Ukraine-Russia war latest: Ukrainian police chief resigns after officers ‘disgracefully’ flee Kyiv shooting

Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence says it ⁠struck two “large” Russian landing ships ⁠in occupied Crimea.

The strike took place overnight on Sunday and involved two vessels from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol Bay, the GUR said.

Yevhen Zhukov, ⁠the head of Ukraine’s Patrol Police – a division of the national police service whose duty is to patrol the streets – resigned yesterday after social media circulated a video showing patrol officers running away after hearing gunfire, leaving civilians without protection.

At least six people were killed and eight people, including a child, remain hospitalised in Kyiv after being wounded in a shooting, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

“The police officers acted unprofessionally and disgracefully. As police officers, they should have been helping and rescuing our citizens. But they failed to assess the situation properly and left civilians in danger,” online media outlet RBC Ukraine quoted Zhukov as saying.

“As a combat officer, I have decided to submit my resignation from the position I ‌currently hold,” Zhukov added.

Earlier yesterday, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said the officers’ behaviour was “a disgrace to the ​entire system”. An investigation has been launched and decisions will be made regarding their superiors.

Ukraine is holding discussions with several European nations about the creation of a new defence ​system against ballistic weapons, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“I believe, and my idea is ​that ⁠we should have a ‌European anti-ballistic missile defence system. We are in talks with several countries and are working in this ‌direction,” Zelensky told the national TV channel, ‌Marathon.

“We need to build our own anti-ballistic missile defence system within a year,” he added.

Zelensky said the task ⁠is extremely difficult but realistic, and added that he had already discussed it with key European countries, though he did not name them.

Defence against ballistic missiles is one of Ukraine’s biggest challenges in the war with Russia, since only certain types of missiles used by the American Patriot system ⁠are capable of intercepting Russian ​ballistic ⁠missiles.

Russia uses ballistic missiles to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, destroying thermal power generation and electricity ⁠transmission systems.

Fire Point, maker of Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missile, told Reuters this month that it was ‌in talks with European companies to launch a ​new air defence system by next year, ‌creating a low-cost alternative ⁠to the increasingly hard-to-get Patriot system.

Patriot missiles ⁠are in short supply amid extensive deployment in the Gulf ‌against Iranian ​attacks. And Europe’s only anti-ballistic ‌system, the Italo-French SAMP/T, ​is produced in relatively small numbers.

Citing an intelligence report from Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Zelensky revealed concerns over “road construction in areas leading to Ukraine and the establishment of artillery positions… in the Belarusian border area”.

He added: “We believe that Russia will once again try to involve Belarus in its war.”

In response, Ukraine has reportedly issued instructions to warn the Belarusian leadership of “Ukraine’s readiness to defend its land and independence”.

Zelensky also suggested that intelligence indicates Russia is “attempting … to carry out a regrouping of forces – most likely to compensate for a shortage of personnel”, which he believes explains the increased military activity within Belarus.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has shared details of a landmark agreement with three key Middle Eastern nations, aimed at bolstering their drone capabilities against Iran.

“We have already reached 10-year agreements with three key countries: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. We already have requests from 11 countries – the Middle East and the Gulf, plus we’re also gradually turning our attention to the Caucasus,” he said on X last night.

Zelensky added: “Within this Drone Deal, there will be at least 10 different agreements covering various categories of Ukrainian weapons exports. Co-production is planned – the construction of our production lines both in Ukraine and in other countries.”

This will also include new technologies that Ukraine and its Gulf allies are “developing jointly with various countries, in which they are investing,” he said, adding that an annual funding agreement for a specific amount, along with a fixed number of years, has also been signed.

Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko said that the IMF had agreed during talks in Washington that the ⁠introduction of VAT tax on self-employed individuals was “not-constructive” due to the sensitivity of the issue in Ukraine.

The tax was ⁠part of a ​raft ⁠of reforms agreed with the Fund as conditions for an $8bn loan approved in February. Ukrainian ​officials ⁠have since warned ‌that its introduction would prove highly unpopular and it lacked the required ‌support in parliament.

“During the Spring ‌Meetings, we found understanding from our partners that this is indeed a sensitive ⁠topic and a not-constructive idea,” Svyrydenko said on the Telegram app, adding she had held consultations with both IMF and European officials.

“We will continue to work together on the necessary decisions ‌and explore other alternative measures ​to ensure the revenue part ‌of the budget ⁠for 2027.”

Several Ukrainian legislators ⁠suggested on social media on Sunday that a ‌decision regarding ​the tax had ‌only been postponed, not ​cancelled.

Ukrainian military is working to procure 25,000 ground robotic systems to send in the warzone against invading Russian forces in the first half of this year, its defence ministry said.

Defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Ukraine will double the total procured robotic systems throughout 2025.

“Our goal — 100 per cent of frontline logistics should be performed by robotic systems,” he said, adding that the expansion follows a meeting with domestic manufacturers of unmanned ground systems, where the ministry outlined its goal of scaling robotic support across the battlefield.

This comes just days after president Volodymyr Zelensky announced that in a rare historic battlefield first, Ukraine’s ground robotic systems of drones and ammunitions were able to recapture land from the Russian forces and saved 22,000 lives in the process.

Ukrainian forces carried out more than 9,000 logistics and evacuation missions using ground robots in March alone, and approximately 21,500 missions during the first quarter of 2026, according to the government.

One man has died and another ⁠injured in a “massive” Ukrainian drone ⁠attack ​on Russia’s ⁠Black Sea port ⁠of Tuapse, ​which ⁠has been ‌set ablaze, local governor Veniamin ‌Kondratiev said ‌this morning citing preliminary ⁠information.

He also said debris from drones damaged several buildings in the city, ‌including a ​kindergarten, ‌primary ⁠school, church ⁠and residential apartment block.

Tuapse is one of Russia’s major southern ports, ⁠serving as an oil product export hub and ​also ⁠handles dry bulk ‌cargo such as coal and fertiliser. It is also home to a major oil ‌refinery of the same name owned ‌by Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil producer.

Ukraine has increasingly attacked the facility in the past week, with the last attack on Thursday, killing two.