After the Kremlin’s offer of direct peace talks next week, a Ukrainian official has accused Russia of being “afraid to reveal” its “unrealistic ultimatums”. In Moscow, drone debris has hit an apartment block – Sky’s Ivor Bennett has been at the scene. Follow the latest below.
Thursday 29 May 2025 16:44, UK
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
That’s all for our coverage today but we’ll be back tomorrow with more updates on the war in Ukraine.
Here are the key lines you need to know today:
North Korea enabled Russia to increase missile attacks against critical Ukrainian civilian infrastructure and supplied more than 20,000 containers of munitions, a report by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team reports.
The group, which was launched in October last year, also said Moscow helped North Korea’s missile performance in return by supplying data.
As many as nine million rounds of artillery and rocket launcher ammunition was shipped from North Korea to Russia by Russian cargo vessels as part of military cooperation between the two countries in violation of UN sanctions, it said.
“At least for the foreseeable future, North Korea and Russia intend to continue and further deepen their military cooperation in contravention of relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” the group said in its first report.
The group comprises of the US, South Korea, Japan, and eight UN member states and was introduced after Russia vetoed the renewal of a UN panel that enforced sanctions over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs for 15 years.
North Korea’s help “contributed to Moscow’s ability to increase its missile attacks against Ukrainian cities including targeted strikes against critical civilian infrastructure,” the report said.
Russian vessels in the English Channel and Outer Hebrides have been monitored by the Royal Navy for the second time this month.
The Royal Navy said a five-day operation, which began on 18 May, tracked Russian vessels and escorted them through UK waters.
It followed the activation of HMS Tyne three weeks ago.
Warships and helicopters were activated in a bid to “ensure the security and integrity of the UK’s critical sea-lanes”, Lieutenant Commander James Bradshaw said.
Russian intelligence-gathering ship Yuri Ivanov was monitored in waters off the Outer Hebrides following the completion of a major NATO exercise nearby on 21-23 May, the navy said.
HMS Dragon, a destroyer based in Portsmouth, launched a Merlin helicopter to collect aerial information until the Yuri Ivanov headed north towards its base in the Arctic.
Three Russian vessels, two cargo boats and a warship were shadowed by HMS Ledbury, HMS Hurworth and 814 Naval Air Squadron, the Royal Navy added.
There is no indication on the ground that Russia is preparing to restart the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine which it is occupying, an official from the UN nuclear watchdog, who has a small team on site, has said.
On Tuesday, a Greenpeace report said Russia was building new electricity lines for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which it occupies.
Satellite images showed construction was ongoing to the west of Berdyansk in the Zaporizhzhia region and north of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine.
In its report, Greenpeace said it had identified Russian engineers constructing an electricity high voltage power line for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
But speaking today, the International Atomic Energy Agency official told Reuters: “Our teams continue to confirm there is no indication at the moment that there will be any active preparations for a restart of the plant now.”
A criminal case has been opened in Russia after two men were killed in an explosion in the southern city of Stavropol, Russia’s Investigative Committee and the regional governor have said this afternoon.
Zaur Gurtsiev, a city official who was due to be appointed to Stavropol’s regional administration, and another unidentified man, were killed in the explosion.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said the bodies of two men with multiple injuries had been discovered today outside a multi-storey building and that criminal cases investigating murder and the illegal possession of explosives had been opened.
NATO wants Germany to contribute around 40,000 more troops to boost defence against Russia, according to reports.
Reports coming through from Bloomberg and Reuters claim the defence alliance has grown concerned about heightened Russian hostility and is looking to bolster its defences.
Exact figures for NATO’s targets – either overall or country by country – are hard to verify as the information is classified.
But one senior military official told Reuters the target for the total number of brigades that NATO allies would have to provide in future will be raised to between 120 and 130.
And another NATO official told Bloomberg that the alliance “is setting ambitious new capability targets for allies”.
In 2021, Germany agreed to provide 10 brigades – units usually comprising around 5,000 troops – for NATO by 2030.
It currently has eight brigades and is building up a ninth in Lithuania to be ready from 2027.
Following the Kremlin’s proposal to hold the next round of peace talks in Istanbul on 2 June, we’re looking back at what happened during the first round of negotiations earlier this month.
Those talks – also held in Turkey – represented the first face-to-face meeting between Ukrainian and Russian government officials since 2022 – and it lasted barely two hours.
There were hopes that the encounter in Istanbul might mark a turning point in Europe’s deadliest conflict since the Second World War, but they instead proved to be more performative than substantial.
There was one concrete achievement: Russia and Ukraine agreed to a large-scale prisoner swap involving thousands of captives.
The final handover of the exchange was completed on Sunday, with 303 Ukrainian captives handed over to complete a “1,000 for 1,000” swap.
An ‘eternal’ war
Past the prisoner swap, there was little else to celebrate from the talks, with the Russian delegation said to have laid out their ultimate demands to end the war.
“We don’t want war, but we’re ready to fight for a year, two, three – however long it takes,” lead Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky is reported to have said. “We fought Sweden for 21 years. How long are you ready to fight?”
Then there was a chilling moment when the Russians are reported to have threatened their Ukrainian counterparts like gangsters.
“Maybe some of those sitting here at this table will lose more of their loved ones,” Medinsky said.
Watch: What happened at Ukraine talks?
Russian troops have taken control of the settlement of Stroivka in Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region, and Shevchenko Pershe and Hnativka in the eastern Donetsk region, the Russian Defence Ministry has claimed.
Sky News cannot independently confirm the battlefield report.
But the Kremlin’s claim comes just a day after Russia claimed that its troops had taken control of the settlement of Kostyantynivka, in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.
The Kremlin’s defence ministry also claimed they had taken control of the village Zelene Pole, in the eastern Donetsk region.
Russia is continuing to intensify pressure on Ukraine as it advances into the northeast of the country, with reports that troops are gearing up for a summer offensive in Ukraine.
Russia not sharing a memorandum ahead of a meeting with Ukraine suggests it is “likely filled with unrealistic ultimatums”, Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman says.
In a post on X, Heorhii Tykhyi pointed to comments made by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in which he said Ukraine’s demand that Russia present its draft memorandum in advance was “unconstructive”.
Tykhyi said Russia was likely “afraid of revealing that they are stalling the peace process”, accusing Moscow of “playing games” which show it “probably wants the next meeting to be empty”.
As a reminder: Russia has offered a second round of direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on 2 June, but it is still to send its memorandum – the document outlining its terms for a ceasefire.
Ukraine will not take part in the World Judo Championships in Budapest next month after Belarus was allowed to take part under its national flag.
Despite an appeal submitted by Kyiv, the Executive Committee of the International Judo Federation (IJF) has confirmed Belarusian athletes will be allowed to take part in the competition using their national flag – rather than as neutral athletes.
The Judo Federation of Ukraine has today responded by saying it “strongly condemned” the decision of the international federation and considered it to be “contrary to the basic principles of justice, responsibility and solidarity in the world sports movement”.
“We are convinced that the participation of athletes from aggressor countries under national symbols is not only political blindness, but also contempt for the victims of war and international law,” the Judo Federation of Ukraine said in a statement on Facebook.
“The Judo Federation of Ukraine will continue to consistently defend a position based on moral values, freedom and dignity of the Ukrainian people.”
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free