Russia launches massive missile attack on Ukraine as Nato defence ministers meet in Brussels – Europe live

The World Bank, the European Commission, and the United Nations have increased their estimates for the total cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine to $486 billion (€452.8 billion) over the next decade, up from $411 billion (€383 billion) estimated one year ago.

In a joint statement they said:

In 2024 alone, Ukrainian authorities estimate the country will need around $15 billion (€14 billion) for immediate reconstruction and recovery priorities at both the national and community level, with a particular focus on supporting and mobilising the private sector alongside restoration of housing, soft infrastructure and services, energy, and transport.

Boris Pistorius, the German defence minister, underscored when arriving at the Nato defence ministers’ meeting this morning the “75 years of the transatlantic security partnership on the basis of mutual trust.”

Germany, he said, along with along with 17 other Nato allies, “will reach the agreed 2% target this year.”

He added:

Our aim must be to be the backbone of conventional deterrence and defence in Europe with other partners.

Grant Shapps, the British defence secretary, said that the UK will co-lead a major drone capability coalition with Latvia for Ukraine.

I’m proud to announce that the UK and Latvia will co-lead an international coalition to build Ukraine’s vital drone capabilities.

Together, we will give Ukraine the capabilities it needs to defend itself and win this war, to ensure that Putin fails in his illegal and barbaric ambitions.

The head of the House intelligence committee, Mike Turner, has called for the Biden administration to declassify information on what he called a “serious national security threat”, which was later reported to involve Russian plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space.

In his statement, Turner, an Ohio Republican, gave no details about the supposed security threat.

Talking to reporters at the White House later on Wednesday, the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, expressed surprise at Turner’s statement saying he was due to meet the “gang of eight” (congressional leaders with special security clearance for classified briefings) on Thursday. But Sullivan did not give any details of the planned meeting.

ABC News and the New York Times cited unnamed sources as saying that the security threat Turner was referring to involved Russia’s potential deployment of a nuclear anti-satellite weapon in space.

The New York Times said US allies had also been briefed on the intelligence, which was not deemed to represent an urgent threat, as the alleged Russian capability was still in development.

Read the full story here.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, has thanked Australia for contributing funds to strengthen Kyiv’s defence capabilities.

Arriving at today’s meeting of defence ministers, the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, told reporters that “supporting Ukraine is not charity” and that helping Kyiv “is an investment in our own security.”

He said ministers will discuss their support to Ukraine and strengthening the alliance’s deterrence and defence.

He added:

And to do both, we need to invest more, and we are on the right track. Because we now have historic numbers when it comes to defence investments. Last year, we saw an 11% real increase in defence spending across Europe and Canada. This year, we expect 18 Allies to meet the target of spending 2% of GDP on defence. And European Allies together spend 280 billion US dollars on defence. And this is 2% of their combined GDP.

But we still have a way to go. Because at our summit in Vilnius last year, all allies promised to spend 2% of GDP on defence, and 2% is a minimum.

Addressing today’s session with Ukraine’s representatives, Stoltenberg said:

We will address how to sustain our support to Ukraine. We see that our support is making a difference on the battlefield every day. Just yesterday, the Ukrainians were able to strike successfully a Russian naval ship, and this demonstrates the skills and the competence of Ukrainian armed forces, also in conducting deep strikes behind the Russian lines.

He also stressed that Nato allies need to boost production of ammunition.

To ensure that Ukraine gets the weapons, the supplies, the ammunitions they need, we need to ramp up production. And NATO allies have, just over the last months - since we agreed the defence investment plan - agreed and signed contracts for 10 billion euros, for more orders from different parts of the transatlantic defence industry.

Air alert warnings sounded across Ukraine overnight as Russia launched a massive missile attack on the country. Ukrainian authorities reported the take-off of several Tu-95 strategic bombers in the early hours of Thursday morning, with explosions heard soon after.

In Dnipro, a series loud explosions were audible shortly after 6am in the centre of the city. There were also reports of explosions in Zaporizhzhia, the capital Kyiv and the western city of Lviv. Andriy Sadoviy, the mayor of Lviv, said ten Russian missiles had been aimed at the Lviv region.

In Zaporizhzhia, close to the front line with Russian forces, there were reports of a damaged apartment building. There was no information immediately available about casualties.

Good morning and welcome back to the Europe blog.

Today we will be delving into the Nato defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels, which will include a session of the Nato-Ukraine Council.

We will also keep you updated on all the latest in Ukraine.