Volodymyr Zelensky has written an urgent letter to Donald Trump warning of an impending shortage of Ukraine’s critical air defences, it has been reported.
In the note seen by the Kyiv Independent, the Ukrainian president said Europe cannot keep pace with the number of US-produced Patriot missiles needed and asked his US counterpart for help, adding ballistic missiles remain Moscow’s “last major advantage on the battlefield.”
Ukraine’s only means to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles is US-made interceptors for the Patriot air defence system. Throughout four years of war, Kyiv has been short of interceptors, but the Iran war has threatened to make resources even more scarce.
Since Trump took office, Ukraine has been purchasing Patriot missiles through NATO’s Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, financed by its European allies. But in his letter, President Zelensky warned the pace of deliveries is “no longer keeping up with the reality of the threat we face.”
“For us – for a nation fighting for its survival – there is hardly anything more painful to see than Patriot batteries with no missiles loaded,” he added.
It comes as Russia intensifies its attacks from above and threatened a new wave of long-range strikes on Kyiv.
Almost 500,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine war, GCHQ says
Nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed over the course of the Ukraine war, new intelligence from GCHQ suggests.
The agency’s director Anne Keast-Butler revealed the figures during her inaugural public speech on Wednesday as she set out the biggest threats facing the UK.
She said Russia is “targeting critical infrastructure, democratic processes, supply chains and public trust”.
Ms Keast-Butler added: “In the face of such aggression and chaos, GCHQ is working tirelessly with intelligence and defence partners to degrade and reduce the Russian threat.”
She warned the UK is at a “moment of consequence” with Russia “relentlessly targeting” critical infrastructure across the country.
Read moreArpan Rai28 May 2026 04:19
Watch: Zelensky writes urgent letter to Trump over critical air defence shortage
EU ministers to discuss Russia strategy as Kyiv pushes for European role
European Union foreign ministers will discuss today how to approach any possible future talks with Russia, as Ukraine seeks to replace the US with Europe as the main mediator in negotiations with Moscow.
The EU has pursued a policy of isolating Russia since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It has imposed sanctions and had few high-level political and diplomatic contacts with Russia.
But with Washington embroiled in a new conflict with Iran, US-led talks to end the conflict making little progress and the war now in its fifth year, some European officials have said the EU should be ready for when the time comes to hold talks with Moscow.
The Kremlin said yesterday that Russian president Vladimir Putin was open to negotiations with Europe, the RIA news agency reported.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has in recent weeks publicly called for diplomacy to be reinvigorated and for Europe to become part of the process.
Zelensky had said it is worth determining who will represent Europe specifically.
Ukraine war is at ‘turning point’, says senior commander
Ukraine faces a critical six-month window to seize the battlefield initiative from Russia and strengthen its position for potential peace negotiations, a senior commander has said, predicting an imminent “turning point” in the conflict now in its fifth year.
Russian forces have made incremental gains since their full-scale invasion in February 2022, but their advances have slowed this year. Ukrainian troops are now intensifying pressure on the frontline in an effort to push back the invaders.
Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky, who commands Ukraine’s Third Army Corps – one of the nation’s most respected fighting formations – told Reuters in an interview that he believes Russia’s military is exhausted and incapable of achieving significant breakthroughs.
Read more here:
Ukraine war is at crucial turning point, says senior commander
Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky said he believes the Russian military is exhaustedArpan Rai28 May 2026 04:44
Von der Leyen discusses Ukraine’s path to EU membership with Zelensky
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she discussed Ukraine’s path to EU membership with president Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Air defence and drone and counter-drone capabilities are among Europe’s most urgent defence priorities. And Ukraine will be fully integrated into these efforts,” she said in a post on X yesterday.
“The coming weeks will be important to take decisive steps forward in the accession process,” she said.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier this month suggested permitting Ukraine “associate” membership in the bloc, allowing it to participate in EU meetings and institutions without a vote, as an interim step toward full membership – a proposal that Zelensky has labelled as unfair.
Zelensky has said Ukraine has pressed ahead with reforms needed for EU membership, with an opportunity for substantive progress on talks following the electoral defeat of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, a staunch opponent of Ukraine’s EU membership.
