Sabrina Frangos
Zelensky: 78 dead and 215 injured in Russian attacks in two days
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, 78 people have been killed and 215 others injured in attacks across Ukraine in the past two days. In a speech in the city of Pryluky, the Ukrainian president once again called for expanded access to the US satellite service Starlink. This could help Ukraine attack Russian ballistic missile launchers.
Henning Ott
Head of Russian military blog Rybar arrested in Montenegro
The founder of the most read Russian military blog Rybar, Mikhail Svinchuk, has been arrested in Montenegro. According to media reports, Svintchuk, his wife and three other Russian citizens were arrested in the town of Risan in the southwest of the country.
The authorities in Montenegro initially did not say what the detainees were accused of. Prime Minister Milojko Spajic wrote of a “successful operation”. His government has repeatedly warned against hybrid actions and destabilization attempts that should hinder Montenegro's European course.
Felicitas Dahmen
Yandex data center in Russia hit by drones again
At the Russian technology group Yandex, a drone attack completely disabled several modules of a data center in the Kaluga region. Yandex said there could be disruptions to some of the company's services. On Thursday, Ukrainian drones hit an important data center of the company for the first time.
Sabrina Frangos
Foreign Minister Wadephul toughens his tone towards Putin
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is toughening his tone towards Moscow after the fruitless meeting with his Russian colleague Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. After the recent massive attacks on Ukraine with numerous civilian casualties, the CDU politician sharply attacked Russia and threatened extensive sanctions. “Putin's cruelty knows no limits,” criticizes Wadephul.
Putin is “continuing his rocket terror against Ukrainians, including many children, with ever greater severity,” Wadephul told the German Press Agency in Berlin, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin will still fail "because of Ukraine's resistance - and our continued support for its defense."
Jana Brüntjen
Siberia: Ukrainian drone attack on refinery in Omsk
Omsk targeted. How big is the damage?
Ukrainian forces have used drones to attack the city of Omsk, deep in Siberia, home to Russia's largest refinery. “A drone has reached the northern industrial zone,” said the governor of the Omsk region, Vitaly Khotsenko, on Telegram. The remaining drones were shot down in time. He did not provide any information about possible damage in the region, which is more than 2,000 kilometers from Moscow.
Henning Ott
Zelenskyj: China is developing Starlink alternative for Russia
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, China is working on an alternative to the US satellite service Starlink and is cooperating with Russia. The People's Republic is making progress and is passing the technology on to the government in Moscow, said Zelenskyj during a visit to the northern Ukrainian city of Pryluky after a Russian attack there that left people dead.
The president also called on the US government to expand Starlink coverage for Ukraine. This should help the Ukrainian military combat Russian missile launchers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj DPA
Julie Leduc
Ukraine reports attack on major Russian oil refinery
Ukraine says it has attacked a large oil refinery complex in the Russian city of Salavat. The facility is located around 1,200 kilometers east of Moscow. The Ukrainian General Staff described the complex as one of the largest oil processing and petrochemical facilities in Russia.
Luke Bay
Drone attack paralyzes Russian AI company’s data center
In Russia, a drone attack paralyzed a large data center belonging to the AI group Yandex. A fire broke out and operations at the plant in the Ryazan region had to be completely stopped, Yandex said. The company operates, among other things, YandexGPT, one of the leading generative AI models in Russia. However, key consumer services are not affected, explains Yandex. In recent weeks, Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian data centers. Conversely, there have so far been no confirmed major drone attacks by Ukraine on Russian data centers.
Julie Leduc
Zelensky: Ukrainian negotiators Friday and Saturday in the USA
Ukrainian negotiators are traveling to the United States this weekend for talks about stalled negotiations with Russia. The visit to the United States is planned from Friday to Saturday, announced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He called on US President Donald Trump to increase pressure on Russia. “You cannot, on the one hand, negotiate with the Russians about future economic projects and, on the other hand, say that we are in some kind of diplomatic stalemate,” says Zelensky. He made the comments during a visit to Pryluky, northern Ukraine, after a deadly Russian attack on the city.
Eva Glaser
Ukraine wants to use German ports for agricultural exports
Ukraine wants to use German ports to export agricultural goods because its own seaports are blocked by Russian attacks. This was announced by Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotsky. The country is working to fully restore its maritime export routes and develop alternative routes. Specifically, the use of the German port infrastructure is being examined. According to the ministry, this could increase Ukraine's export capacity by around one million tons per month.
Eva Glaser
South Korea withdraws ambassador from Kyiv
South Korea withdraws its ambassador from Kiev due to a diplomatic dispute with Ukraine. The South Korean Foreign Ministry emphasizes that negotiations to resolve the conflict are continuing. The government in Seoul is accusing Ukraine of violating a confidentiality agreement after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the handover to South Korea of two captured North Korean soldiers who fought on the Russian side against Ukraine.
Eva Glaser
Kyiv and Ukrainian regions without power after attacks
For Ukraine, the increased Russian air strikes on the energy supply are causing more power outages and shutdowns. In the capital Kiev and in some surrounding districts, the electricity was switched off as an emergency, Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov said on Telegram. The Russian shelling damaged systems and there were voltage drops in the high-voltage network.
The power supply also collapsed after Russian attacks in the areas near the front of Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia. As far as the security situation allows, work will be carried out on the restoration, said Nekrasov.
