Ukraine Latest: Kyiv Targeted in Second Drone Attack This Month

(Bloomberg) -- Kyiv faced a new drone attack late Monday. Hungary backed Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, putting Helsinki a step away from joining the defense alliance.

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Turkey, the only other NATO member not to act on Finland’s accession bid, is expected to vote before its parliament goes into recess ahead of the May 14 elections. The US is pushing for Finland and Sweden’s applications to be completed before the alliance’s July summit.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government has called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council over Russia’s move to station nuclear weapons in Belarus and the EU has threatened additional sanctions.

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(All times CET)

Kyiv Under Second Drone Attack This Month (11:10 p.m.)

Explosions were reported in the northern and western parts of Kyiv late Monday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

Rescue teams were dispatched, Klitschko said without elaborating. He said he had no information yet on casualties but that one shop on the outskirts of the city was on fire.

Local media and social networks in Ukraine reported multiple drones entering the country’s airspace on Monday, some of which were shot down by the nation’s air defenses.

The last time Ukraine was under a significant drone and missile attack was March 9.

Deaths Reported in Russian Attack in Eastern Donetsk (5:20 p.m.)

At least two people were killed and more than 30 others injured when S-300 missiles hit the towns of Slovyansk and Druzhkivka, Ukrainian national police said on Facebook. A rescue operation is ongoing and the casualty toll expected to rise. Administrative buildings, infrastructure objects, several multi-stored residential buildings, as well as dozen of cars and an orphanage were destroyed.

Germany’s 18 Leopard Tanks Now in Ukraine (5:05 p.m.)

A German government official announced the news, confirming an earlier report by the magazine Spiegel. The battle tanks of the model 26A were handed over at the border and will soon be used on the battlefield by Ukrainian troops who were trained in Germany in the past two months. Initially, Germany had only promised 14 Leopards, but later added four more in order to able to create a full battalion of 31 tanks together with supplies from Poland and other EU states.

EU Is Working on Sanctions of Moldovan Oligarchs (12:36 p.m.)

The European Union is looking to sanction Moldovan oligarchs that are accused of helping to destabilize the country, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Moldova had earlier called on the EU to sanction oligarchs it says are working with Russia in seeking to foment violence and overthrow the government, and several EU states have backed those calls, Bloomberg previously reported. Russia has dismissed the claims.

The EU is working on a legal basis that would allow it to sanction the individuals, said the people who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The bloc hopes to have that framework in place by June when a European Political Community summit is due to take place in Chisnau, the capital of Moldova.

Baltic Nations Call for More Sanctions on Belarus and Russia (10:48 a.m.)

Russia’s plans to place nuclear arms in Belarus are “desperate moves” designed to destabilize Europe, and allies should respond by imposing sanctions on Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia’s foreign ministries said.

“The EU and G-7 should impose more sanctions against Russia and Lukashenko’s regime and close all the loopholes in the existing ones,” Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Twitter. “These are desperate moves by Putin and Lukashenko to create another wave of tension and destabilization in Europe,” Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Lithuania will call for the adoption of new sanctions.”

EU’s Borrell Threatens More Sanctions on Russia (8:03 a.m.)

Stationing Russian nuclear arms in Belarus, as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday, “would mean an irresponsible escalation & threat to European security,” Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said on Twitter. The EU is ready to respond with more sanctions, he said.

France’s foreign ministry also condemned Putin’s agreement to deploy nuclear arms in Belarus, calling on Moscow in an emailed statement to show a sense of responsibility.

Kyiv Calls for Urgent UN Security Council Meeting (8:03 a.m.)

Zelenskiy’s government has called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council over Russia’s move to station nuclear weapons in Belarus.

“Ukraine expects effective actions to counteract the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail” including from permanent members of the council, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a strongly worded statement.

The Russian president’s vow to station Russian nuclear arms in Belarus is “yet another step by the criminal Putin regime,” the ministry said.

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