Russia-Ukraine war – live: Rescuers killed in Kharkiv strikes as Nato allies urged to bring back conscription

On the alliance’s landmark anniversary, historian Sten Rynning says the future of European security may depend on whether it can convince three steadfastly neutral countries to sign up

The Czech Republic will donate tens of millions of euros to an initiative it is leading to buy hundreds of thousands of artillery ammunition rounds for Ukraine, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.

Two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the most pressing need for Ukraine is artillery ammunition as the sides use heavy cannon fire to hold largely static, entrenched positions along the 1,000-km (620-mile) front line.

The Czech-led donation effort has won over about 18 countries, with Germany pledging the highest contribution so far, 576 million euros for 180,000 artillery rounds.

Fiala said on CNN Prima News television on Wednesday night that the Czech contribution would be in the higher hundreds of millions of crowns, which equals low tens of millions of euros.

“This roughly corresponds to the share that a country of our size and prosperity should put in,” Fiala said.

The Czechs, through a team of government officials and private companies, have sought at least 800,000 large-calibre ammunition rounds from countries around the world, with first deliveries to Ukraine expected by June.

But Czech officials have said the number is not final, and there was more ammunition available globally if more funding is secured.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of committing a “despicable and cynical” attack on Kharkiv overnight, which killed at least four people and injured a dozen more.

Relations between Russia and Nato have slid to the level of direct confrontation as the US-led military bloc is already involved in the conflict in Ukraine and continues to expand towards Russia’s borders, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

The new mobilization law, from 27 to 25 , came into force a day after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed it. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed it last year.

It was not immediately clear why Zelenskyy took so long to sign the measure into law. He didn’t make any public comment about it, and officials did not say how many new soldiers the country expected to gain or for which units.

Below are some of the latest photos from the overnight Russian attack on Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine

About 350,000 residents were cut off from power supply in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and the surrounding region after an overnight Russian drone attack on Thursday, the Energy Ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia has been attacking Ukraine‘s energy system with missiles and drones in recent weeks.

Russian drones hit high-rise apartment blocks and private homes in Kharkiv on Thursday, killing at least four people in Ukraine‘s second-largest city, officials said.

Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Synehubov put the death toll at four, including three rescue workers in a repeat strike at the site of one attack. Writing on the Telegram messaging app, he also said that 12 people were injured, with three in serious condition.

Russia used at least 15 drones in the Kharkiv attacks, Mr Synehubov wrote.

Ukraine‘s military shot down 11 Shahed drones out of 20 launched at the country overnight, the General Staff said.

Residential buildings, stores, a medical facility and cars were damaged in the attack, the Kharkiv prosecutor’s office said on Telegram.

Drones also hit the Zmiivska thermal power plant in the region, the governor said, keeping up pressure on an energy system that has come under repeated attack from Russian air strikes in recent weeks.

Pictures and videos from Kharkiv showed ladders from fire trucks operating under floodlights and extending to shattered apartments at the top of high-rise blocks.

Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne reported that one of the strikes caused serious damage to apartments on three floors of a 14-storey building. It said emergency crews had been unable to work for at least an hour for fear of further strikes.

An education facility, cultural centre and private residence in the Dnipropetrovsk region were also hit by drones, the region’s governor said, adding that no casualties were reported.

A senior Ukrainian military intelligence official has said Kyiv is aiming to destroy the Kerch bridge in Crimea, used as a lifeline by Russia to transport munitions and artillery for its invasion, “in the first half of 2024”.

Senior officials from Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence service have said they are eyeing a third blow to the bridge after two previous attempts caused significant damage, describing another operation as “inevitable”, reported The Guardian.

The 12-mile long bridge connecting Crimea and Russia carries heavy significance for Moscow, both logistically and psychologically, as a key artery for military and civilian supplies and as an assertion of Kremlin control of the peninsula it illegally annexed in 2014.

The bridge is the longest in Europe and a subject of considerable pride in Russia, while invoking disdain for Ukrainians who see this as a symbol of Russian control over their territory.

Seven more Ukrainian children and their families were returned home from Russian-occupied territories in Kherson and Zaporizhia oblasts, ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets has said, The Kyiv Independent reported.

At least 19,500 children have been confirmed as abducted by Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and fewer than 400 have been returned home, according to the Children of War database.

“Some of the families went through true horror under occupation and became the witnesses of Russians looting homes of the locals, forcing (Ukrainians) to take Russian passports, abusing Ukrainians, forcing children to learn by ‘Russia’s world’ canons,” Lubinets wrote on his Telegram channel.