The Russian justice ministry has labelled two prominent journalists - BBC correspondent Ilya Barabanov and a Russian science reporter named Asya Kazantseva - as “foreign agents”, the British broadcaster has reported. Barabanov has written extensively about Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Wagner mercenary group, while Kazantseva signed an open letter from Russian scientists and science journalists demanding Russian troops withdraw from Ukraine. The BBC condemned the move, saying: “The BBC has a global reputation as a trusted and independent source of news.” It added: “… our priority right now is to support Ilya and all his colleagues to ensure that all are able to continue their jobs reporting on Russia at such an important time.” Both Barabanov and Kazantseva now live abroad.
Ukraine’s air defences are being overwhelmed by concentrated waves of Russian bombing aimed at its power stations, a senior presidential adviser acknowledged after the destruction of an entire plant on Thursday. Mykhailo Podolyak said Moscow was adopting new tactics of attacking power stations with up to “10 or 12 missiles at a time”, bypassing already stretched Patriot and other missile shields. “The system is overloaded,” he said.
Future Ukrainian fighter pilots likely to fly US F-16 aircraft are receiving their initial training with the French air force, the French defence minister said on Friday, amid a European training push. The pilots were receiving “general training on the Alpha Jet [a Franco-German military aircraft], which enables Ukrainian pilots to acquire the fundamentals of flying a fighter jet”, Sebastien Lecornu told the newspaper Ouest France. Other countries including the Netherlands, Denmark and Romania are seeking to help Ukraine train its F-16 pilots after the US gave the go-ahead.
China is helping Russia undertake its biggest military expansion since Soviet times, ramping up sales of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for its war against Ukraine, according to a US assessment. US officials are hoping the release of the intelligence will encourage European allies to press China, as the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, heads to Beijing this weekend and G7 foreign ministers meet in Italy next week. Announcing US findings, officials said China was helping Russia in the production of drones, space-based capabilities and machine-tool exports vital for producing ballistic missiles.
The Netherlands will provide Ukraine with €1bn ($1.1bn) in military support this year and has earmarked €3bn for 2025, the caretaker Dutch prime minister said. The extra support this year took the total for 2024 to €3bn and would be complemented by €400m in aid to support Ukraine’s economy, Mark Rutte said on Friday. The Netherlands has been one of the leading donors of military support to Ukraine since Russia invaded.
A Russia-installed official in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region claimed shelling by Ukraine’s military had killed six people, including a child, in the town of Tokmak. Vladimir Rogov said on Telegram on Friday that at least 20 people had been injured. He posted pictures of damaged houses, one of which was all but reduced to rubble. His account could not be independently verified.
Washington and London have prohibited metal-trading exchanges from accepting new aluminium, copper and nickel produced by Russia and barred the import of the metals into the US and the UK. Friday’s action is aimed at disrupting export revenue for Russia – a major producer of aluminium, copper and nickel.
Russia has summoned the French ambassador over comments by Stéphane Séjourné, France’s foreign minister, that Paris is not interested in dialogue with Moscow as statements from Russian officials contain false information. Russia’s foreign ministry called the comments a “deliberate action” to undermine the possibility of talks between the countries.
Prosecutors in Belgium have opened an investigation into alleged payments by Russia to members of the European parliament following an intelligence operation in Brussels, the Belgian prime minister has revealed. Alexander De Croo said Moscow’s objective was to weaken support for Ukraine in Europe. “Belgian intelligence services have confirmed the existence of pro-Russian interference networks with activities in several European countries and also here in Belgium,” he said. Moscow’s “objective is to help elect more pro-Russian candidates in the European parliament and to reinforce a certain pro-Russian narrative in that institution. It’s very clear.”
After months of delay, the US House speaker is negotiating with the White House on advancing wartime funding for Ukraine – a package that would deviate from the Senate’s $95bn foreign security package and include several Republican demands. Mike Johnson has been facing mounting pressure over a Ukraine aid package not only from President Joe Biden but from hard-right members of his own party who remain staunchly opposed to additional Ukraine aid.
Thousands of Russian soldiers are fleeing the war in Ukraine, lying low while awaiting the results of their asylum applications to western countries such as Germany, France and the US, the Associated Press reports. Asylum claims from Russian citizens have surged but few are winning protection, with fewer than 300 Russians getting refugee status in the US in fiscal year 2022, while less than 10% of the 5,246 people whose applications were processed last year got some sort of protection from German authorities. In France, asylum requests rose more than 50% to about 3,400 people in 2022-23.
Local police are searching for a Russell Bentley, a US national and Russia supporter who went missing in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. Bentley moved to the Donetsk region in 2014 to fight for a Russian separatist militia against Ukraine. According to his bio on X, he was a correspondent for the Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik News, and a Russian federation citizen.
Rescue workers in Ukraine have pulled five puppies alive from under the rubble of a destroyed building, a video released by the country’s emergency services on Friday showed. Officials said the puppies were rescued from a non-residential building that was on fire in the north-eastern city of Sumy, close to the border with Russia. The video showed the puppies squealing as the firefighters cuddled them in their hands and rinsed them off with water.
Ukrainian authorities have searched a high-ranking priest of a Moscow-linked church. The premises of Archpriest Mykola Danylevych, a senior member of the Ukrainian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate, was searched on Friday morning by the security service of Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing sources. The Moscow patriarchate-linked church has repeatedly been accused of aligning with the Russian government, which the church has denied.
