A Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine’s Dnieper River wounded seven people, including a 15-year-old boy, according to authorities.
Serhiy Lisak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said many residential buildings had been destroyed and one of the injured had been hospitalized.
Lisak added that last night another Russian drone and artillery attack in the Nikopol district destroyed five residential buildings, electricity and fuel pipelines and infrastructure.
About seven weeks ago, Russia opened a new stage in its war against Ukraine by launching an incursion into the northeastern Kharkiv region.
After reports of astonishing initial advances in a defensive environment, advances appear to have slowed.
So what’s the last one?
Much of the fighting has been concentrated around the Vovchansk attaché plant, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
You can see Vovchansk highlighted along Lypsti (which we’ll talk about below), on this map. . .
The U. S. -based tank said reports indicated that Ukrainian forces had “surrounded Russian forces of unknown strength” at the attaché plant.
Ukrainian forces are not carrying out direct attacks on the plant because this would result in casualties, according to a Ukrainian journalist on the ground.
At least some elements of the Russian 83rd Airborne Brigade are believed to be trapped at the plant.
However, “geolocated photographs released on June 30 (yesterday) imply that Russian forces have recently infiltrated the center of Vovchansk along Soborne Street,” the ISW said, suggesting that Moscow’s troops are still advancing in some respects.
“The combat scenario in Vovchansk is dynamic. . . And it’s unclear whether Ukrainian forces will ultimately be there consistently to prevent Russian forces from abandoning or reaching their positions at the attaché plant. “
Elsewhere, Russian forces recently massed north of the city of Kharkiv, near Lypsti, amid ongoing fighting in the domain yesterday, he added.
In addition, we heard from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russian forces were suffering six casualties for every Ukrainian casualty in Kharkiv.
Russian aerial bombardment in the region continues, with emergency facilities rushing to light a fire and treat the wounded after a guided bomb attack killed at least one user yesterday.
Ukraine has sent dozens of drones into Russian border territories in overnight attacks on the Defense Ministry in Moscow.
In a series of morning updates, the ministry said Russian air defense had destroyed 36 drones in Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod.
Ukraine has commented.
The governors of the Bryansk and Kursk regions said there were no injuries or significant damage; Russian officials rarely calculate the true scale of Ukrainian attacks.
Moscow says its forces have captured two villages further east of the city of Donetsk.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Spirne and Novooleksandrivka had been captured by base troops.
The Ukrainian General Staff said “heavy fighting” was taking place near the villages, but did not admit territorial losses.
Spirne is located east of the Donetsk region, near the border with Ukraine’s Luhansk region, while Novooleksandrivka is about 130 km further west.
Russia has made steady progress east of Avdiivka in recent months after capturing the city in February following a bitter clash.
Welcome to our war policy in Ukraine.
We’ll share the most recent updates that day, but here’s a quick refresher of the key things you want to know as we move into a new week.
Arrest warrants issued
Last Tuesday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for the former Russian defense minister and his army leader for allegedly attacking civilian targets in Ukraine.
The court charged Sergei Shoigu and General Valery Gerasimov with war crimes and crimes of humanity or inhumane acts.
This brings to eight the total number of arrest warrants against senior Russian officials since the start of the war, adding the famous Vladimir Putin.
While Kyiv welcomed the decision, there is no immediate chance that any of those men will be arrested, as Russia is not a member of the ICC and has no jurisdiction over it.
In theory, they only threaten to arrest them if they set foot in one of the 124 signatory states of the ICC.
EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova
Also on Tuesday, the EU officially opened accession negotiations with Ukraine, which Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as a “historic day” for his country.
Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, will lead the Ukrainian delegation to a convention in Luxembourg, which will mark the opening of the long-awaited talks.
There are several steps to be taken in Ukraine’s years-long efforts to join the bloc, and the club may be just years away.
In addition, the real negotiations will begin in several months’ time.
But the start of formal negotiations sends a message of solidarity to Ukraine beyond the money provided so far through EU countries.
Later that week, the European Union signed a security agreement with Ukraine.
The agreement reinforces the EU’s commitment to assist Ukraine in nine security and defence policy spaces, adding arms deliveries, military training, defence industry cooperation and mine clearance.
Prisoner exchange
Russia and Ukraine returned 90 prisoners thanks to a deal negotiated through the United Arab Emirates.
“All our citizens are in Russian captivity. We continue to work for the release of everyone. We are investigating all those who could be detained by the enemy,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Over the weekend, ten other Ukrainians detained in Russian prisons were also released thanks to the Vatican.
Some prisoners were held before the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
NATO appoints new chief
NATO has appointed Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as Secretary General.
The outgoing leader of the Netherlands will take the helm of the world’s largest security organization at a time of European security.
Rutte’s appointment was sealed by NATO ambassadors at an assembly held at the 32-nation alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
Joe Biden and his counterparts will officially welcome him to their table at a summit to be held in Washington from July 9 to 11.
Putin calls for banned weapons
Vladimir Putin has called on Russia to resume production of intermediate-range missiles, banned by a now-abandoned treaty with the United States.
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was considered a vital weapons milestone when then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U. S. President Ronald Reagan signed it in the 1980s.
It banned land-based missiles with a range of between 310 and 3,410 miles (500 to 5,500 km).
The United States withdrew from the treaty in 2019, denouncing Russian violations.
“We want to start the production of these attack systems and then, depending on the actual situation, make decisions about where to place them, if that is to ensure our safety,” Putin said.
For the moment we postpone our policy.
You can scroll down to stay updated with the latest developments and tomorrow we will be back to our normal policy.
Six other people were killed in a Russian attack on a small town in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a Ukrainian official said.
Eight other people were injured, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov.
Infrastructure, a shop and residential buildings in Vilniansk were damaged, he added.
The attack comes after five other people were killed in Russia’s Kursk region due to a Ukrainian drone attack.
Two young men were also wounded in the attack on the village of Gorodishche, about 118 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, Kursk Governor Alexei Smirnov said.
Two other people were injured and are in “serious condition” in hospital, he added.
Volodymyr Zelensky met with one of the Russian captive men the day before.
The Ukrainian president met with Nariman Djelyal, who was able to return home after three years of captivity.
“We will bring security to all our other peoples and peace in Ukraine. I thank everyone who supports us. I thank Nariman for this assembly and for his strength,” Zelenskyy said.
Dzhelyal was arrested in Crimea in 2021 when he was first deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.
During his imprisonment, he sent letters to Mr. Zelenskyy.
He added that in one of them he wrote: “We are fighting only for the integrity of our territories but also for the unity of our society, our beautiful and strong nation. ”
The arms aid program is expected to be unveiled on Monday, he said.
Ukraine has urgently called for air defense, as Russia has shelled its electrical facilities in recent weeks through air strikes.
The United States has Ukraine with more than $50 billion (£39. 5 billion) in military aid since 2022.
Today we have talked about the 10 Ukrainian civilians who were released from Russian captivity after years of imprisonment (see 8:49 a. m. message). m. ).
Watch them reunite with their loved ones at Kyiv International Airport in released images.