Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump sends 5,000 troops to Poland as Nato jets scrambled over Baltics

Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has called on Ukraine’s allies to offer more support, as he called out some member nations for a lack of spending.

Expenditure to back Ukraine’s defence “is not evenly distributed within Nato,” with “a limited” group of countries leading the effort – Sweden, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark – but many others “not spending enough when it comes to the support for Ukraine,” Rutte said.

Sweden’s prime minister Ulf Kristersson also underlined the concerns and said that Stockholm is the third largest donor and “it would be far better if more countries competed with the our size of support”.

“We need to be long term and firm in our support. So I really would like more countries that speak so extremely well about Ukraine to also put the money where the mouth is,” he said.

The Russia-controlled part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region was experiencing emergency power blackouts this morning, Russia-installed governor Yevgeny Balitsky was quoted as saying ⁠by the Kommersant newspaper.

However, critical infrastructure was working as usual, he said, without providing further details, according to Kommersant.

Separately, the Russia-appointed head of the parts of southern ⁠Kherson region held by ​Russian ⁠forces, Vladimir Saldo, said on Telegram that nine areas were cut off the ⁠power grid after drone attacks.

It is not immediately clear what was causing the power cut but the region has been facing an increased number of attacks from Russian forces and military responses from Ukrainian forces fighting for the territory.

Russia has begun nuclear war games and moved Iskander-M missiles into Belarus, on the doorstep of the European Union. Ukraine has rushed troops to its northern border, and Nato has condemned the threatening moves.

Ria Novosti, a Kremlin-aligned news site, said: “Since May 18, Belarus has begun training in the combat use of nuclear weapons and their provision by military units. It involves the Strategic Missile Forces, the Northern and Pacific Fleets, the Long-Range Aviation Command, as well as part of the forces of the Leningrad and Central Military Districts.”

Ukraine has ramped up attacks on Baltic Sea ports used for Russian energy exports in an attempt to hit Moscow’s war chest at a time US president Donald Trump’s war in Iran has driven up the price of oil, a key revenue stream for the Kremlin.

The sustained drone offensive over the past few months has caused significant disruption to Ukraine’s Baltic allies, with one drone crashing into the chimney of a power plant in Estonia, another hitting empty fuel tanks in Latvia and others being shot down by Romanian fighter jets stationed in Lithuania.

Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Nordic and Baltic nations have increasingly warned about electronic interference from Russia disrupting communications with planes, ships and drones.

In the Baltic region, Russia often uses jamming and spoofing to send drones off course.

Ukraine’s intensifying attacks against Russia have focused on arms factories, ports on the Baltic Sea and energy facilities as the war in Iran has boosted oil prices.

It has particularly targeted the ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, close to the borders of Estonia and Finland. Russia uses the ports to load up ships taking its oil exports through the Baltic Sea.

During one attack in May, which set part of the port of Primorsk on fire, more than 60 Ukrainian drones were shot down, Leningrad region governor Alexander Drozdenko said.

Three people were killed when a locomotive was struck by a Ukrainian drone in Russia’s Bryansk region on Thursday, state company Russian Railways said.

The three victims were Russian Railways employees who were at a railway station in the town of Unecha when it was hit, it said.

Yegor Kovalchuk, the Bryansk region’s acting governor, had earlier said Unecha had come under attack.

The Bryansk region borders Ukraine and is frequently targeted in Ukrainian strikes.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said the country’s efforts to weaken Russian oil facilities are going according to plan.

Yesterday, Ukrainian drones hit the Syzran oil refinery more than 800km (500 miles) inside Russia. Local media reported that the Ukrainian drones hit the Syzran refinery owned by oil and gas company Rosneft.

“Overall, our long-range plan for May is being carried out largely in full. The key targets are Russian oil refineries, storage facilities and other infrastructure tied to these oil revenues,” Zelensky said in his evening address.

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed any notion that Belarus would be dragged into the Ukraine war, but said Russia and Belarus would jointly defend themselves in case of aggression, Belarusian state news agency BELTA reported.

Lukashenko was also quoted by BELTA as saying that he was ready to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who has repeatedly suggested that Belarus could become further involved in the more than four-year-old conflict.

Lukashenko made his remarks during joint nuclear exercises with Russia which he and Russian president Vladimir Putin observed via a video ⁠conference.

“As for (Zelensky’s) statements that Belarus will be drawn into the war, as I have just said, this will occur in only one instance – if aggression is committed on our territory,” BELTA quoted Lukashenko as saying.

“We will together defend our Fatherland… where our two countries stand,” he added.

He said that if Zelensky wanted to “talk about something, have a discussion or perhaps something else, by all means, we are open to this. Any location – Ukraine, Belarus – I am ready to meet him and discuss problems in our relations”.

Belarus allowed Russia to use its territory ‌for Moscow’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Zelensky has for weeks warned of unusual activity and a possible cross-border incursion.

Russian defence systems were working to ⁠repel drone attacks over Moscow and the nearby Yaroslavl region in ⁠the early ​hours today, local ⁠authorities said on the ​Telegram ⁠messaging app.

At least four ‌drones headed for Moscow were downed and ‌emergency services were deployed ‌to the area, said mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

Moscow and the Yaroslavl region, northeast of the capital, also came under drone attack earlier this week. Russia has energy infrastructure in both areas.

President Donald Trump has said the US will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, stirring confusion following weeks of changing statements from Trump and his administration about reducing – not increasing – the American military footprint in Europe.

The Trump administration has said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and US officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were no longer deploying to Poland.

Trump’s social media announcement raises more uncertainty for European allies that have been blindsided by the changes as the administration has complained about Nato members not shouldering enough of the burden of their own defence and failing to do more to support the Iran war.

“Based on the successful Election of the now President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, who I was proud to Endorse, and our relationship with him, I am pleased to announce that the United States will be sending an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Trump and the Pentagon have said in recent weeks that they were drawing down at least 5,000 troops in Germany after chancellor Friedrich Merz said the US was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticised what he called a lack of strategy in the war.

Trump then told reporters at the beginning of the month that the US would be “cutting a lot further than 5,000”.

It is not immediately clear whether that meant the brigade would resume its deployment to Poland, if additional troops on top of that rotational deployment could be added, or whether there would still be a drawdown of US troops in Europe but from a different country.

The Russian defence ministry said this morning that more of its nuclear munitions have been delivered to field storage facilities in Belarus as part of nuclear drills.

This came just hours after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv has bolstered its defences and will ​send reinforcements to its northern regions in bid to step up diplomatic pressure on Belarus to counter what Kyiv believes are Russian plans to launch a new offensive north of the capital.

Minsk has remained one of Moscow’s staunchest supporters in the war, which was initially launched in part by Russian forces passing through Belarus. Russian drones have frequently crossed Belarus while attacking Ukraine, and Minsk said it deployed the Russian Oreshnik intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile system.

“As of now, we haven’t detected any movement of equipment or personnel directly at our border, ‌but of course, ​we can see the pressure Russia is ‌putting on Belarus,” Ukraine’s border guards spokesperson, ​Andriy Demchenko, told Ukrinform news agency.

On Monday, Belarus said it launched joint drills with Russia to practice the use of nuclear weapons that Moscow has deployed on the territory of its neighbour and ally.

The two countries have ramped up their cooperation in recent months, with the inclusion of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko as Vladimir Putin’s guest of honour in his Victory Day parade earlier this month.