Ukraine war: Wagner deserters 'shot', China sanctions, grain harvest set to nosedive

Moscow has ratcheted up its invasion of Ukraine by making indiscriminate attacks on civilians and framing the conflict as a struggle against the West, according to a senior EU official. 

Stefano Sannino, Secretary General of the European Union’s European External Action Service, said on Friday Russia has taken the war to “a different stage”, while defending Germany and the US's decision to send tanks to Kyiv. 

He criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin for waging a war on NATO and the West, saying this had triggered this week's move to supply Ukraine with heavy battle tanks. 

Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, Sannino said Putin had “moved from a concept of special operation to a concept now of a war against NATO and the West.”

The EU foreign policy official said German and US tanks are meant to help Ukrainians defend themselves, rather than attack Moscow.

“I think that this latest development in terms of armed supply is just an evolution of the situation and of the way Russia started moving the war into a different stage,” Sannino said. 

The EU is not moving the war into a different stage but is “just giving the possibility of saving lives and allowing the Ukrainians to defend [themselves] from these barbaric attacks,” he added. 

Germany and the US announced on Wednesday they will send advanced battle tanks to Ukraine, offering what one expert called an “armoured punching force” to help Kyiv break a stalemate on the battlefield. 

Washington will send 31 M1 Abrams tanks, while Berlin has agreed to give 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from its own stocks.

A former commander of Russia's Wagner group, who fled to Norway, witnessed comrades being shot as they tried to flee the frontline in Ukraine, according to his Norwegian lawyer.

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