Constance Marten is reportedly “over the moon” after being transferred to a lower-security prison where inmates have access to acupuncture and therapy, just 13 months into her sentence.

The aristocrat went on the run with her partner, Mark Gordon, and their baby daughter in an attempt to prevent the child from being taken into care.

The couple’s four other children had already been placed in care for their protection. Their disappearance with baby Victoria, while they camped in freezing conditions, triggered a £1.2 million nationwide manhunt.

Marten, 39, and Gordon, 52, were each sentenced to 14 years in prison for gross negligence manslaughter after Victoria was found dead in a disused shed in Brighton, East Sussex. Her body was discovered inside a Lidl bag with a soiled nappy.

Gordon was also given an additional four-year extended sentence after the judge ruled that he posed a danger to the public.

Marten has now been transferred from HMP Bronzefield to Send Prison in Surrey, just 13 months after beginning her sentence. The facility places greater emphasis on prisoners’ wellbeing, rehabilitation and personal development.

Women held at the prison can take courses in gym instruction, beauty therapy and gardening. They can also receive support from the facility’s Psychologically Informed Physical Environment, known as the PIPE unit.

The move came after prison officials classified Marten as a victim of domestic abuse with a “hidden disability”. She was also granted permission to appeal her sentence in August.

“It is a great move for Constance, and she is, not surprisingly, over the moon,” a source told The Sun.

The source highlighted the prison’s therapy, acupuncture and rehabilitation programmes, adding that inmates can grow their own food as a way of supporting their mental wellbeing.

“Although the jail does house killers and serious criminals, it is a much nicer environment than Bronzefield, which is rough and like a cattle market in comparison.”

The source added: “In Constance’s case, the domestic violence and hidden disability, which is usually something like autism or ADHD, have come to light in counselling sessions.”

They said those findings, together with Marten’s successful application for permission to appeal, may have contributed to her transfer to Send, which they described as being “more like a private clinic”.

“Some of the staff think she needs therapy and attention because of her troubled past – but others think she is playing the system.”

The latest report from HM Inspectorate of Prisons praised Send, where former inmates have included Fergie’s killer aide Jane Andrews and killer mother Mairead Philpott, for its “positive learning culture”.

The report said: “A range of meaningful recreational and extracurricular activities was available.”

It added: “The ethos of the prison was overwhelmingly rehabilitative.”

Marten is understood to have been barred from contacting Gordon, who is serving his sentence at HMP Belmarsh in London.

Marten grew up in a stately home with maids and cooks; her father was a page to Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandmother was a playmate of Princess Margaret – but her ex-lover’s background could not be more different.

Experts previously described Gordon as a sociopathic sex offender considered so dangerous that they compared his sadistic crimes to the American serial killer Ted Bundy or Australian-American serial killer Christopher Wilder.

Hooked on violent pornography, Gordon was just 14 when he raped a woman at knifepoint in 1989 after breaking into her home armed with knives and hedge clippers, telling her: ‘Don’t scream or I’ll kill your children.’

Franklin Nooe, treatment director of a sex assault clinic who counselled Gordon’s first victim, described Gordon as a sociopath in the same category as Ted Bundy: ‘That’s the 5 per cent of the rapists, that’s your Ted Bundys, your Wilders that obviously enjoy it. It is something that actually fuels them.

‘They are a progressive kind of rapist that would lead to, I would expect, going from just raping to raping and murdering’.

Within three weeks of carrying out the attack in Florida, where Gordon lived at the time, he broke into the home of a second woman armed with a set of knives.

But as he crept into her bedroom, placing two 7-inch knives outside the door, Gordon was startled to find her husband home. Gordon then battered him around the head with a shovel before fleeing in panic.

When he was sentenced for both attacks, the rape victim pleaded with a judge to never let him free, saying: ‘I ask you to make sure that this man does not have the opportunity to destroy any more lives.

‘Someone who is capable of doing this, a cruel, calculated act at this age, is not going to get better. He is only going to do more harm in society.’

Gordon was jailed for 40 years, serving half of that before being deported back to the UK.

But he hid his appalling criminal history from Marten when they met in 2016, keeping it secret until after they had a spiritual marriage in Peru and had their first child together.

