Ukraine-Russia war latest: Xi ‘told Trump that Putin might regret invading Ukraine’

Ukraine’s economy returned to growth in April after a decline in the first quarter of the year, with gross domestic product up by 0.9 per cent, driven by retail, the food sector, and weapons production, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Tuesday.

She said that GDP growth in April had helped mitigate the contraction in the previous months of the year. GDP slipped by 0.2 per cent in the first four months of the year. In the first quarter of 2026, GDP shrank by 0.5 per cent year-on-year, data showed.

A Nato military jet has shot down a drone of apparent Ukrainian origin in Estonia, defence minister Hanno Pevkur has told the Estonian Delfi news website.

Pausing, turning and pointing, like hounds catching a new scent, Europe’s leaders are picking up a blood trail from the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin’s forces were once the hunters – now they are bleeding and Ukraine has the whiff of victory in its nose.

In the latest sign that Ukraine’s systematic new policy of trying to kill at least 50,000 Russians a month is working, Putin has told his people that the end of the war he started is near.

And, in an act that was both desperate and doomed, he suggested that Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor, could act as Europe’s envoy in talks.

The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley reports:

It’s getting harder for officials in the Kremlin to cast the war in Ukraine — now in its fifth year — as something so distant that it doesn’t affect the daily routines of Russian civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cast the attack in Moscow‘s suburbs as a just retribution for the relentless and deadly Russian missile and drone strikes on the capital of Kyiv and other cities last week.

Russian drones have attacked several gas infrastructure facilities in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region early on Tuesday, Naftogaz, the country’s state oil and gas company Naftogaz said.

The strikes at production facilities caused damage to critical infrastructure equipment, CEO Serhiy ​Koretskyi said.

They marked a third day in a row of attacks, Naftogaz added.

Turkey can ​exert influence over the wars in Ukraine and Iran, German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said ⁠on Monday, adding the European Union and Ankara should strengthen strategic ties.

“If Turkey wishes to join the European ‌Union, it will find a friendly ​and reliable partner ‌in Germany,” Wadephul ⁠said. However, in order to join ⁠the union, Turkey must meet all ‌the criteria, ​he added.

“Turkey has the potential to exert considerable influence on these trouble spots, not only because of its geographical proximity, but also because of its enormous political and economic significance,” Wadephul told reporters at a press conference with Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Berlin.

It ‌was desirable to keep strengthening strategic relations between Turkey and the European ⁠Union, he added, with Germany advocating that Turkey be considered in the development of the EU’s defence and industrial policies.

Russia’s armed forces will conduct exercises of its nuclear forces from 19 May to 21 May, the defence ministry announced this morning.

More ⁠than 64,000 ‌personnel and 7,800 pieces ‌of military equipment ‌will be involved in ⁠the drills, which will see ballistic and cruise missiles launched from ‌test sites ​on Russian ‌territory, the ⁠ministry said.