Ukraine war latest: Ukraine building secret ‘robot army’; Kremlin responds to Trump assassination attempt | World News

We’re pausing our live coverage of the Ukraine war today. You can check the Sky News website and app for any breaking news on the war before we return with live updates.

But here’s what you need to know and the latest developments on Monday.

Ukraine preparing peace plan for summit and will work with Trump

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will work with Donald Trump if the presidential nominee returns to the White House.

He also promised to have a peace plan ready for a summit in November – a follow-up to one Ukraine’s president hosted in Switzerland on 15-16 June, the aim of which was to bring together heads of state and government to try to chart a course for a lasting peace in Ukraine.

Although 92 countries attended, Russia did not, which prompted criticism of its realism.

Ukraine’s ‘secret robot army’

Ukraine is hoping to assemble swathes of cheap, unmanned drones that it hopes will kill Russian troops and save its own wounded soldiers and civilians.

An ecosystem of laboratories in hundreds of secret workshops across Ukraine are building this robot army at a fraction of the cost it takes to import similar models.

Estimates believe around 250 defence startups across the country are creating the killing machines at secret locations that typically look like rural car repair shops.

See our 7.30am post or the key points for more.

Russia and China start joint military exercises

Russia and China’s naval forces have kicked off a joint exercise in southern China, days after NATO allies called Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war in Ukraine.

The two naval forces will take part in exercises in the southern city of Zhanjiang that are expected to last until mid-July.

Ukrainian drones target Crimea – after Russian ‘double tap’ strike

Ukrainian drones have targeted a coastal area of Sevastopol in occupied Crimea and struck an electrical substation in Russia’s Lipetsk region, according to reports.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed head of Sevastopol, claimed that Russian defences shot down at least one drone over Cape Fiolent on Crimea’s southern coast. The target was said to be a military base equipped with air defence systems.

Elsewhere, pictures emerged of a Russian strike which killed two people and injured 23 more in an attack that targeted the railway station in Budy, officials said. After rescue teams arrived, a second missile hit the area. 

Ukraine’s interior minister Ihor Klymenko said the head of the Kharkiv district emergency services Artem Kostyria was killed, along with a police officer from a rapid reaction unit. 

‘There will always be Ukraine’

Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a statement rallying Ukraine’s citizens on Statehood Day.

The national holiday was established by decree of Mr Zelenskyy in 2021 during the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukrainian independence.

The day commemorates the baptism of Kyiv, which occurred under the rule of Volodymyr the Great in 988.

He said: “There will always be Ukraine here: our history, our people, our state.”

“We are fighting against a terrible enemy, one that cannot be called human and is infinitely far from true Christianity.”

Trump assassination attempt reactions

Kyiv and Moscow have given differing reactions to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

The former president suffered a bullet wound to his ear in the shooting, which happened early on Saturday evening as he was giving a speech to supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Mr Zelenskyy said he was “relieved” to learn that Trump was safe and wished him a “speedy recovery”. He added that such violence had “no justification and no place” in the world.

The Kremlin said yesterday it felt the current US administration had created an “atmosphere around candidate Trump” that had “provoked what America is confronting today”.