Ukraine-Russia newest: Musk ‘joins Trump’s Zelensky name’ as Putin hails ‘courageous’ US election win

US president Joe Biden appears set to try and rush billions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine before his successor Donald Trump is inaugurated next January.

Mr Biden, a much more outspoken advocate for Ukraine than Mr Trump, and who has stated publicly that he would not force Kyiv to the negotiating table, rather let such talks be led by them, has passed five substantive aid packages for Ukraine while in the White House, totalling around $175 billion (£135bn).

Roughly $9bn of those bills remains to be sent. Of the latest weapons transfer authority passed in April, $4.3 billion remains, in addition to $2.8 billion worth of transfers lawmakers approved in previous spending measures and $2 billion in funding for the purchase of new weapons from industry.

But it is unclear when that aid could arrive; it is doubtful much will make it before Mr Trump is inaugurated.

Our foreign affairs reporter Tom Watling has more details in this report:

The high-rise Kyiv apartment block in which Estonian ambassador Annely Kolk lives was hit in a Russian attack overnight, the country’s foreign minister has said.

“She was lucky not to be harmed. No one is safe in Ukraine until Russia stops its aggression. Ukraine needs more air defence to protect its residents,” said Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna.

Four people were wounded in a drone attack on the Kyiv region and at least six houses and several cars were damaged, according to Ukraine’s interior ministry, with one killed and dozens wounded in other attacks across 12 Ukrainian regions.

It has been nearly 50 days since a 27-year-old Ukrainian journalist died while imprisoned at a Russian detention facility dubbed “hell on Earth” – but her family and friends are still waiting for the Kremlin to release her body so they can give her a proper funeral.

Authorities in Russia have not explained why they are yet to return the body of award-winning journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who went missing in August last year, with Ukrainian officials and her ex-colleagues telling The Independent they are concerned the delay could help in the cover-up of the cause of her death.

My colleague Arpan Rai reports:

Ukraine’s Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko and World Bank director Bob Saum, today signed a grant agreement under the World Bank’s Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance (PEACE in Ukraine) project.

The project aims to partially compensate for State Budget expenditures, including social and humanitarian expenditures not related to the security and defence sector.

The grant agreement will provide:

• USD 1.35 billion – a grant from the United States of America;
• EUR 10.8 million – funds from the Multi-Donor Trust Fund for co-financing the Second Development Policy Loan for Economic Recovery for Ukraine.

The funds will be transferred to the budget of Ukraine in the coming days.

“I am grateful to the United States Government, partner countries, and the World Bank team for their crucial financial support and partnership at a crucial time for Ukraine.

“The funds raised will make a significant contribution to the priority social expenditures of the Ukrainian State Budget,” said Sergii Marchenko.

Elon Musk reportedly jumped on Donald Trump’s first call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Axios reported that the president-elect told Zelensky he will support Ukraine, but didn’t go into details on a 25 minute phonecall.

“I promise you will be happy with me” Trump reportedly told Zelensky.

Sources told Axios that Zelensky felt the call went well and that it did not increase his anxiety about Trump’s victory.

One added it “didn’t leave Zelensky with a feeling of despair.”

Musk weighed in to pledge the Ukrainian president the use of his Starlink satellites.

Russian authorities are seeking a six-year prison term for a paediatrician accused of criticising the war in Ukraine in front of one of her patients and his mother, Russian independent news site Mediazona reports.

The case against Dr Nadezhda Buyanova, 68, is one of hundreds launched against Russians after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, and unleashed an unprecedented crackdown on opposition activists, independent journalists and other citizens.

Dr Buyanova was arrested in February, after the mother of one of her patients reported her to the authorities, alleging that the pediatrician told her son that his father, a Russian soldier killed in Ukraine, was a legitimate target for Kyiv’s troops, and blamed Russia for the war.

The pediatrician was charged with spreading false information about the army, a criminal offence under strict laws ushered in shortly after the invasion and widely used to target critics and protesters. She has rejected the charges and denied the alleged remarks.

Closing out today’s EU summit in Budapest, European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen said the EU would “discuss with our American friends also the fact that Russia is not only a threat to Europe, but a threat to the global security as a whole” in a bid to dissuade Donald Trump from abandoning aid to Ukraine.

“We see that technology from China and Iran is used by Russia on the battlefield,” she added. “It shows that the security of the Indo-Pacific and Europe are interconnected, and so are the European and the United States interests in this course.”

Nato members have warned that the deployment of North Korean troops is a “dangerous expansion” of the country’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.

In a joint statement, Nato’s 32 member states warned that “the deepening military cooperation” between Russia and North Korea “deeply impacts Euro-Atlantic security, with implications also for the Indo-Pacific”.

Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Ukraine also supported the Nato statement.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has called for a “Save Ukraine Summit” in London to allow European leaders to co-ordinate before Donald Trump enters the White House.

Having labelled Mr Trump a “dangerous, destructive demagogue” following the US election result, Sir Ed said: “I think we need to pre-empt whatever decision President-elect Trump eventually takes by showing UK leadership in Europe.

“I think by having that summit of European leaders, we would send a message to President-elect Trump, and hopefully a message that encourages him.

“He’s often said other countries need to do more – well, it will be a sign that other countries are doing more, and therefore that hopefully would encourage him to stay the course and continue the policies of President Biden when it comes to Ukraine.”