Ukraine-Russia war latest: Drone and missile assault launched by Putin’s forces blown out of sky by Kyiv
Russian navy missile cruiser Varyag has carrying out drills in the Mediterranean Sea, the state-owned TASS news agency reported on Thursday
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The Ukrainian air force said it shot down all 23 drones and five out of six missiles launched by Vladimir Putin’s forces in the early hours of Thursday.
Khmelnytskyi regional governor Serhii Tiurin said the air defence shot down nine aerial targets over his region. Local authorities have not received any reports of casualties or property damage, he added.
Governor Vitaliy Kim said the military destroyed six drones and three cruise missiles over the southern region of Mykolaiv.
It comes as the Russian navy missile cruiser Varyag has carried out drills in the Mediterranean Sea, the state-owned TASS news agency reported on Thursday, citing the navy command.
The drills focused on repelling a mass sea drone attack, the navy command said. It also involved simulated engagements with an enemy vessel and a submarine.
Earlier this month a Russian naval frigate conducted drills in the Atlantic Ocean searching for submarines while on its way to Cuba.
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Moscow is working on a “big treaty” with Iran, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova has said.
Ms Zakharova’s comment appeared to be a reference to a comprehensive bilateral cooperation agreement that is being negotiated between Tehran and Moscow.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Iran had supplied Russia with ballistic missiles.
EU countries agree sanctions on Belarus to plug 'biggest loophole' in Russian measure
European Union countries agreed a sanctions package against Belarus on Wednesday, EU diplomats and Belgium said, to try to close off a route to avoiding restrictions on Russia.
The EU adopted this week its 14th package of sanctions to punish Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which included clauses that increased responsibility on EU companies exporting via non-EU countries.
“This package will strengthen our measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including combating circumvention of sanctions,” Belgium, which holds the EU presidency until the end of June, said on X.
China says it firmly opposes EU sanctions against its firms over Russian links
China firmly opposes the European Union’s inclusion of some Chinese firms in a 14th package of sanctions on Russia, its commerce ministry said on Wednesday.
The move has a negative impact on China-EU economic and trade relations, the ministry said, adding it urges the bloc to “unconditionally” stop sanctioning Chinese firms.
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EU's Borrell condemns move by Russia to block European media
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the EU condemned Russia’s move to ban access inside Russia to 81 media outlets from the European Union.
“The EU condemns the totally unfounded decision by the Russian authorities to block access to over eighty European media in Russia,” said Borrell in a statement on Wednesday.
“This decision further restricts access to free and independent information and expands the already severe media censorship in Russia,” he added.
On Tuesday, Russia announced a ban on 81 different media outlets from the European Union including Agence France-Presse and Politico, in retaliation for a similar EU ban on several Russian media outlets.
Kremlin says ICC warrants for Russian military top brass are ‘absurd'
International Criminal Court arrest warrants for two Russian officials involved in the Ukraine war are “absurd”, the Kremlin said.
Moscow said it did not recognise the warrants for Russian former defence minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian general Valery Gerasimov as the ICC does not have jurisdiction in Russia.
“We do not recognise the jurisdiction of this court. We are not members of the relevant statutes. Accordingly, we do not recognise these orders. Moreover, we consider it quite absurd, like the last two warrants that concerned the head of state and our children’s ombudsman,” Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia accused of flashing violent Ukraine war images on children’s TV channels
Russia accused of flashing violent Ukraine war images on children’s TV channels
Russian cyberattacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure are being investigated as possible war crimes by ICC
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