Russia-Ukraine war live: Attacks in Ukraine kill at least 5, wound dozens

Japan and the United States have said they will continue to work with each other in maintaining the sanctions against Russia and supporting Ukraine in line with an agreement the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations reached last year.

The statements came during an hourlong meeting between visiting US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo and Japan’s Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Masato Kanda.

The G7, comprising Japan, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and the European Union, had pledged in May to restrict exports to Russia that could fund its war effort in Ukraine. Japan chaired the group in 2023.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, who is seen as an ally of President Vladimir Putin, says attempts by “cynical political strategists” to drive a wedge into relations between the fraternal peoples of Russia and Ukraine “will be assessed in the court of world history”.

“Today it is becoming increasingly clear that it is in the interests of the people of Ukraine to live in peace with Russia, to share a common history, culture and faith with it,” he said.

The head of the Russian church was speaking at the Christmas parliamentary meetings in the Federation Council. He referred to Ukraine as “Little Russia”.

The European Commission is looking into ways of allowing eastern EU member states to restrict farm imports from Ukraine as it extends trade liberalisation with Kyiv for a further year to June 2025.

The EU has suspended import duties, quotas and trade defence measures for imports from Ukraine since June 2022 to support its economy after Russia’s invasion.

However, cheap Ukrainian grain exports have sparked protests by governments, farmers and truckers in neighbouring countries such as Poland and Hungary.

EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the commission was about to present a proposal for the new period to June 2025, taking into account the sensitivities of farm sectors in eastern member states of the bloc.

The Russian missile strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv cannot be considered a response to “the terrorist act” of the Ukrainian air attack on the Donetsk market, Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“Our military does not hit social facilities and residential areas and does not hit civilians, unlike the Kyiv regime,” the Kremlin spokesperson claimed, adding that this was what fundamentally distinguished the Russian military from the Ukrainian military.

The strikes that reportedly killed civilians and destroyed residential homes across Ukraine targeted the facilities that produce missiles, ammunition and explosives, Russia’s Defence Ministry has claimed.

“This morning, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a group strike with high-precision, long-range air and ground-based weapons on facilities of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine that produce missiles and components for them, ammunition, as well as explosives,” the ministry said.

“The goal of the strike was achieved. All designated facilities were hit,” it added.

Russian authorities have begun installing S-300 air defence systems around St Petersburg, according to the independent Astra Press news outlet.

The news comes five days after Ukrainian drones successfully struck military targets in the surrounding Leningrad Oblast.

Astra Press reports cited a video filmed by St Petersburg residents who noticed the deployment of the S-300 air defence missile system in the region.

The video posted on the Telegram channel of Astra Press appeared to show a vehicle carrying one of the systems obstructing a roadway while attempting to manoeuvre.

Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/23/russia-ukraine-war-live-at-least-3-killed-in-attack-on-kyiv-kharkiv