A Russian attack in the north-eastern Ukrainian region of Sumy killed three people and wounded four, Ukraine said on Friday. The victims were in a village “workshop of an agriculture firm” that was hit, the interior minister, Igor Klymenko, said on Telegram. Russia launched seven guided bombs, he said, posting a photo of rescuers working through the rubble.
Russian drones struck a petrol station in Kharkiv late on Friday, triggering a vast fire that engulfed 14 private homes in Ukraine’s second-largest city, local officials said. Drones also hit a hospital and a restaurant in the town of Velykyi Berluk, east of Kharkiv. The officials said one person was injured in the fire and that count could rise as search and rescue operations proceeded through the night. Fifty residents were evacuated.
Officials and pundits in the west reacted with dismay with Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin. The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, called the Russian president’s claim that the war in Ukraine was a result of Nato expansion “clearly ridiculous”. Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt said the US “will suffer from having [Putin] spreading lies unchallenged and unfiltered” and “this is how democracies die”. A European Commission spokesperson said the interview was just a repeat of Putin’s usual “lies” and “war propaganda”.
Ukraine’s newly appointed armed forces chief said a new approach was required to achieve success on the battlefield, in his first public comments since taking command. Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi singled out drones and electronic warfare as examples of new technology he said would help Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appointed Syrskyi in the biggest military reshuffle since Russia’s invasion nearly two years ago. Syrskyi replaced Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who Zelenskiy awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine after dismissing him.
The US president, Joe Biden, said Congress would be guilty of “close to criminal neglect” if it failed to pass funding for Ukraine and thanked the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on Friday for his leadership in securing German military aid for Kyiv. Scholz, making a whirlwind stop in Washington to lend his support to Biden’s efforts to obtain funding for Ukraine, said he had been encouraged by the US Senate’s move to advance a $95.3bn (£75.5bn/€88.4bn) bill that includes aid for Ukraine after Republicans blocked compromise legislation. In Kyiv, a bipartisan US congressional delegation arrived amid mounting pressure for more aid.
Ukraine has accused Russia of using toxic chemicals in more than 200 attacks on the battlefield in January alone, a sharp increase in what it said were recorded instances of their use by Russian forces during their invasion. Moscow has denied using chemical weapons in Ukraine and accused Ukrainian forces of their use, which Kyiv denies. Neither side has produced evidence and Reuters said it was not been able to verify any use by either side.
A drone attack injured one person in the Black Sea port of Odesa, the regional governor said.
Polish farmers on Friday staged blockades across the country to protest against competition from Ukraine and heavy EU regulations, with Warsaw hinting it could impose new import bans on Ukrainian agricultural products.
Ukraine should seek reparations from Russia for environmental costs such as contamination by landmines, a group of international figures including climate activist Greta Thunberg and European politicians said in a report on Friday. The recommendations, intended for both Ukraine and the international community, include establishing a high-level body to oversee the collection of evidence of environmental impacts and appointing an official to oversee climate-friendly reconstruction.
The United Arab Emirates said it succeeded in mediating a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine of 100 PoWs each.
