Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered the energy ministry to begin work on a Russian proposal to turn Turkey into a gas hub for Europe, Turkish media reported on Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin had proposed exporting gas through the Turk Stream pipeline beneath the Black Sea after deliveries via the Baltic Sea’s Nord Stream pipeline were halted following leaks still under investigation.

11:38am: Erdogan tells government to start work on Russian gas hub

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan backs the Kremlin's idea of creating an international gas hub in Turkey and wants his government to quickly present implementation plans, Turkish media reported Friday.

"This will be an international distribution centre," Erdogan told reporters on board his return flight from talks Thursday with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Kazakhstan. "There will be no waiting on this issue."

Erdogan said Russian and Turkish energy authorities would work together to designate the best location for a gas distribution centre, adding that Turkey’s Thrace region, bordering Greece and Bulgaria appeared to be the best spot.

“Together with Mr. Putin, we have instructed our Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the relevant institution on the Russian side to work together,” Erdogan said. “They will conduct this study. Wherever the most appropriate place is, we will hopefully establish this distribution centre there.”

11:16am: Musk says SpaceX cannot fund Ukraine's Starlink internet indefinitely

Elon Musk said on Friday SpaceX cannot "indefinitely" fund the Starlink internet service in Ukraine and send it several thousands more terminals after a report suggested that his rocket company had asked the Pentagon to pay for the donations.

Musk's comment on the question of support for the internet service in Ukraine comes after he angered many Ukrainians with a proposal to end Russia's war in their country that included ceding some territory last week.

"SpaceX is not asking to recoup past expenses, but also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely *and* send several thousand more terminals that have data usage up to 100X greater than typical households. This is unreasonable," Musk said on Twitter.

CNN reported on Thursday that SpaceX sent a letter to the Pentagon last month saying it could not continue to fund the Starlink service in Ukraine and it may have to stop funding it unless the US military helped with tens of millions of dollars a month.

11:05am: Zelensky promises victory as Ukraine marks Defenders Day

President Volodymyr Zelensky marked Ukraine's Defenders Day holiday on Friday by promising victory over Russia and freedom for Ukraine.

In a video address delivered on hills outside the capital Kyiv, Zelensky thanked Ukraine's armed forces for defending their country. He said everything that had been taken away from Ukraine would be returned, and no soldier would be left in captivity.

"It seems that the current enemy in its evil unites all the enemies of our statehood that we faced before," Zelensky said on the wooded hills outside the village of Vitachyv, site of an historic military outpost overlooking the Dnipro River.

"The world sees that Ukrainians do not lose their humanity under any circumstances. The enemy can strike at our cities, but never at our dignity," he added.

10:48am: Russia says investigation opened into alleged Ukrainian shelling in Belgorod region

Russia said on Friday it had opened a criminal investigation into alleged Ukrainian shelling of a Russian border region in which it said people had been killed and wounded.

The state Investigative Committee did not specify the number of casualties in Thursday's incident, in which it said shells fired from Ukraine had destroyed an ammunition depot in the Belgorod region.

Russian officials also accused Ukraine on Thursday of strikes on border regions that hit a school, an apartment block and an electricity substation.

A Ukrainian official said the damage to the apartment block was caused by a stray Russian missile launched towards Ukraine.

10:06am: Crimea bridge repairs to be finished by July 2023: Russian document
Repairs to the bridge between the annexed Crimean peninsula and southern Russia, which was damaged in an explosion last Saturday, are to be finished by July 2023, a document published  on the Russian government's website said.

The Crimea bridge, a showcase project of Russian President Vladimir Putin's rule, was damaged in a blast that Russia has blamed on Ukraine. Some Ukrainian officials celebrated the incident but Kyiv has not claimed reponsibility for that attack.

9:37am: ‘Any sign’ that Kherson evacuations are not voluntary could constitute a war crime

Moscow-installed authorities have urged civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson to flee for their safety to Russia. Reporting from Lviv in western Ukraine, FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg explains that the Ukrainian government disapproves of Moscow evacuating people to Russia. “Any sign that these evacuations are not voluntary would be taken by Ukraine as forced deportations to Russia, which is considered a war crime,” says Cragg.

9:06am: Russian-backed forces make advances towards Bakhmut: UK

Russian-backed forces have made tactical advances over the past three days towards the centre of Bakhmut, a strategically important town in the eastern Donetsk region, and have likely advanced into villages south of the town, according to the UK military intelligence daily briefing.

Bakhmut sits on a main road leading to the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Private military company Wagner Group "likely remains" heavily involved in the Bakhmut fighting, said the briefing.

In Ukraine's Donbas region, the ministry said that Russia continued with offensive operations in central part of the state and was "very slowly" making progress.

8:51am: French firm Danone to withdraw from most of its business in Russia

French agribusiness Danone has said it planned to transfer control of its essential dairy and plant-based business in Russia. Danone will however retain the activities of its "specialised nutrition" arm, which includes infant milk.

One of the few multinationals to have remained in Russia since the Ukraine war, Danone said the move to "transfer the effective control" of the dairy business could result in a write-off of up to one billion euros ($980 million).

The arm represented five percent of Danone's net sales in 2022 so far.

"Danone considers that this is the best option to ensure long-term local business continuity, for its employees, consumers and partners," the group said in a statement.

The transaction will be subject to the approval of authorities, the group added.

7:10am: Trains suspended in parts of Russia's Belgorod after defences shoot down missile, says governor

Train operations were suspended early Friday near Novyi Oskol, a town in Russia's Belgorod region that borders Ukraine, after remains of a missile fell near the railway, said regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging app that anti-craft defences shot down missiles near Novyi Oskol, a town of about 18,000 people which lies about 90 kilometres (56 miles) north of the border with Ukraine.

"Power lines are damaged. Trains are temporarily suspended," Gladkov said, adding that there were no casualties.

6:48am: Civilians fleeing annexed Kherson head to Russia

Evacuees from Ukraine's southern Kherson region were expected to begin arriving in Russia on Friday after the Moscow-installed local authorities suggested they leave for safety.

"We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if they wish to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes... go to other regions," Russian-installed Kherson administration chief Vladimir Saldo said in a video message. People should "leave with their children".

The offer applied foremost to residents on the west bank of the Dnipro River, he said. That includes the regional capital, the only major Ukrainian city Russia has captured intact since invading in February.

The first civilians fleeing from Kherson were due to arrive in Russia's Rostov region on Friday, TASS news agency reported.

Kherson is one of four partially occupied Ukrainian provinces that Russia claims to have annexed in recent weeks, and arguably the most strategically important. It controls both the only land route to the Crimea peninsula Russia seized in 2014, and the mouth of the Dnipro, the river that bisects Ukraine.

6:39am: Ukraine says more than 600 settlements liberated in past month

Ukraine's armed forces have liberated more than 600 settlements from the Russian occupation in the past month, including 75 in the highly strategic Kherson region, Ukraine's Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporary Occupied Territories said.

Some 502 settlements have been liberated in the northeast Kharkiv region where Ukrainian forces last month advanced deep into Russian lines, the ministry said late Thursday.

The ministry said 43 settlements were liberated in the Donetsk region and seven in the Luhansk region.

"The area of liberated Ukrainian territories has increased significantly," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)