Wagner’s group began handing over its positions in Bakhmut to Russian regular forces on Thursday, five days after it claimed full control of the devastated eastern Ukrainian city in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war. Belarusian President Oleksandr Lukashenko said on Thursday that Russia had begun transferring nuclear weapons to his country, materializing a development announced by Vladimir Putin in March.

Basic information about the war in Ukraine, day 457, LIVETEXT:

08:35Russia will have to launch a pre-emptive strike if the West provides Ukraine with nuclear weapons, Russian news agencies reported on Friday, citing Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, ex-president Dmitry Medvedev, Reuters reports.

“There are irreversible laws of war. If nuclear weapons are achieved, a pre-emptive strike will be necessary,” Medvedev said.

08:22ANALYSIS: The main means and strategies that Ukraine can use in the counteroffensive

The conflict in Ukraine is set to enter a new high-intensity phase as troops in Kyiv appear to have launched an expected counteroffensive.

07:32An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin said the war in Ukraine could last for decades, with long periods of fighting interspersed with ceasefires, Russia’s RIA news agency reported on Thursday, as quoted by Reuters.

07:03 Washington gave the green light to the supply of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. But how many such aircraft are available in Europe?” asks Le Point, quoted by Rador.

06:15Japan will introduce additional sanctions against Russia after the G7 summit it hosted last week agreed to step up measures to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, Japanese Prime Minister Hirokazu Matsuno’s chief of staff announced on Friday, Reuters reported. .

01:30Henry Kissinger on the war in Ukraine: “I don’t think Putin is to blame for everything.” The former US Secretary of State considers the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant on behalf of the Russian president to be a mistake.

00:57 In his message on Thursday evening, Volodymyr Zelenskyi reports that 106 Ukrainian soldiers who fought in Bakhmut have returned home after the exchange of prisoners.

“Of course, I’m also grateful to every soldier who made sure we had an adequate exchange fund. Everyone on the front lines should remember this: the more Russian prisoners of war we take, the more ours will return,” said President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi in an address to the nation.

A brief summary of recent events:

• VIDEO Footage published by Ukrainians: how naval drones attacked a Russian warship in the Black Sea
• The Ukrainian counteroffensive has been going on for several days, Zelenskyi’s adviser says
• “Putin is target no. 1”: Ukrainian special services say that they do not want to eliminate him, but to appear before the International Criminal Court
• In the Zaporizhzhia region, two Russian SU-type aircraft were allegedly shot down. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, in his usual nightly speech, claims that the National Guard of Ukraine shot down two Russian SU planes in the Zaporizhzhia region, Sky News reports.
• The commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, appeared on Thursday in a video released by a Ukrainian army officer to deny rumors that he was killed or wounded in a Russian attack.
• In his message on Thursday evening, Volodymyr Zelenskyi reports that 106 Ukrainian soldiers who fought in Bakhmut have returned home after the exchange of prisoners.
• Washington tells partners that training of Ukrainian F-16 pilots should begin in the coming weeks
• Moscow claims to have intercepted two more US strategic bombers over the Baltic Sea
• Lukashenko said that Russia has started transferring nuclear weapons to Belarus. Belarus President Oleksandr Lukashenko said on Thursday that Russia had begun transferring nuclear weapons to his country, confirming the deployment of nuclear weapons announced by Vladimir Putin in March, AFP reported.
• NATO troops are ready to “prevent the Russian invasion” of the European country
• The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, General Kyrylo Budanov, spoke for the first time about the serious injury he received during an operation in Donbas in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have been fighting against Kyiv forces since 2014.
• Following the conquest of Bakhmut, Prigozhin seeks to “obtain an absurdly high level of influence” on the Russian army – ISW analysis
• VIDEO At the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) summit in Moscow, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was extremely sharp in his criticism of the union and called the perceived rapprochement between Russia and Belarus a serious problem, making the same statements as Vladimir Putin and Oleksandr Lukashenko.

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