When it is public, I will reveal it,' he told reporters during his flight home. 'There is a mission in course now, but it is not yet public. Returning from a trip to Hungary last month, he made an intriguing but puzzling comment about the Vatican being involved in a mission to try to end the war. He last met the Pope at the Vatican in 2020 and the two have had several phone conversations since the war began.Īt the start of the war, the Pope tried to take a balanced approach in hopes of being a mediator but later began forcefullyĬondemning Russia's actions, comparing them to some of the worst crimes against Ukraine during the Soviet era. Tweeting after the meeting, he said he was 'grateful' for the Pope's 'personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians', adding the pair spoke about the 'tens of thousands' of deported children. 'It is a great honour,' Mr Zelenskyy told the 86-year-old, putting his hand to his heart and bowing his head as they met. Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Pope Francis at the Vatican earlier this afternoon, where they chatted for around 40 minutes.ĭuring the interaction, the 45-year-old handed the religious leader a bulletproof vest used by a Ukrainian soldier that had an image of the Madonna painted on it. More now on the Ukrainian president's meeting with the Pope.

However, in a tweet, Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president, called the incident 'instant karma'. Here was no official response from Ukraine, which usually declines to comment on reports of attacks inside Russia. However, a video posted on the Russian pro-war Telegram channel Voyenniy Osvedomitel, which has about half a millionįollowers, showed a helicopter high in the sky suffering anĮxplosion, being thrown off course and then plunging towards the It made no mention of the Su-35, or of a second helicopter. Which is about 40 km (25m) from the border. TASS also cited an emergency services official as saying an engine fire in a helicopter had caused it to crash near Klintsy,

Warplane had crashed in that region but did not specify a cause. Supposed to deliver a missile and bomb attack on targets in theĬhernihiv region of Ukraine, and the helicopters were there toīack them up - among other things to pick up the 'Su' crews ifĮarier today, the Russian state news agency TASS said Su-34 Ukrainian border today, in what would be a spectacular coup for Kyiv if confirmedĪnd two Mi-8 helicopters had made up a raiding party, and hadīeen 'shot down almost simultaneously' in an ambush in theīryansk region, adjoining northeast Ukraine, reported respected, independent Russian news outlet Kommersant. Helicopters have been shot down close to the Two Russian fighter jets and two military

Crisis in the red zone