Ukraine-Russia war live news: Three dead and nine injured after Zaporizhzhia drone strikes as nuclear plant hit

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron is expected to urge U.S. lawmakers to approve a new package of aid for Ukraine when he visits Washington this week, warning Congress that it is putting the security of the West at risk by continuing to hold up the funding.

The trip is a chance for Cameron to personally deliver the message he posted on social media last week in which he called on Western leaders to put pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans in Congress to approve additional aid for Ukraine, as Britain and the European Union have already done.

Britain must ramp up its defence and aid spending and bolster its diplomatic and intelligence networks amid “the most dangerous period” since the Cold War, the UK’s former top civil servant has warned.

Writing in The Independent, former cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill urged the government to nearly double Britain’s defence spending to reach 4 per cent of GDP and restore the international aid budget to 0.7 per cent of national income, slashed by Boris Johnson in 2021.

A Russian missile attack on Monday hit an industrial facility in Ukraine‘s southern city of Zaporizhzhia, injuring at least six people, local authorities said. Ivan Fedorov, the regional governor, did not provide any details regarding the type of facility in his message on the Telegram.

Last Friday, an unidentified industrial facility in the city was struck by a Russian missile strike which also damaged residential buildings and killed four people. It was not clear if Monday’s strike targeted the same site.

Separately, Russian officials accused Ukraine of launching drone strikes against the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, located southwest of the city and occupied by Moscow troops.

Moscow-installed officials have made a series of claims since last week. Kyiv said it has nothing to do with incidents at the power station reported by Russia and called them “armed provocations”.

An explosion near the reactor building and blood stains suggesting one casualty on Sunday were also reported, including a hit on the dome of the plant’s sixth power unit.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Beijing Monday to display the strength of ties with close diplomatic partner China amid Moscow’s grinding war against Ukraine and an ongoing effort to align their foreign policies against the U.S. and its allies.

The two continent-sized authoritarian states, increasingly in dispute with democracies and NATO, seek to gain influence in Africa, the Middle East and South America. China has backed Russia’s claim that President Vladimir Putin launched his assault in 2022 because of Western provocations, without producing any solid evidence.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron is expected to urge U.S. lawmakers to approve a new package of aid for Ukraine when he visits Washington this week, warning Congress that it is putting the security of the West at risk by continuing to hold up the funding.

The trip is a chance for Cameron to personally deliver the message he posted on social media last week in which he called on Western leaders to put pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans in Congress to approve additional aid for Ukraine, as Britain and the European Union have already done.

“Speaker Johnson can make it happen in Congress,” Mr Cameron said in a video posted on social media platform X. “I’m going to go and see him next week and say, ‘Ukraine needs that money. It is American security, it’s European security, it’s Britain’s security that’s on the line in Ukraine, and they need our help.”’

A $95 billion aid package for Ukraine has been bogged down in the House of Representatives for months as populist conservatives seek to block further funding for the two-year-old conflict and some mainstream Republicans demand concessions on border security before supporting the bill.

Voters in Slovakia headed to the ballot stations Saturday to elect a successor to Zuzana Čaputová, the country’s first female president and a staunch backer of neighboring Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion, who isn’t seeking a second term.

Former Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok won the first round of voting two weeks ago after receiving 42.5 per cent of the votes. The pro-Western career diplomat faces Peper Pellegrini, who finished second with 37 per cent, for the largely ceremonial post.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that a planned German military presence in Lithuania would escalate tensions.

The NATO military alliance and EU member Lithuania, which borders Russia and its ally Belarus, said earlier it would partly finance permanently hosting of 5,000 German troops from 2027.

Three people have been killed in the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine following Russian strikes, the local governor has reported.

Ivan Federov, posting on the Telegram messenger service, wrote: “Three people were killed and three people were wounded in the Pologivskyi district.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has decried Russia’s ramped up assault on the city of Kharkiv, which has been targeted multiple times over the past few weeks.

The northeastern Ukrainian city, less than 20km from the Russian border, is the country’s second largest behind Kyiv. Moscow has begun dropping deadly guided aerial bombs on the city, nicknamed “building destroyers” and has carried out “double tap” strikes on emergency workers earlier this month.

Kharkiv’s residents have only limited access to electricity after a major bombing campaign on 22 March.

“Kharkiv. Every day and night, the city is subjected to heinous Russian attacks. We are making every effort to provide better protection for it,” Mr Zelensky said.