Russia escalates drone attacks on Ukraine’s frontline cities

Russia attacked Ukraine’s power grid overnight with missiles and drones as they intensified their assault on Wednesday.

As well as accelerating the destruction of front-line cities in Ukraine by using glide bombs, which are dispatched from airfields just across the border that Ukraine has not been able to hit, according to footage analysis by AP.

On the Ukrainian side, forces have focused their campaign against Russian oil facilities using drone strikes.

These operations have caused substantial damage to refineries in Russia’s Tambov region and Adygea Republic.

EU agrees new sanctions

European Union ambassadors have reached an agreement on a “powerful and substantial” new set of sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the bloc’s Belgian presidency.

This package introduces new targeted measures and enhances the impact of existing sanctions by closing loopholes. Full details are expected to be released early next week if EU foreign ministers support the plan on Monday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the sanctions package will block Russia’s access to key technologies, strip it of further energy revenues, and target Putin’s shadow fleet and banking network abroad.

The measures notably aim to restrict imports of Russian liquid natural gas, making it more difficult to transport. Brussels estimates that about 4-6 billion cubic metres of Russian LNG was shipped to third countries via EU ports last year.

South Korea considers sending arms to Ukraine

On Thursday, South Korea announced that it is contemplating sending arms to Ukraine, indicating a significant shift in its policy.

This follows a recent pact between Russia and North Korea, in which both countries agreed to defend each other in the event of war, causing regional and global concerns.

The announcement from a senior South Korean presidential official came shortly after North Korea’s state media detailed the agreement.

Analysts suggest this could be the closest cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang since the Cold War, occurring at a time when Russia faces increasing international isolation due to its invasion of Ukraine, and both nations are engaged in escalating tensions with the West.