A senior Kremlin official has hinted at a shift in Moscow’s stance on the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine following any peace deal – as Washington seeks to ramp up pressure on Russia with implicit warnings of further action. Follow the latest below.
Friday 4 April 2025 22:44, UK
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We’re now pausing our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Sky News will bring you the latest updates, but scroll down to catch up on the latest developments.
Here’s a summary of the big news of the day so far:
14 dead in Kryvyi Rih
At least 14 people have died, including six children, following a Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
The Ukrainian president said rescue operations were ongoing in the central city – also his hometown – and added the attack showed “Russia does not want a ceasefire, and we see it”
Regional governor Serhii Lysak added that at least 50 people were injured.
NATO in Brussels
NATO foreign ministers gathered, with Ukraine and defence spending key items on the agenda.
Simultaneously, army chiefs were meeting in Kyiv in a less publicised, but similarly important, meeting.
Britain’s David Lammy and France’s Jean-Noel Barrot continued their coordinated approach to the conflict with a joint statement this morning, kicking off proceedings by accusing Putin of “dragging his feet”.
Notable lines from Brussels came from the likes of US secretary of state Marco Rubio and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte.
While the US has faced accusations of trying to rehabilitate Russia’s image on the global stage, Rubio had some ostensibly strong words for Moscow.
In a thinly veiled threat, he said he had “explained” the US’s timeline to one of Vladimir Putin’s officials, but reassured reporters “none of it was threatening.”
He added: “I think it was more an explanation of this is our timeline, and at some point it will be clear whether [Russia] wants peace or [if Russia] doesn’t want peace. And that time is coming. It’s pretty short.”
Meanwhile, Rutte said the “ball is in Russia’s court” over peace talks after a US 30-day ceasefire seemingly failed.
Moscow tone shift
It seems some of the US’s tougher rhetoric may have gotten through to the Kremlin.
In an interview with Fox News, Putin’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev said late on Thursday that Russia might consider security guarantees “in some form”.
This is a notable departure from previously statements, when Russia has refused to even consider such backstops.
Fighting shows no sign of stopping
However, while the words may be encouraging to US ears, Russia continued its nightly attacks.
It is yet to be seen if Moscow will come to the negotiating table in any serious way.
Stark pictures from Kharkiv showed the aftermath of a drone strike that killed at least four people, and injured over 30.
On the eastern front, Russia claimed to have seized two towns and in Kursk it was continuing its efforts to dislodge Ukrainian soldiers.
A human rights ombudsman says Russia used a ballistic missile in its strike on Kryvyi Rih.
Dmytro Lubinets added on Telegram that the attack reached “not a single military facility – just civilian infrastructure”.
Ballistic missiles take just minutes to reach their targets and are difficult to shoot down for all but the most advanced air defences.
After its strike on Kryvyi Rih, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is saying Russia has launched a drone attack at a thermal power plant in Kherson.
The Ukrainian president is accusing Russia of violating the US-brokered energy ceasefire with the attack, and says: “All Russian promises end with missiles and drones, bombs or artillery.”
“Diplomacy is an empty word for them,” he added in an evening address.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with military officials from the UK and France today, and says plans for foreign troops to be deployed in Ukraine could be agreed soon.
The Ukrainian president told reporters that an understanding on a foreign deployment as part of a ceasefire agreement could be reached within a month.
For context: A peacekeeping force to be deployed in Ukraine after a ceasefire has previously been touted by Sir Keir Starmer – who told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby in January that Britain would play its “full part”.
Russia has repeatedly called the proposal “unacceptable” and strongly opposes any foreign deployments.
However, as reported earlier (see 13.05 post), a Kremlin negotiator said last night that some security guarantees “may be possible” – marking a possible shift in tone from Moscow.
We’re getting reports in from Kryvyi Rih now, with a Ukrainian official saying the youngest injured in the strikes is three months old.
Serhii Lysak, governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, said on Telegram that doctors in the city “are fighting for every life”.
He adds: “Previously, more than 30 people were in medical facilities. Among those injured are children. The youngest is three months old.
“The boy has cut wounds. He was given assistance. He will recover from what he experienced at home.”
Today’s missile attack on Kryvyi Rih follows another Russian attack yesterday in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, that authorities said killed five civilians.
It comes as US and European leaders pressed Russia to accept a ceasefire in the conflict, which has been going on now for over three years.
“I think it is obvious who wants peace and who wants war,” Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said at a NATO meeting in Brussels today, referring to the Kharkiv strike.
“We must get Russia serious about peace. We must pressure Russia into peace.”
Here are some of the images we’ve received from Kryvyi Rih, where authorities are reporting multiple civilian deaths following a Russian strike.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared the following pictures via his official Telegram channel, showing damaged buildings and cars.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says at least 14 people have died, including six children, following a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian president’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih.
He said rescue operations were ongoing in the central city, with regional governor Serhii Lysak adding that at least 50 people were injured.
Zelenskyy said the attack proved Moscow was not interested in peace.
“Russian strikes every day,” he said.
“People die every day. There is only one reason why this continues: Russia does not want a ceasefire, and we see it. The whole world sees it.
“Every missile, every strike drone proves that Russia only wants war. And only from the pressure of the world on Russia, from all efforts to strengthen Ukraine, our air defence, our forces – only on this depends when the war will end.”
Politico is reporting that British officials met European allies at a “discreet dinner” in Brussels last week.
The point of the dinner was reportedly to discuss plans for a new defence fund designed to sidestep existing bureaucracy and help them arm faster.
Poland hosted the secret gathering, it reported, citing one EU official.
The proposal was reportedly brought forward by the UK treasury.
The idea is said to allow governments to avoid booking upfront costs of the military in their national budget, helping countries, like the UK, with tight fiscal rules.
“The British have a fiscal straightjacket so they are very much interested in this,” Politico reported a government official familiar with the dinner said.
Russia is trying to leverage ongoing peace talks to seize more territory, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
In its latest analysis of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the group warned the Kremlin was willing to keep fighting if diplomacy failed, but adding that the country was facing serious military and economic challenges simultaneously.
“Putin is leveraging ongoing negotiations to secure additional concessions from Ukraine and the West as part of his long-term pursuit of total Ukrainian surrender,” it said.
But it added that the military and economic challenges it faced included significant casualty numbers and poor quality new recruits.
These, it said, could lead to the Kremlin trying to achieve its goals through a mediated ceasefire and peace negotiations.
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