Ukraine’s armed forces said on Wednesday they had made further progress in heavy fighting near the eastern city of Bakhmut and that Russia was continuing to send in new units, including paratroopers. At night, Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine became the target of a new Russian attack. The military administration of the city claims that all the missiles have been shot down.

Highlights of the war in Ukraine, day 449, LIVETEXT:

08:05Japan will take in wounded Ukrainian soldiers at a Tokyo military hospital, a senior member of Japan’s ruling coalition said Thursday, in the latest move to shore up Tokyo after the Russian invasion.

It will be the first time the Self-Defense Forces Central Hospital has treated foreign soldiers, the lawmaker told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the agreement has not yet been made public.

The details will be decided at a meeting between Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and Ukraine’s ambassador to Japan, Serhiy Korsunskyi, later Thursday, but the cost will likely be borne by the Japanese, he said.

07:35The Russians are threatening another “superweapon”: it will destroy all defense systems

06:45Former commander Wagner, who has sought asylum in Norway, wants to return to Russia, even though he believes it may pose a risk to his life, Reuters reports.

06:31At night, Russia launched a new attack. Several explosions rang out at dawn on Thursday in Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine, where the population was asked to stay in shelters, military officials said, according to AFP. The head of Kyiv’s military administration, Serhiy Popko, said that Kyiv was fired upon by cruise missiles, and all of them were shot down by air defense systems, Reuters reports.

06:10Hungary will block the next tranche of European Union military aid to Ukraine and any new sanctions package against Russia unless Kyiv removes Hungarian bank OTP from its list of war sponsors, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday, as quoted by Reuters.

06:00The US authorities have announced the arrest of a Greek businessman on charges of helping Russia obtain a number of technological secrets related to the fields of quantum computing and nuclear testing, the Greek press writes.

01:15Zelensky: We need more strength for our fighters and more consolidation of the world to put pressure on Russia

Having just returned from a European tour where he got more weapons for Ukraine but no planes, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told his countrymen on Wednesday night that the recent attacks by Russia demonstrate the need for even stronger defenses and greater mobilization of the international community. put pressure on Moscow.

00:58London and Amsterdam are leading an “international coalition” to help Kyiv buy F-16s

Great Britain, which “does not use F-16s” – planes “made by the American defense company Lockheed Martin in South Carolina” – will first of all have to “convince the United States”, whose fleet has almost 800 of this guy’s planes. , reminds “The Guardian”.

00:35Counterbalance to the Chinese-Russian partnership:Britain is ready to sign a defense cooperation agreement with Japan

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will sign the historic Hiroshima Accord on Thursday when he meets Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ahead of a G7 meeting to boost defense cooperation with Japan to support stability in the Indo-Pacific region. british government, according to Reuters.

A brief summary of recent events:

• 2 Patriot system components damaged in Russian attack Two Patriot battery components were damaged in a Russian attack on Tuesday, but the system was “never disabled,” according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter, according to CNN.
• Satellite images taken before Bakhmut became the center of the bloodiest fighting of the Russian war in Ukraine, and the latest satellite images show a high level of destruction in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which has been badly affected over the past year.
• Zakharova comments on the elections in Gagauzia: “Residents said a firm NO to severing ties with Russia. The authorities of Moldova are obliged to respect the choice of the residents.”
• The impact of the Ukrainian counteroffensive on Putin could change the course of the war – a Western official. “I would say that, without a doubt, more important than opening a breach through the Russian lines to the Russian border will be the psychological effect on those in the Kremlin. We believe this is a chance for Ukraine to show President Putin that it cannot simply win by not showing up, waiting out the war behind the lines of the defensive trenches,” a Western official told Sky News.
• Having just returned from a European tour where he got more weapons for Ukraine but no planes, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told his compatriots on Wednesday night that Russia’s recent attacks show the need for even stronger defenses and a greater mobilization of the international community to put pressure on Moscow .
• Belarus, one of Russia’s closest allies, has partially restored control of its border with the neighboring country, Belarusian Foreign Minister Serhii Aleynik said on Wednesday, The Guardian reported with reference to the Associated Press.
• The spokesman of the Eastern District of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhiy Cherevaty, said on the air of the TV channel that the Ukrainian army made a new offensive near the city of Bakhmut, Reuters reports.
• Russia: GDP decreased by 1.9% in the 1st quarter / Main reasons. According to Rosstat’s preliminary estimate, Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 1.9% in the first quarter of 2023. The first quarter was marked by the introduction of a European embargo on Russian oil products.
• Tax incentives introduced by the Russian government for the recovery of occupied territories in Ukraine brought large profits on the black market and led to the opening of criminal proceedings for the fact of a large-scale fraud in Mariupol.
• Several high-ranking officials in the Kremlin and Russian regions wanted to resign but were barred from leaving their posts, according to the independent publication IStories, according to CNN.

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The events of Wednesday, the 448th day of the war, were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro