Ukraine war live updates: Ukraine says it downed strategic bomber for the first time; 8 killed in major attack by Russia

Members of the Group of Seven major economies on Friday said they were “extremely concerned” by reports that Iran is considering transferring ballistic missiles and related technology to Russia.

“We call on Iran not to do so, as it would represent a substantive material escalation in its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine,” the G7 said in a statement following a meeting of foreign ministers in Capri, Italy.

“Were Iran to proceed with providing ballistic missiles or related technology to Russia, we are prepared to respond in a swift and coordinated manner, including with new and significant measures against Iran,” they added.

The G7 is an intergovernmental group composed of the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., Italy and Japan.

Reuters reported on Feb. 21 that Iran had provided Russia with hundreds of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, citing six unnamed sources. Iran’s Defense Ministry reportedly declined to comment at the time, while Russia’s Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

— Sam Meredith

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday visited the frontline area of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine and said he had held briefings on the regional security situation.

Zelenskyy posted a video on social media platform X which showed him speaking with regional military administration officials and walking through a fortified construction.

“I am grateful to everyone who defends our country and people. I thank everyone who works for Ukraine on a daily basis,” Zelenskyy said via X.

His comments come as the war in Ukraine is now in its third year. Russian forces continue to ratchet up pressure on exhausted Ukrainian forces.

— Sam Meredith

Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called for the country’s defense enterprise to ramp up the production of tanks, Tass state news agency reported on Friday, citing Russia’s Defense Ministry.

His comments came during an inspection of Russia’s production of tanks and heavy flamethrower systems at a facility in Russia’s Omsk region in West Siberia.

“When we began a large-scale program of creating additional protection for tanks, we looked for alloys and technical solutions. We have done all this. Now it is necessary to build up the pace of production,” Shoigu said, according to Tass.

— Sam Meredith

Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk on Friday said the country shot down a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber for the first time, destroying a warplane capable of using long-range missiles.

“For the first time, the anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force, in cooperation with the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, destroyed the Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber – the carrier of Kh-22 cruise missiles, which Russian terrorists use to attack peaceful Ukrainian cities,” Oleschuk said via Telegram, according to a Google translation.

“During today’s attack, two such missiles were destroyed for the first time. Ukraine needs more means, more missiles, in order to better protect the frontline territories from Russian terrorism,” he added.

CNBC could not independently verify the report.

Separately, Russia’s Defense Ministry said the bomber crashed over the southern Stavropol region when it was flying back to its home airfield, state news agency RIA reported via Telegram. Russian officials said the cause of the incident was likely a “technical malfunction.”

The Stavropol region is located in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia, hundreds of kilometers from Ukrainian-controlled territory.

— Sam Meredith

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday renewed his push for Western allies to bolster his country’s struggling air defenses, saying the ability to intercept missiles has been demonstrated in the Middle East, “and it should also work in Europe.”

His comments came shortly after a major Russian missile attack was reported to have killed at least eight people in the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk.

“Every country that provides air defense systems to Ukraine, every leader who helps persuade our partners that air defense systems should not be stored in warehouses but deployed in real cities and communities facing terror, and everyone who supports our defense is a life saver,” Zelenskyy said via social media platform X.

“We must defeat Russian terror. It is necessary not only for our country and Ukrainians, but for the entire world,” he added.

— Sam Meredith

Rescue operations on Friday were underway in the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk after a major Russian attack was reported to have killed at least eight people.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said via Telegram that a five-story residential building and civil infrastructure objects were damaged in the city of Dnipro because of the strikes. Two people died and 16 were injured, Klymenko said.

Fires were extinguished after the strikes damaged more than a dozen private buildings in the city of Synelnykove, where six people died and two more were injured, Klymenko said, according to Google translated remarks.

CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.

— Sam Meredith

Russia could be ready to attack NATO in five to eight years, a top German military official said, according to Reuters.

Lieutenant General Carsten Breuer told reporters that Moscow could be ready to attack members of the Western military alliance once it has rebuilt its forces depleted by the war in Ukraine.

“By then, based on our analysis, Russia (will have) reconstituted its own forces to a degree that an attack against NATO soil could be possible,” he told journalists during a visit to Poland on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

“I am not saying it will take place but that it could be possible,” he said. “What we see is a threat in five to eight years.”

President Vladimir Putin has rebuffed concerns that NATO could be targeted directly by Russia but has frequently warned that the country, and its nuclear arsenal, are ready to be deployed if it perceives its sovereignty to have been violated.

Russian defense spending and production of military hardware has rocketed as the country looks to supply its forces in Ukraine in the years ahead, but Breuer said Russia also appeared to be holding military equipment back.

“We see that Russia is producing a lot of war-fighting materiel and it is not putting all of this materiel to the frontline in Ukraine… so in 2029 we have to be ready,” Breuer said.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s top officials are ramping up calls for urgent air defenses and weaponry amid a flurry of high-profile meetings and summits.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting in Capri on Thursday. Kuleba stated on social media platform X that he went over in detail their “joint global efforts to get more ‘Patriot’ air defense systems and missiles to Ukraine as soon as possible.”

Kuleba said the officials had “both emphasized the urgent need for the U.S. Congress to pass the supplemental aid package for Ukraine” that’s worth around $61 billion.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said he had also met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Thursday, stating on X that “we are counting on the swift unblocking of the aid package for Ukraine in Congress, including financial assistance.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Wednesday that Russian forces were gaining an upper hand in the war because Ukraine did not have the weaponry and air defense systems it needs.

“The Russian army feels its strength in almost everything related to the armed compоnent. And it is precisely because of this strength – in artillery, in equipment, in the ability to operate in the sky – that they are putting pressure on us at the front and are gradually moving,” he told EU leaders via videolink.

“Putin now hopes that he will succeed in his counteroffensive, and the only root of this hope is the shortage of weapons among our soldiers,” he said.

Zelenskyy said Kyiv was working with the U.S. “to get the proper decision of the Congress on the American support package” and asked European leaders to “engage in communication with our American partners to make their support really happen.”

— Holly Ellyatt