US president Donald Trump claims SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has restored Ukraine's Starlink access, even as Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian sources said there had been no change in satellite internet speeds.
Trump refused to confirm reports that he had called Musk to ask him to restore the service for Ukraine's military, saying: "I don't want to comment on it, whether I called or whether somebody else called ... The bottom line - he put it back."
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president warned that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, now believes his maximalist war goals – which include capturing four Ukrainian regions in their entirety – are within reach.
“Russia is clearly taking advantage of the slowdown in air defence supplies from our partners,” Zelensky wrote in a post on X on Thursday.
“It is equally clear that when some partners ease the pressure on Russia, it only reinforces Putin's belief that his goals are within reach. We need different signals and different steps – stronger ones.”
Speaking a day after meeting Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, Putin insisted that Russia was not preparing for war with Europe and that trilateral talks should be about ensuring the future security of both countries.
Ukrainian soldier ‘cut off his own leg’ before miracle battlefield evacuation by drone after 70 weeks stranded
The injured soldier airlifted from Ukraine’s frontline by drone cut off his own frostbitten leg in a desperate bid to survive, having spent more than a year alone in the kill zone before his dramatic rescue, according to reports.
Germany executes arrest warrant against suspected spy for Russia
Germany's federal prosecutors said on Friday a judge at the Federal Court of Justice had executed an arrest warrant against Ukrainian national Vadym Y, apprehended on Thursday on suspicion of spying for Russia
RAF holds first ever joint nuclear drill with France in warning shot to Putin
Britain and France carried out their first joint exercise involving France's airborne nuclear deterrent, France's armed forces ministry said in a statement on Friday.
British Typhoon jets joined in a nuclear exercise alongside French Rafale warplanes on Tuesday evening, French armed forces minister Catherine Vautrin said.
Zelensky snaps at US presidential envoy for hailing Putin
On Thursday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky snapped at US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff for saluting Putin as a "humanitarian" during his visit to Russia, when the US envoy thanked Vladimir Putin for releasing a 74-year-old American captured by Russian forces in Ukraine.
"Three waves of ballistic missiles have been launched at Kyiv by Russian 'humanitarians' since yesterday evening," Zelensky posted on X.
"They used 21 missiles. Unfortunately, numerous sites across the city have been hit and damaged."
A Ukrainian soldier blinded in war hopes to see his children again, in photos
Ukrainian soldier Mykola Kasiuk hopes to regain some vision after a battlefield land mine explosion left him nearly blind two years ago. After numerous operations, he is turning to visiting US surgeons in Kyiv, hoping to see his children again.
Sister of American held in Russia says he didn't know he was being released until he saw US flag
The younger sister of Stephen Hubbard, the US citizen freed Wednesday after spending more than four years in a Russian prison, said her brother didn't realise he was being released until he was put aboard a plane and saw the American flag.
“He didn’t know why he was being taken from the prison to Moscow, and he may have thought he was going to his death," Patricia Hubbard Fox said during an interview Thursday in San Antonio, where her brother was taken for evaluation.
“He’s been kind of laughing a lot,” she added. “Like relief laughing. ‘Oh my God, you know, I’m free. This is really happening.’”
President Donald Trump said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call earlier this month to free Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan.
Hubbard was accused of fighting alongside Kyiv’s forces after Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in 2022.
Kremlin continues to demand Ukraine cede more land
After meeting Volodymyr Zelensky and European and Nato officials in Oslo this week, Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff spoke of "some degree of momentum", but the Kremlin expressed doubts.
"The Americans sensed some new nuances (in Oslo) and told us about this. But these nuances, so to speak, do not entirely satisfy us," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday.
A senior Russian official, briefed on the Putin-Witkoff talks, said they were relatively short and not substantive. The American brought proposals drafted in Oslo and handed them to Putin for review, the person said.
Another source close to the Kremlin said the US proposals included a scenario where Ukraine would cede its Donbas region to Russia in return for receiving a guarantee of its future security from Nato.
Moscow has repeatedly said it would not end fighting unless Ukraine cedes more land, limits the size of its forces and is permanently barred from forming alliances.
Ukraine dismisses Russia's conditions as a demand for capitulation that would leave it defenceless.
Russian strikes cut power to over 500,000 in Ukraine
Russia attacked energy facilities in six Ukrainian regions overnight on Friday, knocking out power for more than 500,000 people, Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov said.
Austria expels four Russian diplomats on security grounds
Austria's foreign ministry said on Friday it was expelling four Vienna-based Russian diplomats over "activities incompatible with their diplomatic status", a term usually used for spying.
"Based on findings by the Austrian security authorities, the Austrian foreign ministry has taken measures against four Russian diplomats in Vienna," it said in a statement, adding that they had been declared personae non gratae and ordered to leave the country.
Three of them worked at Russia's embassy to Austria and one at the Russian delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on military security and arms control, the ministry said.
The move brings to 18 the number of Russian diplomats Austria has expelled since 2020. While Austria is a neutral country, politically its governments have sided with Ukraine since Russia launched its all-out invasion in 2022. The Russian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia will respond to Austria's decision, Russian news agencies cited a foreign ministry official as saying on Friday.
Ukrainian energy company says Russian attack hit one of its power stations
Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, said on Friday a Russian attack has hit one of its thermal power plants, which has halted operations due to significant damage. It did not say where the plant is located.