Key events
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to discuss a possible export deal at Swedish defence industry group Saab on Wednesday, said Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson, who will join him at the factory.
Saab is the maker of the JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet, the GlobalEye surveillance aircraft, missile systems, anti-tank infantry weapons and other equipment.
According to Reuters, Kristersson told Swedish Radio:
The entire meeting takes place at Saab in Linkoping. We will discuss a major possible Swedish export deal.
Linkoping is a key manufacturing hub of Saab, where it produces the Gripen. Kristersson declined to specify if Gripen would be discussed, reports Reuters.
However, he told public broadcaster Swedish Radio:
When it comes to flying capability in the midst of the ongoing war, it is radar reconnaissance aircraft that are the major contribution.
Sweden said last year it was donating two radar surveillance and command aircraft to Ukraine.
The Swedish government said in a statement ZelenskYy and Kristersson would present news regarding defence exports at a joint press conference. A spokesperson for the prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to Reuter’s request for further comment.
Kristersson said this month that he and Zelenskyy had discussed Kyiv’s interest in Gripen at a meeting of European leaders in Copenhagen. He said at the time donations of the fighter jet were not on the cards.
The possibility of supplying Gripens to Ukraine has been under consideration over the past two years but was put on hold to allow Kyiv to focus on the introduction of US-made F-16 fighters that it began deploying last August. Still, Ukrainian pilots have been in Sweden to test the Gripen and help smooth any eventual export of the jets, reports Reuters.
On Wednesday, a Saab spokesperson referred all questions about the event to the government, according to Reuters.
Peter Beaumont
The first explosions could be heard across Kyiv shortly after 1am and then more about half an hour later. Blasts were also reported in Zaporizhzhia, Poltava and Dnipro with strikes and air raid alerts continuing into the morning.
Emergency services rescued 10 people after a fire caused by drone wreckage hit the sixth floor of a 16-storey residential building, while the strikes also blew out windows of a medical facility and debris was found at another residential building, Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, reported on his Telegram channel.
In the Darnytskyi district of the capital emergency services were responding after drone debris hit a 17-storey residential building causing a fire on five floors.
In the Desnianskyi district, 20 people were rescued after the facade of a 10-storey building was damaged and a gas pipe caught fire.
Strikes in Ukraine’s eastern Poltava region damaged oil and gas facilities, said the local governor, Volodymyr Kohut, while the city of Dnipro reported heavy strikes.
An apartment building in Zaporizhzhia was also damaged overnight, where at least 13 civilians were reported injured.
Storm Shadow missiles struck a Russian chemical plant making gunpowder, explosives and rocket fuel in the Bryansk region, Ukraine’s military said late on Tuesday.
The French-British missiles are also known as Scalp. Ukraine’s armed forces general staff said:
A massive combined missile and airstrike was carried out, including with air-launched Storm Shadow missiles that penetrated Russia’s air defence system.
Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of Bryansk region, said on Tuesday afternoon that Ukraine attacked the region with drones and missiles. The Russian defence ministry also confirmed an attack.
Overnight Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv kills six people, including children
Russian drones and missiles have pounded the Ukrainian capital and other cities, killing six people in the Kyiv region, including a six-month-old baby, a 12 -year-old girl and a woman, and damaging key energy facilities and several high-rise residential buildings.
The attacks lasted most of Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning as Kyiv was hit by at least four ballistic missiles. A series of loud explosions could be heard across the city.
Towards dawn and the beginning of the morning rush hour, air defences targeting Russian drones was audible above the sound of traffic.
The latest attack came as it was reported that Ukraine had launched a substantial attack on a major chemical plant in Bryansk, in south-western Russia, with Storm Shadow missiles, which are supplied by Britain and France. Ukrainian drones also hit Russia’s Mordovia region.
Meanwhile, plans to hold a summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest have been put on hold as Ukraine and its European allies rallied in pushing for a ceasefire without territorial concessions from Kyiv.
The White House said there were now “no plans” for the US president to meet his Russian counterpart “in the immediate future” as a round of diplomacy at the end of last week failed to yield any significant progress towards ending the war.
More on these stories in a moment, but first here are some other key developments:
-
Preparations for a meeting in Budapest between Trump and Putin are still ongoing, Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán said on Wednesday, a day after the summit was put on hold. The planned meeting was paused as Moscow’s rejection of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine cast a cloud over attempts at negotiations.
-
On Wednesday, Trump is expected to hold talks at the White House with Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte. The military alliance has been coordinating deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, many of them bought from the United States by Canada and European countries.
-
European diplomats have said countries were working with Ukraine on a new proposal for a ceasefire along current battle lines. One told Reuters the proposal included a reference to a peace board that would be chaired by Trump, while another said it would be modelled on the US 20-point plan on Gaza. Thirty five allies of Ukraine will meet on Friday in London for a summit among countries willing to provide long-term support to Kyiv.
