Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky’s new defence minister vows to ‘kill 50,000 Russians a month’

Leaders will interrogate how well Europe can defend itself in a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday.

Nato secretary general Mark Rutte will be joined by Finnish president Alexander Stubb and Polish president Karol Nawrocki, as well as the president of the European investment bank Nadia Calviño and Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson from 9.15 GMT.

We’ll be bringing you coverage as it happens.

Natia Seskuria, an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), tells The Independent that while Trump has escalated the diplomatic push to end the war, a lack of pressure on Putin means fundamental differences have gone unresolved.

“President Trump has moved rapidly to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, casting an end to the war as the signature achievement that would define his presidency and cement his reputation as a peacemaker. To that end, he has escalated the diplomatic track quickly, engaging in direct talks with President Putin and exerting heavy pressure on Kyiv to agree to his timelines and parameters for a deal,” she says.

“Yet despite this pace, the parties are not anywhere closer to a substantive peace agreement, largely because Moscow has refused to offer meaningful concessions or dilute maximalist territorial demands that remain fundamentally unacceptable to Ukraine.

“Negotiators have made progress on the architecture of security guarantees for Ukraine, but the core obstacles, above all Russia’s insistence on recognition of its claims over the Donbas region and beyond, remain unresolved and are explicitly described by Kyiv as the “most difficult point” in the talks.

“So far, the Trump administration has concentrated its leverage on pushing Kyiv to show flexibility, while applying little to no sustained pressure on Moscow to soften its position, which leaves the overall dynamics of the peace process essentially unchanged despite the flurry of high‑level diplomacy.”

Ursula von der Leyen, speaking in European parliament today, assures that Europe is prepared to act to defend itself in a fast-changing world.

“We are at a crossroads,” she says. “Europe prefers dialogue and solutions – but we are fully prepared to act, if necessary, with unity, urgency and determination.”

She says that “in this increasingly lawless world, Europe needs its own levers of power”.

She says it is “more important than ever” to keep focusing on Ukraine, and insists the EU will work with the US and partners to strengthen the Arctic region.

Trump said this week that Europe “ought to focus on the war with Russia and Ukraine” instead of Greenland.

A major deal to fund Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction will no longer be signed in Davos with Europe and Donald Trump now at loggerheads over Greenland, according to the FT.

Six officials aware of the disagreements between European capitals and Washington confirmed that a planned announcement of an $800bn “prosperity plan” for Ukraine will now be delayed.

The agreement was going to be between Ukraine, Europe and the US, the report added.

While one of the officials confirmed “no signing as of now,” another said “nobody is in any mood to stage a grand spectacle around an agreement with Trump right now”.

Another official told the FT that European capitals could not simply ignore the US president’s actions on Greenland while trying to make progress on other Trump-related matters such as Ukraine.

One of the officials said Greenland and the Board of Peace controversy – with Trump inviting Putin to join despite his ongoing aggression against a European neighbour – had “eclipsed” a previously planned focus on Ukraine at the Swiss meeting.

Oleksandra Oliynykova, the Ukrainian tennis player, made a distinctive impression at the Australian Open, not only for her unconventional playing style and striking body art but also for a poignant message subtly conveyed after her first-round loss to defending champion Madison Keys.

Following her defeat on Rod Laver Arena, Oliynykova appeared at a post-match news conference wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a powerful plea: “I need your help to protect Ukrainian women and children but I can’t talk about it here.”

This statement navigated the Grand Slam guidelines, which typically discourage players from using competition venues for political declarations.

The player said she came close to being hit in an attack before coming to Australia to play. “There was an explosion just near my home and a drone hit the home just across the road,” she told Melbourne Age newspaper. “My apartment was literally shaking because of the explosion.”

She has also called for a ban on world number one Aryna Sabalenka and other Belarusian and Russian players from tennis, saying their presence was “very wrong” with the war going on.

Drone fragments caused a fire at the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region without inflicting any injuries or damage, local emergencies centre said this morning.

The fire was extinguished, it said.

Ukrainian drones struck towns in southern Russia, injuring 11 people and prompting the evacuation of several residents, local officials said.

The refinery, which has been frequently attacked by Ukrainian drones in recent months as part of Kyiv’s campaign to degrade Russia’s vast energy infrastructure, is mostly focused on exports. It processed 7.2 million metric tons of crude oil (144,000 barrels per day) in 2024.

Ukraine’s priority is to inflict as many losses on Russia as possible and the aim is to deplete their forces by at least “50,000 Russians per month”, new defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has said.

Fedorov was sharing his top two priorities in his new role and said his first objective was to improve oversight in the military.

“Management must be built around those capable of achieving defined goals. If people don’t demonstrate measurable results, they can’t remain in the system,” he said.

“The second strategic objective is to kill 50,000 Russians per month,” he said.

“Last month, 35,000 were killed; all these losses are verified on video. If we reach 50,000, we will see what happens to the enemy. They view people as a resource, and shortages are already evident,” he said.

Ukraine’s parliament building is among thousands left without electricity, heating and water after Russia’s overnight strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid, officials said.

“After another Russian missile and drone attack, Ukrainian cities have been left without electricity, water, and heating. The Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine is currently without these basic services as well,” Ruslan Stefanchuk, the parliament’s speaker, said.

Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a lawmaker from the Holos party, said on the Telegram app that parliament’s support office would work remotely today due to a lack of water and heating in the building. There were no parliamentary sessions scheduled on Tuesday.

Yesterday, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said the Russian attacks cut heating supplies to 5,635 multi-storey residential apartment buildings.

Wayne Jordash KC, president of Global Rights Compliance, has warned of Russia’s calculated weaponisation of infrastructure during the Ukraine’s harshest winter since the start of the full-scale invasion.

He said: “Russia’s widespread and systematic strikes on Ukrainian civilian energy infrastructure are creating brutal conditions inside Ukraine during the freezing winter, with temperatures more severe than usual.

“These callous attacks bear the clear hallmarks of inhumane acts constituting crimes against humanity, and they are certainly war crimes, intentionally condemning many of Ukraine’s civilian population to cold, dark conditions for most of the day and night.

“Electricity, heating, and water are essential, not only for household tasks such as cooking, washing, and keeping households warm, but to ensure the safety of children, the elderly and the handicapped at home and in healthcare who are particularly at risk from the cold and the deprivation.

“Russia’s continued weaponisation of infrastructure is part of a calculated plan to fracture communities, paralyse Ukraine’s economy, and push the population to the brink. As anybody who knows Ukrainians, it will not work. But Ukraine’s European allies must ramp up their support with urgent energy aid packages to enable the country to weather these cruel attacks and avoid a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.”

Organisers say a record of nearly 400 top political leaders, including more than 60 heads of state and government, and nearly 850 chairs and chief executives of many of the world’s leading companies.

Headlining the lineup is US president Donald Trump, who’s set to deliver a speech on Wednesday, and several Cabinet ministers and top advisers including secretary of state Marco Rubio, treasury secretary Scott Bessent and special envoy Steve Witkoff.

President Emmanuel Macron of France, European commission president Ursula von der Leyen, president Ahmad al-Sharaa of Syria, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, president Felix Tshisekedi of Congo, and vice premier He Lifeng of China are among the who’s-who of top attendees.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine will not be attending.