Харьков хотын захад Оросын цохилтын улмаас гурван хүн амиа алджээ

Holding a wartime election in Ukraine while active fighting with Russia continues would “destroy” the country by splitting Ukrainians, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

His comments, released to reporters on Sunday, were Zelensky’s first on the subject since ousted former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for a wartime poll in an address last week.

Fedorov’s surprise dismissal last month sparked widespread protests, but supporters calling for his reinstatement later baulked at his call for an election – the first such demand by a major Ukrainian political figure since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

“I believe that if we want to destroy the country, then we can move towards elections during this kind of war,” Zelensky said.

Prime minister Andy Burnham has agreed to provide Ukraine with blueprints to produce long-range missiles.

He is set to announce the move today during his first trip to Ukraine that he will allow European defence firm MBDA to declassify information on UK components for the long-range Scalp missile – the French-produced version of the UK’s Storm Shadow.

The “deep precision strike” missiles use shared French and British technology, and Ukraine and France are looking to set up local assembly lines to produce them in Ukraine.

The PM is visiting Kyiv on his first foreign trip to mark Ukraine’s independence day and signal the UK’s continued support for the country under his administration.

A Russian attack on the outskirts of Kharkiv in Ukraine’s northeast killed three people, the regional governor said late last night.

Emergency services ‌have rescued ‌and evacuated eight ⁠people, some of whom were injured, governor Oleh Syniehubov said, adding the search was ‌ongoing to ​identify ‌any ⁠other possible ⁠casualties.

A logistics centre belonging to Russian online retailer Ozon is on fire in Makhachkala in Dagestan following a drone attack this morning, the company said.

Ozon has also temporarily shut down ‌two warehouses in the ⁠nearby regions of Stavropol and Adygeya in the North Caucasus amid a drone ‌attack ​alert, it ‌said, ⁠though they ⁠were not damaged.

Ukraine played no role in blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines and is cooperating with an investigation into the matter, president Volodymyr Zelenksy said on Sunday.

“Ukraine has never ​officially ⁠taken part ‌in any operations regarding the blowing up ‌of the Nord ‌Stream 2 pipeline,” he told reporters in ⁠Kyiv.

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines between Russia and Germany were damaged ‌in explosions in ​September 2022, ‌and two Ukrainian ⁠suspects are currently ⁠in custody on ‌suspicion ​of involvement.

Norway ​plans to give another 85bn Norwegian crowns (£6.69bn) in financial support to Ukraine in the 2027 fiscal year, in line with the ⁠amount given in 2026, the Nordic country’s government said in a statement on Sunday.

Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and leaders from across the Nordic and Baltic region visited Kyiv on Sunday in a show of support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.

Norway’s donation will be ⁠for both military and humanitarian spending, Stoere was quoted ​as ⁠saying in the ‌text of a speech released by the government in Oslo.

“Supporting and rebuilding Ukraine is not assistance alone. It is an investment in Europe’s own security,” Stoere said.

Separately, Finland and Ukraine have signed a letter of intent on manufacturing and developing unmanned systems in Finland ⁠and memorandum of understanding for a joint venture to produce uncrewed surface vessels, among other documents, Zelensky’s office said on X.

Prime minister Andy Burnham will visit ​Ukraine today on his first overseas trip since taking office, and will announce British support to help Kyiv improve its domestic production of long-range missiles.

Burnham will be in Ukraine to co-chair a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, a group of countries backing Ukraine.

He is also due to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. He is set to announce that Britain has agreed to allow European missile manufacturer ⁠MBDA to release classified information on British-made ​components ⁠used in the SCALP long-range cruise missile, according to his office.

That will help enable France and Ukraine to establish local assembly lines for the missile, which shares British and French technology, according to Downing Street.

“Ukraine’s security is our security,” ‌Burnham said in a statement, adding that Britain would stand by Ukraine “for as long as it takes”.

At least two children were killed and another nine people, including seven children, were injured after drone debris hit a private childcare centre in ⁠southern Russia’s Krasnodar overnight, governor Veniamin Kondratyev said.

Debris fell on ‌apartment buildings and warehouses caught fire in Krasnodar, Kondratyev said.

The attack ‌caused a fire at a ‌logistics hub of Russian online retailer Ozon, the company said on Telegram.

In Russia’s Nevinnomysk, a chemical production area in ⁠the Stavropol region next to Krasnodar, a drone attack on an industrial area was repelled, governor Vladimir Vladimirov said on Telegram in the early hours this morning.

North Korea is continuing preparations for an additional troop deployment to Russia, but had detected no signs that such a deployment was imminent, the South Korean defence ministry has said.

The ministry told lawmaker Yu Yong-weon that North Korea had continued to supply Russia with weapons systems, including short-range ballistic missiles, according to Yu’s office.

The lawmaker’s office, citing a South Korean Defence Intelligence Agency assessment, said North Korean missiles used in the war may have improved in accuracy through battlefield data, alongside Russian technical advice and component support.

The ministry also said the development of some North Korean ballistic missiles and multiple rocket launchers assessed as being intended for use in a conflict with South Korea was nearing completion.

North Korea is also estimated to ‌have supplied Russia with more than 15 million ‌rounds of artillery ammunition, measured in 152-millimetre shell equivalents.

Just last week, North Korea’s ​Kim ⁠Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, rejected Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s claim that Pyongyang planned to send up ⁠to 50,000 more troops to Russia to fight for its ally.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to retaliate after a double-tap drone strike on his hometown killed 16 people.

Rescuers are still searching for survivors in the wreckage of a shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih, which was hit twice by Russia on Friday.

More than 130 people were wounded in the daytime attack carried out in two waves, with the second strike targeting emergency workers at the scene of the first.

Zelensky called the attacks an “act of barbarism”, claiming the “absolutely cynical and despicable” second strike was a deliberate attempt to target emergency services.