Russia fired missiles at Ukrainian cities while people slept on Friday, killing at least 25 civilians in the first major airstrikes in nearly two months, as Kyiv said it was close to launching a major offensive to retake the occupied territory. On Saturday morning, a drone attack was carried out in Sevastopol, as a result of which a fuel tank supplying Russian ships in the Black Sea was destroyed.

Basic information about the war in Ukraine, day 430, TEXT:

09:08 The Wagner mercenary group, which leads the Bakhmut assault in Ukraine and is involved in conflicts in Africa, may soon cease to exist, founder Yevgeny Prigozhin told a Russian blogger in a video published on Friday, Reuters reported.

08:20The command post of the Russian fleet in Crimea was attacked by drones

Mykhailo Razvozhaev, the governor appointed by Moscow in Sevastopol, said that on the night of Friday to Saturday, a fuel tank caught fire in Cossack Bay after a drone attack, reports The Kyiv Independent.

01:20Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his country’s Air Force managed to shoot down most of the Russian missiles – 21 out of 23, referring to the missile attacks that killed 25 people, News.ro reports.

“If it were not so, the terrorist state would have managed to make more victims, take more lives. And this once again proves that you can stop terror and save people only with weapons. Air defense, modern aviation,” he emphasized.

00:30 Russia has many supporters in the US and Europe who support Ukraine in its confrontation with the Russian army, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, EFE reports, Agerpres reports.

A brief summary of recent events:

• According to media reports and officials, early Friday morning Russia attacked several cities in Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv and central and southern regions, Reuters reports.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that his country’s Air Force managed to shoot down most of the Russian missiles – 21 out of 23, referring to the missile attacks that killed 25 people.
• Russia has many supporters in the United States and Europe who support Ukraine in its confrontation with the Russian army, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, EFE reports.
• French-made Caesar self-propelled artillery units delivered by Denmark have arrived in Ukraine, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.
• The European Commission announced on Friday that it had reached an agreement with five EU countries, including Poland, Romania and Hungary, to guarantee the transit of Ukrainian grain following an import ban imposed by several of these countries and deemed “unacceptable” by Brussels. This is reported by AFP.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Friday officially increasing the maximum penalty for treason to life in prison as part of efforts to crack down on dissent since the war in Ukraine began last year, Reuters reported.
• An internal review commissioned by Amnesty International, which was leaked to the New York Times, found that a controversial report by the human rights group, which accused Ukraine of illegally creating danger to citizens by deploying armed forces in civilian areas, contained significant flaws, The Guardian reports.
• President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia must act quickly to counter what he called “economic aggression” by the West, adding that Moscow would expand ties with countries in Eurasia, Africa and Latin America, Reuters reported.

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Friday’s military events were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro