Zelensky invites Trump for visit as Kyiv developing ‘unstoppable’ AI-powered drone

Russians in the city of Orsk gathered in a rare protest Monday calling for compensation following the collapse of a dam and subsequent flooding in the Orenburg region near the border with Kazakhstan.

Protests are an unusual sight in Russia where authorities have consistently cracked down on any form of dissent following President Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine. Hundreds of people gathered in front of the administrative building in Orsk Monday, Russian state news agency Tass said, while videos shared on Russian social media channels showed people chanting “Putin, help us,” and “shame.”

Russian influence has penetrated American political system, claimed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

“They have their lobbies everywhere: in the United States, in the EU countries, in Britain, in Latin America, in Africa,” Mr Zelensky told The Politico while referring to Russia.

“When we talk about the Congress – do you notice how they work with society in the United States?”

He also warned against the Russia’s information warfare and its influence on American media and citizens.

“They pump their narratives through the media,” Mr Zelensky said. “These are not Russian citizens or natives of Russia, no. They are representatives of certain media groups, citizens of the United States. They are the ones in the media with the appropriate messages, sometimes very pro-Russian.”

Ukraine hit Russian aviation training center in Voronezh Oblast overnight on 9 April, a representative of Ukraine military intelligence (HUR) told Kyiv Independent on the condition of anonymity.

Two drones over Belgorod Oblast and two over Voronezh Oblast were shot down by Russian air defences, claimed Moscow.

The Ukrainian strikes on Russian military and industrial target have intensified in recent weeks, with Russia allegedly losing seven military aircraft during drone attacks, according to HUR.

The US Defense Department set a record for sales of military equipment and hardware last year, especially among European partners and allies, said the director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

“We’ve had a huge increase in demand from our European allies and partners over the last few years since the … invasion by the Russians in Ukraine,” James Hursch said yesterday during the 2024 Sea-Air-Space maritime exposition just outside of Washington. These include Sweden, Poland and the Netherlands.

In the fiscal year of 2023, the US did more than $80bn in business through the foreign military sales system, including grant assistance. “That is a record,” Mr Hursch said.

Editorial: The British people want to support the Ukrainians, but they must bear the cost

The foreign secretary is visiting the former US president despite previously calling him “divisive, stupid and wrong”. It was the first meeting between a senior British minister and the former Republican president since he left office in 2021.

The former president and his supporters in Congress need to hear the message that the support for Ukraine is not only just, but also in America’s interest.

David Cameron was expected to meet key lawmakers and senators during his US trip following his meeting with former president Donald Trump.

The British foreign secretary said: “I always do this with great trepidation. It’s not for foreign politicians to tell legislators in another country what to do.

“It’s just that I’m so passionate about the importance of defending Ukraine against this aggression that I think it is absolutely in the interests of US security that (Vladimir) Putin fails in his illegal invasion, I think it’s good for US jobs, that we continue to back Ukraine with the weapons that they need.“

And I think in terms of how the United States, the United Kingdom, as allies are seen around the world. There will be people in Tehran, in Pyongyang, in Beijing looking at how we stand by our allies, how we help them, how we stop this illegal and unprovoked aggression, and working out whether we are committed, whether we’re prepared to see it through.

”Secretary of state Antony Blinken said the request for the extra Ukraine funding was “urgent” and “we look to see that brought before the House and to get a vote as quickly as possible”.

He added: “The overwhelming majority of the resources in the supplemental budget request will actually be invested right here in the United States, in our own defence industrial base, to produce what Ukraine needs, but providing in the meantime good American jobs.”

Foreign secretary Lord David Cameron has urged US politicians to release billions of dollars of extra funding to boost Ukraine’s military, warning that failing to do so would put Western security at risk.

The former prime minister insisted he did not want to “lecture” Republican politicians who have blocked the package, but warned about the consequences of failing to support Ukraine’s fight against Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

He said countries including China, Iran and North Korea would be looking intently at how much support the US was actually prepared to give to its allies.

Lord Cameron, who visited former president Donald Trump in Florida as part of his trip to the US in an effort to encourage support for Ukraine, said it was “right to send this very clear message to all those watching around the world, including China, that we stand by our allies, that we don’t reward aggression, that we help those who are trying to fight it off”.

A $60bn (£47bn) supplemental funding package for Ukraine has been stalled for months amid US political wrangles.

Making the point that US arms firms would be supported by the funding, he said: “We know that it is right to stop Putin’s aggression. We know it’s right for our own militaries and our own production bases to ramp up production, not just for Ukraine, but for our own stocks.”