Ukraine-Russia war live: Trump finally agrees to meet Zelensky as Romania scrambles jets against Russia drone

Britain has announced it is sanctioning five vessels and two associated entities involved in the shipping of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), with the government saying it was using new legal powers for the first time to target LNG vessels directly.

“Earlier this year, the UK sanctioned Arctic LNG 2, alongside our allies in the US and EU. Since then, the project has been forced to slash production,” the government statement said.

“Today’s action builds on this by targeting ships and entities involved in the Russian LNG sector, which engage with projects important to Russia’s future energy production.”

Thursday’s sanctioned entities were White Fox Ship Management and Ocean Speedstar Solutions OPC. The ships were Asya Energy, Pioneer, North Sky, SCF La Perouse and Nova Energy.

Earlier this month Britain slapped sanctions on 10 further ships in Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of vessels which it says use illicit practices to avoid Western restrictions on Russian oil.

Russia rejects Western pressure to limit its oil exports, and in the past year there has been a growth in the number of tankers transporting cargoes that are not regulated or insured by conventional Western providers.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked US president Joe Biden and the US Congress for a new military aid package worth more than $8 billion (£6 billion), saying Ukraine will use it “in the most efficient and transparent manner”.

“I am grateful to the United States for providing the items that are most critical to protecting our people,” Zelensky said on X, mentioning an additional Patriot air defense battery, drones and long-range missiles.

Below you can see details of four Russian drones that crossed into Belarusian airspace en route to attacking Ukraine overnight.

This is at least the third time this has happened this year, according to the Belarusian Hajun project, an independent open-source group.

Previously, Belarus has had to scramble a fighter jet and air defences to protect against the wayward drones.

Russiam missile and drone attacks have killed at least one person and damaging critical infrastructure, authorities have said.

One woman was killed in a missile strike on southern Ukraine‘s Odesa and another eight people were wounded in a guided-bomb attack on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said on social media.

Around a dozen drones were destroyed over the capital Kyiv, where 20 cars and a residential gas pipe were damaged, said Serhiy Popko, head of the local military administration.

Parts of the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk were left without power after a Russian strike on critical infrastructure there, said regional governor Svitlana Onyshchuk.