Ukraine claims it damaged Russian naval logistics ship in Black Sea

The Russia-Ukraine war, which began on February 24 with Russian troops arriving on Ukrainian soil on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, entered day 79 on Friday with no end in sight to the crisis.

On May 9, on the occasion of ‘Victory Day’, President Putin was expected to make a major announcement, possibly calling off the war; however, no such announcement was made.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Finland, which was contemplating joining NATO in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, announced it is in favour of applying for membership, ‘as soon as possible’. This prompted a warning from Moscow, which said it will be ‘forced to take retaliatory steps of military-technical and other characteristics in order to counter the emerging threats to its national security’.

Finland’s neighbour, Sweden, is also likely to announce soon that it is in favour of being a member of the intergovernmental military alliance.