Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin’s forces bombard Zelensky’s hometown for second night in drone attack

The UN’s top court has ruled that it will hear a case in which Ukraine has asked it to declare its forces did not commit genocide in eastern Ukraine – claims used by Vladimir Putin as pretext for his invasion.

In the highly-charged case, Kyiv says Moscow breached a 1948 convention by using trumped-up claims of genocide in the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Ukraine also accuses Moscow of “planning acts of genocide.”

Ukraine brought the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) days after 24 February 2022, when the full-scale invasion began.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has welcomed billions of pounds of military aid promised for his country in the German budget.

“I welcome the German Bundestag’s approval of 7.6bn euros in military aid to Ukraine in the 2024 budget. I appreciate that our agreements with German chancellor Olaf Scholz are being implemented,” Zelensky said on X.

“My special thanks to the Federal Council and 16 lands for the important political resolution in support of Ukraine as Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches the two-year mark.

“We appreciate our German friends’ consistent support at all levels. Auf Deutschland ist Verlass.”

Moldova’s pro-Russian separatist region of Transdniestria has said it needs more Russian natural gas to operate its industry as supply and cost emerge as election issues in the ex-Soviet state.

Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest countries, long depended on Russia for gas but last year met its needs from European markets, leaving all available gas from Russian giant Gazprom for the breakaway eastern region.

The country’s pro-European president, Maia Sandu, who denounces Russia’s war in Ukraine, has applauded the switch to European gas as an element in her drive to abandon the country’s Soviet legacy and join the European Union.

As the drumbeat of war continues across the Middle East, with clashes in multiple countries raising fears of a wider conflict, the mercenaries of Russia’s Wagner Group are once again getting back to action.

Ukraine‘s air defences downed nine of 14 Russian drones in an overnight attack that hit energy infrastructure in the city of Kryvyi Rih, the air force and regional officials said on Saturday.

It is the second drone attack in two days on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said energy facilities were hit, resulting in electricity cut-offs for thousands of people.

In some districts water supplies and heating were also disrupted as temperatures hovered just below freezing. Hospitals were switched to generators for electricity supplies, he said.

The air force said in a statement that the Iranian-made Shahed drones were shot down over four Ukrainian regions in the centre and south of the country.

Our world affairs editor Kim Sengupta reports:

As the drumbeat of war continues across the Middle East, with clashes in multiple countries raising fears of a wider conflict, the mercenaries of Russia’s Wagner Group are once again getting back to action.

Eight months after Wagner’s march on Moscow ultimately failed; six months after Yevgeny Prigozhin and his senior commanders were blown out of the sky in Vladimir Putin’s retribution, the fighters are being recalled to arms with the Kremlin’s blessing.

The snowy fastness of Ukraine has been replaced by the sand and savanna of Africa. There is a new banner to fight under – Africa Corps, a name echoing Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s German Afrika Korps which took part in the momentous campaign against British and allied forces in Libya in the Second World War.

The Hamas attack on Israel three months ago has led to combat across land, air and sea around the region, with carnage continuing in Gaza and missile strikes and targeted assassinations in the Gulf, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and even Pakistan.

In this increasingly incendiary scenario, the former Wagner Group is consolidating its presence in Libya and Sudan, part of a highly volatile region, as well as reinforcing in African states where it has replaced departed Western forces.

If Donald Trump is elected president of the United States, Poland may have to decide whether it wishes to “lead a coalition of European states who would want to defeat Russia in Ukraine”, an analyst has said.

Writing on X/Twitter, Phillips P OBrien – professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrew’s – said: “Watch Poland very closely, particularly if the US doesn’t approve aid and then elects Trump.

“Poland will have to decide then whether it’s up to it to lead a coalition of European states who would want to defeat Russia in Ukraine. And they have the military that could do it

“People don’t always realise that the US, while helping Ukraine, has also restrained Nato states in Central/Eastern Europe who are committed to Russian defeat. If the US abandons Ukraine and goes Trump, those states will now decide what’s in their interest vis a vis Russia.”

The Ukrainian Air Force claims to have damaged at least three Russian military aircraft at an airfield in occupied Crimea, according to the Kyiv Independent.

The attack on the airfield Sevastopol on Wednesday was carried out using Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles, a source previously claimed to Ukrainska Pravda. Russia claimed to have shot down all of the missiles.

Lithuania has delivered thousands of rounds of ammunition for anti-tank grenade launchers to Ukraine, its ministry of defence has said.

“Our commitment to support Ukraine is not just solidarity, it’s an investment in Europe’s security,” the ministry said.