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

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.

Russian troops are reportedly gathering on the Ukrainian border as they prepare for fresh offensive operations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Saturday that Putin’s forces are preparing for new offensive and are gathering near the border 90 kilometers northwest of Kharkiv City.

War-monitoring think tank The Institue for the Study of War said this concentration of forces are likely to be used to draw Ukrainian troops into the area and prepare to expand the Russian foothold in the northeastern border area.

The past week has seen an uptick in strikes on the city of Kharkiv after Russian troops stormed across the border, opening a new front north of the city.

Russian forces captured two villages in Ukraine, the defence ministry said on Monday. The settlements are Ivanivka in the Kharkiv region and Netailove in Donetsk

The Russian assault on the Ukraine’s northeastern region of Kharkiv threatens to leave thousands of newly-displaced civilians without homes, UN officials and aid workers have told The Independent, as the United Nations grapples with an “extremely worrying” shortage of humanitarian aid.

A Ukrainian drone attacked a Russian “Voronezh M” early-warning radar near the city of Orsk in the Orenburg region at a “record” distance, a Kyiv intelligence source said on Monday.

The source told Reuters the attack was conducted by Ukraine’s military spy agency on Sunday and did not say whether it caused any damage. The city of Orsk lies around 1,500 km from the nearest parts of Ukrainian-controlled territory.