Ukraine updates: Russia denies attempted strike on Zelenskyy

According to the "Deutschlandtrend" poll conducted by public broadcaster ARD, 61% of those surveyed were against Germany supplying Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles.

German Chancellor Olaf Sholz has maintained for months that sending the longer-range missiles was not currently an option, and the topic was thrust back into the forefront this week after Russia leaked a German military conversation about it. 

The poll found that only 29% were in favor of such a weapons delivery. The disapproval broadly crossed party lines, although tiny majorities of Green party voters (53% of supporters) and FDP voters (50%) approved of the idea.

Further, in the backdrop of theleak of an audio recording where German military officers were heard discussing sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine, 67% said they think Germany was unprepared for Russian espionage attempts.

The poll also showed 74% of respondents supporting Germany's plans for increased defense spending. However, of those, only 9% felt this additional spending should be paid for via more taxation. Most favored either taking on more debt or cutting spending elsewhere. 

Canada said it is increasing its investments to ramp up domestic production of 155 mm artillery ammunition. 

Canadian Minister of National Defense Bill Blair said approximately $4.4 million CAD ($3.2 million; €2.988 million) would be given to three ammunition manufacturer.

"With this funding, these companies will undertake research to advance processes for the design and production of NATO standard 155 mm munitions, which is in high demand across NATO and urgently needed in Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement. "Concurrently, this will help enable increased production in support of Canada's defense needs."

Russia said on Thursday that it had not targeted a motorcade of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a missile attack on the port of Odesa on Wednesday. The attack took place while Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was visiting.

Deputy chair of Russia's Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that Moscow would have struck its target if that had been the intention.

"Everything here is obvious to everyone. Both that there was no attack on the motorcade in Odesa, and [moreover] that if a target had been set, they would have hit it," Russian state news agency TASS quoted Medvedev as saying on the Telegram messaging service.

The comments came after a top diplomatic adviser to Ukraine's president said that it could not be ruled out that the missile attack had been targeting Zelenskyy.

"It really was less than 500 meters from us. What was that?... You cannot exclude it was directed at the delegation of my president or the delegation of foreign guest," Ihor Zhovkva told CNN Live in an interview.

The leaders had been inspecting grain facilities in the Black Sea port city when the attack took place.

On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that it had attacked a hangar housing drones and added that "the goal has been achieved."

Port infrastructure has been regularly targeted by Russian attacks which have been on the rise since Moscow pulled out of the UN-brokered grain deal that had allowed safe passage of grain exports from the fertile region by sea.

 

Moldova's President Maia Sandu on Thursday said that Russia was ramping up efforts to destabilize her country, warning that if President Vladimir Putin was not stopped in Ukraine, he would continue presenting a threat to the rest of Europe. 

"If the aggressor is not stopped, he will keep going, and the frontline will keep moving closer. Closer to us. Closer to you," Sandu said while visiting French President Emmanuel Macron to sign a defense and cooperation agreement.

"Europe must therefore present a united front. Aggression must be repelled by a strong force," Sandu said.

Macron pledged "unwavering support" as the former Soviet state faces rising tension from pro-Russian separatists in the breakaway Transnistria region.

A little over a week ago, pro-Russian officials there appealed for Moscow's protection.

"France restates its unwavering support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova within its internationally recognized borders," Macron said.

Sweden officially became the 32nd member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Thursday both the White House and the Swedish government confirmed.

"NATO SG Stoltenberg has just informed me that all NATO member states have accepted our accession protocol, and has invited Sweden to accede to the North Atlantic Treaty. Sweden will soon be NATO’s 32nd member," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote online. 

Kristersson is in Washington to hand over the final documentation and will join First Lady Jill Biden in the viewing box for US President Joe Biden's 2024 State of the Union address in Washington.

Sweden's accession to NATO ends a long-held policy of neutrality and comes two years after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, a move that forced the Nordic state to rethink its national security policy.

Nordic neighbor Finland— which shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia — was welcomed into the alliance in April 2023. Both countries remained neutral throughout the Cold War. 

kb, wd/msh (Reuters, AFP, dpa)