Ukraine updates: Poland won't rule out NATO force in Ukraine

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has reacted positively to French President Emmanuel Macron's recent comments that Western troops could deploy in Ukraine.

"The presence of NATO forces in Ukraine is not unthinkable," Sikorski wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday evening, more than a week after the French leader's remarks at a meeting of European leaders caused a stir.

"I appreciate French President Emmanuel Macron's initiative because it is about Putin being afraid, not us being afraid of Putin," he added. 

Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron said the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine could not be ruled out. The comment broke a taboo among allies and prompted an outcry from other leaders. 

French officials later sought to clarify Macron's remarks and tamp down the backlash, while stressing the need to signal Russia that it cannot win its war in Ukraine.

Sikorski's position contrasts with that of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who made clear during a visit to Prague last week that Poland has no intention of sending troops to Ukraine. Tusk said the focus should be on providing maximum support to Ukraine in its military efforts against Russian aggression. 

Poland has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in an interview with the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung that he is against sending Western troops to Ukraine, even for training missions.

Cameron said training missions would best be carried out abroad, noting that Britain has trained 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers in this way. Placing foreign soldiers in Ukraine would provide targets for Russia, he added. 

French President Emmanuel Macron ruffled allies on February 26 when he said he would not rule out sending Western troops to Ukraine to help it repel Russia. 

In his interview, Cameron also said that Ukraine needed more long-range weapons and that he was willing to work with Berlin to overcome its reluctance to supply German-made Taurus cruise missiles. 

Berlin has refused to deliver Taurus missiles to Ukraine, fearful that its 500-kilometre range would be used to hit targets deep into Russian territory. 

However, Cameron wouldn't directly address suggestions that Berlin provide Britain with Taurus missiles to free up Britain to send more British-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) will meet again this month at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to discuss support for Kyiv. At the invitation of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the group will meet on March 19.

The 56-nation alliance, also known as the Ramstein group, is coordinating arms deliveries to Ukraine, which needs Western support to repel Russian forces that invaded in February. 

The UDCG is made up of all 32 NATO member states, including Sweden after it joined on March 7, and 24 other countries opposed to the Russian invasion. It last met via videoconference on February 14.

Moscow's Defense Ministry on Saturday told Russia's RIA news agency that its forces had downed a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet over the Donetsk region.

Ukraine has not reported any such event in recent days.

Ukrainian officials on Saturday told AFP news agency that a child had been injured when Russian forces bombed the southern city of Kherson overnight. 

"Last night, the Russian army struck the city with a bomb. The shell landed near a five-story building," read a social media post from city administrators. The post also included a video that showed a massive crater and the rubble of a destroyed building.  

Officials said, "A seven-year-old boy who suffered from the shelling is under medical supervision," adding, "The child's life is not in danger."

Russian shelling also reportedly killed a 16-year-old boy in central Dnipropetrovsk when his village on the Dnipro River was targeted by Russian artillery. Another man, a 22-year-old, was hospitalized, according to regional authorities.

Ukraine's air force on Saturday claimed to have downed 12 of the 15 Iranian-made Shahed drones it says Russia launched in the region overnight.  
 

Car traffic across the Crimean bridge was briefly suspended, Russian authorities said. The move is often made because of expected or actual attacks.

Traffic resumed less than an hour later, authorities said in a message on the Telegram messaging app.

The bridge spans the Kerch Strait and connects mainland Russia to Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014 but which Kyiv considers its territory.

The bridge was previously attacked and damaged in October 2022 and July 2023, leading to the collapse of some sections. In both cases, the bridge was later repaired and reopened.

Russia said it destroyed 47 Ukrainian drones over its southern regions overnight, mostly in the Rostov region, which borders Ukraine.

"Air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed over the territories of the Belgorod region [one drone], the Kursk region [two drones], the Volgograd region [three drones] and the Rostov region [41 drones]," the Russian army said on social media. 
 
Rostov Governor Vasily Golubev said on social media that a drone strike hit the city of Taganrog, on the Sea of Azov near a Russian-occupied part of Ukraine.  He said one rescue worker was wounded, but there were "no fatalities." 

Independent media reported that Ukrainian drones also targeted a Russian military aircraft factory in the area. There was no immediate word on damage there. The southern Rostov region is a hub for the Russian army to plan its military operations in Ukraine. 

Meanwhile, Ukraine also reported that it destroyed 12 of 15 Russian drones that attacked its territory at the same time.

dh/rc (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)