Ukraine war latest: Russian foreign minister firm on ceasefire; maps show how Ukraine has lost ground in Kursk

US resumes arms supplies to Ukraine, Poland's foreign minister says

Poland's foreign minister has said that the supplies of arms from the US to Ukraine through Poland has resumed. 

Radoslaw Sikorski also confirmed that Starlink satellite internet services are working in Ukraine.

The US said yesterday it would resume intelligence sharing and military aid with Ukraine after Kyiv said it was ready to accept a 30-day ceasefire with Russia.

Speaking to reporters alongside Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sabiha in Warsaw, Sikorski said Poland was satisfied with the new ceasefire deal.

A Ukrainian source told Sky News earlier this month that the US had stopped sharing all intelligence with Kyiv.

'Difficult for Putin to agree to ceasefire in current form,' Russian sources say

Russian sources have told the Reuters news agency that Vladimir Putin is unlikely to accept the US's 30-day ceasefire proposal - which Ukraine agreed to yesterday. 

A senior Russian official also said any agreement would have to take Russian battlefield advances into account and address Moscow's concerns.

"It is difficult for Putin to agree to this in its current form," the source said. They spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation. 

"Putin has a strong position because Russia is advancing," they said.

But the source said that without guarantees alongside a ceasefire, Russia's position could swiftly become weaker - and that Moscow could then be blamed by the West for failing to end the war.

Another senior Russian source said that the ceasefire proposal looked from Moscow's perspective to be a trap because Putin would find it hard to halt the war without some concrete guarantees or pledges.

The Kremlin has yet to comment.

Putin has repeatedly ruled out a short-term ceasefire.

"We don't need a truce, we need a long-term peace secured by guarantees for the Russian Federation and its citizens. It is a difficult question how to ensure these guarantees," he said in December.

Russia controls just under a fifth of Ukraine, about 113,000 sq km (43,630 sq m), and has been edging forward for months.

Ukraine seized a sliver of western Russia's Kursk region in August as a bargaining chip - but, as we've been reporting today, its grip there is weakening, according to open source maps of the war and Russian estimates.

Captain of vessel in North Sea crash was Russian

Away from the Ukraine war for a second, we can bring you some breaking news related to Russia after the North Sea crash off the east coast of England earlier this week.

The owner of the Solong container ship has said its captain was a Russian national. 

Ernst Russ confirmed the nationality of "the master of the ship" - understood to be the same as a captain - and also said that the rest of the crew were Russian and Filipino nationals. 

Meanwhile, Humberside Police have said this morning that detectives are "continuing to conduct extensive lines of enquiry alongside partners in connection with the collision between a tanker and cargo vessel in the North Sea, off the coast of Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire".

"A 59-year-old man remains in our custody having been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision," the force's statement added.

Has Ukraine had to compromise behind the scenes for US ceasefire deal?

Ukraine may not have had much choice but to agree to Washington's ceasefire plan, a military expert has just told us.

Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at think tank RUSI, said it does seem Ukraine has managed to get back on an "even keel" with the US, and it does appear a minerals deal could be signed.

But he warned we "don't know what they've had to compromise behind the scenes".

Speaking to our presenter Wilfred Frost, he said: "We don't quite know what terms and conditions the Russians will put on any ceasefire or how they will respond.

"So there's a lot of the big driving issues behind the war that are being discussed as part of this, because this is essentially talks about getting to talks."

Asked about who would stand to gain the most from any potential ceasefire, Savill said Russia has a "momentum of a sort" on the battlefield, particularly in Kursk - as we detailed in the post below.

"A ceasefire, particularly one that switches back on US military aid and intelligence, will be enormously beneficial to the Ukrainians," he added.

"It will frustrate the Russians, who might have been hoping to essentially remove the Kursk pocket from the equation before they get to major talks.

"But I think there will be an awful lot to see in terms of how the Russians play around with the terms of any ceasefire."

