Two people were killed and nine injured, Friday, in a series of Russian strikes with marches targeting several gas stations in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, according to what President Volodymyr Zelensky announced.
Zelensky wrote on the “X” platform: “The Russians deliberately targeted gas stations in Kiev throughout the day,” announcing that two people were killed “as a result of these strikes alone.”
He also pointed out that a relief worker was injured in a “double strike,” when the same site is targeted twice in a row, according to a tactic that may constitute a war crime when it targets civilians.
The Ukrainian oil company "Ukrnafta" announced that two of its gas stations were subjected to two simultaneous strikes on Friday morning, according to Agence France-Presse.
“These are another deliberate strike on civilian facilities that provide people with fuel and basic goods,” CEO Bohdan Kokura wrote on social media. He added: “There is no military target in such attacks. This is terrorism directed against the civilian population.”
Zelensky condemned the "Russian escalation", at a time when Kiev has been subjected for weeks to Russian attacks with a new type of faster drones equipped with jet engines, which were also used to target logistics centers and warehouses.
The speed of these aircraft is about 600 kilometers per hour. Which makes interception by Ukrainian air defense systems more difficult.
“The main goal of these strikes is to paralyze economic activity and make transporting anything anywhere an extremely difficult task,” Igor Kozy, a military expert at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation in Kiev, told local television.
Russia vowed, on Friday, to direct its nuclear warheads towards Lithuania if the Baltic Sea country hosts on its territory any weapons from the nuclear arsenals of its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Lithuania is seeking to lift a constitutional ban that includes storing nuclear weapons on its territory, as part of efforts to strengthen its deterrence and security capabilities as the Russian attack on Ukraine continues, according to what Agence France-Presse reported.
Parliament is currently considering making a decision in this regard, knowing that it has the support of the President and the major parties. Repealing the ban requires the support of two-thirds of Parliament members, and it may come into effect next winter if approved.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television, in response to a question on this issue, that this would represent “a very dangerous turning point in terms of escalation of tension.”
He added: “If nuclear weapons are found on territory directed against us, the territory of that country will, accordingly, fall within the scope of targeting our nuclear weapons.”
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausěda announced this project in July, saying that his country wants to be “an integral part of this nuclear deterrent.”
Today (Friday), British lawmakers rejected a bill to allow euthanasia for terminally ill adults in England and Wales.
286 members of Parliament voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill, compared to 270 members who voted in favor of it.
Today's vote ends a two-year debate in Parliament over medically assisted dying.
On two previous occasions, in 2024 and 2025, the elected House of Commons had supported the bill, but it did not become law because unelected legislators in the House of Lords, the parliamentary chamber responsible for reviewing legislation, actually blocked its passage, according to what the Associated Press reported.
The bill proposed allowing adults in England and Wales, who are expected to live less than 6 months, to apply for assistance to end their lives, provided that two doctors and a committee of experts agree.
The government took a neutral position, saying it was a “matter of conscience.”
As for the new British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, he did not vote because he did not want to “unduly influence the debate.”
Opponents of the project described it as unsafe and unworkable, citing concerns about possible pressure or coercion on vulnerable people, as well as insufficient safeguards to protect people with special needs.
