Defence secretary John Healey confirms Zelensky to visit UK on TuesdayYour support helps us to tell the story
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Volodymyr Zelensky will visit the UK on Wednesday, a minister has said as the government reaffirmed its support for Ukraine despite the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, defence secretary John Healey said the world faces “two conflicts on two continents, supported by an axis of aggression with similar tactics and similar technologies”.
He said that over the last month, the UK had supplied Ukraine with 3,500 drones, 18,000 artillery rounds and three million rounds of small ammunition.
“I say this to the Ukrainian people on behalf of the UK: we will not forget the war in Europe and our total determination to stand with Ukraine remains steadfast, and we will welcome President Zelensky to this country tomorrow,” he said.
It follows reports that the peace process between Ukraine, the US and Russia is “fizzling out” with Donald Trump preoccupied by the crisis in the Middle East.
Zelensky said the US had proposed hosting the next meeting between American, Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams, which include US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, but Moscow had refused to send a delegation.
Putin’s forces offensive disrupted by Ukraine, says Zelensky
Russian assaults on the war battlefield have had become less intense, Volodymyr Zelensky said after his meeting with Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.
“Ukraine’s defence forces have disrupted Russia’s strategic offensive operation that the enemy had planned for March,” he said.
“Although attacks are constant and assaults continue, their intensity and the scale of the confrontation are not what Russia had planned and what its command promised to Russia’s political leadership,” he said.
Zelensky and Syrskyi have pointed in recent weeks to successes in Zaporizhzhia region, recapturing about 400sq km (154 sq miles) of territory and retaking eight settlements.
Russia’s top military offices have repeatedly said their forces have been making constant gains all along the front line.
The Ukrainian DeepState military blog, which relies on open sources to determine the position of both sides, said Russian forces were attempting a breakthrough in Kostiantynivka and had made some gains around Sloviansk.
Arpan Rai17 March 2026 07:15
Romanian defence ministry hunts drone fragments near Ukraine border
Romania’s defence ministry said on Tuesday it was looking for drone fragments reported to have fallen near the village of Plauru across the Danube river from Ukraine, after a Russian overnight attack on its infrastructure.
Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to monitor the attack and alerted residents of its southeastern county of Tulcea to take cover.
Arpan Rai17 March 2026 07:07
IMF raises concern over Ukraine’s access to $8.1 billion aid – report
The International Monetary Fund has raised concerns that Ukraine may be unable to tap its $8.1bn aid as the country’s lawmakers stall on measures needed to release the financing, Bloomberg News reported today citing an IMF representative.
The move could halt as Ukraine waits on lawmakers to release the financing, the official said.
The Ukrainian parliament has until the end of March to pass a series of legislative amendments that would raise taxes on businesses and households under the latest four-year loan program approved last month, reported Bloomberg.
Arpan Rai17 March 2026 07:00
Ukraine had brutal plan to bankrupt Putin with his own war dead – until Trump’s oil U-turn wrecked it
This is because Ukraine estimates that Vladimir Putin can only recruit somewhere between 35,000 and 37,000 troops a month, despite staggering sign-up bonuses, extravagant salaries, and a $165,000 (£124,000) compensation package provided to the families of Russian soldiers killed in action.
According to Ukrainian and Western sources, if Putin’s ministry paid for all the Russian dead the war is generating every month – also estimated at around 35,000 – the cost would be $5.775bn (£4.35bn).
Arpan Rai17 March 2026 06:45
UK confirms Zelensky’s visit as government pledges support to Ukraine
Defence secretary John Healey confirmed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit would take place on Tuesday.
Mr Healey told MPs yesterday: “Over the last month, we have delivered to Ukraine 3,500 drones, 18,000 artillery rounds and three million rounds of small ammunition.
“We face two conflicts on two continents, supported by an axis of aggression with similar tactics and similar technologies.
“I say this to the Ukrainian people on behalf of the UK: we will not forget the war in Europe and our total determination to stand with Ukraine remains steadfast, and we will welcome President Zelensky to this country tomorrow,” he said.
Defence secretary John Healey meets Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky at the Presidential Palace in Kyiv (PA)
Arpan Rai17 March 2026 06:25
Russian air defences down 206 Ukrainian drones overnight
Russian air defence units have downed 206 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 43 over Moscow region, the Interfax news agency reported this morning.
Arpan Rai17 March 2026 05:51
Zelensky to visit UK on Tuesday as Starmer warns of oil ‘windfall’ for Russia
The Prime Minister said he would meet the Ukrainian president to maintain focus on the war despite international attention being diverted by the Iran conflict.
The rise in energy prices caused by the Middle East turmoil has benefited Vladimir Putin’s Russia despite the sanctions imposed to stifle the flow of funds to his forces.
The US temporarily loosened sanctions preventing other countries buying Russian oil and petroleum which was already loaded on vessels at sea to try to ease the pressure on global supplies triggered by the US-Israel strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation against Gulf states.
The conflict could also constrain supplies of air defence missiles for Ukraine because of the surge in demand in the Middle East.
At a Downing Street press conference, Sir Keir said he would meet Mr Zelensky “soon” because “it’s vital that we continue to focus on supporting Ukraine”.
Arpan Rai17 March 2026 05:45
Pictured: Sean Penn seen in Kyiv after skipping Oscar ceremony
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky walks with US actor Sean Penn after their meeting in Kyiv (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office)
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky meets with US actor Sean Penn at his office in Kyiv (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service)
US actor Sean Penn walks down a street in Kyiv (AFP/Getty)
Arpan Rai17 March 2026 05:40
Putin to stop enlisting Kenyans to fight for Russia in Ukraine, minister says
Kenya said it had agreed with Russia that Kenyans would no longer be eligible for signing up to fight in the war with Ukraine after the scale of Russian recruitment triggered anger in some African countries.
Kenyan foreign minister Musalia Mudavadi who met his Russian counterpart Segrei Lavrov said an agreement had been reached with Russia to no longer allow Kenyans to sign up to fight.
Kenya says that more than 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight, attracted by monthly salaries of several thousand dollars and bonuses of more than $6,000 for contract soldiers.
“His excellency has conversed with us on the issue of the welfare of Kenyans who are in Russia and more specifically those who are involved in the special operation,” Mudavadi said at a joint news briefing with Lavrov.
“And I want to make it clear that we have now agreed that Kenyans shall not be enlisted through the (Russian) Ministry of Defence – they will no longer be eligible to be enlisted,” he said.
“There will no further enlisting.”
He added that consular services would be organised through proper diplomatic channels for those Kenyans who had already signed up and required assistance.
Lavrov said that Kenyan citizens had voluntarily signed contracts to fight alongside the Russian army.
Arpan Rai17 March 2026 05:15
Adrift Russian tanker is ‘imminent and serious’ threat, say Mediterranean states
Italy, France and seven other nations told the European Commission that a Russian liquefied natural gas tanker currently adrift in the Mediterranean represents an ecological threat, and they urged swift action on the issue, a letter showed on Monday.
“The precarious condition of the vessel, combined with the nature of its specialised cargo, gives rise to an imminent and serious risk of a major ecological disaster in the heart of the Union’s maritime space,” the letter seen by Reuters said.
Russia’s transport ministry said the Arctic Metagaz, carrying LNG from the Arctic port of Murmansk, was attacked earlier this month by Ukrainian naval drones launched from the Libyan coast. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for any such attack.
Arpan Rai17 March 2026 04:45