Ukraine-Russia news – live: Putin’s troops ‘massing on Ukrainian border’ as they ‘prepare for fresh offensive’

Ukraine’s top military commander Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said he has signed documents that will allow French military instructors to visit Ukrainian training centres.

General Syrskyi said he and Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov had a video call with French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu.

Paris has not confirmed any timeline for sending French military instructors to Ukraine.

The French defence ministry said it has been discussing sending French military instructors to Ukraine since president Emmanuel Macron met with European leaders in February this year to discuss European support for Ukraine, but did not explicitly confirm that France would send French military instructors to Ukraine.

Russian forces attacked companies producing sweets and agricultural machinery in the besieged Kharkiv region, killing one 46-year-old woman, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine’s internal affairs ministry said two multi-purpose aerial glide bombs hit the companies, in an attack targeting the Kholodnohirskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts of Kharkiv.

“Two companies were hit, one of which produces sweets and the other specialises in the production of agricultural machinery,” the ministry said on its Telegram channel.

The attack injured 11 other people, it added.

The Ukrainian city of Luhansk, which is currently under Russian control, came under attack in the early hours of today for the second time in a week, officials in Moscow said.

There were at least two large explosions heard, said Rodion Miroshnik, a special ambassador for the Russian foreign ministry.

“It cannot be ruled out that the repeat strike occurred at the site where rescue teams are dealing with the aftermath of the previous missile attack,” Mr Miroshnik said.

Ukraine-appointed Luhansk oblast governor Artem Lysohor said the fire broke out near the infrastructure facilities of the former Luhansk Higher Military Aviation School and the nearby aircraft repair plant.

The attack comes just a week after Ukrainian forces targeted a Russian military base in Luhansk’s suburb of Yuvileine, he said.

Russia is claiming its forces have captured two villages in Ukraine, including one in the embattled Kharkiv region.

The Russian defence ministry said the settlements are Ivanivka in the Kharkiv region and Netailove in Donetsk.

Moscow’s claims have not been confirmed by Ukrainian officials, although they did admit that the Russian offensive had enjoyed “partial success” in Kharkiv.

Yesterday evening, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said it had repelled seven Russian advances in the Kupiansk sector.

Russian forces had recorded “partial success” in one of the areas of the Kupiansk sector, it added, and Ukrainian forces were “taking measures to stabilise the situation and prevent the enemy from advancing”.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think-tank monitoring the war, said Russian forces continued intense glide bomb strikes against Kharkiv city and elsewhere in northern Kharkiv Oblast yesterday.

“The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces fired 25 guided glide bombs against northern Kharkiv oblast during the day on 27 May, including two glide bombs against Kharkiv city. Ukrainian officials reported that Russian glide bombs struck an industrial facility and residential area in Kharkiv City, killing one and injuring 11,” it said.

European Union foreign ministers urged Hungary on Monday to stop blocking measures to provide billions of euros in military aid to Ukraine, as long-simmering tension with Budapest boiled over.

Even before a meeting of the EU’s 27 foreign ministers began, Lithuania’s top diplomat Gabrielius Landsbergis accused Hungary of systematically blocking EU foreign policy positions.

“Almost all of our discussions and needed solutions and decisions by (the) EU are being blocked by just one country,” he told reporters as he arrived at the meeting in Brussels.

“We have to start seeing this as a systematic approach towards any efforts by (the) EU to have any meaningful role in foreign affairs.”

Estonia and Italy also expressed dissatisfaction before the meeting with Budapest’s blocking tactics. Diplomats say Hungary’s stance is often in line with Russia’s interests but Budapest insists it is advocating for peace

Russian forces have attacked Ukraine with around 3,200 guided aerial bombs this month, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference in Madrid, he added that Ukraine‘s military does not have enough air-defence missiles to stop Russia from dropping thousands of bombs per month.

Poland will introduce restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats on its territory due to Moscow’s involvement in what it deems a hybrid war against the European Union, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Monday.

Relations between Poland and Russia have deteriorated sharply since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.

Warsaw has also accused Moscow of spying and sabotage.

“These are national decisions, but we have evidence that the Russian state is involved in authorizing sabotage in our country as well. We hope that the Russian Federation will treat this as a very serious warning,” Radoslaw Sikorski told journalists in Brussels.

The Russian embassy in Warsaw said it could not immediately comment as it had not received official information on the measures.

Spain has pledged to provide military support to Ukraine worth 1 billion euros this year under an agreement signed on Monday between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid.

“It is more important than ever to redouble our support,” Sanchez told a press conference.

The pact, which covers the next decade, calls for the supply of modern military equipment for ground, aerial, naval and other uses, “prioritising Ukraine‘s key capacity needs”, and an emphasis on maritime means to protect Ukraine‘s food export routes, but gave no specifics.

Three people were killed and six wounded in a Russian attack on Ukraine‘s southern Mykolaiv region on Monday, Ukrainian emergencies service and a local official said.

“In the afternoon, as a result of a missile attack on (the town of) Snihurivka, a fire broke out in a coffee shop, a car shop and a tyre service, and a blast wave damaged a self-service car wash,” the service said in the Telegram messaging app.

“The bodies of two people were found during the rubble removal,” it added.

The Mykolaiv governor later said the death toll had risen to three.

One civilian was killed and 10 injured in a Russian attack on Ukraine‘s eastern city of Kharkiv on Monday, local governor said.

“The enemy attacked a civilian enterprise with a guided bomb. There is damage to production facilities,” the governor Oleh Syniehubov said on the Telegram messaging app.