It wasn’t until he assaulted two police officers in hospital after Marten gave birth under a false name that she learnt he was a violent rapist considered at ‘high risk’ of reoffending.

Gordon later attacked Marten when she was pregnant with their third child, throwing her out of their flat window, sending her plunging 18ft to the ground, hitting a car on the way.

As she lay screaming in agony with a shattered spleen and internal bleeding, putting her life and her unborn child at risk, Gordon didn’t call an ambulance and attempted to delay paramedics alerted by concerned neighbours.

Marten would spend the next eight days in hospital recovering from surgery, but Gordon demanded her discharge despite doctors warning this would put her life at risk.

The domestic abuse was the catalyst for a family court judge to rule their four older children should be taken into care for their own protection from a ‘violent sex offender’ whose actions had ‘put her life and the life of their unborn child at serious risk’.

Two years before the death of Victoria, District Judge Madeleine Reardon warned: ‘It is much more likely than not that in the foreseeable future the children will be exposed to serious physical violence between their parents.

‘It is quite possible that they will be injured themselves.’

When the pair were later jailed at the Old Bailey for the manslaughter of their newborn, Victoria, Judge Mark Lucraft KC said: ‘Neither of you gave much thought to the care and welfare of your baby.’

He also said the couple had shown ‘no genuine expression of remorse’.

Marten, who worked as a cleaner at Bronzefield, earned the nickname ‘moaning Myrtle’ after aiding other prisoners in their complaints over issues such as mental health support and childcare.

The 39-year-old has won her right to appeal her conviction and is challenging the length of her 14-year sentence.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: ‘This was an awful crime, and the offender remains behind bars where they belong.’

John Healey is preparing to impose higher taxes on banks, despite describing the sector as a “jewel in the crown of the British economy”.

Industry leaders fear the bank levy could rise from its current 3 per cent rate to 8 per cent. They warn that such an increase would raise borrowing costs for businesses and mortgage holders, while placing further pressure on the wider economy.

There are also concerns that a windfall tax on banks could prompt international lenders to move parts of their London and UK operations abroad.

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund meetings in Bangkok, the Chancellor said banks were “a big contributor to the economy” and “an important part of our business”.

His remarks raised hopes that he might resist calls from trade unions and Labour MPs for tougher taxes on lenders in this month’s Budget.

However, Healey declined to rule out an increase, leaving City investors nervous ahead of his first Budget on October 28.

Speculation is growing that he could raise the levy banks pay on their profits in addition to corporation tax, as mounting pressure builds on him to balance the public finances.

UK Finance, the banking industry’s trade body, said lenders already make a “major contribution to the public finances” and face a “materially higher total tax rate” in Britain than in other leading financial centres.

It warned that any further increase in bank taxation would “weaken the UK’s competitiveness, discourage investment and job creation” and undermine the Government’s goal of delivering economic growth in every postcode.

Shares in major UK banks fell during early trading. Lloyds Banking Group dropped almost 2 per cent, while NatWest fell 0.22 per cent and Barclays slipped 0.16 per cent.

“My observations on the banks are just that people too often see them as big distant financial institutions, when they are hardwired into the economic fabric,” Healey said at the IMF.

“That said, I’ve got decisions to take in the Budget, and I’ll set those out in two weeks’ time.”

The Trades Union Congress has urged the Government to introduce “a windfall tax on bank profits to fund cuts to energy bills for everyone on low and middle incomes”.

The banking industry has strongly opposed the proposal, arguing that it would increase operating costs and ultimately make borrowing more expensive for millions of households and businesses.

In a strongly worded letter to the Chancellor last week, a group of prominent business organisations said a tax raid could have the opposite effect to that intended by triggering an exodus from the UK.

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“As well as weakening investor confidence and damaging UK attractiveness, a higher tax burden may not necessarily generate higher tax receipts if capital, people and businesses move elsewhere,” the letter said.

The warning echoed comments by JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon, who said he would abandon the bank’s plan to build a £3 billion headquarters in Canary Wharf.

The bank surcharge was reduced from 8 per cent to 3 per cent under Rishi Sunak, alongside an increase in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent.

Returning the surcharge to 8 per cent is estimated to raise about £2 billion a year.

