Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused Western nations Friday of “playing with fire” by allowing Ukraine to use the long-range rockets and weapons they had supplied to strike targets inside Russia.

“Once again, we should like to unequivocally warn Washington, London, Brussels and other Western capitals, as well as Kyiv, which is under their control, that they are playing with fire. Russia will not leave such encroachments on its territory unanswered,” a ministry statement said.

The statement also singled out the United States and Britain and accused them of escalating the conflict between Russia and Ukraine by allowing Kyiv to use Western-supplied weapons inside Russia.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Friday that the Biden administration does not encourage or enable attacks with U.S.-supplied weapons inside Russia.

At least one person was killed and another injured in Russia’s southern Belgorod region when a Ukrainian drone hit the border village of Novaya Nomovka, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote Friday on the Telegram social media app.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported later that it intercepted and destroyed 14 multiple-launch rockets originating from Ukraine.

In the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula, another Ukrainian drone attack struck the electric grid of the city of Sevastopol, while an earlier strike at a Russian airbase damaged aircraft and fuel storage.

Earlier Friday, a Ukrainian drone attack ignited a fire at an at oil refinery in the Russian town of Tuapse, on the northeast shore of the Black Sea. The refinery was forced to carry out an emergency shutdown, according to two sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported.

The fire at the refinery, owned by Rosneft, was later put out, Russia’s state-run Tass news agency reported, citing local authorities.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities have evacuated around 8,000 civilians from the war-ravaged town of Vovchansk, 5 kilometers from the Russian border.

At least two people were killed and 19 others were wounded in the Russian bombing of Kharkiv, regional chief Oleh Syniehubov said on his Telegram posting Friday. Four of the wounded were in critical condition.

Russia’s advancing forces have “expanded the zone of active hostilities by almost 70 kilometers,” pressing outgunned and outmanned Ukraine to spread its forces and use reserve troops, Ukraine’s military chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Friday.

In the Kharkiv region, Russian forces have advanced 10 kilometers from the border, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday.

“Our task is to thwart Russia’s attempt to expand the war and to prevent the occupier from breaking both the front line and our diplomacy — our way of bringing a just peace closer,” he said.

During a visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow’s offensive in the Kharkiv region aims at building a buffer zone against Ukrainian attacks, but that Moscow has no plans to capture Ukraine’s second-largest city.

“I have said publicly that if it continues, we will be forced to create a security zone,” he said. “That’s what we are doing.” Russian troops are “advancing daily according to plan,” he said.

Meanwhile, in an effort to increase the number of Ukrainian troops, Zelenskyy signed two laws on Friday allowing prisoners to join the army while imposing steep fines for draft dodgers. The controversial mobilization law goes into effect Saturday.

Ukraine recently lowered the draft age for soldiers from 27 to 25 and stiffened punishments for those who avoid being called up.

Ukrainian men are also obligated, under the new law, to update their personal data at military conscription centers across the country — a measure that is supposed to streamline army recruitment.

Consular services that provide Ukrainians abroad with passport services reopened Friday after shuttering last month.

The services were suspended April 23 to apply pressure on Ukrainian men ages 18 to 60 living abroad to register for the army in order to qualify for passports and other services.

“Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his or her duties to the homeland,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on X, formerly Twitter. “Our country is at war.”

However, following a backlash, consular services resumed Friday.

Some information for this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.

Source: voanews.com