Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow threatens foreign embassies in Kyiv and tells countries to evacuate staff
Russia has threatened to strike foreign embassies in Kyiv if Ukrainian forces try to disrupt Moscow’s Victory Day commemorations in the coming days.
The Russian military had earlier vowed to carry out mass attacks on Kyiv if it did not adhere to Russia's unilateral ceasefire covering 8 and 9 May, when Moscow is planning to stage a military parade through Red Square.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a video posted on Telegram that diplomatic missions should evacuate their staff from Kyiv and that her ministry "strongly urges the authorities of your country... to treat this statement with the utmost responsibility".
Meanwhile, Ukraine said Russia had violated its own unilateral ceasefire 1,820 times by late Wednesday morning.
Zelensky said Russia's continued attacks were an "obvious spurning" of a chance at peace offered by Kyiv.
Russia "has responded to the proposal only with new strikes and new attacks" and Ukraine would determine "our entirely justified responses", he said.
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Oil storage facility in Latvia hit in drone attack
An oil storage facility has been hit in Latvia after two drones entered the Nato nation from Russian territory and crashed, the Latvian army said this morning.
Four empty oil tanks were damaged at a storage facility in Rezekne, about 40km (25 miles) from the Russian border, and possible debris of a crashed drone was found at the site, police and firefighters said.
The firefighters extinguished a smouldering area of around 30 square metres in one of the tanks.
The drones were probably launched by Ukraine against targets in Russia, Latvia's defence minister Andris Spruds told national broadcaster LSM.
Military jets of the multinational Nato Baltic air police mission have been summoned to the site, he added.
Arpan Rai7 May 2026 07:23Russian military logistics facility struck by drones
Suspected Ukrainian drones have hit a military logistics facility in Moscow’s Naro-Fominsk, according to early reports from Telegram channels and social media this morning.
The Moscow facility is a large-scale logistics building for the Russian army and was attacked by Ukrainian drones overnight, independent Telegram outlet Exilenova Plus reported.
Local residents took to social media to say they spotted drone flyovers and activity from air defence systems near the facility.
Naro-Fominsk is located about 70km (45 miles) southwest of Moscow and approximately 390km (240 miles) from Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia
The Independent has not verified the authenticity of the reports.
Arpan Rai7 May 2026 06:57Angry Ukrainians call for country to respond to Russia: 'We have no choice'
There are growing calls for Ukraine to disregard Russia's unilateral Victory Day ceasefire, after Moscow ignored Kyiv's own ceasefire this week and continued to carry out deadly strikes.
At least four people were killed yesterday in the northeastern region of Sumy, including two female workers at a kindergarten hit by a Russian drone, though children were not present, officials said.
Another person was killed when a house was struck by a drone and a man was killed by a mine thought to have been dropped by Russian forces.
In major cities such as Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhzhia – where an attack on Tuesday killed 12 people – private buildings, infrastructure and industrial sites were damaged in air attacks after midnight, officials said.
"Maybe we should act the same way Russia does. That is, not to stay silent, not to observe the truce," said 52-year-old Nataliia Fomenko in Kyiv. "We have no other choice,” she told Reuters.
Sweden detains sanctioned oil tanker believed to be linked to Russia's shadow fleet
Sweden is investigating a sanctioned tanker that is suspected of being part of the Russian “shadow fleet,” according to the Scandinavian country's civil defence minister.
The Swedish Coast Guard said it boarded and detained the Jin Hui on Sunday on suspicion of flying a false flag while transiting Swedish waters.
The vessel was sailing through the Baltic Sea under a Syrian flag, the coast guard said in a statement. There are also concerns about the vessel’s seaworthiness.
The Jin Hui – which remained anchored off Trelleborg on Monday – is currently on European Union, UK and Ukraine sanctions lists, Sweden's civil defence minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said.
The ship’s captain, a Chinese citizen, was arrested on suspicion of using a false document and other offences, Swedish prosecutors said Monday.
It is the fifth vessel seizure by Sweden's coast guard in recent weeks.
