Ukraine-Russia war live: Trump claims peace deal ‘very close’ after Putin test-fires nuclear-capable missile

Debris from a Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire this morning at a gas processing plant in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region, the local governor said.

“All enemy aircraft ⁠were either shot down ​or ⁠neutralised by electronic ‌warfare systems,” Igor Babushkin wrote on ‌Telegram.

“The debris caused ‌a fire,” he said.

Babushkin said there were no casualties or injuries and that the fire was expected to be extinguished within a few hours.

The plant ‌is located near ​the Caspian ‌Sea, some ⁠1,675km (1,040 miles) ⁠from the Ukrainian ‌border.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that many positive things were being said ⁠about the enormous potential of US-Russia relations, but that in reality “nothing is happening”.

“The sanctions imposed under him ⁠have remained in force. Moreover, the Trump administration has adopted ‌its own initiatives ​in order to punish ‌Russia’s economy,” he said this morning.

Lavrov said that “good words” about ​cooperation ⁠on technology, energy and ‌other projects had so far come to nothing, but that Moscow appreciated Trump’s initiation of dialogue ‌with Moscow.

“However, nothing is happening in real life,” said Lavrov.

Lavrov added that the dialogue with Moscow that did occur was in the same vein as that under former US president Joe Biden.

“Aside from this regular dialogue – which ‌is normal in relations between people and ​countries – everything else follows the pattern initiated ‌by President Biden,” ⁠Lavrov said.

A Russian university student who was recruited into the Russian Unmanned Systems Forces (RSF) died in combat, potentially in an assault unit, said a US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War, citing open-source reporting.

The student, Valery Averin, signed a contract with the Russian defence ministry earlier this year in January to serve in the drones unit of Russia.

He completed his drone operator training on 24 March and contacted his mother for the last time on 2 April, and was killed in action by 8 April, only two weeks after completing his training, reported ISW, citing the BBC Russian service.

The student’s mother said Russian forces “threw him [Averin] into an assault, right into the meat grinder” and that a Ukrainian “mortar strike” killed Averin.

The BBC report indicated that this was the first known death of a Russian university student recruited into the drone unit.

The General ‌Staff of the Ukrainian military, in a late evening bulletin, said 170 combat clashes had been recorded over the past 24 hours along the 1,250-km (775-mile) front.

The report said the heaviest fighting had occurred near two key points in Ukrainian defences in the east of the country – the towns of Kostiantynivka and Pokrovsk.

Russian forces, it said, had conducted 25 and 24 combat operations respectively.

Although neither side reported large-scale airstrikes during the weekend ceasefire, both said fighting continued along the front line, accusing each other of drone and artillery attacks.

Russian forces have intercepted and downed at least 286 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian defence ministry said this morning.

It did not detail the damage caused by the massive swarm of Ukrainian drones.

Russia typically reports only how many drones its air defences say they downed, not how many Ukraine launched, and rarely discloses the full extent of damage unless civilians are killed or civilian sites are hit.

However, damage was reported by local officials.

In the ‌southern Krasnodar ‌region, drone ⁠fragments fell on the territory of an industrial facility, ‌causing ​a ‌fire, ⁠local authorities ⁠said on their Telegram channel.

Russia has test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile as part of efforts to modernise the country’s nuclear forces, a launch hailed by president Vladimir Putin just days after his claim that the fighting in Ukraine is nearing an end.

Putin said that the nuclear-armed Sarmat missile would enter combat service at the end of the year. It was built to replace the aging Soviet-built Voyevoda.

The Sarmat — designated “Satan II” in the West — is meant to replace about 40 Soviet-built Voyevoda missiles. Its development began in 2011 and before Tuesday, the missile had only one known successful test and reportedly suffered a massive explosion during an abortive test in 2024.

“This is the most powerful missile in the world,” Putin declared, adding that the combined power of the Sarmat’s individually targeted warheads is more than four times higher than that of any Western counterpart.

The Russian leader has repeatedly brandished the nuclear sword after sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to try to deter the West from ramping up support for Ukraine.

A Scottish man who worked as a military instructor in Ukraine has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to spying for Russia.

Ross David Cutmore, from the city of Dunfermline in Fife, was recruited by a member of the Russian special services and transmitted information about the Ukrainian military in return for payment.

The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said that he had “acted out of selfish motives and with the intent to transmit this data to the aggressor country”.

Cutmore was jailed for eight years and six months after admitting his guilt in a plea deal at the Kyiv district court of Odesa on 30 April.

Cutmore arrived in the country in January 2024, according to prosecutors. He ran classes for Ukrainian service personnel in the city of Mykolaiv.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said Kyiv was working with its allies in Europe to develop technologies to defend against ballistic missiles, adding that 13 countries and Nato representatives had participated in talks on the issue on Tuesday.

“We are steadily advancing the issue of anti-ballistic capabilities production in Europe – we are forming an anti-ballistic coalition. This is something worth doing, and right now we are closer to a result than ever before,” he said in his nightly address.

Zelensky added that at least 13 countries and the Office of the Nato secretary general were represented at yesterday’s meeting at the level of NSAs on anti-ballistic solutions.

“Overall, Ukraine’s positions right now – on the frontline, in our long-range sanctions, and in our joint results with partners – are the strongest they have been in years,” he said.

Vladimir Putin appeared to stage a friendly encounter with a member of the public in a bizarre video shared by the Kremlin on Monday.

The Russian president was filmed making friendly small talk with a man in a hotel lobby during a planned meeting with an old schoolteacher in Moscow.