personFormer cabinet minister Sir Mark Sedwill has urged the government to almost double UK defense spending to 4% of GDP and return the international aid budget cut by Boris Johnson to 0.7% of national income in 2021. requested.

He then warned of the threat if President Vladimir Putin won the war against Ukraine, urging Kiev’s allies to “raise their defense industrial capabilities to wartime levels” and “keep their factories running 24/7.” , called for the purchase of arms and ammunition for Ukraine. whether Congress will provide funding to the United States to do so;

A woman was killed when debris from a crashed Ukrainian drone hit a car in Russia’s Belgorod region, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced on Sunday.

In a statement on the messaging app Telegram, Gladkov said air defense forces shot down four Ukrainian military drones approaching the city of Belgorod, injuring four more people, including two children.

Belgorod Oblast, which borders Ukraine, has been under regular attack by Kiev’s military since 2022, and in December, a single missile attack on Belgorod killed 25 people.

Officials at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant said the plant had come under attack by Ukrainian military drones on Sunday, including an attack on the dome of the plant’s No. 6 generating unit.

Officials at the plant said there was no serious damage or casualties, and that radiation levels at the plant were normal after the strike.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Sunday that its experts had been informed of the drone attack and that “such an explosion is consistent with IAEA observations.”

Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, warned of the security risks of such an attack, without apportioning responsibility.

“I call on them to refrain from actions that contradict the IAEA’s five principles and endanger nuclear safety,” he said on social media site X.

The plant has been under intense fire since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in 2022 and seized the facility shortly after.

Ukrainian authorities claimed on Friday that they used a barrage of drone fire to destroy at least six military aircraft and heavily damage eight others at an airfield in Russia’s Rostov region, but Russian defense officials said It intercepted 44 Ukrainian drones and claimed that only a substation was damaged. attack.

The attack, believed to be one of the biggest air raids on Kiev during the war, comes as Kiev’s military intensifies its offensive into Russian territory. The Associated Press could not independently verify either side’s claims.

Russia has escalated attacks on civilian infrastructure, including power plants, in Ukraine in recent weeks, pushing the conflict into potentially dangerous new territory as both sides struggle to make significant progress on the ground. This suggests that we are entering a phase.

The Finnish government said on Thursday it would extend the closure of border crossings with Russia “until further notice” beyond the current April 14 deadline due to the high risk of organized migration orchestrated by Moscow. Announced.

Finland’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that the Nordic countries’ national security and public order would be under serious threat if an estimated hundreds of third-country nationals continued to attempt to enter Russia without proper documentation. .

“Based on the information provided by public authorities, there is still likely to be a risk that (Russian) forced migration will resume and expand as before,” the ministry said.

A pro-Western career diplomat and a close ally of Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Roberto Fico will face off in Saturday’s presidential run-off to decide the next head of state.

Former Foreign Minister Ivan Kolchok is running against Peter Pellegrini, who heads Fico’s governing coalition, in the largely ceremonial vote for the post of president of the country’s 5.4 million people.

A victory for Mr. Pellegrini, who is currently the speaker of parliament, would give Mr. Pellegrini and his allies control of key strategic positions and consolidate Mr. Fico’s power.

The 27-year-old has already donated £1 million to support his country following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Question from BBC news night Regarding whether he would accept the call-up, Zinchenko said: I would go. “

talk to independent person From an undisclosed location in Donetsk, Maksim Zorin, deputy commander of Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade, issued an alarming warning to Kiev’s Western partners.

Western countries need to prepare quickly, he said. “Build a serious defense system that can counter Russia, because Russia will definitely open its mouth and try to swallow up the rest of Europe,” he warned.

The vast majority of British people will stand by the Ukrainian people in their time of need. The courageous resistance of the Ukrainian people to Vladimir Putin’s aggression meets all the tests of a just war, and it is in our national interest that Putin does not succeed.

But now we come to the difficult part. Two years have passed since Russia’s attempt to seize Kiev, and the balance of the war is beginning to shift in Putin’s favor. Ukrainian troops had to withdraw from Avdiivka, near Donetsk, the capital of one of the eastern regions claimed by President Putin.

A Ukrainian drone attacked the Russian-owned Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Sunday, damaging a truck parked near the plant’s cafeteria, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported, citing plant officials. .