Ukraine-Russia war latest: Poland says Putin could strike ‘deep into Europe’ as downed Shahed drone unveiled

US president Donald Trump has again criticised Russian president Vladimir Putin during comments to reporters at the White House yesterday, saying the Russian leader is simply unwilling to end his war in Ukraine.

“Look, I’m very disappointed because Vladimir and I had a very good relationship, probably still do,” Trump said.

“He’s gotta really settle this war. And you know they have long lines waiting for gasoline in Russia right now… And all of the sudden his economy is going to collapse.”

Europe should prepare for Russia to strike deep into the region, Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski has warned.

The Polish leader was unveiling an Iranian Shahed-136 drone downed in Ukraine as he warned that not building defences like a “drone wall” on Europe’s eastern flank would be “irresponsible”.

“We should be prepared to counter that, and so I think not to build anti-drone and drone capacity these days would be irresponsible,” he said on countering future incursions, standing next to the Iranian drone in the house of the British parliament’s speaker.

Russia could “reach, unfortunately, deep into Europe”, he said.

Sikorski, a long-time and strident critic of Putin, urged Europe to also plan to support Ukraine for three more years, a timeframe, he said, Kyiv was also planning for.

“The Ukrainians are planning this war for three years, which is prudent,” he said. “And we need to convince Putin that we are ready to stay the course for at least those three years.”

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has revoked the Ukrainian citizenship of the mayor of Odesa, Hennadiy Trukhanov, due to allegations that he is also a Russian citizen.

Trukhanov denied that he was also a Russian citizen and said he would take his case to court.

Ukrainian law prohibits citizens from also holding Russian citizenship.

Ukraine’s SBU security service said the decision to strip Trukhanov’s citizenship had been made thanks to evidence it had provided that Trukhanov had a valid Russian passport.

It posted a picture on Telegram appearing to show a photocopied Russian passport page bearing Trukhanov’s name and face.

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has warned that Europe must be prepared for Russia to strike deep into the region.

Speaking in London, he said it would be “irresponsible” not to build defences such as a “drone wall” on its eastern flank.

Asked about the possibility of expanding an initiative for a “drone wall” to counter future incursions, Sikorski told Reuters that Russia could “reach, unfortunately, deep into Europe”.

“We should be prepared to counter that, and so I think not to build anti-drone and drone capacity these days would be irresponsible,” he said, standing next to the Iranian drone in the house of the British parliament’s speaker.

The UK has delivered more than 85,000 military drones to Ukraine over the past six months, the defence secretary is to announce, amid a surge in Russian attack drone strikes.

John Healey will say that £600m has been put towards drones for Kyiv’s armed forces.

The drones – including tens of thousands of short-range first-person-view models – are being used for reconnaissance, precision strikes and to disrupt Russian operations behind the front lines.

He will tell the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels tomorrow that Western countries need to “ramp up drone production to outmatch (Vladimir) Putin’s escalation”.

Western officials said that in September, Russia launched around 5,500 one-way attack drones into Ukraine – a significant increase from 4,100 in August.

In October so far, more than 2,400 have already been launched, with attacks focused on Ukrainian gas storage and production facilities.

A group of non-profit groups in Georgia has condemned a series of amendments proposed by the government that would strengthen punishment for protesters and effectively ban some opposition figures from running for political office.

The ruling Georgian Dream party announced a slate of amendments on Monday to strip “persons associated with a political party violating constitutional principles” of the right to run as candidates in parliamentary elections and to bar them from holding higher office, among other restrictions.

The proposals come as Georgian Dream, in power since 2012, clamps down on opposition figures it accuses of trying to overthrow the government at large rallies earlier this month that culminated in clashes between police and demonstrators.

Relations with the West have soured under Georgian Dream, though the party rejects accusations that it is pro-Russian and says it wants to eventually join the EU while retaining what it calls Georgia’s traditional values.

The European Commission has proposed expanding an initiative for a “drone wall” on its eastern flank to protect the continent.

Sources told Reuters that the proposal for a broader “European Drone Defence Initiative” would be included in a “defence readiness roadmap” to be presented on Thursday at the European Commission.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested the idea after Russian drone incursions into Poland and Denmark last month.

Commission officials said the idea was to counter future incursions by building a network of sensors, electronic jamming systems and weapons, from the Baltic states to the Black Sea.