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A Russian rocket attack on a clinic in Kharkiv left four people injured, according to the local governor. Russia says it shot down eleven Ukrainian drones. The developments in the live blog.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal thanked the European Union for granting new financial aid worth 50 billion euros. “The EU member states have once again demonstrated their solidarity and unity with the Ukrainian people in resisting the war,” Shmyhal wrote on the online platform X (formerly Twitter). The 50 billion euros by the end of 2027 are an “important contribution to our common victory”.
According to EU Council President Charles Michel, the 27 EU states have agreed that Ukraine will receive 50 billion euros from the EU budget by 2027. “We have an agreement,” he wrote on Platform X about the discussions at the special EU summit. “This ensures stable, long-term and predictable financing for Ukraine,” adds Michel. “The EU takes leadership and responsibility for supporting Ukraine.” Hungary has thus given up its blockade of an agreement.
Before the start of the special EU summit in Brussels, Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted on an agreement on financial aid for Ukraine. “I am convinced that today is about making a decision on 27,” said Scholz, referring to the planned 50 billion euro aid for Ukraine from the EU budget until 2027. Scholz mentioned Hungary has so far rejected this, not by name, but added: “If Europe sees itself as a community in which everyone stands up for each other and helps each other,” it must be possible to make decisions together. He said he didn’t believe in other constructions in case Hungary continued to refuse its consent.
The Chancellor also emphasized that more military aid was needed for Ukraine. “This is something that cannot be decided today, but the discussion must begin urgently,” he said. Unfortunately, there is no overview in the EU of who actually delivers what. “But we know that what has been planned so far in terms of concrete weapons assistance from the individual member states, all together is not enough,” he added. Scholz pointed out that Germany had planned more than seven billion euros in military aid for Ukraine in the 2024 budget. Everyone now has to “hook up” so that Ukraine can defend itself.
The head of the Ukrainian military intelligence service HUR, Kyrylo Budanov, has announced an expansion of attacks on targets in Russia. “The number of attacks on Russian infrastructure is likely to increase,” Budanov said on the Telegram online service on Thursday. Possible targets are the most important “critical and military infrastructures in Russia”. Ukraine has increased its attacks on Russia in recent months, particularly focusing on border regions such as Belgorod.
Hatched: territories occupied by Russia
According to its own statements, Russia shot down eleven Ukrainian drones over the border area with Ukraine on Thursday night. An attempt to use drones to “carry out a terrorist attack on locations on Russian territory” was foiled, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. The air defense intercepted and destroyed the drones over the Belgorod, Kursk and Voronej regions.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
The dissident Russian rock band Bi-2, which was detained in Thailand, has left for Israel. The band announced on Facebook that all band members had safely left Thailand for Tel Aviv. According to the Israeli news site Ynet, they arrived early Thursday. The seven musicians from Bi-2, several of whom also have Israeli passports and two of whom are no longer Russian citizens, said they were arrested last week after a concert on the Thai holiday island of Phuket and taken into immigration detention. The media initially reported that the musicians were to be deported to Russia.
Human rights activists warned that the exiled group would face persecution if deported to Moscow because of their public criticism of the Russian government. On Tuesday evening, one of the band’s founders – Yegor “Ljowa” Bortnik – had already flown to Israel, as the band announced, while the rest of the group initially remained in a migration prison. Moscow demanded the extradition, but Israel’s diplomatic efforts resulted in the musicians being allowed to travel to Israel, Ynet reported. The band is accused of not having the valid documents to perform on Phuket. “The reason for the arrest was incorrectly formulated documents from the organizers,” Bi-2 said on several social networks.
According to Ukrainian information, a Russian rocket hit a hospital in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine. Four people were slightly injured and 38 were evacuated, the region’s governor, Oleh Synehubow, said via the short message service Telegram. The facade, windows and roof of the hospital were damaged.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
The EU heads of state and government are meeting in Brussels today for a special summit. The main topic is a new Ukraine aid package. In December, the decision failed due to the veto of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. According to diplomats, it is unclear whether an agreement will be reached this time.
According to Russian information, Ukraine attacked the annexed Crimean peninsula and the city of Sevastopol with missiles. The EU admitted that its ammunition plans for Ukraine had failed. All developments can be read in the live blog.