Ukraine’s military has said it struck four warplanes at an airbase in central Russia’s Volgograd regionas part of a drive to hit Russian war assets. It said on Telegram it had hit four Su-34 aircraft at the Marinovka base outside the city of Volgograd, about 900km (550 miles) from the Ukrainian border. The post on Friday said the operation was conducted by the military’s special operations branch, together with the SBU security service and other services of the military. “According to preliminary information, four aircraft were hit, specifically SU-34 planes, as well as technical-operational facilities where different warplanes are serviced and repaired,” the statement said. There was no immediate comment from the Russian military.
Ukraine’s military said the damage to Marinovka was being assessedand described the Su-34 as Russia’s main aircraft used in bombing raids on Ukrainian territory. Volgograd governor Andrei Bocharov on Friday listed the region’s Kalanchyovsky district where Marinovka is located among three areas targeted by Ukrainian drones and said traffic on the bridge over the Don River in the district was temporarily restricted.
A Russian missile attack killed at least five people and wounded 25 in the industrial city of Samarin Ukraine’s south-east on Friday, officials said – the second strike on the city in three days. At least four of the wounded were in severe condition and taken to hospital, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram. Officials gave no immediate details on damage in the city, where an attack on an infrastructure facility on Tuesday killed two people.
In the Kherson region to the south, authorities urged residents on Friday to prepare for extended periods without power after a Russian attack hit a key energy facility. Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said the attack caused power cuts in some settlements in the region, which is close to the front lines with Russian forces.
Russia said its troops had captured the village of Nova Kruhlyakivkain Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region. The report on Friday from Russian state news agency Tass, citing the defence ministry, could not be independently verified.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said Russia and Ukraine’s demands for peace were “absolutely contradictory”, after two rounds of talks have failed to bring a ceasefire. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators exchanged memorandums on how to end the war attalks in Istanbulthis month and the Russian president said in Minsk on Friday: “As for the memorandums, as expected, nothing surprising happened ... these are two absolutely contradictory memorandums.”
At the press conference in Minsk after a meeting with allies in Belarus,Putin also denounced what he called an “aggressive” pledge by Natomembers toincrease their defence spendingto 5% of GDP. US presidentDonald Trumpcalled Nato’s decision a “big win” for western civilisation. Putin also said on Friday that Russia was ready to hold a new round of peace talks with Ukraine, potentially in Istanbul, although the time and venue had yet to be agreed.