As well as praising the banks, Healey sought to calm jitters on the bond markets that have pushed UK government borrowing costs to the highest level for 28 years in recent weeks.

He insisted he will ‘meet’ the fiscal rules ‘in full’ while also hinting at support for families and businesses in the Budget.

‘I’ve been very clear, also, the Prime Minister talked about recognising the cost of business, not just the cost of living,’ said Healey.

‘And so, I want the Budget to be a Budget that gets Britain a bit of breathing space. But also, reinforces the strength of our fiscal plans.’

A river in the village often called “the most beautiful in England” could soon be fenced off after huge numbers of tourists were seen paddling in the water and leaving rubbish behind, raising concerns about damage to local wildlife.

Thousands of visitors travelled to picturesque Bibury in the Cotswolds during the summer, with many making their way to the River Coln to cool down during the heatwave.

Residents have previously said they now avoid the village, which can attract as many as 20,000 visitors a day during peak periods, because of the sheer volume of tourists and coaches.

Councillors have now voiced particular concern over the growing number of visitors entering the river, which flows through the village beneath the historic stone Swan Bridge.

Locals have described the quantity of waste left floating in the water, including bottles and coffee cups, as “unbelievable”.

Bibury is home to around 600 people and draws visitors to its renowned 17th-century weavers’ cottages, which have appeared in films including Stardust and Bridget Jones’s Diary.

The village first gained wider fame through textile designer and writer William Morris, who described it in the 19th century as “the most beautiful village in England”.

However, many residents believe the number of visiting coaches is no longer sustainable. The narrow country road regularly becomes gridlocked, while parking has also led to disputes.

The large crowds are believed to have created several problems for wildlife, prompting Bibury Parish Council to consider the drastic step of fencing off sections of the river.

Craig Chapman, the council’s chair, said new fences had been approved to protect swans, ducks, water voles and fish living in and around the River Coln.

He said tourists had increasingly been “doing what they want” in the village in recent months.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: “In the hot weather over the summer tourists were sitting on the riverbank with their feet in the river, walking in the river and even setting up tables and chairs in the river. That’s highly detrimental to the wildlife.”

Mr Chapman called fencing off the area a “drastic measure”, adding that it was “absolutely not what we want to do”.

“It seems it’s what we have to do to protect the environment around the River Coln,” he said.

Kris Watts, 71, said that daily life in the picture-perfect village had become increasingly difficult as visitor numbers continued to rise.

She said: “We’ve had people paddling in the river, which is a protected site because we’ve got water voles. You just think – for goodness’ sake.”

Gloucestershire County Council has launched a trial involving designated coach drop-off points to ease congestion. Residents, however, claim some drivers continue to stop at other locations around the village.

Ms Watts, who has been a resident for ten years, said: ‘I don’t go into the village at weekends now, it’s that bad.

‘We knew it was a touristy village when we moved here, but since Covid it’s just got worse and worse.

‘A big part of it is social media influencers advertising how beautiful the village is.’

Victoria Summerley, 70, who has lived in Bibury for 14 years, added: ‘The Coln River is a trout stream. It’s supposed to be a really clean river.

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‘The amount of litter that ends up in the river in terms of drinks, bottles, coffee cups and so on, just unbelievable,’ she added.

The increase in visitors is partly driven by so-called influencers promoting the tiny village.

Locals also complain of tourists walking through their homes and enjoying picnics in their gardens, with some having put up ‘private, no entry’ signs translated into Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

It has caused such frustration for Brian Skarda, a parish councillor in nearby Cirencester, who wrote in the village newsletter that he and his wife, Jill, were leaving after 14 years.

He said they put up with ‘door banging, window peeping and general interference in our private lives’ from swathes of tourists coming off coaches.

Earlier this month, Mr Skarda said: ‘More inconsiderate and the sheer numbers of tourists this year have meant that, on occasions, we have virtually been unable to get out of our front door or move our car along the row.

‘This is a beautiful village and, sadly, it is being ruined by the very people who come to see it,’ he said.

Ms Summerley told The Times she suspects the couple are leaving after ‘a hand came through the letterbox holding a phone so they could film inside.’

Speaking of her own experience, she said she once sprayed an ‘entitled’ driver with her hose through his window because he was blocking the drive while waiting for visitors. 

