Summary
It is now approaching 6pm in Kyiv. Here is a roundup of the key events from today:
Russian aerial bombs on Thursday targeted the territories of two coalmines in Ukraine’s eastern town of Toretsk, Donetsk region, killing three and injuring at least five civilians on Thursday, the interior minister said.
Ukraine’s parliament voted today to legalise medical marijuana, including for the treatment of PTSD among military personnel. Recreational use of cannabis remains a criminal offence and will still be investigated by the police
Ukraine’s decision to prevent its former president Petro Poroshenko from leaving the country earlier this month to meet Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, raises questions about Kyiv’s EU ambitions, Orbán told a briefing on Thursday.
Yekaterina Duntsova, who is seeking to run against Vladimir Putin in Russia’s next presidential election, has denied that she was backed by a former oil boss who runs an opposition movement from abroad. The state news agency RIA described her as “supported and financed by fugitive oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, [a foreign agent]”, Reuters reports.
Russia’s foreign ministry said on Thursday it regarded joint military exercises by Japan, the US and Australia near the Japanese island of Hokkaido as a “potential military threat”.
Russia has established “comprehensive” defence cooperation with North Korea and is continuing its course of “strategic partnership” with India and China, the chief of the Russian general staff, Valery Gerasimov, has told a briefing of foreign military attaches.
Ukraine’s air defence shot down 34 of 35 Russian drones launched in a major overnight attack on 12 Ukrainian regions, the air force said on Thursday.
Ukraine has received the final €1.5bn (£1.3bn) tranche of the €18bn package from the EU, the country’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, has said.
The latest cohort of Ukrainian soldiers trained in the UK have returned to the frontline “after weeks of intense training”. Britain has helped train 32,000 Ukrainian troops, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence.
Updated
Russian bombs targeted the territories of two coalmines in Ukraine’s eastern town of Toretsk, Donetsk region, killing three and injuring at least five civilians on Thursday, the interior minister said.
Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram:
Two bombs hit the territory of one of the mines in Toretsk. One person was killed and two others were injured.
There was a power outage, and 32 miners remained underground but were successfully rescued.
Russia also dropped two bombs on another mine, killing two and injuring three more people, Klymenko added. Administrative buildings and equipment were damaged.
The general prosecutor’s office said those killed were 41, 42 and 45 years old.
Updated