Arpan Rai7 May 2026 06:29Ukrainian officials set to meet Trump’s peace envoys – report
Ukraine is likely sending its national security and defence council secretary Rustem Umerov to Miami this week for a meeting with US president Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, reported Bloomberg.
The meeting between the two sides is a new development in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
While the US has sent its diplomats Mr Witkoff and Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to Moscow multiple times to meet the Russian side, it is yet to send them to Kyiv to hold peace talks.
Russia and Ukraine are yet to reach any conclusion in talks as they debate several key points, including control over part of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and the status of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Russia drones crash in Latvia as schools ordered shut
At least two drones entered Nato member Latvia from Russia and crashed, the Latvian army said this morning.
One of the drones crashed into an oil storage facility in Rezekne, about 40km (25 miles) from the Russian border, said national broadcaster LSM, quoting the police.
A fire at the site was `no longer burning by the time firefighters arrived, it said.
The Latvian authorities have issued drone alerts to residents along the Russian border at 4.09am local time (0109 GMT) today, asking them to stay indoors.
All schools will be closed in Rezekne on Thursday, the municipality said.
The incident comes months after several stray Ukrainian drones hit Latvia and its Nato neighbours Estonia and Lithuania in late March, one of which slammed into a chimney at a local power station while another crash-landed in a frozen lake and exploded.
The Ukrainian drones were believed to have been launched to strike military targets in Russia. The three Baltic countries have never allowed their territories and airspace to be used for drone attacks against targets in Russia, their foreign ministers said in April.
Arpan Rai7 May 2026 05:52‘Rockets flew over our heads’: Ukrainian sailor who fled war trapped on ship in Strait of Hormuz
A Ukrainian sailor stranded in the Strait of Hormuz for more than two months has described the terror of Iranian rockets flying overhead as his crew found themselves caught in the crossfire of the US-Israeli war with Iran.
The senior assistant captain was on his debut voyage as first mate when hostilities erupted at the end of February, casting the region into a bitter conflict interrupted only in part by a fragile ceasefire agreement in April.
The sailor told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne on condition of anonymity how they could only watch on as three missiles “literally flew over our heads” as Iran opened fire on its neighbours on the afternoon of 28 February.
“We saw two downings and one ‘arrival’ near the airport in Dubai,” the captain said, adding that he was unmoved by the shelling after three years living through the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian sailor who fled war trapped on ship in Strait of Hormuz
Donald Trump said his new ‘Project Freedom’ initiative to save ships stranded in the Gulf has been put on holdArpan Rai7 May 2026 05:34Pussy Riot stage protest blocking access to Russian pavilion at Venice Biennale
Russian punk group Pussy Riot joined members of Ukrainian feminist organization FEMEN on Wednesday in a protest at the Venice Biennale against the opening of the Russian pavilion.
Yelling “Russia’s art is blood” and “Disobey” under a cloud of pink, blue and yellow smoke, the anti-Putin feminist groups covered their faces with pink balaclavas before rushing the venue in the Giardini exhibition area.
Italian police blocked the entrance to the site as the protest effectively blockaded Russia’s return for about 30 minutes.
Pussy Riot stages protest at the Venice Biennale, blocking access to Russian pavilion
Members of punk group Pussy Riot and Ukraine's FEMEN organization have staged a protest at the Russian pavilion at the Venice BiennaleArpan Rai7 May 2026 05:09Russia warns embassies to evacuate staff from Kyiv
Russia is warning diplomatic missions to evacuate staff promptly from Kyiv, saying Moscow will carry out a mass strike on the Ukrainian capital if Ukraine tries to disrupt its Victory Day commemorations.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a video posted on Telegram that her ministry "strongly urges the authorities of your country... to treat this statement with the utmost responsibility".
On Monday, Russia's defence ministry had warned that it would respond to Ukrainian attacks during the Victory Day celebrations with a "massive missile attack" on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Arpan Rai7 May 2026 04:59Watch: Russia answered ceasefire offer with ‘new strikes and attacks’, says Zelensky
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