Russia-Ukraine war live: Lithuanian leader says “no one is afraid of Putin” after attack on ally Navalny | World News

Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda declared the attack on Leonid Volkovthe main aide of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who lives in Lithuania, was clearly planned and is part of other provocations against the Baltic nation.

Speaking to the Russian President Vladimir PoutineNauseda said: “I can only say one thing to Putin: no one is afraid of you here. »

Volkov was attacked with a hammer outside his home in Lithuania and briefly hospitalized Tuesday evening. In a video clip posted to Telegram on Wednesday, Volkov said: “We will work and we will not give up” and saying the attack that left him with a broken arm was a “characteristic bandit hello” from the Putin’s henchmen.

Lithuania’s state security department said Wednesday that the attack was likely organized and executed by Russia.

European lawmakers are increasing calls for the return of Ukrainian children forcibly removed to Russia.

“At least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to Russia or transferred to Belarus,” said Michaela SojdrováCzech center-right member of the European Parliament.

“We urge the EU and international humanitarian organizations not only to condemn the forced evictions and consider them part of Russia’s genocidal policy, but also to step up their efforts to return these children to their families and ensure that they are receiving appropriate care,” she said. said in a statement.

In a speech delivered this morning to the European Parliament, the Finnish Prime Minister, Petteri Orposaid that “the war in Ukraine was a wake-up call for all of us.”

We must never again be so dependent on others for our energy and safety. We must take care of our own defense. Strengthening our defense industry, improving our preparedness and strengthening our borders are essential pillars of our common security architecture.

He added:

We must improve overall European security. This includes border defense and security, but also preparedness more generally.

First, the development of our defense industry is priority number one. The European Union has the regulations and the resources, and we must use these tools. Even as a NATO member, we believe that Europe can do a lot. NATO and the EU are not mutually exclusive: they complement each other.

The Finnish leader also stressed the need to tackle border security.

Russia has used migration as a weapon to put pressure on Finland and the entire EU. Russia is pushing third-country nationals towards our eastern land border. This is unacceptable. The figures are still relatively low, but the phenomenon is worrying. If we fail to stop this phenomenon now, it will also become a matter of numbers and an increased threat to national and European security.

Ukraine’s SBU security services carried out drone attacks overnight on three Russian oil refineries in Ryazan, Kstovo and Kirishi, a Ukrainian source told Reuters.

The move is part of a strategy to reduce Russia’s economic potential, the source said.

Pavel Malkovgovernor of Russia’s Ryazan region, said this morning that a fire at an oil refinery had been extinguished, Reuters reported.

He had earlier said a drone attack had caused a fire.

Roustem Umerovthe Ukrainian Defense Minister, said he was “grateful to the American people” and to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for their support, citing an envelope of $300 million.

In an interview with Russian news agency RIA and state television Rossiya-1, Vladimir Putin said he intended to strengthen his forces along the border with Finland.

The Russian leader criticized Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership, Reuters reported.

“This is an absolutely meaningless measure (for Finland and Sweden) from the point of view of ensuring their own national interests,” he said, adding:

We didn’t have troops there (on the Finnish border), now they will be there. There were no destruction systems there, now they will appear.

At least six people were killed and more than 50 injured following Russian missiles, drones and airstrikes in Myrnohrad, Sumy and Kryvy Rih, Ukrainian authorities said.