Ukraine war Highlights: 2 Russian regions claim shelling from Ukrainian territory

Ukrainian police say Russian troops tortured, killed combat medic, reports the Kyiv Independent.

Two Russian regions that border Ukraine, Kursk and Bryank, claim their territory has been shelled. No casualties were reported, said Ukrainian media.

The U.S. is training Ukrainians how to use the howitzers being sent for their fight against Russia.

Ukraine said Friday that one person had been killed in a Russian strike that rocked the centre of the capital Kyiv a day earlier during a visit by the UN chief.

Russian defence ministry has released a video showing a British national captured in Ukraine, reported Reuters.

A former US Marine was killed fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in war with Russia, his relatives told media outlets, reported AP.

Tens of thousands of troops from NATO and other north Atlantic nations will take part in a series of military exercises across Europe in the coming weeks as western countries seek to deter Russian aggression.

The presidents of Russia and Ukraine have accepted invitations from Indonesia, the current chair of the Group of 20.

Germany on Friday berated Russia for carrying out an air strike on Kyiv during a visit by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, calling it "inhumane".

The Netherlands will reopen its embassy in Kyiv on Friday, more than two months after it was closed just before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Russia's defence ministry on Friday confirmed it had carried out an air strike on Kyiv during a visit by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, AFP reported.

A checkpoint at a village in Russia's Kursk region bordering Ukraine was shelled on Friday, the region's governor said, Reuters reported.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sets off on Friday for an extended visit to Southeast Asia, aiming to marshal regional responses to the Ukraine crisis as well as counter China's growing assertiveness in the region, Reuters reported.

The "Battle of Donbas" remains Russia’s main strategic focus in order to achieve its stated aim of securing control over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Britain's defence ministry said on Friday, Reuters reported. "In these oblasts fighting has been particularly heavy around Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, with an attempted advance south from Izium towards Slovyansk," the ministry said on Twitter.

The head of the United Nations said Ukraine has become “an epicenter of unbearable heartache and pain" — a description underscored a short time later by the first Russian strike on the capital since Moscow's forces retreated weeks ago. Russia pounded targets all over Ukraine on Thursday, including the attack on Kyiv that struck a residential high-rise and another building and wounded 10 people, including at least one who lost a leg, according to Ukraine's emergency services.

Ukraine's general staff said Russia was stepping up its military assault in the Donbas. "The enemy is increasing the pace of the offensive operation. The Russian occupiers are exerting intense fire in almost all directions," it said.

US President Joe Biden will raise the issue of a unified response against Russia in the upcoming Quad summit in Toyko next month and will provide an update on the steps Washington is taking to help Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict, the White House said on Thursday.

Intending to easily export military equipment to Ukraine, which has entered its third month of conflict, the United States Congress has revived the "Lend-Lease” act that helped defeat German dictator Adolf Hitler during the Second World War. A report by news agency Reuters said that the US Congress passed the "Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022" by 417 to 10 on Thursday, three weeks after it sailed through the Senate with unanimous support. Full report

Ukraine has claimed to have repelled nine Russian attacks in Donbas on Thursday, The Kyiv Independent reported. According to Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation, Russian losses as a result of the fighting include six tanks, one artillery system, 12 armoured vehicles, one car, and one anti-aircraft gun.

The United States is engaging with India over the issue of Ukraine and this will continue in the upcoming Quad summit in Japan next month, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. "We have had a number of engagements, as you know, with leaders in India about our approach to supporting the Ukrainians in this war, whether that is sanctions and the enormous sanctions package we've put in place or, of course, the assistance we've provided. We will convey the same sentiments in this meeting," Psaki said.

President Joe Biden is rejecting the idea that Russia’s war in Ukraine could grow into a larger proxy conflict between Moscow and the United States and NATO allies that may even bring the world closer to nuclear confrontation. “Instead of saying that the Ukrainians, equipped with some capability to resist Russian forces, are doing this, they’ve got to tell their people that the United States and all of NATO is engaged,” Biden said.

Several countries have advised their citizens to leave Moldova and Transnistria, the Kyiv Independent reported. Bulgaria and Israel changed their recommendations for visiting Moldova and the Russian-occupied Transnistria region on April 28.

The European Commission announced on Thursday the creation of a regional taskforce in Sofia that will shop around for energy supplies ahead of winter after Russia stopped pumping gas to Bulgaria and Poland, ANI quoted Russian news agency Sputnik. "The European Commission and Bulgaria agreed to set up in Sofia a first regional taskforce, as part of the EU's Energy Purchase Platform. This pilot will look at gas and electricity needs, prices and flows, as well as infrastructure aspects," a statement read.

The British government says a U.K. national has been killed in Ukraine, and another is missing, AP reported. The Foreign Office confirmed Thursday that it is supporting the family of a British national killed in Ukraine. It also said it was “urgently seeking further information” on another Briton who is missing.

Russia struck the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv shortly after a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday evening, AP reported. At least one person was killed and several were injured, including some who were trapped beneath the rubble, according to rescue officials. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the Shevchenkivskyi district in the northwestern part of the city was hit twice, causing fires in at least two high-rise buildings.