The Kremlin has said that Russia is open to dialogue with Europe but “won’t accept ultimatums” in a statement on Friday.
Russian strikes killed at least two people and wounded two others in the northeastern Ukrainian region of Sumy after Moscow threatened escalation for Ukraine’s biggest assault so far.
Another nine people, including four children, suffered injuries in Kharkiv, which was attacked with Russian guided aerial bombs.
Ukraine on Friday morning claimed that a crew member of a Panama-flagged ship was killed in a Russian drone attack in the Black Sea waters. Oleksiy Kuleba said that another vessel under the Saint Kitts and Nevis flag was also hit.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov previously warned of “massive coordinated strikes on a regular basis” in response to Ukraine's attack on a Moscow oil refinery for the second time this week.
Ukraine earlier launched a heavy drone strike on Russia in retaliation for damage done to a historic monastery in Kyiv this week. Hundreds of drones targeted Moscow overnight, hitting the Russian capital's oil refinery for the second time this week, in one of the biggest aerial assaults on Russia of the war so far.
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Lavrov says Nato and Russia escalation could lead to nuclear strikes
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that an escalation between Russia and Nato could lead to a nuclear strikes exchange with catastrophic consequences.
“A direct confrontation between Nato and Russia could rapidly escalate into an exchange of nuclear strikes, with catastrophic consequences,” he wrote in an article posted on the Russian foreign ministry’s website.
“Under the banner of ‘strategic autonomy,’ Europe is witnessing a significant build-up of its military capabilities, including in the nuclear sphere.
“Paris's intention to extend its ‘nuclear umbrella’ to several EU and NATO member states is a source of deep concern.
“This will do nothing to strengthen the security of France itself or the recipients of its so-called protection.”
Recap: Ukraine accepts proposal from Brazil's Lula to work for peace, Kyiv adviser says
President Volodymyr Zelensky has accepted an offer from Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to help work for a peace deal in Russia's war in Ukraine, a Ukrainian presidential adviser said on Friday.
Zelensky and Lula met on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in the French resort of Evian-les-Bains on Wednesday, where the Ukrainian leader urged allies to increase pressure on Russia to end the more than four-year-old war.
The two presidents discussed what could reactivate diplomacy and Lula proposed several ideas, including contacts with permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, presidential communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn told reporters.
"They agreed that, in particular, based on such ideas and contacts, they would try to achieve something and later they would discuss it based on the results," Lytvyn said.
New UK strike weapons can hit targets up to 500km away – and they could be sent to Ukraine within a year
Britain has tested new long-range strike weapons, with the government hoping for delivery to Ukraine within months.
The initiative aims to produce munitions more quickly and affordably than existing systems like Storm Shadow missiles.
New systems, capable of hitting targets at least 500km away and carrying a 225kg warhead, have been fired at a range in the Hebrides, with further UK trials planned.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) challenged firms to develop weapons exceeding 600km per hour, costing around £400,000 per unit, and producing at least 20 a month within months of an order.
Some 27 industry bids were received, with "Dragon's Den"-style pitches held last February. Six companies were then awarded contracts worth around £5 million each to design and test the weapons in just seven months.
By last December, only three suppliers remained – MBDA UK, which makes Storm Shadow; MGI Engineering, a UK SME with a background in Formula 1 technology; and Rotron Aerospace, another UK SME with a history of working with the MoD.
Zelensky chief of staff renounces Polish state medal
President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff said on Saturday he was renouncing a Polish state medal after President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of Poland's top honour over a historical dispute.
The move by Kyrylo Budanov threatens to deepen a diplomatic rift between the close strategic partners as Kyiv rallies allies to push Russia to end its war on Ukraine.
Nawrocki said on Friday he was revoking the Order of the White Eagle from Zelensky after he renamed a military unit in honour of World War Two-era Ukrainian insurgents blamed for massacring Poles.
Budanov said he was renouncing the Golden Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, awarded to him last year, to protest against a move he described as "a gift" for Russia.
"Our nations have long-standing relations and different pages of history – both heroic and tragic," he posted on social media. "However, this should be an occasion for deep reflection, not crude political speculation."
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha had earlier called Nawrocki's decision a "strategic error", and Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, a Nawrocki opponent, urged both leaders to remain calm.
Ukraine launches attack on oil refinery in Siberia
Russian air defences repelled a drone attack on an oil refinery in the Western Siberian region of Tyumen, the regional governor said on Saturday.
"A drone attack on the Tyumen oil refinery has been repelled. Emergency services are working at the site where the debris fell. According to preliminary information, the refinery has not been damaged and staff have been evacuated," governor Alexander Moor wrote on Telegram.
Tyumen, more than 2,500 km (1,550 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, is one of Russia's most important oil and gas producing regions.
The Tyumen refinery, one of the country's most modern and complex, has a nominal capacity of around 8 million metric tons per year. It processes roughly 6 million tons of crude annually, producing about 0.5 million tons of gasoline and 2.5 million tons of diesel, according to industry estimates.
Watch: Kherson emergency services put out fires as Ukraine reports Russian attack
IAEA says Zaporizhzhia NPP loses power for 20th time
The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Saturday Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost off-site power for the 20th time during the conflict with Russia due to an issue with the site's internal power lines affecting its only remaining 330 kV connection, Ferosplavna-1.
Emergency diesel generators were activated to maintain reactor cooling and other essential nuclear safety functions, the agency said in a post on X.
UK testing long-range missiles as part of military aid for Ukraine
Britain has tested new long-range weapons system that it could soon offer to Ukraine to hit Russian targets, The Telegraph reported.
These systems can hit targets situated more than 300 miles away and have been tested at a range in the Scottish archipelago Herbrides.
The weapons system have experimental platforms, each carrying a 250kg warhead, and the range allows it to potentially reach Moscow.
Further trials for the new systems are expected to take place in the UK over the coming months.
EU not seeking mediating role in Ukraine war, Costa says
The European Union does not intend to be mediators in case of peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, as it sides with Kyiv, European Council president Antonio Costa said on Friday.
A diplomatic overture to the Kremlin by European Council president Antonio Costa has exposed divisions at a summit of EU leaders over how to handle relations with Russia.
Costa at a press conference after the summit said there were "no credible signs" that Russia wanted to engage in serious negotiations.
"What I'm doing through my office is to establish a diplomatic channel, because we cannot depend only on others to interpret Russian messages and we must be able to convey to Russia our own messages," Costa said.
Zelensky stripped of Poland's top honour over Second World War conflict
Poland's president has decided to strip Volodymyr Zelensky of the country's top honour after the Ukrainian president caused outrage by renaming an army unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), nationalists who massacred Poles during the Second World War.
President Karol Nawrocki's decision looked likely to unleash a severe diplomatic crisis between the neighbours just days ahead of a conference on Ukraine's reconstruction in the Polish city of Gdansk.
"In light of President Volodymyr Zelensky's consent to name one of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Heroes of the UPA,… I have decided to revoke the Order of the White Eagle from the President of Ukraine," Nawrocki said in a statement.
"At this point, I would like to emphasize: this decision is not directed against the Ukrainian people. It does not signify a change in the strategic direction of Polish security policy."
While Warsaw is a strong supporter of Kyiv's war effort, public sentiment towards Ukraine has become more and more negative in recent years due to weariness with refugees, disputes over grain imports and the legacy of the Second World War massacres.
