Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin says war was ‘unleashed’ on Russia
The Russian president delivered his annual Victory Day speech.
More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's forces are readying a spring counteroffensive, but Putin appears to be preparing for a long and bloody war.
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Latest headlines:
Finland set to join NATO in 'coming days,' Stoltenberg says
Finland will formally join NATO in the "coming days," after the country was able to clear its final hurdle, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
"Their membership will make Finland safer and NATO stronger. Finland has highly capable forces, advanced capabilities and strong democratic institutions. So Finland will bring a lot to our alliance," Stoltenberg said in a statement Friday.
Turkey was the last of the 30 NATO allies to approve Finland's bid to join the alliance.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
6 missiles fired at Kharkiv
Russia just struck Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine with multiple missiles, Ukrainian officials said Thursday night.
Local officials in Kharkiv said Russia fired six Soviet-era S-300 surface-to-air missiles.
ABC News reporters heard explosions outside the city center and saw Ukrainian air defense active just before and during the attacks.
There are currently no reports of casualties or damage to infrastructure as a result of the strikes in Ukraine's second-largest city.
There are also reports of Russian strikes in the Dnipro region.
-ABC News' Tom Soufi Burridge
Russia to enlist 147,000 soldiers in April
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday ordering a spring conscription. Russia will call up 147,000 people to join the Russian Armed Forces from April 1 to April 15.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Russia preparing to start another soldier recruitment, UK says
Russian media reporting suggests authorities are preparing to start a major military recruitment aiming to sign up an additional 400,000 troops, the United Kingdom's Defense Ministry assessed.
Russia is presenting the campaign as a drive for volunteer, professional personnel, rather than a new, mandatory mobilization. There is a realistic possibility that in practice this distinction will be blurred, and that regional authorities will try to meet their allocated recruitment targets by coercing men to join up, UK officials said.
Russian authorities have likely selected a supposedly ‘volunteer model’ to meet their personnel shortfall in order to minimize domestic dissent. It is highly unlikely that the campaign will attract 400,000 genuine volunteers, according to UK officials.
However, rebuilding Russia’s combat power in Ukraine will require more than just personnel; Russia needs more munitions and military equipment supplies than it currently has available, UK officials said.
At least 21 killed in Kherson region shelling: Ukrainian officials
At least 21 people were killed and 48 injured by shelling in the Kherson region on Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said, as the death toll continues to rise.
A railway station and market in the city of Kherson were hit in strikes, which occurred across the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, officials said.
"A railway station and a crossing, a house, a hardware store, a grocery supermarket, a gas station -- do you know what unites these places? The bloody trail that [Russia] leaves with its shells, killing civilians in Kherson and Kherson region," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Twitter.
All the victims were civilians, Zelenskyy said.
An ambulance was also damaged in the strikes, according to Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin.
"No military objects here. Just civilians, including children," Kostin said on Twitter.
At least one person was killed and three injured in the strike on the railway station, officials previously said.