Ukrainian troops scrawl ‘RIP Elizabeth’ on shells in tribute to the Queen

Ammunition lined up to be sent at Russian military targets has tributes to the Queen written on it in Ukrainian and English

Ukrainian troops have written tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth on the side of shells intended for Russian military targets.

Ammunition lined up to be sent at Vladimir Putin’s troops had messages scrawled in tribute to Her Majesty, written in both Ukrainian and English.

Writing down the side of one shell casing read “R.I.P Queen Elizabeth II” while another said “keep calm and carry on”, in reference to the 1939 motivational poster for the Second World War.

On other ammunition cases, Ukrainian troops has written messages like “glory to the Queen” and one simply said “Elizabeth”.

One troop, who said he was a Ukrainian artilleryman in Kyiv’s Air Assault Brigade, posted the photos on Twitter.

Alongside it, he wrote: “Ukrainian artillery men’s sincere gratitude and respect to the remarkable leader of a great nation,’ he wrote, while posting the photos of the bombs.”

The tributes were also written in Ukrainian (Twitter/@denintern)

Queen Elizabeth died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Thursday 8 September at the age of 96.

A statement from Buckingham Palace released on Thursday evening read: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.

“The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”

Charles has now become King Charles III with Camilla becoming Queen Consort.

King Charles III will be formally proclaimed monarch during an Accession Council ceremony today (Saturday 10 September).

The new monarch will not attend the ceremony at the State Apartments of St James’s Palace, and will only join after he is proclaimed monarch, at 10am, to hold his first Privy Council meeting.

The historic event comes after Charles III gave a landmark address to the nation yesterday and paid tribute to his “darling Mama” the Queen, who died on Thursday afternoon at Balmoral.

“We owe her the most heartfelt debt any family can owe to their mother; for her love, affection, guidance, understanding and example,” he said.

The King pledged his whole life as service as the new sovereign just as the Queen did, saying: “That promise of lifelong service I renew to you all today.”

He announced that he made his son William the Prince of Wales, with Kate the Princess of Wales.

In a touching message, he also expressed his “love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas”.

It comes as president Zelensky said Ukrainian troops have “liberated dozens of settlements” in the last week, including 385 square miles of territory in the east and south.

He said Ukraine had captured the town of Balakliia in the east, lying just south of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest city. Ukrainian troops said they had advanced almost 30 miles through the stretch, making it the fastest advance of the war since Russia was forced to abandon its failed assault on Kyiv in March.

But shelling has destroyed power infrastructure in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar where staff operating the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant live, posing a growing threat to the plant, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday.

The plant’s offsite power lines, vital lines of defence against potential nuclear meltdown, have already been cut and the shelling at Enerhodar has caused a lasting blackout there.

That has prompted Ukraine to say it may have to shut down the last operating reactor supplying power to Zaporizhzhia including the cooling systems for the plant’s nuclear fuel.

Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for shelling near Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine and within the perimeter of Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, which has six reactors.

“This is an unsustainable situation and is becoming increasingly precarious. Enerhodar has gone dark. The power plant has no offsite power. And we have seen that once infrastructure is repaired, it is damaged once again,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement.

Grossi this week called for the creation of a “nuclear safety and security protection zone” around Zaporizhzhia, repeating his call on Friday.