Russia's war on Ukraine latest news

Russia attacked Ukraine with 16 Iranian-made Shahed drones overnight, Ukrainian officials said on Friday, a day after Moscow fired dozens of missiles in its latest barrage against critical infrastructure.

Russia attacked Ukraine with 16 Iranian-made Shahed drones overnight, Ukrainian officials said on Friday, a day after Moscow fired dozens of missiles in its latest barrage against critical infrastructure. DIPLOMACY/ECONOMY

* Russian President Vladimir Putin said he aimed to deepen military cooperation with China and expected Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Russia in spring 2023. * Xi told Putin the road to peace talks on Ukraine would not be smooth and China would continue to uphold its "objective and fair stance" on the issue, Chinese state media said after a video conference between the two leaders.

* Russia's finance ministry said the maximum possible share of Chinese yuan in its National Wealth Fund (NWF) had been doubled to 60% as it restructures its rainy-day fund to reduce dependency on currencies from so-called "unfriendly" nations. * Putin also said Russia had become one of China's leading suppliers of oil and gas, with 13.8 billion cubic metres of gas shipped to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline in the first 11 months of 2022.

* NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on NATO member states to supply more weapons to Ukraine, according to an interview. FIGHTING

* Russia launched 16 "kamikaze" drones into Ukraine overnight, Kyiv's military said after the 2 a.m. air raid alert. All 16 had been shot down by air defences, it said. * Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said air commands in central, southern, eastern and western Ukraine repelled 54 Russian missiles and 11 drones on Thursday.

* More than 18 residential buildings and 10 critical infrastructure installations were destroyed in Thursday's attacks, a defence ministry statement said on Thursday evening. * Russia's Defence Ministry on Friday described the attack as a "massive strike" on Ukraine's energy and military-industrial infrastructure using high-precision weapons.

* The Kremlin said it was extremely concerned about a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile that it said had been shot down after flying into the air space of its close ally Belarus on Thursday. Ukraine's defence ministry said it would investigate the incident, suggesting it was a Russian provocation and reserving the right to protect its own skies.