‘I sprayed him through the window and he burst into tears… His attitude was so offensive I thought it would teach him a lesson,’ she said. 

Frustrated owners of gorgeous stone cottages claim that coaches stop in the middle of the road to dump tourists outside of their doors.

They then line up and take photographs outside of people’s homes before moving on.

Claire Perrin, 64, said: ‘It’s crazy and we just feel like it’s not going to change because it’s the age of Instagram. It makes you question staying here.’  

Japanese tourists have also flocked to Bibury after the future Emperor Hirohito, then the Crown Prince, visited in 1921 and called it ‘one of the happiest’ times of his life.

There has also been a surge in middle-class Chinese tourists who say they’ve travelled across the world after seeing Bibury posted on Chinese Instagram.

The parish council wants there to be a limit on the huge daily coaches that come in, but locals don’t have much hope for any regulation.

Last year, Bibury villagers called for action and formed a working group that included councillors and the police, which saw Gloucestershire County Council announce plans to tackle the problem.

A trial scheme was implemented in May 2025, which temporarily closed existing coach bays and created designated, safer drop-off and pick-up points for coaches.

But the plans have not been permanently implemented since the trial, with the county council holding formal public consultations over the future of the restrictions in place.

Last year Bibury topped the list of Forbes Magazine’s 50 most beautiful villages in the world, boosting tourist visits even further. 

US President Donald Trump has denounced Ukraine’s renewed attacks on Russian oil refineries as a “disgrace,” according to an interview published Thursday.

Speaking to broadcaster Newsmax, Trump said Kyiv’s latest strikes were contributing to higher energy prices around the world. “Well, I think that’s a disgrace,” he said when asked about the attacks.

The criticism came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered attacks on Russian oil facilities to resume. Zelensky had reacted angrily to what he described as Trump’s “betrayal,” amid an escalation in Russian strikes across Ukraine.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Zelensky said the suspension of US intelligence-sharing and the simultaneous reduction of Starlink satellite internet coverage had created a “dangerous” situation for civilians.

“The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done,” Zelensky said defiantly.

On Thursday, a Ukrainian drone strike in Russia’s Ryazan region sparked a fire at a major oil refinery. It was the first Ukrainian attack on a Russian energy facility since Trump announced a surprise “energy ceasefire” on Sunday.

Elsewhere, a fuel terminal in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don reignited after burning for five days.

Zelensky had suspended energy-related strikes for three days in response to US demands. He later said the attacks would resume because Russian forces continued targeting Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.

The renewed strikes on Russia’s oil sector followed Zelensky’s anger at Trump over a “treacherous” agreement signed the previous Friday to purchase Russian diesel.

Zelensky and US senators criticized the move as a financial gift to Putin, arguing that it would give Moscow additional revenue to support its war in Ukraine.

Putin subsequently threatened revenge after the refinery was hit. The facility handles nearly 5 per cent of Russia’s total oil-refining capacity.

Russia retaliated Thursday with a drone strike that severely damaged a supermarket in Ukraine.

The store in the Odesa region was partly destroyed, while three people were injured in the jet-powered Shahed drone attack. Zelensky condemned the strike as an act of “bloody terror.”

In recent days, Trump has called for Zelensky to step down and blamed the Ukrainian leader for worsening energy prices.

Zelensky, in turn, has sharply criticized Trump’s apparent admiration for Putin, accusing the US president of showing an instinctive preference for autocratic leaders and the ultra-wealthy.

“He [Trump] speaks about it openly and loudly that he loves such people and he respects such people. Because for him people who can be leaders 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, it means they can be very strong,” Zelensky said.

Washington has continued pressing Kyiv to halt attacks on Russian refineries, arguing that a temporary moratorium—combined with a US agreement to purchase hundreds of thousands of tonnes of Russian diesel—is needed to reduce fuel prices for American consumers.

Zelensky condemned the US deal with Russia, arguing it would help Russia prolong its brutal invasion of Ukraine. 

Trump responded to Zelensky’s criticism of the deal by saying it was ‘time for Ukraine to get a new president’, marking a rapid decline in relations between the two countries.

Trump then announced on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed a ceasefire on strikes on energy infrastructure ‘effective immediately’ – to which Zelensky responded that the ceasefire was ‘news to me’.

