Ukraine-Russia latest: Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’ includes joining Nato as Australia pledge 49 Abrams tanks
Zelensky’s plan to end war includes bolstering Ukraine’s capability to reclaim territory and ‘to bring the war back to Russia’
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has unveiled the much-anticipated five-point “victory plan” which he hopes could bring an end to Russia’s war by the end of next year.
An invitation to join Nato and specific weapons support from western allies sits front-and-centre of Kyiv’s plan, which Zelensky discussed with Britain, the United States, France, Italy and Germany leaders in a whirlwind tour.
The plan’s third point calls for a non-nuclear deterrence mechanism with the power to destroy Russia’s military, Zelensky told the members of Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday morning.
Mr Zelensky said there is a secret addendum to the third point, which he could not disclose.
In renewed Western aid to Kyiv, Australia is sending dozens of soon-to-be-replaced Abrams tanks to Ukraine as part of a new military support package worth $245m (£126m).
“This will bolster the Armed Forces of Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion,” the Australian government’s defence department said.
Mr Zelensky is expected to attend a Nato defence ministers’ meeting on Thursday.
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European countries struggling to mobilise arms industries for Ukraine, Russia says
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that European countries are beginning to struggle in mobilising their military-industrial industries to help Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters: “This mobilisation of capabilities for ephemeral goals is contrary to the interests of the economic development of these countries, and clearly the capacities of these countries are not designed for such efforts.”
“In time, we hope, an understanding that such spending is unnecessary will become sharper and will sink in among more and more of the political establishment of these countries.”
In full: The five key points of Zelensky’s ‘Victory Plan’
The Ukrainian victory plan calls for western unity to ensure Russia is “forced to peace”, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“Together with our partners, we must change the circumstances so that the war ends. Regardless of what Putin wants. We must all change the circumstances so that Russia is forced to peace,” he told members of the Ukrainian parliament.
Here are the five key points he laid out on the speech:
1 - An invite to NATO
An unconditional invitation to join the NATO western military alliance is a necessary element of Ukraine’s victory, Zelensky told parliament.
“We understand that NATO membership is a matter of the future, not the present. But (Russian President Vladimir) Putin can see that his geopolitical calculations are headed for defeat,” he said according to Reuters.
2- Bolstered defence capabilities
Zelensky says Ukraine’s defensive abilities must be “irreversibly strengthened”, something he said can be done by removing restrictions on weapons use - partly referring to long-range drone strikes into Russian territory.
He said that boosting air defence capabilities, strengthening Ukraine’s defence industry, and continuing Ukraine’s military operations in Russia’s Kursk region, will bring Ukraine to victory.
3 - Deterrence
Ukraine’s western allies should demonstrate to Moscow that further aggression by Moscow would have consequences, Zelensky said.
He told parliament: “Ukraine proposes to place on its soil a comprehensive non-nuclear strategic deterrence package that will be sufficient to protect Ukraine from any military threat from Russia.”
There is a secret addendum to this part of the plan, which Zelensky provided no further detail of.
4 - Strategic economic agreement
Zelensky called for an agreement between Ukraine, the US, the EU and other allies to allow for joint investments into and use of Ukraine’s natural resources - which he said were worth trillions of dollars.
“These include, in particular, uranium, titanium, lithium, graphite and other strategically valuable resources that will strengthen either Russia and its allies or Ukraine and the democratic world in global competition,” Zelensky said.
5 - Ukraine’s role in strengthening NATO
Zelensky proposed Ukraine’s armed forces being used to enhance NATO’s security, replacing some US forces currently stationed in Europe.
Ukrainian military denies Russia captured two villages
The Ukrainian military says it repelled Russian attacks near Krasnyi Yar on the past day.
It added that Rusian forces had attempted to break through Ukraine’s defences around Nevske on the Lyman front, it said on Telegram according to Reuters.
The Russian Defence Ministry claimed on Wednesday it captured both Krasnyi Yar and Nevske.
French ‘kamikaze’ drones to arrive within weeks
France will deliver its first round of “kamikaze” drones to Ukraine in the “coming weeks”, defence minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Wednesday morning.
