Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin strikes civilian ship near Black Sea port after threatening ‘powerful’ attacks

Some 500 soldiers from the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ backing Ukraine marched down Paris’ Champs-Elysees on Tuesday in the annual Bastille Day parade, in what France said would be a symbol of Europe’s strategic awakening.

France’s traditional national day military parade fell one day after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky joined around 25 leaders in Paris for a summit of the coalition of Western allies supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia.

The allies announced an air-defence coalition asUkraine grapples with critical ammunition shortages and intensifying Russian strikes on its capital Kyiv and surrounding regions.

Zelensky, British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and German chancellor Friedrich Merz were among about 30 leaders invited by Emmanuel Macron to watch Tuesday’s parade, the French president’s last before he leaves office in 2027.

It featured around 25 Ukrainian soldiers marching along the capital’s most famous avenue.

Vladimir Putin’s growing unpopularity in Russia means he cannot afford to end the war with Ukraine, as he will be lynched by his own people, one of the president’s greatest personal enemy in the West has warned.

Sir Bill Browder told The Independent’s World of Trouble podcast: “If he does a peace deal, he’ll lose power. If he loses power, then he’ll get strung up from a lamp post.”

The anti-corruption campaigner, who once ran the biggest investment fund in Russia, has fought against Putin for nearly two decades.

His latest intervention comes days after Nato leaders met in Turkey and agreed to allow Kyiv to produce its own Patriot air defence missiles, vital in withstanding the onslaught from Moscow.

The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:

The Russia-installed head of parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk Region under Moscow’s control said Ukrainian drone attacks had killed eight people, including a family of four.

Denis ​Pushilin, ⁠writing on the Telegram messaging app, ⁠said the four people died ​in ⁠a strike ‌on a village southwest of the region’s main city, ‌also called Donetsk.

Russian forces control well over 70 per cent of Donetsk Region and Moscow has called on ‌Kyiv to abandon ​the rest of ‌that region ⁠and the three others ⁠it has annexed as part ‌of ​any peace ‌deal.

Ukraine has received ​all such demands.

Four others died in vehicles struck by drones, he said.

Kyrgyzstan’s government has indefinitely banned exports of gasoline, diesel fuel and oil, in response to fuel shortages in Russia, from which the Central Asian country sources the vast majority of its fuel needs.

The decree, dated Monday but published on Tuesday, bans exports “until such time as the domestic market is saturated”.

Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous country of around 7 million, imports more than 90 per cent of its petroleum products from Russia, where Ukrainian strikes against oil refineries have caused acute shortages.

Reuters on Monday reported that jet fuel exports by rail to Central Asia and Afghanistan slumped by more than 92 per cent in June ⁠from May to just 3,800 metric tons, while supplies of ​gasoline dropped by 34 per cent to 99,300 tons.

Kyrgyzstan has appealed to neighbours for help in making up for Russian fuel supplies, and its government has said it has signed contracts for diesel and jet fuel with Belarus and China.

Kyiv and its European backers want to press home Ukraine’s recent successes and compel Putin to negotiate an end to the fighting, although Moscow has shown no willingness to compromise despite peace efforts by the Trump administration.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow will closely follow the Paris meeting but dismissed its aspirations.

“This is a coalition of warmongers,” Peskov said.

“They are driven by the profound delusion that it’s possible to inflict a strategic defeat on our country, so this is a coalition of the deluded, a coalition of those who incite the war.”

Ukraine’s advances in drone technology have given it an edge recently, analysts and Western officials say. Its strikes on supply routes behind the front have robbed the Russian army of momentum and made its progress slow and costly, they say.

At least one Indian crew member ​was killed and eight others including Ukrainian nationals were wounded when two Emirati oil tankers were struck by Iranian cruise missiles ‌in the Strait of Hormuz, the United Arab Emirates ministry of defence said on Tuesday, in the latest escalation in the strategic waterway.

Of the eight wounded, four were seriously injured. Six of the wounded were Indian ​nationals and two were Ukrainian nationals, the ministry said.

The ministry said the tankers, the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, were targeted in the southern lane of the strait while in Omani territorial waters. The dead crew member ​was aboard the Mombasa, it said.

French president Emmanuel Macron ​said on Monday that France would allow Ukraine to produce French-made cruise missiles, precision guided bombs and air defence interceptor missiles after Kyiv ⁠ordered next generation Franco-Italian air defence systems and Rafale fighter jets.

“Earlier this afternoon president (Volodymyr) Zelensky and I agreed on a roadmap between our two countries, implementing what had been agreed in principle last November regarding our bilateral defence cooperation,” Macron said at a news conference following a meeting of some 25 leaders in Paris.

Macron’s announcement ​marked ⁠the first time France ‌has agreed to licence production to Ukraine, a move that would enable it to ramp up stocks ‌at a time when Russia ‌is intensifying strikes on the country.

The production centres around AASM precision-guided air-to-ground bombs, Aster air-defence interceptor missiles and SCALP, long-range air-launched cruise missiles, which Britain also produces. Macron said radar systems were also being ceded to Ukraine.

He said Zelensky had also ordered the delivery of next generation SAMP-T air defence systems, which would follow deliveries of the older version and a batch of ‌missiles.

At least 16 Rafale warplanes would also be delivered with a view to operating in Ukraine’s skies by 2028-2029, Macron said.

Macron also said Ukraine’s allies had ⁠agreed to begin military exercises in countries neighbouring Ukraine as part ‌of a plan ​for a multinational force ‌that would deploy once ​there is a ceasefire with Russia.

Paris is hosting a Bastille Day celebration on Tuesday that transcends France’s national borders, with troops and warplanes from across Europe participating.

This year’s grand parade aims to showcase unwavering support for Ukraine and highlight the continent’s collective military strength.

President Emmanuel Macron, presiding over his last Bastille Day as president, is welcoming around 30 international leaders.

The gathering is intended to convey a strong message to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, affirming Europe’s unity and its resolve to defend itself. Among the dignitaries greeted by Mr Macron’s wife, Brigitte, was European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Ukraine and nine other countries announced have said they were forming a coalition to protect Europe from ballistic missiles, utilising Kyiv’s experience in fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion for over four years.

“Our goal is to build a shared ballistic missile defense capability for Europe,” the 10 nations said in a statement in Paris at talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky and the leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom said they recognised “the growing threat posed by ballistic missiles,” which are harder to stop than cruise missiles or drones.

“We believe that protecting Europe requires a comprehensive solution, in the form of an integrated missile defense architecture, to deter and neutralise future missile threats,” the statement said.

“We recognise Ukraine’s unique experience, gained through its defence against the war of aggression waged by Russia.”

The statement gave no time frame for setting up the defense system and said the plan remained open to other countries.