Sunday\u2019s deadly and destructive barrage against Kyiv<\/a>, Tammy Bruce, the deputy US ambassador to the UN, called Russia\u2019s use of the Oreshnik ballistic missile \u201can inexplicable, dangerous and barbaric escalation \u2026 We caution Russia not to mount so-called systematic strikes against Kyiv, which risk further civilian casualties and setting back the prospect of peace.\u201d Moscow brushed off the censure.<\/p>\n\u201cThe dynamics of the war are shifting in Ukraine\u2019s favour,\u201d said Kaja Kallas, the EU\u2019s top diplomat. \u201cRussia is on the back foot, militarily, economically, but also diplomatically, but as the latest strikes on Kyiv have shown, Russia still shows no genuine interest in peace, which was also the clear view of the ministers today.\u201d Kallas said EU ministers meeting on Thursday had \u201ca really thorough discussion\u201d on what Europe should ask for from Moscow in any potential negotiations.<\/p>\n
\u201cEurope will never be a neutral mediator between Russia and Ukraine,\u201d Kallas said, \u201cbecause we are on Ukraine\u2019s side, and we are defending our own core security interests\u201d. An unconditional ceasefire was \u201ca prerequisite for any kind of peace negotiations\u201d and Russia \u201cmust stop sabotage operations, cyber-attacks, election interference, airspace violations across Europe\u201d, while \u201cthere can be no legal recognition of the occupied Ukrainian territory\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ukraine said it again struck a Russian oil refinery at Tuapse on the Black Sea \u2013 a target that has been battered by repeated Ukrainian attacks. The Ukrainian military\u2019s general staff said fire and smoke had been recorded at the refinery and the extent of the damage was being assessed.<\/p>\n
A drone hit a residential building in Romania\u2019s city of Gala\u021bi close to the border with Ukraine, Romanian radio station Pro Lider FM posted online. The apartment building was damaged and two people slightly injured, the post said. A drone without an explosive charge was found at B\u0103se\u0219ti in Maramure\u0219 county, north-western Romania and the area is secured, the broadcaster TVR said, citing local authorities.<\/p>\n
Three oil tankers were attacked by drones on Thursday off Turkey\u2019s Black Sea coast, according to a shipping agency. The ships are part of the \u201cshadow fleet\u201d exporting Russian oil, evading western sanctions. They included the Palau-flagged James II, and the Altura and Velora, flagged to Sierra Leone, said Tribeca Shipping, the agency. All crews were unharmed and the Turkish coast guard provided assistance. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and Turkish officials were unavailable for comment. Ukraine has carried out successful strikes against Russian shipping during the war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sweden will donate 16 of its existing Gripen fighter jets by next year to Ukraine, which will go…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609955,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-609954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}