Drones strike Russian refinery amid shelling in Kharkiv; Slovaks dig deeper into assassination attempt on PM

The Slovak police said they were investigating the possible involvement of more people than just a “lone wolf” shooter in the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Robert Fico.

The UK government said the growing alliance between Russia and China was a threat to Western nations, as it urged European countries to boost lethal aid to Ukraine.

Russian oil refinery hit as Kharkiv region is under shelling

Drone strikes forced a small independent refinery in southern Russia to halt operations on Sunday while Moscow’s troops kept up “intense” fighting in northeast Ukraine after recent advances, as well as along the eastern front.

Kremlin forces were pressing the most near Vovchansk, Starytsya, Lyptsi in the Kharkiv border region, as well as on Siversk, Pokrovsk and Kramatorsk axes in the east, Ukraine’s general staff said.

However, Ukraine’s troops managed to bolster their positions in the Kharkiv region over the past few days, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram later on Sunday following talks with commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, who was at the frontline.

Separately, Kyiv forces were “efficiently liquidating” Russia’s soldiers near the strategically important town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, where Moscow’s troops had been pressing, Zelensky said.

Russia started what’s been described as a limited offensive operation north of Kharkiv on 10 May and was intensively shelling the region, according to Ukraine’s authorities.

At least six civilians were killed and 27 injured after missiles hit a resort in the Kharkiv region on Sunday, they said. The strike prompted Zelensky to once again urge his foreign allies to provide more air defence weapons to Ukraine.

Earlier, Russia’s defence ministry said it had shot down 103 Ukrainian drones, a tactical ballistic missile, 12 US-made Atacms missiles and various other projectiles in the previous 24 hours.

Six drones struck the Slavyansk facility overnight with no casualties reported, the local administration said in a statement on its website.

Drones from Ukraine targeted the refinery, according to a person with knowledge of the operation who wasn’t authorised to speak publicly.

The refinery halted its operations to conduct checks and it wasn’t yet clear when it could resume running, RBC reported, citing the head of security at Slavyansk-Eko, the refinery’s operator.

Slovaks probe possible broader plot behind premier’s shooting

The Slovak police said they were investigating the possible involvement of more people than just a “lone wolf” shooter in the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Government officials initially said that a single perpetrator with a political motive was responsible for the 15 May attack. On Sunday, authorities said that cooperation with domestic and foreign intelligence services had led to a broadening of the probe, to include a version in which a group — which wasn’t identified — may have been linked to the crime.

Fico sustained life-threatening injuries when a 71-year-old suspect fired five shots from close range at the prime minister, who had approached a crowd of people after a government meeting in the town of Handlova, northeast of the capital Bratislava.

The first such attack on a European leader in more than 20 years has sent shockwaves in one of the continent’s most polarised countries. It’s highlighted the inflammatory politics that have become prevalent in Slovakia since the pandemic and further turbocharged by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

A potential broader assassination plot is supported by the fact that the assailant’s social media communications were erased by another person about two hours after the shooting, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj-Estok told reporters on Sunday.

Based on that development, “We added a version that it wasn’t only a lone wolf attacker, but that the crime may have been conducted by a certain group of people,” he said, declining to give more details because of the sensitive nature of the case.

Fico’s life was no longer in immediate danger, but his condition remained “very serious” and his recovery would take a long time, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak said on Sunday.

UK sees ‘direct threat’ from Russia, China alliance 

The UK government said the growing alliance between Russia and China was a threat to Western nations, as it urged European countries to boost lethal aid to Ukraine.

“That is a direct threat to our way of life,” Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said in an interview on Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, discussing growing Russian and Chinese influence around the world.

“If we cherish our freedom and cherish our democracy, we have to be concerned that they’re linking together,” he added.

“Putin literally murders his opponents... China doesn’t share our values.”

The comments followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent trip to China, where he and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to intensify cooperation against US “containment” of their countries and they warned of growing nuclear tensions with the West.

Relations between Britain and both China and Russia, which were already fragile, have deteriorated further in recent months amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and clashes over spying, sabotage and intimidation.

The UK expelled a top Russian envoy and imposed new restrictions on the country’s diplomats earlier this month in retaliation for what it described as a coordinated espionage campaign. Russia then expelled the UK’s defence attache.

Discussing the war in Ukraine, where Zelensky is rushing to shore up defences amid a renewed Russian offensive in the northeast, Shapps said other European countries needed to give more in aid.

“We are in an existential battle about the way that we run the world order,” he said. “We have to stand up to that.”

Ukraine refugees face dwindling job opportunities in the UK

Merely weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the British government mobilised to offer asylum to people fleeing the conflict. Now refugees are struggling to find the high-quality jobs that their qualifications deserve.

As the Russo-Ukrainian war grinds into its third year, visas issued to first arrivals are approaching expiry just as the UK labour market cools and general interest in helping Ukrainians wanes.

“Everything has changed. We’re not on the news any more,” said Diana Kocheva, a refugee who helms a community of displaced Ukrainian tech workers based in London.

The Ukraine Family Scheme, which allowed Ukrainian nationals to join a family member in the UK for up to three years, closed to new applicants in February. An alternative programme, the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, is still running. But extensions last just 18 months and Ukrainians can only apply for a new visa three months before their initial visa’s expiration date, adding to the uncertainty for those seeking work.

The government didn’t anticipate the conflict to be so protracted, creating a “transitional period” where initial policies will expire while new ones are still being established, according to Alexander Clarkson, a lecturer in European and International Studies at King’s College London. During that time, blue-collar workers might see fewer protections against exploitative working conditions. “We’re going to hear a lot of nasty stories of that nature in the next couple of months and years,” Clarkson said.

A visa about to expire can also push an application to the bottom of the pile. “They are willing to find someone with a more stable visa or situation,” Kocheva said of prospective employers. “Even if they like them and they passed all the technical interviews.”

Olena Sergieieva, a lawyer with over two decades of experience working in-house for several Kyiv-based companies, said that although her immigration status hadn’t hindered her from finding work, many fellow Ukrainians were anxious about this issue.

“Let’s say it this way: We have a lot of problems in finding a job,” she said. “This was one more problem.” DM