Ukraine-Russia war latest: ‘Reckless’ British yacht shooting condemned as Nato announces military boost for Kyiv

This week, we revisit the dramatic reshaping of Europe – the internal purges of the post-Soviet era, the slashing of global nuclear stockpiles, and the anxious but peaceful ‘Velvet Divorce’ of Czechoslovakia.

Meanwhile, closer to home, the front pages document staggering breaches of public trust, revisiting the dawn-raid arrests of Robert Maxwell’s sons over missing pension funds and the notorious, heavily censored release of MPs’ expenses.

All this and more is charted across the front pages of The Independent.

Russia accused Ukraine of conducting a deadly drone strike on a bus carrying Belarusian schoolchildren on Wednesday, prompting a swift rebuke from Ukraine.

Yegor Kovalchuk, the acting governor of Russia’s Bryansk region, said the bus had been taking a children’s soccer team for a holiday in southern Russia from Belarus.

Russia’s foreign ministry called the attack “another monstrous crime” and said a woman accompanying the children had been killed and that eight others, including six children, had been injured.

The Ukrainian military’s General Staff denied the Russian allegation, saying on Telegram that “during the specified period, the defence forces of Ukraine did not employ unmanned aerial vehicles against targets in Bryansk Oblast.”

Reuters was unable to verify the report. Both sides deny targeting civilians.

Kovalchuk, the acting governor, posted images online showing a silver bus with some of its windows blown out, its front right tyre damaged and what looked like blood stains on some of its interior seats.

Emmanuel Macron has said that President Trump “took notice” of the fact that Russia was not seeking peace.

Speaking at a press conference at the G7 summit, the French president said Washington acknowledged that Moscow was not looking to end its war in Ukraine.

He said the G7 had “showed a real change in the approach from the US on Ukraine”.

Trump had earlier suggested that the US could impose sanctions on Russia if it did not take steps to end the war.

President Donald Trump has confirmed that he has had “very good talks” with Ukrainian leader president Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian president Vladimir Putin as he spoke with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at the G7 summit.

He was seen speaking to Zelensky at the sidelines of the G7 summit on Tuesday.

Pomp and circumstance, gifts and warm welcomes were all on display for the US president, with the diplomatic awkward barbs exchanged forgotten for now.

The Group of Seven is coming together for a series of meetings that started on Monday to discuss the wars in Ukraine and Iran, as well as the global economy and AI.

The date of the annual summit was pushed back by a day in order to allow Trump to celebrate his 80th birthday on Sunday, and a series of additional adjustments appear to have been made in order to capture the attention of the mercurial president.

There needs to be more NATO military forces stationed in the Baltic countries, Latvia’s Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said on Wednesday.

“We need more boots on the ground and we need more Allied Forces presence not only in Latvia, in the Baltics and the eastern flank and that is a necessary part,” Kulbergs said in a joint press conference with NATO chief Mark Rutte.

Ukraine’s military has denied Russian claims of a Ukrainian drone strike on a bus carrying children in Russia’s Bryansk region.