Rubio and Witkoff to meet Ukrainian delegation in Florida on Sunday
A senior US official said Secretary Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steven Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner will hold talks with Ukrainian officials on Sunday in Florida, underscoring Washington’s continued diplomatic push on the conflict.
Zelensky to visit Macron in Paris on Monday, Élysée says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday, Macron’s office said, as the Ukrainian leader finds himself in the most difficult political and military situation since Russia’s invasion in 2022.
The two leaders will discuss “the conditions for a just and lasting peace”, a presidential official said on Saturday, as a senior Ukrainian delegation headed to Washington and Zelensky confronted political turbulence at home after removing his top aide.
Moldova briefly shuts airspace after new drone breach
Moldova closed its airspace for about an hour overnight following a drone incursion that its pro-European president denounced on Saturday, accusing Russia of flying across her country to attack civilians in neighbouring Ukraine.
The country, wedged between Ukraine and Romania, has repeatedly reported violations of its airspace since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Earlier this week, Moldova said a drone had crashed on its soil, with six drones in total overflying its territory.
Watch more: Ukrainian soldiers rely on land drones to survive the frontline
Ukrainian troops in the Kharkiv region rely on slow, unmanned ground buggies to move supplies and evacuate the wounded through a drone-saturated frontline.
Highly vulnerable to airborne attacks, these land drones have become essential as soldiers stay in exposed positions for months and traditional vehicles are too risky to use. Some wounded troops even refuse drone evacuation due to fear, but the machines remain a lifeline. FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg reports.
South Africa arrests four men suspected of planning to fight for Russia
South African police said they arrested four men en route to Russia who are suspected of having been recruited to fight in the military there.
The men were stopped at the boarding gate in Johannesburg on Friday, police said, weeks after reports another 17 South African men were stuck in Ukraine after being lured into joining mercenary forces with the promise of lucrative contracts.
It is illegal under South African law for citizens to provide military assistance to foreign governments or participate in foreign armies without authorisation.
Sea drones halt operations at major Russian oil terminal
One of Russia’s largest oil terminals halted operations on Saturday following an attack by sea drones, hours before Ukrainian negotiators were headed to the United States for talks on ending the war.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), a group that includes US oil majors Chevron and ExxonMobil and which owns the terminal, called the strike a “terrorist attack”.
Ukraine, which did not comment on the incident, has sought to punch back against its neighbour as the war grinds through its fourth year.
Ukraine’s Sea Baby naval drones targeted two Russian tankers in Black Sea, SBU source says
We’re getting more details on the attacks on the Russian “shadow fleet” tankers in the Black Sea: the two tankers, the Virat and the Kairos, were rocked by explosions in Turkey’s coast late Friday, according to the Turkish transport ministry. One of the two was struck again early Saturday, the ministry said.
Ukrainian security source has told AFP that the attack was a joint operation by Ukraine’s navy and SBU security service.
“Modernised Sea Baby naval drones successfully targeted the vessels,” said a source in the SBU. The security service shared a video that purported to show sea drones gliding towards the two ships, before sparking explosions.
Ukraine hit two ‘shadow fleet’ tankers with sea drones in Black Sea, security official says
Ukraine hit two ‘shadow fleet’ tankers with sea drones in the Black Sea, an official from the SBU security service said.
The joint operation was run by the SBU and Ukraine’s navy, the official said on condition of anonymity.
“Video (footage) shows that after being hit, both tankers sustained critical damage and were effectively taken out of service. This will deal a significant blow to Russian oil transportation,” the official said.
There were no details on when the strike took place.
Ukraine says 600,000 without power after Russian attack
Ukraine’s energy ministry said on Saturday that more than 600,000 users were left without power after an overnight Russian attack on the power grid.
The attack hit facilities in Kyiv and five regions across Ukraine. Over 500,000 of the affected households were in the capital.
Russian attacks kills 2 in Kyiv as diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine gain momentum
Russian drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, killed at least two people in the early hours of Saturday, local officials said. The attacks came just before a second round of peace negotiations was set to begin, as a renewed US-led push to end the war gathers steam this week.
Writing on its official Telegram channel, the Kyiv City Military Administration said two people were killed in the strikes.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 15 people were wounded, noting that falling debris from intercepted Russian drones hit residential buildings. He also said the western part of Kyiv had lost power.
Turkish official says Black Sea tankers may have been hit by mines, missiles or drones
Two oil tankers said to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that were set ablaze off Turkey’s Black Sea coast may have been hit by mines, drones or missiles, a senior Turkish official said.
Tankers Kairos and Virat were struck in quick succession late Friday afternoon, prompting rescue operations. Crew members on board both vessels were reported to be safe.
Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said rescue services first received reports that the Kairos may have hit a mine before being told of an explosion on the Virat.
“Our crews indicate that there were explosions on the other ship and that these were also caused by external interference,” Uraloglu told broadcaster NTV early Saturday.
“The first things that come to mind for external interference could be a mine, a missile, a marine vessel or a drone. We don’t have definitive information on this,” he added.
Russian drones, missiles kill one, injure 11 in Kyiv, cause damage
Russian drones and missiles attacked districts of Kyiv early on Saturday, killing one person and injuring 11, officials said, with explosions and falling drone debris triggering fires.
It was the second attack on the Ukrainian capital over four days. Seven people died on Tuesday, when Russian forces launched a barrage of drones and missiles.
The head of Kyiv’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said there had been strikes at six locations on Saturday, with apartment buildings and other dwellings hit in the city of 3 million.
Ukrainian team heads to US for talks with Trump envoy Witkoff
A Ukrainian delegation is heading to the US for further discussions over a peace plan pushed by President Donald Trump, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The Ukrainian group, including senior Ukrainian security official Rustem Umerov and First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya, is expected to meet with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Florida, Bloomberg News reported.