Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin warns Moscow will shoot down F-16 jets supplied by West but denies Nato war plans

Ukraine‘s defence minister asked allies for more air defences at an extraordinary meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council on Thursday and said nearly all the impact from Russian strikes this year had been on civilian infrastructure.

Last Friday, Russia carried out its largest air strike on Ukraine‘s energy system since its invasion in February 2022, damaging power units at a dam and causing blackouts for more than a million people.

Moscow has described its recent attacks as part of a series of “revenge” strikes in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian regions. Russia has increased its use of ballistic missiles.

A Russian military aircraft crashed into the sea on Thursday off the Crimean port of Sevastopol, the Russian-installed governor of the region said.

The pilot safely ejected and was picked up by rescuers. Civilian objects were not damaged, Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.

Earlier, Russian Telegram channels reported that a Russian Su-35 fighter jet had crashed near Sevastopol. It was not clear what caused the incident.

Poland and Ukraine are closer to reaching an agreement regarding agricultural imports, the Polish prime minister said on Thurdsay after intergovernmental talks, as Warsaw seeks to defuse farmers’ protests.

“We are close to a solution,” Donald Tusk told a news conference. “This applies to the amount of products that can flow into Poland, once we determine it, we are close to ensuring that transit does not disturb the Polish market.”

Ukraine asked Western allies for air defence supplies at an extraordinary meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council on Thursday after a spate of Russian missile attacks on critical and energy infrastructure, Ukraine’s mission to NATO said.

Russia last Friday conducted its largest air strike on Ukraine’s energy system since invading in February 2022, damaging power units at a major dam and causing blackouts for more than a million people in a number of regions.

The mission said on the X platform that Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov had briefed partners on the aftermath of the attacks, urging them to provide more equipment to block incoming salvos.

Moscow has described its recent attacks as part of a series of “revenge” strikes in response to Kyiv’s attacks on Russian regions, and increased its use of harder-to-stop ballistic missiles.

Security measures in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv will be tightened after a spate of Russian ballistic missile attacks and threats of escalation, a city official said on Thursday.

Russia staged concerted air strikes on Ukraine’s energy system last week in what Moscow said was part of a series of “revenge” strikes in response to Kyiv’s bombardment of Russian regions.

Moscow has since increased its use of ballistic missiles, which are much faster than regular cruise missiles and harder to shoot down, to attack Ukrainian cities.

Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said a city defence council would review the staging of public events and enhance security around large gatherings.

He said the decision had been made because of Russian statements and Russian forces’ use of missiles that reach their target within minutes of being fired.

He added that Russian agents “and other enemy elements” could be attempting to infiltrate the city.

“I ask Kyivans to remain calm. Do not panic. We are using preventative measures so that Kyiv and its residents are reliably defended,” he said on Telegram.

Ukrainian officials regularly urge their Western allies to supply more air defence systems and munitions to thwart increasing Russian missile and drone attacks.

The Kremlin said on Thursday complete silence was needed when it came to discussions about possible prisoner exchanges involving Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested in Russia a year ago on suspicion of espionage.

Gershkovich, 32, became the first U.S. journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War when he was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on March 29.

The reporter, the Journal and the U.S. government all deny he is a spy. Russia says he was caught red-handed.

Asked about when a court would hear Gershkovich’s case or whether there would be a prisoner exchange, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “We do not have information about the court – it is not our prerogative.”

“As for exchange matters, we have repeatedly stressed that there are certain contacts, but they must be carried out in absolute silence,” Peskov said, adding that public remarks were a hindrance.

The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said Gershkovich had been trying to obtain military secrets.

He has now spent almost a year at Moscow’s high-security Lefortovo prison, which is closely associated with the FSB, and his detention has been extended to June 30.

Russia fired drones and missiles overnight at southern and eastern regions of Ukraine, authorities said, injuring more than a dozen people as the Kremlin’s forces persevered with attritional attacks designed to wear down Ukrainian defenses.

The regular bombardment of Ukraine by the Kremlin’s forces during the war has recently gained momentum, with missile barrages of the capital Kyiv and strikes on energy facilities across the country. The attacks also aim to weaken Ukrainian morale and act as retribution for Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian soil.

Russia has no designs on any NATO country and will not attack Poland, the Baltic states or the Czech Republic but if the West supplies F-16 fighters to Ukraine then they will be shot down by Russian forces, President Vladimir Putin said late on Wednesday.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Speaking to Russian air force pilots, Putin said the U.S.-led military alliance had expanded eastwards towards Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union but that Moscow had no plans to attack a NATO state.

“We have no aggressive intentions towards these states,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript released on Thursday. “The idea that we will attack some other country – Poland, the Baltic States, and the Czechs are also being scared – is complete nonsense. It’s just drivel.”

The Kremlin, which accuses the US of fighting against Russia by supporting Ukraine with money, weapons and intelligence, says relations with Washington have probably never been worse.

Asked about F-16 fighters which the West has promised to send to Ukraine, Putin said such aircraft would not change the situation in Ukraine.

“If they supply F-16s, and they are talking about this and are apparently training pilots, this will not change the situation on the battlefield,” Putin said. “And we will destroy the aircraft just as we destroy today tanks, armoured vehicles and other equipment, including multiple rocket launchers.”

The Polish and Ukrainian governments meet in Warsaw on Thursday for talks to defuse a row over grain imports that has caused mass protests by farmers, but a top Polish official said a breakthrough was unlikely.

Farmers in Poland and elsewhere in the European Union have been protesting to demand the re-imposition of customs duties on agricultural imports from Ukraine that were waived after Russia’s invasion in 2022.

They say Ukraine’s farmers are flooding Europe with cheap imports that leave them unable to compete.

“It is difficult to expect any breakthrough after these talks, any specific agreement, for example on agricultural issues,” Jan Grabiec, head of the prime minister’s office, told state news agency PAP. “We are still in dialogue and both sides – at least for today – are not fully satisfied.”

Poland has been eyeing a licensing deal for agricultural trade with Ukraine similar to one agreed with Kyiv by Romania and Bulgaria.

On Wednesday Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski said talks were ongoing about a system of licensing exports, but that there were differences over the range of products that would be covered.

Ukrainian Farm Minister Mykola Solsky said the discussions with Poland were “complicated but frank”.

“It is important that we have already discussed solutions that will soon be announced. At the same time, the issue is difficult for all parties and requires additional time,” he wrote on social media platform X.

The reporter, the WSJ and the US government all deny Mr Gershkovich is a spy and he has been falsely imprisoned. He has had his pre-trial detention extended five times, the latest in a court hearing earlier this week that added three months until at least 30 June. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.