- United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced major new military aid worth more than 2 billion dollars for Ukraine and other European countries “most potentially at risk for future Russian aggression”. The money is on top of a $675-million package of heavy weaponry, ammunition and armored vehicles for Ukraine announced by Defense Secretary Llloyd Austin on Thursday.
- Russia-ally Belarus has launched military exercises near its border with Poland. The drills will focus on “liberating territory temporarily seized by the enemy” and regaining control over border regions, the defence ministry said.
- The US has accused Russian forces of forcibly deporting Ukrainians to Russia, in Washington’s latest allegation of war crimes in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
- Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy has reported success in a counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, without offering further details. The claim has been backed up by war monitors, with the Washington, DC-based Institute for the Study of War saying Ukrainian troops have progressed 20km (12 miles) into Russian-held territory.
