RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Russian missile destroys ‘police building’ – Ukrainian officials Russian troops have struck a police building in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkov on Friday, killing at least one officer and injuring dozens, Ukrainian officials said. According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, a Russian S-400 missile hit an unspecified “facility that housed police officers.” A 43-year-old police colonel has been killed, while 30 police officers, a first responder and nine civilians were injured, the ministry said. Interior Minister Igor Klimenko wrote on Facebook that some of the wounded officers are in critical condition. Russian military blogger Boris Rozhin wrote on…

Rocket fire from Lebanon kills 7 in Israel as US officials try to push for cease-fires Rocket barrages from Lebanon into northern Israel killed four foreign workers and three Israelis on Thursday, Israeli medics said, the deadliest cross-border strikes in Israel since it invaded Lebanon. Israel kept up airstrikes it says targeted Hezbollah militants across Lebanon, where health authorities on Thursday reported 24 people killed. U.S. diplomats were in the region pushing for cease-fires in both Lebanon and Gaza, hoping to wind down the wars in the Middle East as the Biden administration enters its final months. Pressure has been…

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Zelenskiy blasts allies for 'zero' response to North Korean deployment President Volodymyr Zelenskiy blasted what he called his allies' "zero" response to Russia's deployment of North Korean troops for the war in Ukraine,saying on Thursday a weak reaction would encourage Russia's Vladimir Putin to beef up the contingent. The Ukrainian leader, in an interview with South Korea's KBS television channel, said he believed Moscow was already trying to agree for North Korea to send engineering troops and a "large number of civilians" to work at Russian military plants. "Putin is checking the reaction of the West ... And…

Lebanon, Israel could agree to ceasefire within days, Lebanese prime minister says Lebanon's prime minister expressed hope on Wednesday that a ceasefire deal with Israel would be announced within days as Israel's public broadcaster published what it said was a draft agreement providing for an initial 60-day truce. The document, which broadcaster Kan said was a leaked proposal written by Washington, said Israel would withdraw its forces from Lebanon within the first week of the 60-day ceasefire. It largely aligned with details reported earlier by Reuters based on two sources familiar with the matter. Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati…