Ukraine updates: Russian 'mass attack' hits thermal plant

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday expressed his thanks to Romania for helping bolster Ukraine's air defenses.

"I am grateful to Romania and President @Klauslohannis for making the decision to provide Ukraine with an additional Patriot air defense system," Zelenskyy posted on social media platofrom X, formerly Twitter.

"This crucial contribution will bolster our air shield and help us better protect our people and critical infrastructure from Russian air terror," Zelenskyy added.

The Ukrainian leader went on to say that by putting an end "to Russian terror now" Ukraine was preventing "potential aggression against Moldova, Romania, the Baltic states, and all of our neighbours."

The Patriot guided missile system is capable of shooting down aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.

Zelenskyy has repeatedly emphasized Ukraine's need for more air defense amid continued Russian attacks. 

German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck thanked South Korea for Seoul's support of Ukraine.

Habeck, who is also Germany's economy minister, said during a visit to Seoul that South Korea is a partner that shares Germany's values and has "clearly taken the side of freedom and liberal democracies, has essentially always accepted the sanctions and will continue to do so in the future."

Habeck praised South Korea for agreeing to sell weapons to countries willing to supply military aid to Ukraine, despite Seoul's own policy on not selling arms into active conflict zones.

"Korea supplies weapons to countries that are in turn willing to provide weapons to Ukraine," he said.

"I would like to thank you very, very much for this."

Habeck also said that both South Korea and Germany aim to become more self-reliant and reduce dependence on China.

Also on Thursday, South Korea said it would "reconsider" its policy barring weapon deliveries to Ukraine in the light of a new strategic partnership deal signed between North Korea and Russia.

Habeck's delegation, which includes German business executives and lawmakers from the German parliament, is set to visit China on Friday after leaving South Korea.

South Korea said that it will reconsider its policy on not directly supplying Ukraine with arms after North Korea signed a mutual defense agreement with Russia.

Seoul's longstanding policy on weapons deliveries bars it from selling arms to parties in active conflict zones.

"(We are) planning to reconsider the issue of providing weapons support to Ukraine," a presidential official told reporters.

Seoul expressed "grave concern" over the agreement between Russia and North Korea.

"Any cooperation that directly or indirectly helps strengthen North Korea's military capabilities is a violation of the UN Security Council resolutions," national security adviser Chang Ho-jin told reporters.

The UN Security Council has passed multiple resolutions sanctioning North Korea since 2006 over its nuclear weapon testing.

"Russia's own violation of the resolution and support for North Korea will inevitably have a negative impact on the South Korea-Russia relationship," Chang said.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said that officials were still examining the implications of the deal.

"We are currently reviewing the specifics of the treaty signed between Russia and North Korea during President Putin's visit to North Korea. We will announce our government's position after we are done," Lim Soosuk, South Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang and signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with North Korea.

"The ... agreement signed today provides, among other things, for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement," Putin said.

European Union member states have agreed on a fresh package of sanctions on Russia, according to diplomats.

If implemented, this would be the 14th round of sanctions imposed by the EU on Moscow since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The sanctions are expected to be formally approved in an EU foreign ministers' meeting on Monday.

The measures ban re-exports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in EU waters. They do not include a total ban on the purchase of Russian LNG.

The Belgian EU presidency said on the platform X, formerly Twitter, that the package "maximizes the impact of existing sanctions by closing loopholes."

Belgium will hold the rotating presidency of the EU's Council of Ministers until July 1, when it will be replaced by Hungary.

"This hard-hitting package will further deny Russia access to key technologies. It will strip Russia of further energy revenues. And tackle (President Vladimir) Putin’s shadow fleet and shadow banking network abroad," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X.

A measure that would have forced subsidiaries of EU firms in third countries to contractually prohibit the re-export of goods to Russia was dropped from the package at Germany's request.

Ukrainian refugees who left the country after Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion have fared better in Europe than others escaping war and other emergencies, Europe's main human rights body says.

In its annual report, the Council of Europe's anti-racism commission (ECRI) called on European Union members states to support all those fleeing conflict and disaster equally.

It said "admirable efforts" have been made to support Ukrainians since the war began, but that the treatment of people from Ukraine had varied depending on their ethnicity.

ECRI said that accommodation offered to Roma with Ukrainian citizenship was of lower quality than that offered to other Ukrainians in the same situation.

ECRI said it had also noted that the reception had also been cooler for those seeking asylum from other places.

Soon after the war began, the African Union said it was alarmed by reports that citizens of African nations who were living in Ukraine had been refused the right to cross borders to safety.

ECRI said that anti-Ukrainian hate incidents had been reported but that this was not the norm, whereas hostile narratives, including by politicians, were more common against people from elsewhere.

The regional governor of Russia's Krasnodar region, bordering on the annexed Crimean peninsula, says a woman was killed in a drone attack that targeted oil facilities.

The woman was killed in the city of Slavyansk, governor Venyamin Kondratyev said.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it had stopped 15 Ukrainian drones that also targeted oil storage depots in the southern republic of Adygea and the Tambov region.

A fire broke out after a Ukrainian drone attack at an oil depot in the Russian North Caucasus region of Adgeya, regional president Murat Kumpilov said on the Telegram messaging app.

The fire, close to a village, spread to an area of 400 square meters (more than 4,000 square feet) before it could be put out.

"At 6 a.m., the fire was completely extinguished by fire and rescue units," Kumpilov said.

"There were no injuries or threat to residents," Kumpilov wrote, adding that operational staff were working at the site.

A Kyiv intelligence source told the Reuters news agency that the SBU security agency was behind the attack, as well as another at a fuel depot in Russia's Tambov region.

The source said the depots supplied the Russian military and that the strikes were aimed at reducing their resources.

A barrage of Russian missiles and drones hit a Ukrainian thermal power plant and other energy facilities overnight, further stretching Ukraine's already depleted electricity grid, Ukrainian authorities said.

The targeted attacks in recent months have drastically reduced Ukraine's capacity to generate electricity, with rolling blackouts introduced and power imported from neighboring European Union nations.

"The enemy attacked a number of energy infrastructure facilities," Ukraine's Energy Ministry said, adding that the Russian projectiles targeted power infrastructure in four regions, including the capital, Kyiv.

The ministry said the attacks had cut power to more than 218,000 consumers for a period on Thursday morning.

Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, said the aerial attacks had caused "serious damage" at the plants, and that three of its employees had been wounded.

The company said it was the seventh mass attack on the thermal power plant in the last three months.

"We urgently need to close our skies or Ukraine faces a serious crisis this winter," DTEK's CEO Maxim Timchenko said. "My plea to allies is to help us defend our energy system and rebuild in time."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the barrages have halved generation capacity in his country, also urging allies to send more air defense systems.

Ukraine's state energy operator Ukrenergo on Monday announced further drastic restrictions on electricity supply in the coming weeks due to ongoing Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure. The impact of systematic Russian attacks on thermal and hydroelectric power plants might be made worse by the need for maintenance work at nuclear power plants and bad weather conditions.