Russia said on Friday that its armed forces had struck Ukrainian targets including military and energy facilities, while Ukraine reported repelling multiple Russian offensives on the same day.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in its daily report that Russian forces had conducted strikes on Ukrainian military and energy facilities, as well as troop deployment points.
Over the past week, the Russian military shot down a Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 fighter jet and destroyed a Ukrainian unmanned boat. It also took control of two settlements in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine and the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, according to the report.
Also on Friday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported 154 battles along the front lines over the past day.
According to the report, Ukrainian forces launched strikes on multiple key Russian targets. They repelled numerous Russian attacks in the Kupyansk and Lyman directions in eastern Ukraine, while also destroying Russian military equipment and weapons.
Russia claims hitting Ukrainian targets, Ukraine reports repelling Russian offensives
France's gross domestic product (GDP) stalled in the first quarter of 2026, recording zero growth from the previous quarter, according to preliminary data released on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE).
The stagnation came as final domestic demand excluding inventories remained sluggish. Household consumption edged down 0.1 percent in the first three months of the year, a reversal from the 0.4 percent growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, gross fixed capital formation also fell back by 0.4 percent.
Foreign trade exerted a strong negative contribution to GDP growth in the first quarter, subtracting 0.7 percentage point after adding 0.6 point in the previous quarter. This downturn was driven by a sharp 3.8 percent drop in exports, while imports also continued to decline, falling 1.7 percent.
In contrast, changes in inventories provided a strong positive contribution of 0.8 percentage point, rebounding from a negative 0.7 percentage point in the fourth quarter of 2025. The INSEE said the inventory build was driven mainly by aerospace products.
Total production of goods and services remained sluggish in the first quarter, rising by 0.1 percent after a 0.2 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2025.
France's GDP stalls in Q1 2026 as foreign trade drags
