Kyiv and Moscow continued their exchange of aerial attacks overnight into Saturday, with local officials reporting casualties on both sides. In Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, nine people were wounded after Russian forces struck three districts with more than 20 drones and aerial bombs, according to regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha. One 40-year-old man remains in critical condition in hospital.
On the Russian side, Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of Krasnodar Krai, said a Ukrainian drone attack on the Temryuk district killed one person and injured three others. Falling debris from the drones ignited a fire at a sea terminal, requiring 96 firefighters to bring the blaze under control.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported earlier this week that 11 regions of Ukraine had been targeted since Monday, with Russia deploying nearly 530 drones and two air-launched guided missiles. Ukraine's air force said it intercepted 110 Russian Shahed attack drones on Friday night alone.
Kyiv has increasingly focused its long-range strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukrainian forces hit the Kuibyshev oil refinery in the Samara region and two oil facilities in the Vladimir region. FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles also struck a military plant in Cheboksary, which he said supplied Russian forces with drones and missiles.
EU Accession Talks Move Forward
Amid the ongoing hostilities, Ukraine moved closer to its long-standing goal of European Union membership. On Friday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that EU member states had agreed to open the first cluster of membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.
"At the first Intergovernmental Conference on Monday, we will open the cluster on fundamentals; the backbone of the accession process," von der Leyen wrote on social media. She described the decision as "a recognition of the determination, courage and hard work shown by both countries in advancing reforms, even in the face of immense challenges."
Both Ukraine and Moldova have been at the forefront of Russian aggression and view EU membership as a way to bolster their security. Moscow has long warned against closer ties with Brussels; Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov recently called Moldova's deepening relationship with the EU a "serious mistake." Russia has cited Ukraine's Western alignment and NATO ambitions as justifications for its full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
The opening of accession talks marks a pivotal moment for the two countries, though the path to full membership remains lengthy and demanding. The first cluster covers fundamental issues such as the rule of law, judicial reform, and anti-corruption measures—areas where both Kyiv and Chișinău have made significant progress despite the war.
For Ukraine, the EU's decision provides a diplomatic counterweight to the daily reality of Russian strikes. As the country endures another week of aerial bombardment, the prospect of European integration offers a tangible goal beyond the battlefield.
