A senior European Union official on Friday accused Russia of taking the war against Ukraine to “another stage” by targeting civilians and non-military targets, prompting Germany and the US to supply military equipment to Ukraine so that the country could better defend itself.
Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo, Secretary General of the European Union’s European External Action Service, Stefano Sannino, said Russia had “moved from a concept of a special operation to a concept now of a war against NATO and the West “.
“I think this latest development in terms of armed supplies is just an evolution of the situation and of the way Russia started to take the war to another stage,” Sannino said, adding that Putin is “indiscriminate attacks against civilians and against towns.”
Here’s what else happens:
Annexed Ukrainian regions are set to Moscow time: The occupied parts of four Ukrainian regions — the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions — which Russia said it annexed in September will be ordered to use Moscow time, according to a post on the Telegram channel of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Kremlin says Washington is “demonizing” Russia’s private mercenary Wagner group: The Kremlin said Friday that Washington has been “demonizing” the Russian private mercenary organization Wagner Group for years, following the decision by the US Treasury Department to designate the group as a major transnational criminal organization. The finance ministry on Thursday designated the group, which is heavily involved in the war in Ukraine, as a major transnational criminal organization and imposed a slew of sanctions on a transnational network that supports it.
‘Significant damage’ to Ukraine’s power grid after missile strike: Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s state-run power company, has said Thursday’s Russian missile strikes caused “substantial damage” to the power grid. Russia launched 70 missiles into Ukraine on Thursday, intercepting 47, the Ukrainian armed forces said in their daily operational update on Facebook, and Moscow’s armed forces also carried out 44 airstrikes, including 18 with Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones.
Djokovic’s father responds to criticism after posing with a fan wearing the pro-Russian “Z” symbol: Tennis star Novak Djokovic’s father has responded to criticism after a video emerged on Wednesday of him posing at the Australian Open with fans holding Russian flags and expressing his support for Russia. In a statement Friday that ended with an apology, Srdjan Djokovic said he was in Melbourne “only to support my son” and “had no intention of causing any such headlines or disruption”.