Maps show Russia has retaken swathes of its own land after Ukraine's Kursk attack

Maps and geolocated footage analysed by Sky News show Russia's military has pushed Ukrainian forces back in Sudzha in the Kursk region.  

In August 2024, Ukrainian troops crossed the border into Kursk in what was the largest attack on Russian territory since the Second World War, seizing at least 1,000 sq km of land.  

The maps below, from 4 March and 10 March, show how the Ukrainians have lost control of territory.

The dark blue shows the Ukrainian advance in Russia, the light orange shows claimed areas Russia has recaptured, while the red shows Russian land and the light blue is Ukrainian land. 

By mid-February this year, it was reported Russia had taken back at least 800 sq km of its territory in Kursk.  

The defence ministry has said that over the last couple of days, Russia has recaptured a dozen settlements and more than 100 sq km of land in the region. 

Geolocated footage shows Russian flags being raised in villages nearby to Sudzha.

The footage shows the village of Zamost'e, which is a little less than 1.5km from the centre of Sudzha.  

Sudzha is connected by a highway to Yunakivka in the Sumy region just across the border in Ukraine.

If this area is claimed by the Russian military, the logistics of Ukraine's defence in the Sumy region could be at risk, according to experts. 

Russia launches another wave of drones in overnight attack

Ukraine's military has given some information on reports of more Russian attacks.

As well as three missiles, it said it faced 133 drones, 98 of which were shot down.

Another 20 drones did not reach their targets, possibly due to electronic countermeasures.

It did not say what became of the remaining 15 drones.

More injured in strike on Zelenskyy's home town

More now on the reports of a Russian missile attack in central Ukraine.

The regional governor Serhiy Lysak has already said a 47-year-old woman was killed overnight in Volodymyr Zelenskyy's home town of Kryvyi Rih.

Now the latest information, he said, is that five other people have been injured. Initial reports indicated two were hurt.

Zelenskyy's home town has been a frequent target of Russian attacks.

Local official Oleksandr Vilkul said there has been damage to civilian facilities, businesses and residential buildings.

Lysak also said an attack on the city of Dnipro injured one person and damaged infrastructure and around 10 private homes.

Putin's spy chief has call with CIA director

There has been more contact between Moscow and the US, according to a report by the Russian Interfax news agency.

It said Russia's foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin held a call with John Ratcliffe, who's the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency - otherwise known as the CIA.

Among the topics discussed, it's said, were cooperation between their agencies and crisis management.

Woman killed in Russian missile attack, says governor

A 47-year-old woman has been killed in a Russian missile attack, according to a local Ukrainian governor.

Dnirpopetrovsk regional governor Serhiy Lysak said the attack happened at an infrastructure facility in Kryvyi Rih, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's home town.

Local official Oleksandr Vilkul added in a post on messaging app Telegram that two other people were also injured.

Russia claims another Ukrainian drone attack

Talks continue for peace in the diplomatic sphere, but on the battlefield there appears to be no let-up.

Overnight, Russia said it intercepted 21 Ukrainian drones, 12 of which were downed over the Bryansk border region .

The rest, Moscow said, were shot down over Kaluga, the Crimean Peninsula, the Black Sea and Kursk - where Ukrainian forces are locked in a fierce battle with Russian and North Korean troops.

Lavrov: We won't accept peace putting lives at risk

Some early lines from Moscow to bring you first thing.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister and top diplomat, was asked about a possible peace deal yesterday - before the breakthrough in talks between Ukraine and the US.

Lavrov, in comments published today by Russian news agencies, said Moscow will avoid compromises that jeopardise lives.

He also reiterated what's now a common refrain in Moscow - they will not accept the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine under any conditions.

Meanwhile, Lavrov's mouthpiece Maria Zakharova said this morning Russia will make its own decisions.

"The shaping of the position of the Russian Federation does not take place abroad due to some agreements or efforts of some parties," she said.

"The formation of the position of the Russian Federation takes place inside the Russian Federation."

-SKY NEWS