The European Union approved a 13th package of sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, Belgium, which chairs the bloc, said. The President of Ukraine downplayed the capture of Avdiyivka, but asks allies to send military aid as soon as possible.

All information about the war in Ukraine – day 729 – LIVE on HotNews.ro:

08:21Ukrainian air defense destroyed 8 out of 10 kamikaze drones launched by Russia on the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the Air Force of Ukraine reported, The Kyiv Independent reports.

According to the source, the drones were launched from Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Russia, and the Kh-31P supersonic missile was launched from the Black Sea.

Drones were intercepted over the Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhia regions.

Currently, details about possible victims and damages are not reported.

08:10 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy downplayed Ukraine’s loss of the eastern city of Avdiyivka to Russian forces and called for faster support from allies as the war against Russia nears two years, Reuters reports.

The Kyiv leader admitted that the past year was “difficult” for Ukraine in a segment of the Fox News interview that will air on Thursday.

Speaking in English, he emphasized previous achievements, in particular in the north-east of the Kharkiv region, where the Fox News interview took place.

“Over these two years, we have restored a part of the Kharkiv region. Now we are in this region … and we have discovered the Black Sea. There are grain routes, and we destroyed many of their ships of the Russian fleet,” Zelenskyy said.

“I did this for two years. And what could they do? Only this one place. But for what?”

Avdiivka is located 15 km northwest of the main city of the Russian-controlled Donetsk region, which is also called Donetsk.

Russian analysts say capturing Avdiivka will protect Donetsk from Ukrainian shelling as Moscow considers how to continue its push to capture all of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Zelenskyi also expressed dissatisfaction with the slowdown in Western aid to Ukraine.

07:25 Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “crazy scoundrel” on Wednesday during a meeting with Democratic Party donors in San Francisco, California, as he also savaged his rival Donald Trump, News.ro reported.

07:18 After days of protests by Polish farmers, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi now wants to send Prime Minister Denys Shmigal and other members of the Cabinet of Ministers to blocked checkpoints for negotiations, dpa informs.

A brief retelling of the last events of the war:

• The European Union on Wednesday approved the 13th package of sanctions against Russia
• Garry Kasparov writes in an editorial that Putin is the one who killed Navalny, but the guilt is enough to share with others. “First of all, we Russians, who could not rise to the level of Navalny’s courage and put an end to Putin’s dictatorship, cannot avoid responsibility.”
• The remains of a North Korean-made missile discovered in Ukraine contain components that were clearly manufactured in Europe and the United States
• One of the most famous Russian military bloggers, Andrei “Murz” Morozov, committed suicide after talking about the losses of the Russian army during the battle for Avdiivka.
• Russia on Tuesday rejected the European Union’s requests for an international investigation into the death of dissident Oleksii Navalny
• The Ministry of Defense of Russia, headed by Sergei Shoigu, is looking for ways to find new forces for its army, which is fighting in Ukraine
• The Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT) at a meeting on Wednesday ordered “measures to strengthen the armed forces of Romania”
• The Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Bucharest Valery Kuzmin was summoned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in connection with the sudden death in prison of the Russian opposition politician Oleksiy Navalny.
• A public opinion poll conducted in 12 European countries shows that half of Romanians believe that Europe should “push” Ukraine to negotiate a peace agreement with Russia

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