Russian forces unleashed a fresh wave of aerial attacks across Ukraine early Friday morning, killing at least 12 people and damaging or destroying several buildings. Most of the casualties came from a strike on high-rise apartment buildings in Uman, where rescue efforts continue.
(Bloomberg) — Russian forces unleashed a fresh wave of aerial attacks across Ukraine early Friday morning, killing at least 12 people and damaging or destroying several buildings. Most of the casualties came from a strike on high-rise apartment buildings in Uman, where rescue efforts continue.
Explosions were heard in the capital, Kyiv, marking the first Russian assault there in more than a month. At least one child was injured when a rocket fragment hit a residential building.
Russia on Thursday rejected a US Embassy request to visit jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. The move came after the US declined to issue visas to Russian journalists for Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to New York this week to preside over the UN Security Council.
Key Developments
- The Hard Part for Xi Starts Now After Finally Calling Zelenskiy
- Russia Launches Deadly Aerial Assault on Ukraine, Hits Kyiv
- Ukraine Holds Rates as Improved Outlook Points to Easing
- Russia Bars US Embassy Visit to Jailed Reporter in Visa Backlash
(All times CET)
Russian Defense Ministry Posts After Missile Attack (10:30 a.m.)
Moscow hasn’t commented officially on Friday morning’s deadly strikes on Ukrainian cities, but the Russian defense ministry on its Telegram account posted a photo of a missile launch with the caption “Right on Target.”
Czech, Slovak Presidents Visit Kyiv, Expected to Meet With Zelenskiy (10 a.m.)
Slovak President Zuzana Caputova and Czech President Petr Pavel arrived in Kyiv on Friday morning for their first joint visit, and are expected to meet with Ukrainian counterpart Voldymyr Zelenskiy.
“We both perceive the value of freedom and justice. It has hard to see with your eyes that Ukrainians are paying the highest price for it,” Pavl said in a tweet.
Read more: Ukraine Support Faces New Hurdle as Slovak Leader Eyes Return
Human Rights Body Assesses $143M Fine on Russia Over Georgia War (10 a.m.)
The European Court of Human Rights ordered Russia to pay Georgia 129.8 million euros ($143 million) in damages over atrocities committed during the short 2008 war between the two countries that included the killing and inhumane treatment of hundreds of civilians as well as torture of prisoners of war.
The single biggest share was 115 million euros to be paid to at least 23,000 Georgians unable to return to their homes in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the court said. The August 2008 clash between Russians, Russian-backed separatists and Georgians left thousands of civilians displaced. Parts of Georgia remain occupied to this day.
The ruling by the ECHR is largely symbolic as Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe and ECHR in 2022, leaving essentially no chance the damages will ever be paid.
At Least 12 Killed in Fresh Round of Air Strikes (7:52 a.m.)
Russia unleashed a fresh wave of aerial strikes early Friday, killing at least nine people and destroying several buildings. Explosions were heard in the capital, Kyiv, for the first time in over a month.
A woman and a child were killed in Dnipro. At least 10 people were killed, including two children, and 11 have been hospitalized in Uman, south of Kyiv, where Russian rockets damaged about 10 apartment buildings. Rescue efforts are under way.
The attacks involved Tu-95 strategic aircraft coming from the Caspian Sea region as well as drones, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said on Telegram. Ukraine’s air defenses destroyed 21 out of 23 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles as well as two drones, he said. Explosions were also heard in a number of regions including Kremenchuk, Dnipro, Mykolayiv, Poltava and Cherkasy, according to Ukrainian TV channel TSN.
Read more: Russia Launches Deadly Aerial Assault on Ukraine, Hits Kyiv
Russia Launches Strikes, Explosions Heard (4:15 a.m.)
Russia launched new strikes on Ukraine early Friday. Several explosions were heard in the capital, Kyiv, marking the first such assaults there in more than a month.
Officials in Kyiv said that air defense systems were working.
Explosions were also heard in Kremenchuk, Dnipro, Mykolayiv, Poltava and Cherkassy regions, Tass reports, citing Ukrainian TV channel TCH.
Russia Signals Rosneft Will Manage Seized Uniper, Fortum Units (6:16 p.m.)
Russian oil giant Rosneft PJSC may get control of local utilities owned by Germany’s Uniper SE and Finland’s Fortum Oyj after the government announced it will transfer the management of seized international assets to domestic companies that have been hit by sanctions.
Top managers from Rosneft were appointed to head the Fortum and Uniper units, the companies announced Wednesday, after a presidential order allowed state control of such assets in certain conditions. “The management will be carried out by a company that has suffered from unfriendly countries,” Russian Deputy Finance Minister Aleksey Moiseev said Thursday, according to Interfax news service.
Russia Denies Consular Visit to Jailed WSJ Reporter in Visa Row (2:30 p.m.)
Russia said its decision to reject a request by the US embassy in Moscow to visit jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich came in retaliation for a failure to issue visas to its journalists for Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to New York.
The ministry said it protested to a senior US diplomat for “provocative” actions that prevented visa processing for Russian media. Lavrov this week chaired sessions of the UN Security Council under Russia’s rotating presidency.
Gershkovich, 31, is being held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison on allegations of espionage after he was arrested in March while on a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg in Russia’s Urals region.
Fed’s Powell Tricked by Russian ‘Pranksters’ Posing as Zelenskiy (2:06 p.m.)
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell held a call with a pair of Russian pranksters posing as Zelenskiy, according to video shown on Russian state television.
Apparently thinking he was speaking to Zelenskiy, the video shows Powell answering questions on topics from the outlook for inflation to the Russian central bank. There were several clips lasting about 15 minutes, and it’s unclear if the footage was altered.
Ukraine Holds Rates Steady, Raises Growth Forecast (1:30 p.m.)
Ukraine’s central bank held interest rates unchanged and increased its outlook for economic growth by more than sixfold, indicating it may begin reversing wartime monetary tightening earlier than expected.
Policy makers raised their 2023 economic growth outlook to 2%, from 0.3% earlier, and cut the end-year inflation forecast to 14.8% from 18.7%.
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