​Ukraine said its missile strikes on Sevastopol early Wednesday severely damaged the port’s infrastructure and seriously damaged two ships. A large KILO-class submarine and landing craft were reportedly damaged beyond repair. On Thursday morning, the Ukrainian attacks continued, the Russians announced that they had shot down drones in their districts of Belgorod and Bryansk, as well as in Crimea, where traffic on the Kerch bridge was suspended. The Ministry of Defense of Moscow also reports that it destroyed five naval drones over the Black Sea.

Highlights of the war in Ukraine, day 568, LIVETEXT:

07:53 Five Ukrainian naval drones attacked a ship of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea on Thursday and were destroyed, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported, reports RIA.

07:51 Russian air defense destroyed 11 enemy drones over Crimea on Thursday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry reported, citing RIA. The same Russian news agency reported that the car crash was stopped on a bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula to mainland Russia, but did not say whether the incidents were linked.

Russian news agencies also reported that Russian anti-aircraft units shot down Ukrainian drones at night in two regions of southern Russia – Bryansk and Belgorod. Five drones were shot down over Bryansk region and one over Belgorod region. No injuries or damage were reported. Both regions border Ukraine.

01:30 VIDEO Zelenskyi draws up the budget for the next year: We will allocate significant budget funds for the defense industry. We will support veterans, index pensions and raise the minimum wage.

01:02 The US Secretary of State considers the post-Cold War era over: “The decisions we make now will shape the future for decades to come”

A quick summary of the latest information:

• A Russian drone attack, which took place overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, damaged port infrastructure in the port of Izmail and injured at least seven people. The Romanian authorities have sent RO-Alert messages to 8 settlements in Tulcea county, located near the border with Ukraine.
• MApN announced on Wednesday that a military helicopter had identified shrapnel, possibly from a Russian drone, between the towns of Nuferu and Victoria in the Danube Delta. Testimony of local residents of Nuferu, Tulcea, about the drone that exploded in their community: “It fell near a military unit.” Why didn’t the army’s radars detect the Russian drones? NATO said that it “has no information about any deliberate attack by Russia on the territory of allies.”
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania announced that it will urgently summon the head of the diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation. ​”No one understands what the representatives of Romania want to say, they themselves do not yet have a clear or objective picture of what happened,” – this was the answer of the spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova.
• A KILO-class submarine and a large amphibious assault ship of the Russian Navy were hit during an attack on Sevastopol overnight, Ukrainian military intelligence and Russian media reported. Russia has said they are only damaged and will repair them, but satellite images show they are beyond repair.
• Vladimir Putin described Wednesday’s round of talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “extremely productive” and said his visit to Russia would continue in the coming days. Putin and Kim discussed the possibility of sending a North Korean astronaut into space. Kim Jong-un has expressed confidence that Russia will succeed in defeating the “assembly of evil” that supports Ukraine, but the leader of Pyongyang held an unusually short meeting with Vladimir Putin.
• The Russian general and MP calls to kill the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with missiles. Russia should launch missiles at targets in Great Britain, Reserve Lieutenant General Andriy Gurilyov said.
• On Wednesday, Hungary accused Ukraine of a sudden increase in transit tariffs for Russian oil, which pushed up fuel prices and pushed the country’s inflation to 0.5%, defying forecasts for a decline.
• Armenia has announced it will fully ratify the Rome Statute, the treaty that underpins the International Criminal Court, which would allow it to arrest Putin on its territory.
• Special flight to Russia for former Austrian minister and his pony: Karin Kneissl, who headed the Austrian Foreign Ministry and is famous for dancing the waltz with Vladimir Putin in 2018, moved to Russia after traveling with her ponies on a specially arranged flight from a Russian air base in Syria.
• Russia will not discuss “speculations” regarding the inclusion of dissident Alexei Navalny in a prisoner exchange with the West, Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.
• The head of Sputnik Moldova, Vitaliy Denisov, was expelled from the Republic of Moldova and declared an indivisible person for a period of 10 years, the statement of the authorities in Chisinau caused a sharp reaction from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.
• The West must prepare for a protracted war in Ukraine and face an increasingly hostile Russia even after the conflict ends, Czech army chief Karel Reka said.

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• Wednesday’s events related to Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro