Russia-Ukraine war update: Putin’s soldiers surrender after counterattack as G7 leaders agree $50 billion loan for Kyiv

Vladimir Putin on Friday outlined what he believes are Russia’s preconditions for starting peace talks with Ukraine.

He said Russia would be ready for such talks “tomorrow” if Ukrainian troops withdrew from the Zaporizhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions and Ukraine abandoned its plans to join NATO.

If Ukraine agrees to these conditions, Russia will initiate a ceasefire and start negotiations, Putin said.

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the West’s seizure of Russian state assets was theft and would not go unpunished.

At a meeting with Foreign Ministry officials, Putin said the way the West had dealt with Moscow showed that any country could fall victim to a similar Western asset freeze.

“Despite all the harassment, theft will certainly remain theft. And it will not go unpunished,” Putin said.

“It is now becoming clear to all countries, companies and sovereign wealth funds that their assets and reserves are anything but safe, both in the legal and economic sense of the word.

“Anyone could be next in line to be expropriated by the US and the West.”

Putin spoke a day after leaders of the Group of Seven largest democracies agreed on a framework deal to provide Ukraine with $50 billion in loans. The loans will use interest from Russian state assets that were frozen after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in 2022 as part of a so-called special military operation.

The Ukrainian military said on Friday that its forces had shot down seven of the 14 missiles and all 17 drones launched by Russia in nighttime attacks in the west of the country.

During the attack, Russian forces targeted critical infrastructure and military objects, Air Force spokesman Illia Yevlash said on national television.

According to the governor, the Ukrainian military destroyed 11 air targets over the western Khmelnytskyi region. One attack sparked a fire in the infrastructure, but no casualties were reported.

The Ukrainian military said that air defense had shot down seven of ten Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles.

According to Yevlash, Russia also fired three Iskander-M ballistic missiles at the Zaporizhia region and one Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile during its attack.

“(Kinzhal) was on his way to the Khmelnytskyi region, where he did not reach his destination,” he said.

The governor of Zaporizhia said a rocket had hit an open area and that no damage or casualties had been reported initially.

The air force also destroyed five drones over the Dnipropetrovsk region, the governor said. However, there were no reports of damage or casualties.

Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform Party UK, suggested that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should start negotiations with Russia, but acknowledged that Kyiv’s Western allies would continue to support them.

Mr Farage, who was challenged over his previous comments praising Russian President Putin as a ruler, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Yes, but not as a human being.”

Asked why, Mr Farage replied: “How many years has he been in power? He has risen from prime minister to president, he is a clever political player. He kills journalists, I don’t like him as a person at all.”

“You can see that some people are good at what they do, even if they have bad intentions.”

With patriotic songs and thousands of Ukrainian exiles in the stadium, the men’s national team felt at home during their first training session in Germany for the European Championship.

After the playing of the national anthem and before the warm-up, there was a powerful reminder of the war at home, which has been a constant and unifying force for the Ukrainian team.

Each player had a ball to give to a fan, and Oleksandr Zinchenko presented his ball to a war veteran who had prosthetic legs below each knee.

Ukraine is planning record electricity imports on Friday after Russian missile attacks caused significant damage to energy infrastructure, Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo said.

Since March, Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector have intensified, causing power outages in many regions. Kyiv is now forced to import electricity on a large scale from the European Union.

A statement from the ministry said the country would import 31,904 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity on Friday, compared to the previous record of 29,796 MWh on Wednesday.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expected “important decisions” from the summit in Italy. At the summit, the heads of state and government of Great Britain, the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan will try to consolidate support for Kyiv, as several of them are facing elections or political unrest at home.

Also on Thursday, US President Joe Biden agreed to a comprehensive bilateral security agreement that will see his country and Ukraine work together “to help deter and counter future aggression against the territorial integrity” of both states.

A Reuters witness said an explosion was heard in the region around the Ukrainian capital on Friday after an air raid siren sounded and the military warned of a possible Russian missile attack.

“The air defense is in action in the Kyiv region. Stay in your shelters! The missile threat still exists,” said Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

It was unclear whether the explosion was an indication that air defenses had shot down a target. Public broadcaster Suspilne quoted residents as saying they had heard explosions in the western region of Khmelnytskyi.

After the air raid siren sounded, the Air Force announced that long-range missiles had been fired at the Khmelnytskyi region and urged Kyiv residents to take cover. The military then declared the air raid alert over, but no further official information was available.

Dozens of Russian soldiers have apparently surrendered to Ukrainian troops after Kiev launched a counterattack on the city of Vovchansk.

A video released by Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade shows Ukrainian soldiers taking at least 24 Russians as prisoners of war.

A possible upcoming visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korea could deepen military ties between the two countries and thus violate UN Security Council resolutions, South Korean and United States officials warned on Friday.

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun said in an emergency phone call with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell that Putin’s visit should not lead to increased military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, which violates the resolutions, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry.

Campbell echoed Kim’s concerns and pledged continued cooperation to address potential instability in the region and the challenges posed by the trip.

“While closely monitoring relevant developments, both sides agreed to respond resolutely to North Korea’s provocations against South Korea and actions that escalate tensions in the region through close cooperation,” the ministry said in a statement.

On Wednesday, a senior official in the Seoul presidential office said Putin was expected to visit North Korea “in the coming days.” The Russian newspaper Vedomosti reported on Monday that Putin would visit North Korea and Vietnam in the coming weeks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday declined to give a date or agenda for a possible visit, but said Russia’s right to build closer ties with North Korea should not be called into question or be a cause for concern for anyone.