Russian strikes killed at least six people across Ukraine early on Saturday, authorities saidtriggering a nationwide air alert. The bodies of five people were found in the rubble of an attack on an apartment block in the Kharkiv region, while one person was killed in the Dnipro region. Ten people were wounded in the attack, including two boys aged six and 11, and a 17-year-old girl, regional military chief Oleg Synegubov posted on Telegram. It was not immediately clear whether the six dead were among those wounded. Synegubov said rescuers were searching for up to 10 other people, including a child, who were feared trapped under the rubble of the five-story building, which was “practically destroyed” in the strikes.
Ukraine’s neighbour and Nato member Poland said it was scrambling military planes in response to the attack. “Due to missile attacks by the Russian Federation on Ukrainian territory, military aviation has begun operating in our airspace,” the Operational Command of the Armed Forces posted on X.
The Trump administration is considering lifting sanctions on more Russian oil, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has said. On Thursday Washington temporarily eased sanctions to allow India to buy from Moscow amid a surge in global oil prices as the US-Israel war on Iran all but halted shipping activity in the strait of Hormuz. Bessent insisted the new measures were not aimed at easing sanctions imposed on Russia over its conduct in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, but instead only affect supplies already in transit.
An anti-drone system developed by an American company and proven to work in Ukraine soon will head to the Middle East to help defend against Iranian drones, two US officials told the Associated Press. The system, known as Merops, fires drones against drones and has shown success in fighting those used by Russia in its war against Ukraine. The system was deployed to Romania and Poland last year.
It comes amid reports Russia has provided Iran with information that could help Tehran strike American warships, aircraft and other assets in the region, two officials familiar with US intelligence on the matter have told the Associated Press. It’s the first indication that Moscow has sought to get involved in the war.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones. Tehran has been supplying Russia with Shaheds for its war on Ukraine and are now utilising them in retaliatory attacks throughout the Gulf. Zelenskyy says that he’s spoken to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation. “Ukraine knows how to defend against Shahed drone attacks because our cities have faced them almost every night,” said Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Olga Stefanishyna. “When our partners are in need, we are always ready to help.”
The European Commission has joined far-right leaders across Europe in criticising Volodymyr Zelenskyy over what sounded like a physical threat to the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, over his veto of a €90bn loan to Ukraine amid an ongoing dispute over gas supplies. “We hope that one person in the European Union will not block the 90bn. Otherwise we will give this person’s address to our armed forces, to our guys. Let them call him and talk to him in their own language,” he said, in comments that caused shock in Budapest.
Meanwhile, Hungary’s pro-Russian foreign minister accused Ukraine of seeking to interfere in upcoming Hungarian elections in which Orbán faces an unprecedented challenge. Péter Szijjártó spoke to several hundred pro-government protesters outside Ukraine’s embassy in Budapest, claiming Ukraine wanted a more Kyiv-friendly government after April elections, and alleging without evidence that Ukraine was working with the EU and Orbán’s opposition to block oil deliveries.
The Russian flag was flown at the Winter Paralympic Games opening ceremony in Verona on Friday night, the first time it has appeared at an international sporting event since the invasion of Ukraine. It was a more subdued athletes’ procession than in Paralympics past, with nearly half of the 56 competing countries choosing not to send athletes to the ceremony and all flags carried by local volunteers.
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