Ukraine war: Putin’s soldiers surrender after counter attack as G7 agrees Kyiv loan

Stating Russia’s terms for peace with Ukraine, Vladimir Putin said: “The conditions are very simple.”

He demanded the full withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the entire territory of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in eastern and southern Ukraine.

“As soon as they declare in Kyiv that they are ready for such a decision and begin a real withdrawal of troops from these regions, and also officially announce the abandonment of their plans to join NATO – on our side, immediately, literally at the same minute, an order will follow to cease fire and begin negotiations,” he said.

“I repeat, we will do this immediately. Naturally, we will simultaneously guarantee the unhindered and safe withdrawal of Ukrainian units and formations.”

Vladimir Putin on Friday set out what he said were Russia‘s preconditions for starting peace talks with Ukraine.

He said Russia would be ready for such talks “tomorrow” if Ukrainian troops withdraw from the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions and if Ukraine gave up its plans to join NATO.

If Ukraine agreed to those conditions, Putin said Russia would cease fire and start negotiations.

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the West’s seizure of Russian sovereign assets was theft and would not go unpunished.

Speaking at a meeting with Foreign Ministry officials, Putin said the way the West had treated Moscow showed that any country could fall victim to a similar Western asset freeze.

“Despite all the chicanery, theft will certainly remain theft. And it will not go unpunished”, Putin said.

“Now it is becoming obvious to all countries, companies (and) sovereign funds that their assets and reserves are far from safe in both the legal and economic sense of the word.

“Anyone could be next in line for expropriation by the U.S. and the West.”

Putin was speaking a day after the leaders of the Group of Seven major democracies agreed on an outline deal to provide $50 billion of loans for Ukraine using interest from Russian sovereign assets frozen after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 in what it called a special military operation.

The Ukrainian military said on Friday its forces downed seven of 14 missiles and all 17 drones launched by Russia in overnight attacks in the west of the country.

Russian forces targeted critical infrastructure and military objects during the raid, air force spokesperson Illia Yevlash said on national television.

The Ukrainian military destroyed 11 aerial targets over the western region of Khmelnytskyi, according to the governor. One attack started a fire on infrastructure but no casualties were reported.

Air defence shot down seven of 10 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles, the Ukrainian military said.

Russia also launched three Iskander-M ballistic missiles, targeting Zaporizhzhia region, and one Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile in its attack, according to Yevlash.

“(Kinzhal) headed for Khmelnytskyi region where it did not reach its target,” he said.

Zaporizhzhia’s governor said a missile struck an open area with no damage nor casualties immediately reported.

The air force also destroyed five drones over the Dnipropetrovsk region, its governor said, with no reports of damage or casualties.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage suggested Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky should enter negotiations with Russia, although he acknowledged Kyiv’s Western allies will continue support to support them.

Mr Farage, challenged about his previous remarks praising Russian president Mr Putin as an operator, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Yeah, but not as a human being.”

Asked why, Mr Farage replied: “How many years has he been in power? He’s gone from prime minister, to president, he’s a clever political operator. He kills journalists, I don’t like him as a human being in any way at all.

“You can recognise the fact that some people are good at what they do even if they have evil intent.”

With patriotic songs broadcast and thousands of exiled Ukrainians in the stadium, the men’s national team was made to feel at home at its first training in Germany for the European Championship.

After the national anthem played, and before the warmups began, there was a vivid reminder of the war at home that is a constant and uniting force for this Ukraine squad.

Each player had a ball to give to a fan and Oleksandr Zinchenko presented his to a military veteran who had prosthetic legs below each knee.

Ukraine plans record power imports on Friday after significant energy infrastructure damage by Russian missile attacks, Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo said.

Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine‘s energy sector have intensified since March, resulting in blackouts in many regions, forcing Kyiv to start large-scale electricity imports from the European Union.

A ministry statement said that the country would import 31,904 megawatt hours (MWh) of power on Friday versus the previous record of 29,796 MWh on Wednesday.

It came after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he expected “important decisions” from the summit in Italy, with leaders from the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan seeking to shore up support for Kyiv as several of them face elections or political turmoil at home.

Also on Thursday, US President Joe Biden agreed to a sweeping bilateral security agreement that will see his country and Ukraine work together “to help deter and confront future aggression against the territorial integrity” of either state.

An explosion rang out across the region outside the Ukrainian capital on Friday, a Reuters witness said, following an air raid siren and warnings by the military of a possible Russian missile attack.

“Air defence forces are working in Kyiv region. Stay in your shelters! The missile danger continues,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

It was unclear if the explosion indicated air defences had shot down a target. Public broadcaster Suspilne cited local residents saying they had heard explosions in the western region of Khmelnytskyi.

After the air raid siren sounded, the Air Force said long-range missiles had been fired at Khmelnytskyi region and told Kyiv residents to take cover. The military then declared the air raid alert over, but there was no further official information.

Dozens of Russian soldiers have appeared to surrender to Ukraine troops after Kyiv launched a counter attack around the city of Vovchansk.

A video released by Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade shows Ukrainian soldiers taking at least 24 Russians as prisoners of war.