Closing summary
Here’s a recap of today’s developments:
A Russian landing ship was struck and disabled in the country’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk by an unmanned Ukrainian boat, known as a sea drone, Kyiv said. The 112-metre Olenegorsky Gornyak from Russia’s Northern Fleet, which has been used to transport troops and military hardware into occupied Ukrainian ports, was said to have been sufficiently damaged to have been put out of combat action.
Onboard camera footage appeared to confirm the success of the night attack on the ship. Images of a Russian warship tilting to its side emerged shortly after the strike and footage was published by the Unian news agency from the head of the marine drone appearing to show it moving stealthily across the Black Sea towards the ship and hitting it at its centre. Satellite imagery also appeared to show a Russian landing ship leaking oil while docked at a Black Sea port.
The main significance of Thursday night’s attacks was the new evidence of Ukraine’s ability and willingness to strike in the Black Sea. Ukraine has carried out at least 10 attacks with drone boats, targeting military ships, the base in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk harbour.
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, visited a combat zone in Ukraine to inspect a command post and meet senior military officers, the army said Friday. Shoigu got an update on the situation on the front and “thanked commanders and soldiers... for successful offensive operations” in Lyman in eastern Ukraine, it said, without mentioning when the visit took place.
At the Russia-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, the UN nuclear watchdog said it had “finally” been granted access requested a month ago and that it had found no explosives after claims of mines being planted around the infrastructure.
A court in Russia has extended Alexei Navalny’s prison sentence by 19 years, and sentenced him to a special regime with the harshest prison conditions in the country. Navalny was found guilty on six counts, including inciting and financing extremism, creating an illegal NGO, the rehabilitation of Nazism, and inciting children to dangerous acts. He and his supporters have rejected the charges as being politically motivated.
An associate of Alexei Navalny who worked for his YouTube channel also stood trial in a Moscow court on Friday. Daniel Kholodny, a TV technician, was found guilty of organising an extremist group and sentenced to eight years in prison, Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported.
Diplomatic tension between Poland and Belarus escalated as Warsaw claimed that two Belarusian helicopters had violated its international airspace on Tuesday. Ukraine’s SBU security service also accused Russia of preparing to stage a “false flag” attack at the Mozyr oil refinery in Belarus in order to draw Belarus into the war in Ukraine.
Western and Ukrainian diplomats received a boost, however, following the announcement China would be represented in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for a meeting of national security advisers seeking to agree on the main principles for a future peace settlement. Russia is not attending.
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie visited Ukraine on Friday and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in an attempt to underscore US support for Kyiv by one of the people bidding to be the next Republican president of the US.
Soprano Anna Netrebko, once among the Metropolitan Opera’s biggest box office draws, has sued the New York opera company and general manager Peter Gelb, alleging defamation, breach of contract and other violations related to the institution’s decision to drop her following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
An associate of Alexei Navalny who worked for his YouTube channel also stood trial in a Moscow court on Friday.
Daniel Kholodny, a TV technician, was found guilty of organising an extremist group and sentenced to eight years in prison, Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported.
Kholodny, 25, was on trial alongside Navalny at the Melekhovo penal colony east of Moscow. In a statement on the eve of the verdicts against both men, Navalny described him as an “inspiration”, saying he had declined many offers to have himself released in exchange for testifying against others.
Navalny added:
Kholodny is bright, cheerful, doesn’t lose his presence of mind. And the main thing is he understands why this trial was invented but he doesn’t let it intimidate him or break his will. Be like him.
Updated