Von der Leyen added that Europe continues to support Ukraine amid its war with Russia.
Ukraine rejects Russian claims of capturing two more Ukrainian villages
The Russian defence ministry has claimed its troops have taken control of one village in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region and another in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region yesterday.
But the claims were swiftly denied by Ukraine’s military and the country’s most widely read military blog.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken control of Hraniv in Kharkiv region on the border with Russia and Vozdvyzhivka in a highly contested part of Zaporizhzhia region.
Ukraine’s 14th Army dismissed the Russian report, saying Hraniv was under the control of the Ukrainian military.
“Units of the Defence Forces of Ukraine are reliably holding designated defensive lines, effectively repelling enemy offensive actions, and inflicting significant losses on them in personnel and equipment,” it said on Facebook.
DeepState, a Ukrainian war blog that tracks the two sides along the 1,250-km (775-mile) front line using open sources, said the Russian report of Vozdvyzhivka’s capture was untrue.
It said a group of Russian servicemen had briefly entered the village earlier this month but had been evicted or killed.
On Tuesday, the 14th Army also denied the capture of one of two villages the Russian military claimed to have seized in Sumy region, a border area where Moscow says it wants to expand a buffer zone.
Watch: Russian strikes on Zaporizhzhia injure 12, including infant
Nicole Wootton-Cane28 May 2026 03:00
Recap: Belarus warned not to get ‘dragged into Russia’s war’ as opposition leader visits Ukraine
Belarus‘s exiled opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, made her inaugural visit to Kyiv on Monday.
It comes amid intense international focus on the extent of support the Belarusian government might offer Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The visit by Ms Tsikhanouskaya followed a significant diplomatic exchange the previous day, when French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone conversation with President Alexander Lukashenko. Mr Lukashenko has governed Belarus with an iron fist for more than three decades, maintaining close ties with the Kremlin.
During their call, the French leader “underscored the risks for Belarus of allowing itself to be dragged into Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine,” according to a presidential aide in Macron’s office.
You can read the full report below:
Belarus warned not to get ‘dragged into Russia’s war’ as opposition leader in Ukraine
The exiled opposition leader of Belarus visited Kyiv a day after Russia’s largest missile attack on Ukraine this yearNicole Wootton-Cane28 May 2026 02:00
Ukraine war is at ‘turning point’ and Kyiv has six months to seize initiative, says senior commander
Ukraine faces a critical six-month window to seize the battlefield initiative from Russia and strengthen its position for potential peace negotiations, a senior commander has said, predicting an imminent “turning point” in the conflict now in its fifth year.
Russian forces have made incremental gains since their full-scale invasion in February 2022, but their advances have slowed this year. Ukrainian troops are now intensifying pressure on the frontline in an effort to push back the invaders.
Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky, who commands Ukraine’s Third Army Corps – one of the nation’s most respected fighting formations – told Reuters in an interview that he believes Russia’s military is exhausted and incapable of achieving significant breakthroughs.
You can read the full report below:
Ukraine war is at crucial turning point, says senior commander
Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky said he believes the Russian military is exhaustedNicole Wootton-Cane28 May 2026 01:00
EU’s von der Leyen discussed Ukraine’s path to EU membership with Zelensky
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday she had discussed Ukraine’s path to EU membership with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The coming weeks will be important to take decisive steps forward in the accession process,” she said in a post on social media platform X.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier this month suggested permitting Ukraine “associate” membership in the bloc, allowing it to participate in EU meetings and institutions without a vote, as an interim step toward full membership – a proposal that Zelenskiy has labelled as unfair.
Zelenskiy has said Ukraine has pressed ahead with reforms needed for EU membership, with an opportunity for substantive progress on talks following the electoral defeat of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, a staunch opponent of Ukraine’s EU membership.
Ms Von der Leyen added that Europe continues to support Ukraine amid its war with Russia.
“Air defence and drone and counter-drone capabilities are among Europe’s most urgent defence priorities. And Ukraine will be fully integrated into these efforts,” she said.
Nicole Wootton-Cane28 May 2026 00:00NewerOlder