War in Ukraine, latest news. Ukraine, Zelensky signs decree to exit convention on anti-personnel mines. US Senate towards new sanctions on Moscow

Meanwhile, the Russians attacked Ukraine with a record 537 drones and missiles overnight, striking critical infrastructure in Lviv with drones and missiles. The raids reached, among others, the Kiev and Lviv regions..

"The invaders hit critical infrastructure in our region," the head of the Lviv regional military administration Maksym Kozytsky said on Telegram.

Russian raids during the night also struck in Smila, in the central region of Cherkasy, where six people, including a child, were injured in a Russian missile and drone attack, the head of the regional military administration, Ihor Taburets, reported, quoted by Ukrinform.

The authorities in Kiev also spoke of a 'large-scale combined attack' with Tu-95MS strategic bombers and MiG-31K aircraft.

According to the Air Force, the Russians launched '477 drones (211 shot down and 225 disappeared from radar); 4 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missiles; 7 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles (one shot down); 41 Kh-101/Iskander-K cruise missiles (33 shot down and one disappeared); 5 Kalibr missiles (4 shot down); 3 S-300 missiles'.

Ukraine has lost another F-16 fighter after its pilot was hit and died while repelling a large-scale attack by Russian missiles and drones tonight. This is the third loss of an F-16 in the war, the Ukrainian military said, quoted by the Guardian. "The pilot used all the weapons on board and shot down seven aerial targets. In shooting down the last one, his plane suffered damage and began to lose altitude,' the Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram, stressing that the pilot 'did everything he could and flew the jet away from a settlement, but did not have time to eject'.

Polish and 'allied' military aircraft were scrambled tonight following the Russian attack on Ukraine that also reached the western regions of the invaded country. This was reported by the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces on X. "In connection with Russia's attack, which is striking targets on Ukrainian territory, Polish and allied aircraft have begun operations in our airspace," the command reported, explaining that tonight "pairs of in-service fighters were scrambled and air defence and ground radar reconnaissance systems reached their maximum state of readiness."

"I wish to greet the members of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church: thank you for your presence here and for your pastoral zeal. May the Lord grant peace to your people!". Thus said the Pope at the end of his homily at Mass on the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Leo XIX, "with deep gratitude" also greeted "the Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, sent here by his dear brother His Holiness Bartholomew". "Dear brothers and sisters," he concluded, "edified by the witness of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, let us walk together in faith and communion and invoke their intercession on all of us, on the city of Rome, on the Church and on the whole world.

It is impossible to push Russia into talks on Ukraine with new sanctions: the more serious the measures, the more serious Moscow's response will be. This was said by Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov quoted by Tass. "Russia can only be pushed to the negotiating table with logic and arguments. It is impossible to push Russia with pressure or force," he said. "The more severe the sanctions package, which we consider illegal, the more severe the backlash will be. After all, it is a double-edged sword," he said commenting on potential new sanctions against Moscow, including measures on Russian oil.

The director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, reportedly spoke with CIA Director John Ratcliffe on the phone; the parties agreed to call each other at any time to discuss matters of interest. Tass writes that. "I had a telephone conversation with my American colleague and we mutually reserved the possibility of calling each other at any time to discuss matters of interest," Naryshkin said.

The 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations in New York could provide a good opportunity for Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet, Russian presidential advisor Yury Ushakov said.

The current dialogue with the US administration is friendly and Russia expects concrete changes, Ushakov said. "The conversation is normal. It has not yet led to radical decisions or changes in the entire framework of our bilateral relations. But the work itself is useful and has the nature of friendly contact between partners," Ushakov said in a snippet of an interview, Interfax reports. "I know from personal experience what telephone contacts used to be like, especially with Biden's associates. Now it is a bit different. This already gives some hope that concrete changes will follow," he said. Ushakov also explained that a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump is being worked on, but the issue has not yet taken a concrete dimension; it is difficult to talk about when and where it will take place, but it is possible at any time, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, signed a decree to initiate Ukraine's exit from the 1997 Ottawa Convention, which bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel mines.

This was reported by the Kyiv Independent, according to which this is an important turning point in the country's defence policy, coming in the context of the Russian invasion and after the similar announcement by the Baltic countries and Poland.

"This is a step that the reality of war has long dictated," Ukrainian MP Roman Kostenko, secretary of the parliamentary defence committee, said on Facebook, adding that Russia, which is not a signatory to the treaty, "massively uses mines against our military and civilians".

According to Human Rights Watch, Moscow has deployed more than a dozen different types of anti-personnel mines on Ukrainian soil since 2022. The large-scale use of these devices has left entire cleared areas infested with explosives, making demining operations extremely dangerous.

"Ukraine can no longer fight with its hands tied while the enemy sows death without limits," Kostenko reiterated. The decree signed by Zelensky, which implements a decision of the National Security and Defence Council, has not yet been officially published. The next step will be passage through parliament, but it is unclear when the withdrawal will come into force.