Despite endless meetings among European leaders, despite the efforts of Zelenski, who continues to seek support and funding, and despite conversations between Trump and Putin, attacks continue in Ukraine, where drones and missiles have once again filled the airspace.
Ukraine has attacked the Russian oil refinery in Ryazan, as reported on Friday by the commander of their drone forces, Robert Brovdi, on the Telegram messaging app, as well as an oil depot in the occupied region of Luhansk. Recent Ukrainian drone attacks have disrupted facilities representing at least 17% of Russia's oil processing capacity, or 1.1 million barrels per day, according to Reuters estimates.
Meanwhile, Russia has attacked a village in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, leaving three dead on Thursday night, reported the head of the regional military administration. Earlier, a Russian rocket attack killed two people from the Danish Refugee Council who were demining in Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine, a region previously occupied by Russian forces, local authorities reported.
Brussels responds to Russia that it is up to Ukraine to decide on the deployment of Western troops
The European Commission (EC) reiterated on Friday that it is up to Ukraine to decide on the deployment of Western troops in its country, after Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled out the presence of foreign troops both before and after the war.
"It is up to Ukraine to decide on the deployment of troops on its territory, and yes, it is very welcome that President Putin sees Ukraine's place in the European Union," said the EC's chief spokesperson, Paula Pinho, during the institution's daily press briefing.
Putin warns that Western troops in Ukraine would be "legitimate targets" for the Russian army
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that any Western force deployed in Ukraine would be a "legitimate target" for the Russian army, the day after a meeting of European allies of Kiev focused on security guarantees. A group of 26 countries, led by France and the United Kingdom, pledged on Thursday to support Ukraine militarily in the event of a ceasefire with Russia.
"If troops appear there, especially now, during the fighting, we proceed from the assumption that they will be legitimate targets," Putin said at an economic forum in the eastern city of Vladivostok.
Dolors Montserrat highlights that Europe "has been key in preventing Putin from winning the war in Ukraine"
The Secretary-General of the European People's Party, Dolors Montserrat, praised on Friday at the 'Fórum Europa. Tribuna Catalunya' that "Europe has been key in preventing Putin from winning the war in Ukraine" and predicted that "he will not win it," but warned that "if Ukraine falls, we Europeans are next," Europa Press reports.
Montserrat indicated this at an informative breakfast organized by Nueva Economía Fórum in Barcelona, where she warned that the European Union faces "a crucial moment in its history" in which "it is playing for its continuity as a political project as we know it" because "old threats" have returned to "condition our present and our future."
Currently, in Ukraine, "perhaps the cruelest war on European soil since '45 is being fought, and we continue to depend on others to ensure our security and defense," and "we have the most developed single market in the world, but the chips we use are manufactured thousands of kilometers away."
Zelenski says he will discuss Russian oil with the Slovak Prime Minister
Volodymyr Zelenski stated that he will discuss Russian oil purchases by Slovakia with its Prime Minister, Robert Fico, who is visiting Ukraine on Friday, as Kiev believes that these operations help Moscow finance its invasion, Afp reports.
Fico is known for his pro-Russian stance and harsh criticism of the Ukrainian president, both contrary to those of the European Union.
Slovakia and Hungary receive Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, which was recently targeted by Ukrainian attacks, leading to tensions between Kiev and these countries.
Russia takes control of Markove in eastern Ukraine
Russian troops took the town of Markove, about 16 kilometers from Kramatorsk, one of the main Ukrainian strongholds in the Donetsk region, annexed by Russia in 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Friday, according to Efe.
"As a result of the decisive actions of the Southern military group units, the towns of Fyodorovka and Markove in the Donetsk People's Republic were liberated," the Russian military command stated in its weekly war report on Telegram.
The capture of Fyodorovka, about 30 kilometers from Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, was announced last Tuesday, indicating that Russian forces are advancing towards these strongholds.
The Russian region of Belgorod attacked by a hundred Ukrainian drones
The Russian region of Belgorod, on the border with Ukraine, was attacked yesterday by 99 enemy drones, the local governor Viacheslav Gladkov reported on Friday, according to Efe.
Some of these unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by Russian anti-aircraft defenses, but some managed to cause casualties and damage the region's infrastructure, the official acknowledged.
Thus, at least one person died in a drone attack in Belgorod yesterday, and two were injured, Gladkov wrote on Telegram.
The war continues between the Ukrainian secret service and the country's anti-corruption agencies
The legal counter-reform promoted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski to restore the independence of the anti-corruption agencies from which he had previously stripped them managed to quell citizen protests and European criticism, but has not achieved peace between these same agencies and Ukraine's main secret service, Efe reports.
In an unusually harsh statement against another state structure, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) accused the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) this week of acting out of a desire for "revenge" by charging SBU General Ilya Vitiuk for not justifying the origin of nearly 200,000 euros he used to buy an apartment.
According to the SBU, the NABU and the SAP want to retaliate with this investigation for the operation carried out by the secret service in July against 15 NABU detectives.
Albares confirms that Spain will help Ukraine "from all areas"
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, confirmed on Friday that Spain, as a member of the Volunteer Coalition on Ukraine, will help Ukraine "from all areas, including the delivery of military equipment," Efe reports.
In an interview on Canal Sur Radio, Albares referred to Thursday's meeting in Paris of the Volunteer Coalition on Ukraine, which includes 35 countries, mostly European, and others like Canada, Japan, and Australia, stating that Spain stands with "security guarantees" for Ukraine against Russian aggression.
Zelenski says accelerating work on security guarantees in Ukraine is necessary
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy declared on Friday that accelerating work on security guarantees for Ukraine is necessary after what he described as a "significant" conversation with NATO chief Mark Rutte, Afp reports.
"It is important to be as productive as possible together with the United States. It is important to strengthen our air defense," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.