But the Ukrainian president agreed to halt strikes on Russian oil facilities if Moscow stopped its bombing campaign against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Despite Ukraine’s honouring of the supposed ceasefire, Zelensky said his military had been left without US early-warning alerts for incoming ballistic missiles, while Musk’s Starlink satellite communications service had been slowed down across the nation, interfering with frontline operations and medium-range strikes against Russian military sites.

Russia, however, did not honour the ceasefire, instead continuing to pound Ukraine on Monday by targeting its gas infrastructure, a power plant and a substation.

The order to limit the satellite system used by Ukraine ​for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House, two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter told Reuters.

The officials said ‌leaders at the Defence Department received a message that the SpaceX Starshield service for the Ukrainian military needed to be slowed.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not specify who in the White House made the decision or who was responsible for implementing the order. 

The Pentagon is the biggest customer of Starshield, which is the military-grade version of the Starlink service. 

Ukrainian officials said this week that military-grade Starlink receptors stopped working in Ukraine ​when mounted on fast-moving objects, interfering with the performance of Ukrainian drones that rely on them for onboard guidance systems over Ukrainian territory. 

A person in Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said on ​Thursday that the receptors were now working when in motion, but only at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour (160 kph). 

The move to temporarily restrict the vital communications system came as Trump has pressured Kyiv to stop its attacks on Russian refineries, which he has blamed for the ​soaring energy prices that are denting his Republican Party’s prospects in the November midterm elections. 

But experts say that surge in energy costs is mainly the result of the US-Israeli war with Iran, which brought Iranian ​attacks on energy facilities and has largely shut the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Elon Musk – whose company SpaceX operates the Starlink satellites which have slowed down in recent days – took to X to condemn Ukraine’s resumption of attacks on Russia’s oil facilities.

‘And so the slaughter continues,’ the tech billionaire wrote. ‘Time for Zelensky to go.’

He posted on X late on Wednesday that Starshield systems, the military-grade satellite network built on Starlink technology, were ‘owned and controlled by the US government’.

‘Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,’ he said, referring to Trump.

Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Zelensky agreed he felt ‘betrayed’ by Trump’s actions over the past few days, and warned the president: ‘This is not the right side of history.’ 

Ukraine was said to have completely run out of its stocks of the American-made Patriot air defence on Thursday – which are among the only weapons capable of knocking down a ballistic missile.

Zelensky urged Trump to allow US factories to produce the missiles locally on licence, as a source told CNN: ‘Almost all the ballistic missiles from the last strike were not intercepted due to lack of the [interceptor] missiles’.

On Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, Russian ballistic missiles hit three power plants in Kyiv – killing four and injuring 25.

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Britain is sending Ukraine additional long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles to help disrupt Russia’s military operations and counter attacks on civilian infrastructure, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Zelensky met Prime Minister Andy Burnham in London on Wednesday, when Britain reaffirmed its support for Kyiv and announced further military assistance following a recent deterioration in Ukraine’s ties with Washington.

Ukraine’s Defence Forces struck an airfield in the Voronezh region on Thursday, destroying four of Russia’s Su-34 aircrafts.

Two more Su-34s were hit in the attack on the Borisoglebsk military airfield.

The assault represents a major blow to Putin’s strike aircraft used to bombard Ukrainian troops and cities with devastating glide bombs.

The breakdown in relations between Kyiv and Washington comes as American officials have proposed that European countries unfreeze some Russian sovereign assets immobilised after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The assets would be transferred to a vehicle overseen by Washington in an attempt to revive peace talks.

European ⁠delegates rebuffed the plan, which was pitched by US ​special envoy ​Steve ⁠Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared ​Kushner, ⁠the FT said.

The Trump administration is also considering easing sanctions on so-called shadow fleet vessels that have transported oil and petroleum products from countries including Russia, Iran and ‌Venezuela.

The move aims to reduce record-high global freight rates that have cut into demand for US crude.

Zelensky wrote on X on Thursday that it was ‘obvious that Russia deliberately escalated these strikes after receiving a relaxation of sanctions and seeing attempts to pressure Ukraine’. 

He continued: ‘Russia exploits every such moment and must be held accountable for what it does. Strong decisions are needed to end this war. Ukraine needs stable support, and first and foremost in air defence. 