Laura Thalmeyer
Lithuania reinforces border protection with soldiers in Kaliningrad
As a precautionary measure, Lithuania is strengthening the protection of its border with the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad. Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas asked Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas to send soldiers to support border officials. The situation at the border is currently calm, emphasized Katelynas. Kaunas approved the deployment of up to 100 soldiers to be stationed at the border for a few weeks. Troop strength and deployment duration could be adjusted depending on developments in the situation.
The ministers cited an incident on the Latvian border with Belarus in which masked people tried to smuggle a group of migrants across the border, as well as the general security situation in the region and signs of possible mobilization by Russia. Lithuania borders the Russian exclave Kaliningrad and Russia's ally Belarus. Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, the country says it feels particularly threatened.
Sabrina Frangos
At least 28 dead in heavy Russian air strikes on Ukraine
According to Ukrainian sources, at least 28 people were killed and 100 others injured in one of the worst Russian air strikes on Ukraine on Wednesday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyj spoke of one of the “vilest attacks”. The heaviest casualties were in the town of Pryluky in the northern Chernihiv region, where a Russian missile destroyed a five-story residential building. According to regional governor Vyacheslav Tschaus, 20 people died there, including five children.
According to Zelensky, Russia fired a total of 70 rockets and dozens of Shahed attack drones into Ukraine during the night. The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had carried out a “massive strike” against military-industrial facilities. The targets included facilities belonging to the Ukrainian defense company Fire Point, which produces cruise missiles and drones. In addition, the port and shipyard infrastructure in the Black Sea region of Odessa as well as a ship carrying military goods on the way there were targeted.
Sarah Sendner
Russia: Attacked ship carrying goods for Ukrainian military
According to the Defense Ministry, Russian forces attacked a ship. It was on its way to the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa with a cargo for the Ukrainian military. The statement on Telegram does not provide any further details about the attack. The ministry also said Russian drones hit infrastructure in Ukrainian ports, without elaborating.
Vivian Melchert
Trump: Russia sees plague risk as “largely under control”
According to US President Donald Trump, Russia rates the risk of a plague outbreak as “largely under control”. Asked whether the recent death of a Russian lab worker was an indication of the possible use of the plague pathogen as a bioweapon, Trump said: "We don't believe that. We'll know soon, but we don't believe that."
Trump had previously indicated that he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the issue. Asked whether Russia's handling of the case was comparable to China's behavior during the coronavirus pandemic in Trump's first term, the president said: "China hasn't said much, and Russia isn't saying much either, but they claim to have the situation largely under control." He expects Russia to inform the US side more comprehensively.
At the Irkutsk Research Institute for Disease Control in Siberia and the Far East, a laboratory employee fell ill and died. According to the WHO, Russia said the cause of death was pneumonia. There is no evidence of infection with a pathogen that the woman had worked with.
Vivian Melchert
EU states approve new Russia sanctions
The EU ambassadors approve 1,646 new entries on the sanctions list against Russia. The focus is on the country's military-industrial complex, as three EU diplomats say. More than half of the newly sanctioned companies and individuals are involved in the production of Russian ballistic missiles such as the Iskander-M. These can only be intercepted by US Patriot air defense systems. However, Ukraine almost completely lacks these interceptors as the US military shifts resources to the Gulf region.
Russia is using this vulnerability to intensify missile attacks. According to one of the insiders, the measures are also aimed at missile testing facilities as well as manufacturers of solid propellants, rocket engines and special textiles. Also on the list are drone manufacturers, shipyards that maintain submarines and 77 Russian politicians who have run for parliamentary seats in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. Because of closer ties between Russia and North Korea, the EU is also sanctioning seven North Korean organizations and individuals.
Vivian Melchert
Russian continuous attacks against Kyiv
At least eight people have been injured in new Russian drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kiev. Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced this on Telegram in the evening. Several residential buildings were damaged in the attacks that hit various parts of the city. Rescue teams searched the rubble for possible additional victims.
Kiev was already a focus of the Russian military's massive air raid on Ukrainian cities last night. Klitschko reported at least two deaths in the morning. They were found in the rubble of garages in the eastern district of Darnytsia. Two other people were rescued there alive.
The Russian military has recently increased its attacks on cities and urban centers in Ukraine and is exploiting weaknesses in Ukrainian defenses. The Ukrainian air defense system is suffering from a lack of ammunition, especially in weapon systems that can combat ballistic missiles. In addition, Russia is using new types of drones, against which the Ukrainian air defense system has not yet developed a suitable defense strategy.
Lara Dehari
Zelensky warns of major Russian attack
Eva Glaser
EU pays Ukraine another billion for drone procurement
Ukraine will receive additional funds for drone procurement from the EU's 90 billion euro support loan. The EU Commission has paid out 1.24 billion euros for drone interception systems, drone ammunition and missiles manufactured by Ukrainian companies, it announced.
“Today’s disbursement will help strengthen Ukraine’s defense industry and improve Ukraine’s ability to defend itself – protecting people and infrastructure,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Eva Glaser
Russia: French missile test shows Europe's confrontational course
According to the Russian government, the latest French missile test demonstrates Europe's confrontational course against Russia. This is a dead end, says Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Russia sees the test as a clear message, but remains open to dialogue.
France tested a modernized intercontinental ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine on Tuesday. President Emmanuel Macron
