On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new decree directed at what he called "unfriendly countries", while the Ukrainian presidency called for an emergency meeting of the National Security Council on Friday.

The decree gives the Russian government the right to impose a ban on the use of trucks from countries that are not friendly to Russian territory in road transport

The decree will enable Moscow to prevent "unfriendly countries" from using Russian territory for road transport

It is noteworthy that the countries of the European Union imposed various restrictions on the use of European land in Russian land transport.

In a related context, the Russian presidency announced that Putin will attend a ceremony to annex 4 regions of eastern Ukraine to Russia, tomorrow, Friday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a press conference in Moscow that President Putin will meet in Moscow with leaders of the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, and sign agreements with them on joining Russia.

And yesterday, Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that more than 98% of the participants in the referendums in the four regions voted to join Russia.


urgent meeting

On the other hand, the press office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that he called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council on Friday.

Zelensky described the referendums on joining Russia as "nonsense and cannot be called a referendum," adding that "any criminal act by Russia will not change anything for Ukraine."

The international community denounced the Russian referendums, with European countries and the United States calling them "sham", saying they would not "recognize them".

And since last February 24, Russia has launched a military attack in its neighbor Ukraine, which prompted capitals, led by Washington, to impose severe economic sanctions on Moscow.

For her part, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov said that the Donbass people used their right to self-determination in accordance with international law.

Zakharova accused Ukraine of launching terrorist attacks in Donbass, to intimidate the population and prevent them from expressing their opinions;

Ukraine has also been accused of using US weapons in coordination with US military leaders.

Ukrainian forces on one of the fronts in the east of the country (Getty Images)

Field developments

On the ground, military sources in the Ukrainian army said that its forces continue to advance in the Lyman axis, north of Donetsk province, in the east of the country.

According to the sources, the Ukrainian army managed to tighten its control over the town of "Kolodiazy", north of Lyman.

For his part, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that the Russian bombardment continued on the cities of Bakhmut, Soledar and Kurakhova.

The Governor of Donetsk Province also announced the killing of six civilians during the bombing that targeted separate areas yesterday.

On the other hand, the governor of the city of Kramatorsk said that ten people were injured as a result of Russian bombing that targeted the city, and caused damage to public facilities and private property.

Al-Jazeera correspondent also reported that four missiles fell on different areas in the center of the city of Kramatorsk, targeting residential communities and some colleges and institutes.

Pictures of the island showed the effects of the bombing near the College of Technical Engineering, in the center of the city.


missile attack

In Mykolaiv, the reporter reported that a missile attack targeted the city in southern Ukraine, and caused damage to the city's history museum.

The head of the military regional administration in Mykolaiv Vitaly Kim said that the bombing was with an "S-300" missile, modified to hit ground targets, launched by Russian forces on the city.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Ukraine reported that there were deaths and injuries as a result of Russian missile strikes targeting several areas in the Dnipro region, in the south of the country.

The provincial governor said that one of the rockets fell on a residential community, leaving dead and wounded people trapped under the rubble, and that rescue and exhumation operations were still continuing.

The city governor added that several rockets also landed near a bus station in the city.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said it had killed more than 80 mercenaries of the "Foreign Legion" in Donetsk province.

Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov announced the destruction of six Ukrainian control posts in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, and the destruction of nine weapons and ammunition depots in separate areas.