Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the head of Volodymyr Zelensky’s Presidential Office, said Russian forces likely want the IAEA mission to pass through Russian-occupied Crimea or Donbas to reach the plant.
"Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime," Trump said in a video posted to his Truth Social, confirming U.S. invovlement in the strikes.
"The reason for the current events is precisely the violence and arbitrariness of the Iranian regime, in particular the murders and repressions against peaceful protesters, which have become particularly large-scale in recent months," the Foreign Ministry said in its Feb. 28 statement.
Russian troops launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile and 105 drones of various types, including about 60 Shahed drones, the Air Force said on Feb. 28. It reported downing 96 drones in the north, south, and east of the country.
The number includes 770 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
Flames engulfed one of the tanks at the Albashneft oil refinery in Novominskaya and burned an adjacent area of about 150 square meters, the Krasnodar Krai Operational Headquarters said.
The FP-7 tactical ballistic missile has a range of up to 200 kilometers (124 miles) and carries a combat load of 150 kilograms (about 330 pounds), according to the Ukrainian defense firm Fire Point.
The United States has lifted sanctions on three senior Malian officials who were previously designated for their ties to Russia's Wagner Group, the Treasury Department announced Feb. 27.
President Volodymyr Zelensky invited Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to visit Ukraine in a phone call on Feb. 27, amid a row between Kyiv, Budapest, and Bratislava over a key oil pipeline.
As peace talks continue and the U.S. pushes for compromise, one proposal keeps returning: Ukraine should withdraw from the remainder of Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk Oblast to end the war. The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell explains why the Battle of Donbas remains at the center of the peace process.
Zelensky added that diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran remain the preferred way forward, according to a Sky News interview.
