Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Monday at a naval base in England. This visit marks the first by a foreign leader since Burnham assumed office a week prior, and it is intended to underscore the United Kingdom's "unwavering" commitment to Ukraine.
Burnham, who previously served as the mayor of Greater Manchester for nine years and has limited foreign policy experience, will be the fifth British prime minister to engage with Zelenskyy since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Burnham stated that "Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve, and we will not back down until we achieve long lasting and just peace for Ukraine."
During the visit, Zelenskyy and Burnham will also meet with over 200 Ukrainian military personnel who have been in Britain for the past three weeks. These personnel have been participating in training exercises focused on enhancing war-fighting capabilities and countermine measures in the Black Sea, according to the U.K. government.
The U.K. will provide Ukraine with the intellectual property for its new "Stone Cloak" electronic warfare system, designed to detect and block drones. This technology transfer aims to bolster Ukraine's defenses against aerial threats.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has intensified its long-range strike campaign, employing increasingly frequent drone attacks within Russia. These strikes have targeted oil facilities, military factories, and logistical centers, bringing the conflict closer to Russian civilians and increasing pressure on President Vladimir Putin. These raids challenge Putin's narrative that the conflict does not affect ordinary Russians.
Russia, however, has continued its own aerial bombardment of Ukraine, launching 147 long-range strike drones overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force, which reported intercepting or jamming 123 of them. Attacks in Zaporizhzhia resulted in one death and two injuries, damaging residential buildings. In the Nikopol district, a kindergarten, residential buildings, and infrastructure were damaged, injuring a woman and a 6-year-old boy.
Russia's Defense Ministry reported downing 276 Ukrainian drones overnight. In Rostov-on-Don, a family couple died when a Ukrainian drone struck an apartment building, and five others were injured in the same city. In Belgorod, 12 people, including two children, were injured by a Ukrainian drone attack.
Separately, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that Ukraine struck an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea, resulting in a sailor's death. Araghchi denounced the attack as a "blatant U.N. Charter violation done at Israel’s behest" and indicated that it "can't go unanswered," having communicated this to EU and Russian foreign ministers. Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukrainian long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea over the weekend yielded "very good results," targeting vessels involved in transporting military cargo linked to Iran, as well as a warship.