+++ News in the Ukraine War +++: Seven dead after Russian shelling

Despite new diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine, seven people have been killed in Russian attacks, Ukrainian officials said. According to authorities, a man was killed overnight in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, on Thursday. A woman died in Kharkiv, as well as three people in Zaporizhia and two in the Donetsk region. The capital, Kyiv, was also attacked. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on online networks that 15 people had been injured in the attacks. The subway infrastructure on a bridge was damaged by attacks.

Attacks were also reported in Russia. According to the Defense Ministry, 808 Ukrainian drones were shot down. According to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, 163 drones headed for the Russian capital. Two people were therefore injured. The governor of Tula said Russian air defenses had destroyed 70 drones. According to the local governor, a man was injured in the Lipetsk region. (afp)

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha warns against softening the government in Moscow after the recent Russian attacks on Kyiv. “Appeasement, submissiveness and flattery” would not stop the Russian war, Sybiha emphasizes on the short message platform (rtr)

Russia reports another serious attack on port facilities in the Odessa region of Ukraine. The Defense Ministry in Moscow said ships used by the Ukrainian army were also hit during the night. (rtr)

According to a newspaper report, NATO wants to enable Ukraine to purchase weapons, ammunition and military equipment through its central procurement agency. This could potentially allow the government in Kyiv to obtain defense equipment more quickly and cheaply, reports the Financial Times. The agreement offers Ukraine a more structured framework to use the agency's broad offering, says Jacqueline Borsboom, a director of the NATO procurement agency NSPA, to the newspaper. This included expertise and procurement support as well as access to an established industrial base. (rtr)

A drone hits the energy infrastructure in the Kremenchuk region of the Poltava region of Ukraine. A regional official said this on ‌Telegram without giving any further details. Kremenchuk is an important industrial location with one of the largest oil refineries in Ukraine. (rtr)

Parts of a subway bridge are damaged in an attack in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The southern bridge over the Dnipro is affected, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. (rtr)

US President Donald Trump has defended his decision not to implement a far-reaching new sanctions package against Russia for the time being. The bill, named after US Senator Lindsey Graham, who died in July, provides for tougher sanctions. Graham had championed the package. Criticism of Trump's decision comes from "people who don't know how life works," the president said. The waiver of sanctions helped make the release of the American Stephen Hubbard possible, Trump argued. Hubbard was released on Wednesday after being imprisoned in Russia for more than four years. He was accused of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine.

“If you had imposed these sanctions or whatever you want to call them, he could have been forgotten,” Trump said of Hubbard. "He would never have been seen again. He would have been back in prison for 25 years." Trump added that his administration is also "very close to an agreement" to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. “When you're close to an agreement and you're having very sensitive negotiations, you don't impose sanctions,” he said. (ap)

According to the administration there, a driver is killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The Russian-appointed administration of Europe's largest nuclear power plant says buses carrying employees were attacked two days in a row. The attacks are targeted and represent a direct threat to the staff. A Ukrainian statement is not currently available. Since the occupation of the power plant by Russian troops in February 2022, both sides have accused each other of endangering the security of the plant. (rtr)

In view of the slowdown in military aid to Ukraine, the Greens are calling on Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) to exert more influence on the US administration. “Friedrich Merz and the other European states must now do everything they can to ensure that the defense missiles for the defense of Ukraine are released and that permanent access to Starlink remains guaranteed,” said Green Party leader Britta Haßelmann to the Funke media. US President Donald Trump is breaking promises and weakening Ukraine in an irresponsible manner. Haßelmann said: “It is terrible to see how Trump has acted towards Zelensky and Ukraine in the last few days and weeks.” Every Russian missile on civilian targets that cannot be intercepted costs human lives. Trump's easing of sanctions is also a fatal signal. (dpa)

The chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the European Parliament, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), reacted angrily to US media reports that the tech billionaire Elon Musk was personally behind the throttling of the important Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine. Musk is acting as the master of life and death, Strack-Zimmermann told the newspapers of the Funke media group (Thursday). “How sick and brutalized do you have to be?” asked the FDP politician. At the same time, she called for Europe to quickly build its own efficient communications systems. "Even if it won't be the same from now on. Our goal is to become more independent of US technology as quickly as possible. Speed, speed, speed is the order of the day."

The security and defense policy spokesman for the European SPD, Tobias Cremer, made a similar statement. “Europe’s security must not depend on the switch of a single billionaire,” he told Funke media. “If Elon Musk can limit Ukraine’s defense capability with the push of a button, that must be a wake-up call for us.” Europe needs its own, reliable satellite communications and must be able to control its critical infrastructure itself. (afp)

According to military reports, the Ukrainian capital Kyiv was attacked by Russia with ballistic missiles late in the evening. The highest alert level was triggered at 10:06 p.m. local time (9:06 p.m. CEST). Just two minutes later, the Ukrainian Air Force reported the approach of several missiles. Media reported loud explosions over the city. A second wave of attacks followed about an hour and a half later, with no new impacts reported. This could indicate a successful defense. The missile and drone alarm affected almost the entire Ukraine around midnight local time (11 p.m. CEST).

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that homes and a gas station on the eastern bank of the Dnipro were damaged by falling debris. There are at least five injured. It cannot be ruled out that people still have to be rescued from the damaged buildings. A more detailed overview of victims and damage was pending. The night before, Russian drones attacked Kyiv. (dpa)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj says he is ready to accept the current front lines in the Ukrainian war and thus end the long-standing conflict. “Yes, we have to freeze the front lines now,” he said in an interview with US broadcaster Fox News, adding: “I think that’s a real way to end this war.”

He had been asked whether he would "accept a peace agreement that respects the status quo so that you continue to retain 75 percent or more of your land, regardless of how the conflict began." Zelensky also said that freezing the front lines and a ceasefire is the “absolute minimum” “what we demand from Russia today.” (dpa)

US President Donald Trump has expressed confidence that the war in Ukraine will end soon. “Perhaps we are now closer than ever before,” he said in Washington on Wednesday. In any case, in his opinion an agreement is getting closer.

Trump made the comments after his special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Witkoff described the discussions as “constructive”. But there is “still important work to be done,” he continued.

Witkoff met with Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo the day before. According to his own statements, he gave Putin “ideas” for an end to the war, which has now lasted almost five years. (afp)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has called for negotiations with the USA and Russia to end the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible. “We learned that Russia is positive about a trilateral meeting between our teams,” Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday. "The American side proposes to organize this meeting as soon as possible. We are in favor of it," he added. (afp)