Russia-Ukraine war: Putin’s forces drop 100 deadly glide bombs and dozens of drones along the front line

The Russian missile cruiser Varyag conducted exercises in the Mediterranean, the state news agency TASS reported on Thursday, citing the naval command.

The focus of the exercises was on defending against a mass attack with drones from the sea, the naval command said.

It also included simulated battles with an enemy ship and a submarine.

Earlier this month, a Russian frigate conducted submarine search exercises in the Atlantic en route to Cuba.

The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down all 23 drones and five of six missiles fired by Russia in the early hours of Thursday.

Khmelnytskyi Region Governor Serhiy Tiurin said air defenses shot down nine air targets over his region. Local authorities had received no reports of casualties or material damage, he added.

Governor Vitaliy Kim said the military destroyed six drones and three cruise missiles over the southern Mykolaiv region.

Two drones were shot down over the southern Kherson region, and another landed briefly over the Dnipropetrovsk region, local authorities said.

China strongly opposes the inclusion of some Chinese companies in the European Union’s 14th package of sanctions against Russia, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.

The move would have a negative impact on economic and trade relations between China and the EU, the ministry said, calling on the Union to “unconditionally” lift sanctions against Chinese companies.

The countries of the European Union agreed on a package of sanctions against Belarus on Wednesday, EU diplomats and Belgium said, in an attempt to block a way to circumvent the restrictions against Russia.

The EU adopted its 14th sanctions package this week to punish Russia for the large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The package also includes clauses that increase the responsibility of EU companies exporting via non-EU countries.

“This package will strengthen our actions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including the fight against sanctions evasion,” Belgium, which holds the EU Council Presidency until the end of June, said at X.