Ukraine-Russia war latest: Death toll in Kyiv rises to 26 as Zelensky laments ‘nonsensical’ lack of Patriot missiles

“Some allies are doing more than others. Poland, the Nordic countries, the Baltic countries lead the way,” he said.

At least 26 people have been killed in the Kyiv region as part of Russia’s latest bombardment.

Russian strikes killed at least 16 in the capital, with 10 dead ​in wider Kyiv region, officials said on Telegram as search and rescue operations proceeded.

Emergency Services reported repeated explosions and many damaged residential buildings in Vyshneve, outside the capital.

The governor of Zaporizhzhia region in ⁠southeast Ukraine said a drone strike on a filling station killed two people later on Monday. In Kyiv, nearly 30 buildings were significantly damaged, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

A search operation dragged into Monday afternoon as crews combed mountains of rubble and twisted metal in the multi-storey building whose top floors had been torn open.

Three people, including 58-year-old Ukrainian business tycoon Vadym Iermolaiev, a woman and a 13-year-old teenager, were wounded on Monday evening when an explosive was remotely detonated in what authorities believe was a targeted attack.

The two adults were rushed to hospital in a critical condition, with the woman having both her legs amputated.

President Volodymyr ​Zelensky lamented a shortage of arms to defend Ukraine against ⁠Russian ballistic missiles on Monday and said it was “absurd” that production could not ⁠meet demand ​to ⁠protect people.

“It is simply absurd that, ⁠in the modern ​world, ⁠production has still not ‌been scaled up to the level actually ‌required to protect people ‌from ballistic terror,” he said in his ⁠nightly video address.

Zelensky said Ukraine had the know-how to produce the weapons and if it received US licences to manufacture US Patriot ‌systems “our production would ​be sufficient ‌not only ⁠to defend Ukraine but also ⁠to assist partners who ‌need ​them.

Tens of millions of people around the world could be pushed into a hunger crisis thanks to the fallout from Donald Trump’s war in Iran.

Selena Victor, senior director of policy for Mercy Corps, told The Independent that in spite of a ceasefire between Iran and the US, farmers have already been forced to plant crops without fertiliser due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“The damage has been done,” she said. “The crops have already been planted … This will play out into the harvest season at the end of this year, and because that will also deplete the land, this will also play out into 2027. It is a long tail shock.”

In March, the UN predicted that the Strait of Hormuz blockade could leave an additional 45 million people facing acute hunger, meaning the estimated 318 million people facing acute food insecurity would rise to up to 363 million. That is a record high for global hunger this century, beyond that caused by the Ukraine war.

The worst of the shock was expected in east and southern Africa, where 17.7 million more people could go hungry.

The assault could see Poland’s vital infrastructure targeted by missiles or drones, or even Russian soldiers crossing the border into Nato territory, Washington has said.

Sources close to Polish president Karol Nawrocki told Polish outlet Onet that the aim of Moscow’s possible assault, which could be launched in a matter of months, would be to provoke tensions and pressure Ukraine’s Western allies to suspend their military and financial aid.

Poland said on Monday that the US would resume its rotation of troops in the country after all, after temporarily suspending the process.

The UK government has imposed sanctions on the scientists and institutions responsible for developing the Novichok nerve agent, which was used in the 2018 Salisbury assassination plot.

This deadly poison led to the death of Dawn Sturgess and the attempted assassination of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

The Foreign Office also announced targeted measures against Russians involved in the creation of the Epibatidine toxin. This substance was deployed against Alexei Navalny, a prominent opposition leader and vocal critic of Vladimir Putin.

Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom plans to send staff back to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant from the middle of July, Rosatom’s head said on Monday.

Rosatom, which is building two new units at Bushehr, evacuated hundreds of staff after the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28.