Ukraine repels Russian drone attack as Putin’s forces hit by ‘mouse fever’ – live

Ukraine and a group of its Western creditors agreed on Thursday to extend through March 2027 a debt payment suspension agreed in September 2022 that could have expired at the end of this year, the Ukrainian government said.

“I am grateful to our partners from the G7 countries for understanding Ukraine‘s needs in the time of war,” Ukraine‘s Minister of Finance Sergii Marchenko said in a statement.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukraine was receiving signals that Russia’s military planning and activity were slowing.

Zelensky, in his nightly video address, said this was noted in a report issued by the HUR military intelligence directorate.

“There was a separate report from the HUR,” Zelensky said. “The enemy’s plans, the work of the Russian defence (industry). There are signals indicating a slowdown. We will continue to support their slowdown.”

He did not elaborate and it is not clear whether the he was referring specifically to the Russian defence industry or to Russian tactics and objectives in a broader sense.

This could be interesting. After Hungarian leader Viktor Orban blocked the EU’s funding package for Ukraine, it’s now emerged that a meeting will take place between Mr Oban and Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

We can only imagine that Mr Zelensky will use the meeting to persuade Mr Orban to change his mind on supporting his fight against Russia.

Mr Orban had earlier said that any funding package for Ukraine should not come out of the EU budget, but be funded separately by the 26 supporting EU member states instead.

Mr Orban is also opposed to Ukraine joining the EU.

Russia said on Thursday that it regarded joint military exercises by Japan, the United States and Australia near the Japanese island of Hokkaido as a “potential security threat”, and would strengthen its own defences.

Relations between Moscow and Tokyo have worsened since President Vladimir Putin sent his armed forces into Ukraine in 2022 and Japan joined Western nations in imposing punitive sanctions on Russia.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the military drills had taken place close to Russia’s borders and that it interpreted them as a sign that Japan was intent on raising tensions.

“We regard such provocative activity involving non-regional states as a potential security threat,” the ministry said, adding that it had issued a formal protest to the Japanese embassy.

Russia has handed out more than $12 billion in state subsidies and loans to keep its aviation sector afloat since Western sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine cut off supplies of key parts and maintenance services, a analysis from agency Reuters shows.

Dependent on foreign-made aircraft, Russia faces the daunting task of developing its aviation industry alone with domestically sourced parts, while buying aircraft from foreign lessors to avoid more of its fleet being seized.

Western planemakers Airbus and Boeing halted supplies of services and spare parts in March 2022 and dropped regular maintenance support for flag carrier Aeroflot and other Russian airlines.

Since then, Russia has spent 1.09 trillion roubles ($12.07 billion) supporting the civil aviation industry, including aircraft manufacturing and financial assistance for airlines, Reuters calculations show, based on data from the Ministry of Finance and the Accounts Chamber, which oversees budget execution.

As we mentioned earlier, former TV journalist Yekaterina Duntsova has put her name forward to go up against Vladimir Putin in Russia’s next presidential election.

Just a day after announcing her candidacy, she ‘s been accused by the state news agency RIA of being “supported and financed by fugitive oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky (foreign agent)”.

Khodorkovsky was the billionaire head of oil firm Yukos but fell foul of Putin and spent 10 years in jail on fraud charges, which he denied, before being released in 2013. He now lives in London.

But Ms Duntsova has come out to strongly deny the claim. She said she had “no direct link” to Khodorkovsky.

The allegation may have been based, she said, on the fact that her candidacy was supported by Anastasia Burakova, the head of a project called Kovcheg (The Ark) that Khodorkovsky founded to support people who have fled Russia because they oppose the war in Ukraine.

Russian aerial bombs on Thursday have struck two coal mines in Ukraine‘s eastern town of Toretsk in the Donetsk region, killing three and injuring at least five civilians, the interior minister said.

“Two bombs hit the territory of one of the mines in Toretsk. One person was killed and two others were injured,” Ihor Klymenko, the minister, he said on Telegram messenger.

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.

Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians although many have been killed in air strikes across Ukraine since Moscow sent in tens of thousands of troops in February 2022.

Ukraine‘s parliament has voted to legalize medical marijuana, after the war with Russia left thousands of people with post-traumatic stress disorder that many believe could be eased by the drug.

The new law, which will come into effect in six months’ time and which also allows cannabis to be used for scientific and industrial ends, passed by 248 votes in the 401-seat parliament in Kyiv. A full breakdown of the vote wasn’t immediately available.

The law was proposed by Prime Minister Denys Smyhal.The possible legalization of medical marijuana has long been debated in Ukraine.

Many people argued in favour of the benefits the treatment can bring, while others feared legalizing medical marijuana would lead to an influx of drugs on the streets of Ukrainian cities.

The debate gained new momentum after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

The Kremlin’s forces have repeatedly used powerful missiles to blast civilian targets across the country, with devastating consequences.Many people are believed to be suffering from stress and anxiety.

Ukraine defence minister Rustem Umerov has said his country is planning to recruit nationals living abroad for the army as the war against Russia shows no sign of ending soon.

Mr Umerov told German newspaper Die Welt that that Ukrainians of military age will be asked to report to armed forces recruitment centres.

It comes as the Ukrainian army says it needs another 500,00 troops mobilised. The Independent understands it has 500,000 servicemen, 200,000 of which are active military personnel.

If the figures are accurate, the Ukrainian army’s suggestion would bring the total number of servicemen to nearly one million.