“Testing of the first French remotely operated munition – also called kamikaze drones” had been a “success,” Lecornu wrote on X.
“Regaining sovereignty over this key segment for our armies in less than two years. Deliveries to Ukraine and our forces in the coming weeks,” he added.
Russia is increasingly using kamikaze drones, including Iranian Shahed drones, to target Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, and domestically-made Lancets against Ukrainian troops.
“Kamikaze drones are absolutely fundamental” and will be able to “complement Caesar howitzers,” Lecornu added, according to The Kyiv Independent, referring to the artillery systems already supplied to Ukraine by France.
In pictures: Heavy shelling in eastern town of Pokrovsk
Large-scale power outages reported in southern Ukraine
Large-scale power outages have been reported in the southern city of Kherson, according to the chief of the city’s military administration.
“According to preliminary information, the entire city was cut off. The reasons are being determined,” Roman Mrochko wrote on Telegram on Wednesday morning.
Power outages were also reported in the neighbouring Mykolaiv region
Governor Vitalii Kim said: “Many people have lost electricity. We identified the source. There was no strike. We will fix it in a couple of hours if there are no further surprises.”
Watch: Ukrainian men dragged away outside Kyiv nightclubs and restaurants by army recruiters
Footage has emerged purportedly showing Ukrainian military recruitment officers raiding restaurants, bars and a concert hall in Kyiv in search of men not registered for conscription.
Officers positioned outside the doors of the capital city’s Palace of Sports were seen carrying out checks as people left a concert by Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy on Friday night, local media and witnesses reported.
Some men appeared to struggle and claim their innocence as they were forcibly held or dragged away.
Restaurants, shops and bars were also raided including Goodwine, a shopping centre, and Avalon, a popular restaurant, as officers pursued those whose military registration documents were not in order.
Ukrainian men dragged away outside Kyiv nightclubs and restaurants by army recruiters
Chaos descended outside some nightlife spots as military recruitment officers checked documents
Britain working on ‘own proposals’ as part of Ukraine’s victory plan, says general
The UK is working towards the implementation of a Ukrainian plan for victory in the war against Russia, Ukraine’s military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said following a phone conversation with Britain’s chief of the defence staff Sir Tony Radakin.
“We separately discussed the possibility of striking enemy military targets in operational and strategic depth,” Syrskyi said in a statement.
“The British side is currently working on its own proposals as part of the practical implementation of the Victory Plan,” he said.
Meet Ukraine’s ‘Witches of Bucha’
When nightfall descends on a suburban area northwest of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, the Witches of Bucha come alive.
By day, the women work as doctors and teachers, but by night, they safeguard Ukraine from the Russian drones that surge above them.
The women - who go by the moniker of the Witches of Bucha - are volunteers in air defence units.
As increasing numbers of men are deployed to the frontlines, the volunteers have undergone training to wield machine guns and assault rifles to shoot down drones filled with explosives sent from Russia.
“My role is to listen for them,” Valentyna, a veterinarian, tells the BBC. “It’s nervous work. But we have to stay focused, to [listen out] for the slightest sound.”
The Independent’s Women’s Correspondent Maya Oppenheim reports:
Meet Ukraine’s all-female unit shooting down Russian drones
‘I remember the occupation. I remember the horror. I remember the screams of my own child. I remember the dead bodies when we were fleeing,’ Valentyna says
ICYMI: Six Russian soldiers get visa to France in bid to escape Putin’s war
France has granted visas to six Russian soldiers who fled Vladimir Putin’s invasion in Ukraine, marking the first ever case of a European country offering respite to deserters.
The men reached Paris on separate flights over the last few months, according to an organisation assisting soldiers in fleeing and accounts from the deserters. They initially left Russia for Kazakhstan in 2022 and 2023.
One of the deserters, Alexander, a former contract soldier who left Russia in the summer last year, told The Guardian he felt a sense of freedom.
“When I landed in France, it was the first time I could breathe fully. I felt a sense of calmness and freedom … the worst was behind me,” he said.
No official comments have been issued by France or Russia to confirm the developments.
If the soldiers are granted political asylum it would be the first case of an EU nation hosting Russian servicemen fleeing Mr Putin’s war.
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