‘Partners need honesty regarding the war: it is important that everyone in America stands not on the side of the aggressor, but on the side of protecting our lives and our efforts to end this war and ensure security.’ 

Russia on Thursday said Ukraine was going against Washington’s peace efforts by striking Russian oil refineries, even though Moscow itself never publicly agreed to Washington’s ‘energy ceasefire’.

Kyiv ‘continues to launch strikes against these facilities. In doing so, it is coming into serious conflict with the peace efforts of the United States and American negotiators, who are making vigorous efforts to initiate the peace process,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Putin is plotting strikes to crush Ukraine into submission after his rare admission that he blundered in the war.

The Kremlin dictator candidly acknowledged he failed to grasp Ukrainian tactics in hitting Russian Amazon-style online retail giants, data centres belonging to Google-like giant Yandex and the largest financial institution Sberbank.

Ukraine ‘keeps taking steps which, frankly speaking, we probably should have anticipated, but we thought they would never think of doing such things,’ confessed a blindsided Putin who prides himself on being a great war strategist.

‘They did think of them, and we are beginning to respond.’

He referred to online giants Wildberries and Ozon as well as Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries.

Vowing revenge, Putin said: ‘They made the first move. We began responding, and now they are already whining about energy facilities and other targets, including data centres and so on.

‘But they started it. They should not have started it.

‘Before taking that step, they should have thought carefully about the consequences.’

A Russian plan leaked to Ukraine and obtained by The New York Times shows Putin’s suspected apocalyptic revenge campaign, already unfolding.

The aim is to use 70 ballistic missiles, 720 long-range drones and 150 guided bombs to cut off the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa from water, power and heating.

Putin reportedly calculates that one month of intense strikes could wreak havoc as the weather turns cold, something he has failed to inflict in the war’s four previous winters.

He allegedly aims to cripple the capital, Kharkiv and Odesa to bring Ukrainians to their knees, despite Trump’s constant claim that Putin wants a deal to end the war.

Russia again targeted key energy installations overnight across Ukraine but especially in Kyiv which faced emergency blackouts.

The strikes were so intense that NATO twice scrambled military aircraft over neighbouring Poland.

‘These measures are precautionary and are aimed at securing and protecting Polish airspace, particularly in areas adjacent to the regions under threat,’ said a statement from Warsaw’s operational command.

‘He wants to freeze us into surrender, but it won’t work,’ said an emergency responder in Kharkiv.

Trump again blamed Zelensky for the war, claiming he – and not Putin – had ‘destroyed’ Ukraine.

Ukrainians wanted a deal with Russia but ‘they’re not going to do it with him. He says he wants to settle but he doesn’t.

‘No, I’m not a big fan of Zelensky.’

Close Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev seized on Trump’s claim that Zelensky won’t make peace, crudely claiming that the Ukrainian president ‘ought to have taken some rat poison or downed a horse’s dose of…coke.’

Despite Putin’s bluster, he was locked in urgent late meetings with his prime minister and FSB security chief Alexander Bortnikov along with other top officials, claimed insider Telegram channel VChK-OGPU.

Putin also faced an eighth consecutive day and night of airport disruption in Moscow, which early today extended to St Petersburg.

As all four Moscow airports – Sheremetyevo, Vnokovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky – were closed due to Ukrainian drones, seven government-linked planes took off from military Chkalovsky airfield during the attack – possibly to evacuate the aircraft.

Hundreds of planes were delayed and cancelled as Zelensky seeks to massively disrupt Russia’s civil aviation.

A Ukrainian drone strike in Vladimir region was suspected as a new attack on internet giant Yandex, already reeling from earlier attacks.

And for the second day in succession, Ukraine defied Trump by hitting the Ryazan Oil Refinery.

Russians and Ukrainians joined together in mocking Trump for his claim that Putin-occupied Crimea is ‘surrounded by an ocean on all four sides’.

In fact it is a peninsula attached to the mainland, sided by the Black and Azov seas – nowhere near any ocean.

Previously Trump called Crimea ‘the size of Texas or something — in the middle of the ocean. And it’s gorgeous.’

In fact, Texas is 26 times larger than Crimea and 15 per cent bigger than all Ukraine.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.