Russia escalates drone attacks on frontline cities in Ukraine

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Russia attacked Ukraine’s power grid with missiles and drones overnight and intensified its attack on Wednesday.

They are also accelerating the destruction of frontline cities in Ukraine by using glide bombs dropped from airfields just across the border that cannot hit Ukraine, according to an AP film analysis.

On the Ukrainian side, the armed forces concentrated their campaign on drone attacks on Russian oil facilities.

These operations caused significant damage to refineries in the Russian region of Tambov and the Republic of Adygea.

EU decides on new sanctions

European Union ambassadors have agreed on a “strong and substantial” new sanctions package in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Belgian EU Council Presidency said.

This package introduces new targeted measures and strengthens the impact of existing sanctions by closing loopholes. Full details are expected to be published early next week when EU foreign ministers back the plan on Monday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the sanctions package would deny Russia access to key technologies, deprive the country of further revenues from the energy sector and target Putin’s shadow fleet and banking network abroad.

The measures are aimed in particular at restricting imports of Russian liquefied gas and thus making transport more difficult. Brussels estimates that around 4 to 6 billion cubic metres of Russian liquefied gas were shipped to third countries via EU ports last year.

South Korea considers arms deliveries to Ukraine

On Thursday, South Korea announced that it was considering supplying weapons to Ukraine, indicating a significant shift in its policy.

This followed a recent pact between Russia and North Korea in which both countries pledged to defend each other in the event of war, sparking regional and global concern.

The announcement by a senior South Korean presidential official came shortly after North Korean state media detailed the agreement.

Analysts believe that this could be the closest cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang since the Cold War. And this at a time when Russia is becoming increasingly isolated internationally due to its invasion of Ukraine and tensions between the two countries and the West are increasing.