Ukraine-Russia war latest: Missiles fired by Moscow at Chernobyl nuclear plant risk ‘major accident’, Kyiv warns

The Norwegian Swimming Federation has declared it will not host international championships as long as World Aquatics (WA) permits athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete.

This decision, confirmed by the country’s governing body President Cato Bratbakk, deepens a growing divide within the global swimming community.

The move comes after WA last week lifted neutrality restrictions, allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in events with their national uniforms, flags, and anthems since 14 April. The global governing body also reinstated full membership rights for both nations.

Russia will stop the supply of Kazakh crude oil via the Druzhba pipeline to Germany from May 1, deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday, forcing a major refinery near Berlin to make up the shortfall from elsewhere.

The move deals a blow to the PCK Schwedt refinery, which supplies most of the German capital’s fuel and relies on Kazakhstan for about 17% of its supplies. It also adds to Germany’s fuel supply concerns as the Iran war disrupts flows from the Gulf.

Novak said the move was due to “technical possibilities”, offering no further explanation.

Kazakhstan’s oil exports to Germany via Russia’s Druzhba pipeline totalled 2.146 million metric tons, or around 43,000 barrels per day, last year, an increase of 44% from 2024, and 730,000 tons in the first quarter of 2026.

Three industry sources had told Reuters on Tuesday that Russia was set to stop oil exports from Kazakhstan via the Druzhba pipeline starting from May 1.

A 90bn euro EU loan for Ukraine could be revived after outgoing Hungarian prime minister vowed to lift his veto on the plan.

EU leaders had decided in December to jointly borrow the money to lend to Ukraine to fund its defence for this year and next, using frozen Russian funds as a potential backstop to ensure that Moscow ultimately pays.

How will Europe lend the money?

The EU will provide interest-free loans for the years 2026-2027 based on EU borrowing on capital markets backed by the EU budget headroom, which is the difference between the maximum amount the EU can ask EU members to contribute and the amount it needs to cover foreseen expenses. Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia secured exemptions.

Ukraine is not expected to pay the money back itself, with the capital only due for repayment once Russia pays war reparations after the conflict ends. Russia has central bank assets that are frozen in the EU which are worth around 210bn euros that could be used for the repayment.

The 90bn is to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s needs for the next two years, estimated at 135 billion euros in total. Of the total, Ukraine will get 45 billion euros in 2026 and another 45 billion in 2027. Each year, 28 billion euros will be for spending on military needs and 17 billion on general budget needs.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday it hoped that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would continue to visit Russia to discuss a possible peace settlement for Ukraine, the state-run RIA ⁠news agency reported.

RIA cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that it was not yet known when the next such visit might take place.

Talks brokered by Washington between Ukraine and Russia to end Moscow’s more than four-year war in Ukraine stalled after the U.S. and Israel bombed Iran, triggering waves of retaliatory strikes on numerous Middle Eastern states.

Volodymyr Zelensky goes on to say Ukraine is currently preparing new bilateral security agreements with countries in Europe.

Following visits to Germany, Norway, Italy and the Netherlands, he says he plans to reveal expanded security cooperation and a drone deal.

“Only with Ukraine’s security experience can Europe’s defence be truly reliable,” he says.

Zelensky says separately that he discussed the SAFE instrument and joint production with Spain, and thanked the country’s leadership for its ‘vital’ provision of HAWK and Patriot missiles.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Nato chief Mark Rutte that Turkey is making efforts to revive talks between Russia and Ukraine.

The Turkish presidency said Erdogan relayed his intent to bring the leaders together, after Ukraine said it had asked Turkey to restart talks

Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that the unblocking of a 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) European Union loan to Kyiv was “the right signal under the current circumstances”.

Writing on X, Zelensky said that incentives for Russia to end its war in Ukraine “can arise only when both support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia are sufficient.”

“Ukraine is fulfilling its obligations in relations with the European Union – even on such sensitive issues as the operation of the Druzhba oil pipeline.

“We expect that the European side will also deliver what is needed for the real protection of lives and for advancing Ukraine’s full European integration.”

A large fire at an oil refinery in Russia’s Black Sea port of Tuapse has sent thick plumes of smoke stretching hundreds of kilometres, according to satellite imagery, after the second deadly Ukrainian strike within days.

Nasa Worldview images showed dark smoke from burning oil storage tanks spreading inland as far as the Stavropol region, some 300km away. The fire erupted following a series of Ukrainian strikes on the facility and surrounding oil infrastructure.

Ukraine’s Security Service said it first targeted the Tuapse refinery and port infrastructure on 16 April, with a second strike on 20 April, which hit an oil terminal and caused a massive fire. The strikes led to one fatality, while another man was injured.

According to Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, the fire was still burning as of late on Tuesday.

Germany set out a military strategy on Wednesday that sticks with a target of 260,000 active troops despite demands by senior military officials to raise total troop numbers more drastically in response to a widely perceived growing threat from Russia.

Speaking to reporters in Berlin, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin aimed for a military of 460,000 soldiers, a target set in 2025 that includes 200,000 reservists, while describing the strategy as a “living document”.

“It is clear that automation and artificial intelligence will continue to impact our planning, how many troops we will need and with what qualifications”, he noted. “Our ambition is and must be…to be Europe’s strongest conventional military.”

The country reintroduced a form of military service in January, which aims to rapidly increase the number of personnel by the mid-2030s.

The Bundeswehr had some 184,000 serving soldiers at the end of 2025.

The long-awaited 90bn euro loan to Ukraine has finally been approved by EU ambassadors, after Hungary removed its opposition.

The presidency of Cyprus made the announcement on Wednesday.

Hungary’s outgoing prime minister Viktor Orban signalled earlier this week he would be willing to lift his veto on the loan before leaving office if Ukraine was able to restore the flow of Russian oil to Hungary disrupted by damage to the Druzhba pipeline.

Hungary’s MOL Group oil and gas company said today it expects shipments to resume by Thursday at the latest.