Russia will retaliate asymmetrically to Ukrainian attacks on its territory that use weapons provided by the United States.
Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the Russian lower house’s defence committee, said on Friday that Joe Biden’s decision to allow limited missile strikes inside Russia with US weapons would not impact Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
In recent weeks Kyiv has repeatedly urged its Western allies to allow the use of their long-range weapons to strike military targets on Russian soil.
On Thursday, the US president bowed to international pressure after the head of Nato said “the time has come” to overturn the ban, despite fears that it could result in a wider conflict.
According to two US officials, Mr Biden permitted Kyiv to use its weapons to strike Russia for the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv.
Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg has downplayed the threat of escalation from Moscow.
“This is part of efforts by President (Vladimir) Putin and Moscow to prevent Nato allies from supporting Ukraine to defend themselves, and, again, Ukraine has the right for self defence and we have the right to help Ukraine,” Mr Stoltenberg said on Friday.
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10:58AM
Germany tells Ukraine it can use its M270 rocket launchers to strike Russia
Germany has told Ukraine it can use M270 rocket launchers donated by Berlin to strike Russian soil, the Telegraph understands.
The M270 – which has also been donated by Britain – is a tracked version of the American-supplied Himars system.
German officials have also told counterparts in Kyiv that German-made self-propelled 155mm artillery howitzers can be used on cross-border strikes on military targets inside Russia.
It came after an agreement during talks with the Quad group of Britain, America, France and Germany, sources said.
Steffen Hebestreit, the German chancellor’s spokesman, said: “Ukrainians are fighting for their country and their freedom. Many countries around the world are supporting them politically, economically and with military equipment and weapons.
10:41AM
Ukraine returns to Russia bodies of 45 Russian servicemen, RBS says
Ukraine has handed over to Russia the bodies of 45 Russian servicemen as part of a swap, the RBS news outlet cited lawmaker Shamsail Saraliyev as saying.
10:24AM
Ukraine can use German weapons to defend Kharkiv border region, Berlin says
Germany suggested Ukraine could use weapons supplied by Western countries to defend itself against attacks on Kharkiv launched from just inside Russia
“We are jointly convinced that Ukraine has the right, guaranteed under international law, to defend itself against these attacks,” the spokesperson said.
“To do so, it can also use the weapons supplied for this purpose in accordance with its international legal obligations; including those supplied by us.”
10:07AM
Moscow says Nato chief’s comments confirm Western weapons used to hit Russia
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s comments on Western arms supplied to Ukraine show they have been used against targets on Russian soil all along, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.
Zakharova was commenting on Stoltenberg’s remarks about there being no restrictions on Kyiv’s use of British Storm Shadow cruise missiles and some other weapons supplied by Nato countries.
9:51AM
Oil depot on fire after Ukraine’s air strike in Russia’s Krasnodar
An oil depot in the Krasnodar region was on fire and people were injured after Ukraine’s air strike early on Friday targeting oil facilities, the governor of the southern Russian region said.
“The situation is more serious in the Temryuk region – the infrastructure of the oil depot there was damaged by an air strike: three tanks with petroleum products are damaged and burning,” Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on the Telegram messaging app.
“The fire is being extinguished now… Unfortunately, there are injured among the employees of the oil depot.”
9:26AM
Russian missiles kill three in Kharkiv
Russian missiles hit three sites in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, killing at least three people and injuring 16, local officials said early on Friday.
Accounts of the attack said the missiles hit a five-storey apartment block, a shop in a three-storey building and a sewing factory.
Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said the attacks on the city’s Novobazarskyi district, used the “double tap” technique that has occurred recently, delivering a second strike soon after an initial attack on a given site.
He said that, according to preliminary information, S-300 missiles were used.
“The third, fourth and fifth floors are destroyed, stairwells were destroyed, facades were destroyed,” Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov told public broadcaster Suspilne, describing damage to the apartment building.
Mr Syniehubov said at least two children were among those injured in the attack, which occurred at about midnight local time. He warned that residents could be trapped underneath rubble left by the strike.
9:05AM
Moscow’s nuclear threats over Ukraine are ‘no bluff’
Senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that Russia was not bluffing when it spoke of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine and that its conflict with the West could escalate into an all-out war.
In a post on his official Telegram channel, Medvedev said Moscow’s conflict with the West was developing according to the worst-case scenario and that “no one can rule out it escalating to the last stage”.
Medvedev was commenting after four US officials told Reuters on Thursday that Joe Biden had quietly authorised Kyiv to launch US-supplied weapons at military targets inside Russia that are supporting an offensive against the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
8:53AM
China says ‘difficult’ to attend Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland
China said Friday it would be “difficult” to attend a conference on the war in Ukraine slated to take place in Switzerland next month.
“The arrangement of the meeting still falls short of China’s requirements and the expectations of the international community, making it difficult for China to attend,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
Ukraine is trying to whip up attendance at the June peace conference, where it hopes to win broad international backing for its vision of the terms needed to end Russia’s war.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged China to take part.
But Beijing insisted on Friday that any such summit would need the participation of Russia, which Ukraine has rejected.
“China has always insisted that the International Peace Conference should have the recognition of Russia and Ukraine, equal participation of all parties and fair discussion of all peace plans,” Ms Mao said.
“Otherwise, it is difficult for the conference to play a substantive role in restoring peace,” she said.
8:32AM
Pictured: Soldiers receive treatment in Donetsk
As fighting rages in the direction of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk, soldiers from the frontline are receiving medical treatment.
8:10AM
Russia threatens to remove children from their parents in anti-war dissent crackdown
Russia has threatened to remove children from their parents in an anti-war dissent crackdown.
Children have been forced to flee the country, face jail sentences and be placed in orphanages as the pressure piles on parents who dare to question the Kremlin.
Amnesty International said that “the very bond between children and their parents that is being shamelessly exploited to crush dissent”.
“In this politically motivated assault on children, schools and teachers have become tools of persecution and arbitrary interference by the state,” Oleg Kozlovsky, Amnesty’s Russia researcher, said.
He added that schools were indoctrinating children with “false government-mandated narratives”.
In many cases known to Amnesty, commissioners for children’s rights did not intervene in the politically motivated persecution of children or advocate for their right to freedom of expression.
7:54AM
Russian MP promises ‘asymmetric’ response to attacks with US arms
Russia will retaliate asymmetrically to Ukrainian attacks on its territory using weapons provided by the United States, the RIA news agency cited Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the Russian lower house’s defence committee, as saying on Friday.
Kartapolov said Joe Biden’s decision to allow limited missile strikes inside Russia with US weapons would not impact Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
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