The number of drug-resistant infections is rapidly rising in Ukraine, according to reports – with the UK’s government agency for health security on alert over a risk of case numbers increasing.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) infections occur when bacteria evolves to learn how to defend itself against common antibiotic and other medicines, making treatment ineffective.

Overuse of antibiotics is the main cause of the so-called “silent pandemic” of AMR infections, with a type of infection called Klebsiella pneumoniae now becoming a major issue for hospitals near Ukraine’s frontline, with a type of infection called Klebsiella pneumoniae now becoming a major issue for hospitals near Ukraine’s frontline.

US-funded aid programs around the world have begun firing staff and shutting down or preparing to stop their operations, as the Trump administration’s unprecedented freeze on almost all foreign assistance brings their work to a sudden halt.

Allies including Ukraine also are struggling to save part of their security funding from the 90-day freeze, ordered by US president Donald Trump last week. Trump also just paused federal grants and loans inside the United States.

Slovakia’s foreign ministry has summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to protest against earlier Ukrainian comments over gas transit.

The European neighbours are engaged in a deepening rift after Ukraine ended Russian gas transit to Slovakia at the start of the year.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said that Slovak prime minister Robert Fico had been “poisoned by Russian propaganda”, which followed a comment by Mr Fico who called Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky an “enemy” of Slovakia due to the gas transit dispute, according to Slovak media.

France has invited foreign ministers from Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, Britain and the European Union as well as new US secretary of state Marco Rubio to discuss the war in Ukraine on 12 February, diplomats said yesterday.

It was not clear yet whether Mr Rubio would attend the talks, said the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a meeting that has not yet been officially announced.

The day Mstyslav Chernov won the Bafta for his documentary 20 Days in Mariupol was the day he learned two soldiers he knew had been killed in combat.

They were primary subjects of his new film 2,000 Meters to Andriivka, a harrowing portrait of modern warfare that puts audiences on the frontlines of the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive.

At least one person was killed in a Russian drone attack on a multi-storey apartment building in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy.

Three others were also injured in the drone strike, regional governor Volodymyr Artyukh said.

The governor, standing in front of a crane and piles of rubble, said emergency services were pulling residents out from parts of the building that had been damaged in the strike.

The number of drug-resistant infections is rapidly rising in Ukraine, according to reports – with the UK’s government agency for health security on alert over a risk of case numbers increasing.

Last week, the BBC reported on a sharp rise in cases faced by clinicians in Ukraine. While globally, 1.4m people died from antimicrobial resistant (AMR) infections in 2023. In the same year, 58,000 people had AMR infections in the UK.

The UK Health Security Agency has called it a global crisis with the agency calling for action to drive down infections around the world.

Here, The Independent asks what is helping drive the increase in Ukraine and what can be done about it:

Donald Trump has been critical of US support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, and has said he could end the war in 24 hours if elected – although advisers concede it will likely take months if not longer.

He has suggested Ukraine may have to yield some of its territory if a peace deal is to be struck.

Trump and his pick for national security adviser, US Representative Michael Waltz, have criticised the Biden administration’s decision in November to allow Ukraine to use US-provided missiles to strike within Russian territory.

Trump has also said that under his presidency the US would fundamentally rethink Nato’s purpose and Nato’s mission.

While there is no fully fleshed-out Trump peace plan, most of his key aides favor taking NATO membership off the table for Ukraine as part of any peace agreement, at least for the foreseeable future. They also broadly support freezing the battle lines at their prevailing location.

Desperate Ukrainian families are resorting to illegal routes and “rogue advisers” to bring their children to Britain after “catastrophic” changes to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, ministers have been told.

The government, which has vowed “ironclad” support for Ukrainians, has been warned repeatedly since taking office that changes to the Ukrainian sponsorship schemes – made overnight last February by the Tory administration – are preventing children from joining their parents in the UK.

This has now created the “inevitable” situation in which families are resorting to bringing children to the UK via irregular routes, leaving them at risk of exploitation by criminals and people traffickers, a charity supporting Ukrainians told the home secretary this week.

Speaking to The Independent, one Ukrainian mother said she was left with no choice but to bring her children from Ukraine illegally after their carer grandparent fell ill, and urged the government to change course to allow families to reunite in safety.

Read more details in this report: