Russia-Ukraine War: Transnistria says it detected military movements near its borders

Breakaway Moldovan region Transnistria has said that it is "closely monitoring certain military movements" near its southern and western borders. Foreign minister Vitaly Ignatiev told Rossiya-24 TV broadcaster that the Transnistrian authorities are "working attentively on the entire perimeter of the border with Ukraine." 

"We're keeping an eye on the western border of Transnistria, on the Moldovan side and are observing certain military movements, a concentration of certain military units. We are trying to ensure maximum security, to protect the interests of our state, our citizens," he said. 

US and its allies cynically used Ukraine  in its geopolitical game, Russian President Vladimir Putin said addressing a meeting at the Foreign Intelligence Service’s head office on the 100th anniversary of Russia’s illegal intelligence. The "so-called collective West deflects from the fact that there is no alternative to the model of liberal globalism and hegemony will collapse," Putin said. 

US-style world order resembles 'neocolonialism' where rights of other nations "are simply trampled on". President of Russia iterated, launching a scathing attack on Washington. Putin cited the examples, noting "fate of many countries" in the Middle East, Libya, and other regions as well as of millions of people in Ukraine. He further added that the tactic of flaring the conflict by pumping more weapon in Ukraine is aimed at "containing Russia" and "stop its development at necessary pace." 

"Is it just containment? It is merely a fight against Russia," the president noted during his address on Friday. 

 

A multipolar world order is evolving globally, Russian President Vladimir Putin said  addressing the 10th St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPBILF).  "A multipolar system of international relations has been actively evolving. The process is irreversible, it has been unfolding in front of our eyes and it is objective in its nature," Putin noted. 

"The position of Russia and many other countries is that this democratic, more just world order should be built on the basis of mutual respect and trust, and, of course, on the generally accepted principles of international law and the UN Charter," he stressed.

Turkey’s president recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that he could still block the NATO accession of two nordic countries Finland and Sweden should they fail to "meet his expectations".  Erdoğan reminded that the two countries must fulfill their promises made to Turkey and meet all criteria, including the extradition of terrorists Ankara had demanded previously linked to Kurdish groups. Turkey’s parliament can anytime refuse to ratify the deal, Erdogan reiterated. 

Warning NATO against exaggerating and inflating the so-called Chinese threat in the Asia Pacific region, China sais that Western military's Alliance itself is a "systematic challenge to global peace, security and stability." After NATO declared Beijing as "strategic priority" in its 2022 strategic concept, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian warned the military bloc to "immediately stop its baseless criticism and provocative statements against China" and "refrain from Cold War ideology and the zero-sum game concept." 

Lijian accused NATO of waging wars across the globe, as he asserted "we want to state openly" that NATO has "blood of the global population on its hands."

As NATO concluded its 2-day summit in Madrid decalring Russia as the "most direct threat," Russia's Foreing Minister Sergey Lavrov said that NATO "completely submits to the positions, imposed by the US." He slammed the barrage of sanctions slapped on Russia's economy by Europe, stating that they are "imposed by the US, and the US alone." Lavrov continued that US never sanctions anything that will "seriously damage their economy" but due to its intersts, "Europe suffers much more."

US President, Joe Biden claimed that he had called the leader of Switzerland to discuss abandoning neutrality and joining NATO in his latest gaffe, meaning to say Sweden. At a press conference in Madrid after 2-day NATO summit Biden said: "Some of the American press will remember when I got a phone call from the leader of Finland saying could he come and see me, then he came the next day and said, ‘Will you support my joining — my country joining Nato?’ We got the telephone. He suggested we call the leader of Switzerland." 

He then corrected himself saying: "Switzerland, my goodness, I’m getting really anxious here about expanding NATO — of Sweden.”

Beijing issued hardened response on NATO's so-called Strategic Concept via state mouthpiece Global Times, as it hit back at NATO's what it described "Cold War thinking and ideological bias". China purported that Western defense alliance was "maliciously attacking and smearing China." Spokesperson of the Chinese Mission to the EU reacted, saying that it is infact NATO "that is going around creating problems in the world."

While it claims to be defensive organization that "upholds the rules-based international order," in reality it bypasses the UN Security Council and wages wars against sovereign states on the globe, Chinese Mission asserted. Now NATO is stirring conflict in the Asia-Pacific region after bloc confrontation in Europe, China said, lambasting the Alliance.

"We urge NATO to stop provoking confrontation. If it comes down to acts that undermine China's interests, we will give firm and strong responses," said Chinese Mission to the EU.

Britain has been training the Ukrainian soldiers in use of advanced 105-mm  L119 howitzers and М270 MLRS. Thus far, UK's military has trained over 450 Ukrainian servicemen. 

Brigadier general in Ukraine's armed forces, Oleksii Hromov, has claimed that Russian forces are using old and inaccurate missiles from its Soviet stocks for more than 50% of its strikes in Ukraine. "To carry out rocket strikes, the enemy in more than 50% of cases is using missiles from the Soviet reserve, which are not sufficiently precise. As a result, civilian buildings are being hit," Hromov told a news conference. He added: "The enemy's targets remain military facilities, critical infrastructure and industry, transport networks. At the same time, the civilian population is suffering significant losses due to poorly targeted strikes." 

NATO members Estonia and Latvia signed letter of intent on Thursday at the NATO summit in Madrid for the procurement of medium-range anti-aircraft systems.  Defense ministers of the two nations neighbouring Russia signed the document at the conference.“The aggression of Russia in Ukraine clearly shows the need for air defence systems,” Latvian defence minister Artis Pabriks said in a statement. He stated that the weaponry will bolster the defense of the Baltic countries. “The NATO summit has sent a clear message that help will be given to those who are ready also to defend themselves,” Pabriks’ Estonian counterpart Kalle Laanet meanwhile said. 

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the agreement to transfer 39 armoured combat support vehicles to Ukraine has bene approved and finalized. As the NATO summit in Madrid came to an end, Trudeau said that the ACVSs Ottawa will transfer were intiially meant forCanadian Army but instead, will be sent to Kyiv's military forces to fight Russia. 

“The light armoured vehicles we will be sending over will be extremely effective. We’re just glad to help and we’re going to continue to look and respond to things that they need. Stocks for the Canadian military will be replenished as quickly as possible. We need to make sure that the women and men of the Canadian Forces have the equipment they need to continue their mission and step up as necessary," said Trudeau. 

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that even when Russian troops have retreated and Snake Island has become “free again,” there's no guarantee of safety yet. “Zmiinyi [Snake] Island is a strategic point, and it significantly changes the situation in the Black Sea. It does not guarantee safety yet, it does not yet guarantee that the enemy will not return. But it already limits the actions of the occupiers significantly. Step by step, we will drive them out of our sea, our land, and our sky,” Zelensky said in his nightly address. 

Turkey has over 20 ships ready to export grain from Ukraine, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at NATO summit. "We will continue to maintain telephone diplomacy with Putin and Zelensky. We have a roadmap, the implementation of which has started. We will try to launch this corridor as soon as possible. We have about 20 ships in the region that are ready to take grain out of Ukraine," he iterated. 

Russia embassy has forwarded a Note Verbale to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for making insulting statements against "Russia, Russian people, the President of Russian and other Russian officials."

French president Emmanuel Macron has declared that he will deliver six CAESAR howitzers and armored vehicles to Ukraine, The Kyiv Independent newspaper has learnt. At the NATO allies meeting in Madrid it was “unanimously decided” to boost the military supply for Ukraine to fight Russia, Macron said. 

During a meeting with Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, Belarus' authoritarian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko accused the West of a bias, stressing "we have to defend ourselves." “We live in a challenging time," Lukashenko said as he hosted Russian counterpart Lavrov. "They [West] fail at diplomacy, we are for diplomatic means in the first place. But what can we do during challenegs of global hegemony?" asked Belarusian leader, according to the release from his meeting with Russian FM. 

"First they started with mass media. Then they silenced diplomats. None of international organizations are effective any longer. What can we do? We have to defend ourselves, to fight back,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. 

Lukashenko stressed that West has declared an "economic war" against Russia. "What does transit closure mean?" asked Russia's ally, refering to Kaliningrad block by Lithuania. "Putin and I very seriously discussed these matters, they shift the blame onto the European Union. They claim they didn’t do it, the European Union made this decision. But decisions are made by a consensus," asserted Lukashenko. "They seized our assets, our money, imposed sanctions. This is nothing but economic war,” said Belarus President. 

Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has stoked controversy by suggesting that Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy "should have surrendered to Russia." During talks with Piers Morgan on TalkTV, Ecclestone appeared to suggest that Ukrainian president "could have stopped it himself".

"If this had happened and I was there and I wanted to protect my people, I'd have got hold of Putin and said, 'listen, we've got to stop this'". When asked if he was refering to surrendering, ex F1 boss said: "I'd have found a very dignified way to do that because that's probably what will have to happen anyway. To end this they should talk to each other about what's happening."

Russia's president Vladimir Putin on Friday called NATO defense alliance as "a relic of Cold War era." A reporter asked, NATO summit begun with the "war-mongering rhetoric". Russia has been declared a “direct threat” to the security of the Alliance.  How would you assess these statements? 

To this Putin responded, that NATO has long been looking for an "external enemy" or a threat that would rally the militaries of their allies. "I am referring above to the United States," he stressed. 

"This is fresh proof of what we have been saying all along: that NATO is a relic of the past, of the Cold War era." 

Putin stated that while NATO claimed that it has changed and has become more of a political alliance, but in reality, "it is a military organisation." 

Credit: Kremlin

Bulgaria's outgoing prime minister on Thursday asked Russia to keep diplomatic channels open as he appealed to the country's foreign ministry to take back the ultimatum of shutting the Sofia's embassy in Moscow altogether. Moscow's threat came after Bulgaria expelled 70 Russian diplomatic staff over "espionage concerns." 

Philippines new  president Ferdinand Marcos has labelled Russia's invasion of Ukraine as "outrage" that must not be tolerated, Japan's foreign minister told his country's reporters.  "We shared a view that Russian invasion of Ukraine is an outrage that shakes the core of the international order, and that unilaterally changing the status quo by force should not be tolerated in any region," he was reported as saying. 

Germany is planing to purchase the missile defence system including the Russian Iskander missiles from Israel, and United States. Germany's chief of defence Eberhard Zorn told newspaper Welt am Sonntag that it plasn to strenghten its defense in the face of Russian aggression. Eberhard Zorn reportedly stated that the Russian Iskander missiles could reach almost all of western Europe. "The Israelis and the Americans possess such systems. Which one do we prefer? Will we manage to establish an overall (missile defence) system in NATO? These are the questions we need to answer now," Zorn was quoted as saying.

Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Friday labelled Ukraine's claims of civilian infrastructure attack by Russian troops, and Kremenchug mall strike allegations as "outrageous provocation." 

"New fabricated excuses are being invented to accuse Russia of killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure," Russia's Maria Zakharova said. 

An outrageous provocation was held to accuse the Russian Armed Forces of striking a shopping centre in Kremenchug on June 27. The shops of the Kredmash Defence Plant are located several dozen metres away from this shopping centre, she claimed.

"These facilities stored weapons and ammunition that were sent to the Ukrainian nationalists and military by the US and EU countries," Russian MFA Spokeswoman Zakharova asserted. 

"Why are the Western nations supplying Ukraine with weapons that are stored in direct proximity to densely populated civilian infrastructure?" she asked.  This is exactly what we call "hiding behind civilians," she stressed, blaming Ukraine of setting up defense equipments in civilian populated areas. 

Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko held a meeting in Minsk, kick starting the 9th installment of the Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia in Grodno. Lavrov also met Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vladimir Makei. At the press conference, Lavrov emphasized that the two countries have agreed to maintain "their legitimate security interests" in an era when NATO continues to act "very aggressively."

"We always stand for dialogue. We always stand for the decisions that ensure equality and balance of interests," Sergey Lavrov said.

Credit: Kremlin

During the meeting with Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov in Minsk, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said that he will build relations with Russia that "others will envy."  "He [Vladimir Putin] supports our intensive allied dialogue," the Russian foreign minister Lavrov agreed. 

"You can be sure of that. I think the Russian President is also absolutely convinced of this," Aleksandr Lukashenko replied.

"I once voice this idea of [strenghtening ties]," Belarusian leader said. "I think you'll support it or rather I'm sure you'll support it. We are smart enough not to incorporate each other, either Russia into Belarus or Belarus into Russia, as the West says we will do," Putin's ally Lukashenko said. 

"We are two smart independent states that can build such an architecture of our relations that others will envy. We are moving towards this," the Belarusian leader stressed.

Credit: President of Belarus

Russian forces withdrew from a strategic Black Sea island Thursday, potentially easing the threat to the vital Ukrainian port city of Odesa, but have kept up their push to encircle the last stronghold of resistance in the eastern province of Luhansk where they continue shellings, Associated Press is reporting. 

Kremlin portrayed the pullout from Snake Island as a “goodwill gesture.” But Ukraine’s military claimed it had forced the Russians to flee in two small speedboats following a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile strikes. The exact number of troops was not disclosed.

“Unable to withstand the impact of our artillery, missile and aviation units, the Russian occupiers have left Snake Island. The Odesa region is completely liberated,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine further said in its regular social media update Thursday evening.

A leading economic expert in Russia was detained Thursday on embezzlement charges as part of a high-profile case that some observers saw as linked to purges targeting members of the country’s liberal elite. Investigators accused Vladimir Mau, the rector of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, embezzling funds from the institution, a leading school for public servants. Mau denied the charges.

Moscow’s Tverskoi District Court put Mau under house arrest pending the ongoing probe, in accordance with the investigators’ request, rejecting Mau’s plea to be freed on bail. Since the early 1990s, Mau has served as a senior economic adviser to the Russian government. He received high state awards from President Vladimir Putin in 2012 and 2017.

The investigators said the accusations were part of a broader embezzlement probe in which Marina Rakova, a former deputy education minister who worked alongside Mau, testified against him.

Source/Image: Associated Press

Russian troops have taken the control of the Lysychansk oil refinery, Vitaliy Kiselev, the assistant minister of the interior of the Russian-backed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) told Russian affiliated media outlet Zvezda. “Today, our troops have completely taken over the refinery, cleaning is underway. Our divisions have already entered almost beyond the refinery. That is, we control part of the city from the side of the refinery," Kiselev said.

Furthermore he informed, "We have units that entered from the eastern side, crossed the Siverskyi Donets River and crashed into residential buildings. And we have exactly the same situation, even better, after we took Vovchoiarivka, our units came even closer. And from the side of Toshkivka we crashed into the residential areas. Almost from all sides we control Lysychansk, somewhere by 50%."

Russian leader Putin told his Indonesian counterpart that Moscow has been in contact with the relevant UN organization, which "took the trouble to work out these issues with representatives of the EU and the United States." Export of Ukrainian grain is about 0.5% of all food produced in the world, he stressed, downplaying the blockade. He iterated, that world produces 800 million tons of grain, of that Russia supplied over 40 million tons of grain to the foreign market just last year.

Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs has summoned the British ambassador in Moscow, Deborah Bronnert, to register strong objection against UK Prime minister Boris Johnson’s what it describes “offensive” remarks regarding Russia's leader Vladimir Putin.Kremlin summoned the UK ambassador over what it said “the frankly boorish statements of the British leadership regarding Russia, its leader and official representatives of the authorities, as well as the Russian people." 

Russian MFA stressed that the “offensive rhetoric from representatives of the UK authorities is unacceptable." 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said that in acordance with the joint memorandum he signed with Sweden and Finland that paves way for their entry into NATO, the latter have agreed that "73 Kurdish terrorists will be extradited." "We expect our allies to take into consideration our concerns not just at a rhetorical level but also through facts ", Erdogan on sidelines of the 2-day NATO Summit at Madrid.

Further elaborating on the memorandum signed between Ankara, Helsinki and Stockholm, Turkey said that it involves security guarantees that convinced Ankara to lift the veto on the candidature of the Scandinavian countries to the Atlantic Alliance.

“If the promise is not kept, we will do what is necessary in the agreement,” Erdogan reminded at a presser in Madrid.  He asseretd that Turkey would not send the ratification of the agreement to the parliament if Sweden does not extradite the terrorists and fulfill these obligatinos.  "We will not send [ratification of agreement] to parliament," he reiterated.

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has denied that his troops have been blocking Ukrainian grain exports at the strategic ports in Black Sea. Speaking alongside visiting  Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, Putin said at the conference: "We do not prevent the export of Ukrainian grain. The Ukrainian military has mined the approaches to their ports, no one prevents them from clearing those mines and we guarantee the safety of shipping grain out of there."

Russia and the European Union have agreed that the two countries need a plan for the transit of Russian goods via the Kaliningrad exclave, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said today at a conference. Kaliningrad is located between the EU and NATO states of Poland and Lithuania and is a strategic route for Russian goods carriers. The freight transport from mainland Russia to the enclave has been cut since  June 17 by Lithuania, that said is implementing EU sanctions. 

As the Russian forces have withdrawn from Snake Island in the Black Sea as a "goodwill gesture," Ukrainian Military’s Southern Command, Natalia Humenyuk said that  it may be “too early” for Ukraine to establish an outpost there yet. “Our forces haven’t landed on the island yet,” she reportedly said, adding that Russians have set up anti-air missile systems and radar stations on fire to prevent their tracks from being traced. 

US president Joe Biden has announced that US and Nato allies will stick with Ukraine “as long as it takes.” Speaking at the end of 2-day NATO summit in Madrid, Biden said: “We’re gonna stick with Ukraine, and all of the allies will stick with Ukraine, as long as it takes, and in fact make sure they are not defeated.” 

Following Damascus' recognition of the Russian-occupied regions of eastern Ukraine as independent states, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine declared that the country has severed diplomatic ties with Syria. "Ukraine strongly condemns the decision of the Syrian Arab Republic to recognize the so-called “independence” of the temporarily occupied territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry wrote on Twitter. 

The ministry further added, "We consider this decision to be an unfriendly act against Ukraine, an encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state, and a gross violation of Ukrainian law, the UN Charter, and the fundamental norms and principles of international law."

It further stated that Ukraine's diplomatic ties with Syria are no longer valid without the severance of consular relations.  Additionally, the Ukrainian side has started the process of putting Syria under a trade embargo and placing other restrictions on Syrian persons and legal entities.

The 'special military operation' Russia is carrying out in Ukraine is proceeding as planned and there is no necessity to adhere to any deadlines for its completion, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated while concluding his visit to Ashgabat on June 29. The liberation of Donbass, the protection of the local population, and the creation of conditions that will guarantee the security of Russia itself are the three objectives of the special military operation, Putin asserted, the TASS news agency reported.

When questioned about a potential completion date for the project, the Russian president responded saying, "There is no need to talk about any deadlines. I never talk about it, since this is life and these are real things. It is not right to squeeze that into any deadlines."

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez asserted that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will continue providing assistance to Kyiv until the last Russian soldier leaves the war-torn country. He made these statements at a press conference on the second day of the NATO summit in Madrid on Thursday. Sanchez went on to say that the intergovernmental military alliance is prepared to support Ukraine over the long run, even though the war has extended longer than anticipated. 

"Allies are ready to fully support Ukraine until the last Russian soldier leaves the territory that does not belong to them. The allies provide assistance not only morally but also materially, militarily, and by sheltering refugees," the Spanish Prime Minister told reporters, the European Pravda reported.

In his latest remarks, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan claimed that he is in constant touch with Russian President Vladimir Putin to resolve the situation in Ukraine. "I am in constant contact with Vladimir Putin. All diplomatic efforts must be made for an early ceasefire," Erdogan said at a press conference after the NATO summit in Madrid, RIA Novosti reported. 

Speaking at the NATO summit in Madrid, US President Joe Biden stated that his country will announce over $800 million in new funding for Ukraine in the coming days. He further stated that his administration will also provide air defence to the war-torn country. 
 

Rescue workers in Ukraine's Kremenchuk city are still clearing the debris and looking for dead bodies in the wreckage of the shopping centre. According to media reports, the missile strike on the crowded mall had resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people, while nearly 59 are wounded and 40 are still missing. 

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated that his country has started exporting electricity to the European Union (EU). "Just three months after receiving the energy certification, the long-awaited export of Ukrainian electricity to Europe has begun! Today [Thursday], from the first hour of the night, such exports went to Romania. The initial volume is 100 MW,” Shmyhal stated in a Facebook post. 

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has called on Russia to suspend the execution of two British nationals who were sentenced to death by a pro-Russian court in Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). The ECHR stated that it has agreed to grant interim measures in the case of two Britons, urging Russia to guarantee suitable detention circumstances and provide them with all necessary medical care. “The European Court of Human Rights has decided to grant interim measures in the cases of Pinner v. Russia and Ukraine, and Aslin v. Russia and Ukraine (application nos. 31217/22 and 31233/22) concerning two British nationals who are members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the ECHR stated in a press release.

Amid the ongoing war, Sweden has decided to send additional anti-tank weapons, and machine guns to Ukraine to fight the Russian aggression. According to Swedish media reports, the country's fifth aid package for Ukraine includes anti-tank weapons, demining equipment, and support weapons such as machine guns, worth around 47 million euros.  Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist said the weapons have been "specifically requested by Ukraine," Kyiv Independent reported citing Swedish media. 
 

United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss claimed that Europe will be "much less safe" if North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) does not make it their "absolute priority" to push Moscow's troops out of Kyiv. She also called Russian President Vladimir Putin an "appalling dictator" who has been waging a war that is in no way legitimate or legal. "I have not met Vladimir Putin, I don't know the motivation for carrying out this appalling war. All I know is that we have to make it our absolute priority to stop this war and to push the Russian troops out of Ukraine," Truss told Sky News. 

The UK government has declared that it will provide Ukraine with an additional £1 billion in military assistance. With this, Britain has provided military aid totalling £2.3 billion since the onset of the war. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy extended his gratitude to the UK government for the additional assistance. "I’m grateful to UK Prime Minister @BorisJohnson  for allocating an additional £1 billion for security assistance to Ukraine. The UK is our true friend and strategic partner. We appreciate the consistent, leadership support for Ukraine in countering Russian aggression [sic]," he tweeted. 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asserted that for Ukraine value of life and people is of utmost importance but for Russia, all that matters is weaponry.

"Ukraine is a state where the highest value is a person. And we are fighting against the aggressor whose highest value is weaponry," Zelenskyy wrote.

He wrote it in a Telegram post and also shared different pictures of Ukrainians suffering due to the rigorous war brought on them by Russia. The Ukrainian side saw heavy casualties as far as civilian damages were concerned. A report released by the UN on June 29, highlighted that civilian casualties in Ukraine exceeded the 10,000 mark.

Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, June 30 asserted that there's no need whatsoever to confine Russia's operation in Ukraine to any deadlines. He added that the main goal of the operation is to liberate Donbass, protect its people and ensure the security of Russia, as per TASS.

Putin further said, "It is linked to the intensity of combat operations, which is directly linked to potential casualties, and we must think above all things about protecting our guys’ lives."

A top US intelligence official claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin still intends to conquer much of Ukrainian territories. Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence, stated that Russia have been weakened by the war and it is now only capable of making limited territorial gains. "We perceive a disconnect between President Putin's near-term military objectives in Ukraine and his military's capacity, a kind of mismatch between his ambitions and what the military is able to accomplish," she told at the Commerce Department conference on June 29, BBC reported. 

NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg met Boris Johnson on Thursday and discussed the alliance's continued support to Ukraine. He also thanked the British PM for the UK's key role in our Alliance & its contributions to strengthening NATO deterrence & defence in a more dangerous world.

As Russian attacks on eastern Ukraine continue to grow, a top official has said that 129 settlements in Donetsk Oblast remain without electricity. In a telegram post, Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko also lamented that water supply hasn’t been restored in Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka, and partially in Sloviansk.

A ship carrying 7,000 tonnes of grain has sailed from Ukraine's occupied port of Berdyansk, the region's Moscow-appointed official said on Thursday, marking the first grain shipment since the start of the war. "After numerous months of delay, the first merchant ship has left the Berdyansk commercial port, 7,000 tonnes of grain are heading toward friendly countries," Evgeny Balitsky, the head of the pro-Russia administration, said on Telegram. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of grains are stuck on Ukrainian ports amid the Russian blockade. 

Russian occupiers confirmed their withdrawal from Snake Island and called it a "step of goodwill": "Today, as a step of goodwill, the Russian military completed their tasks on Snake Island and withdrew the garrison there," Putin's troops said in a statement. 

The death toll in the Mykolaiv apartment attack rose to six, Regional Military Administration informed on Thursday. Notably, on Wednesday morning, at least ten Russian missiles were fired toward Mykolaiv and its outskirts, wherein one of the missiles hit a residential building. 

Ukrainian forces continue to hold their positions in Lysychansk while ground combat is focused around the oil refinery, 10km southwest of the city centre, the United Kingdom’s defence ministry said on Thursday.

Russia’s war kills 2 civilians in Donetsk Oblast on Wednesday. As per Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, the two civilians were killed in Krasnohorivka and Sydorove. Two more people were injured in Donetsk Oblast on June 29, Kyrylenko reported, according to Kyiv Independent.

As the war between Ukraine and Russia entered day 127, the Ukrainian authorities confirmed the death of at least 341 children and the injury of more than 630 children. According to the details shared in a Telegram post, Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said the data are not final, as they are being investigated within the areas of hostilities, temporarily occupied and liberated areas. It informed that the most casualties were registered in the Donetsk region followed by Kharkiv and the national capital, Kyiv. Besides, it noted more than 2,096 educational institutions were damaged due to bombing and shelling by the armed forces of the Russian Federation. "Of them, 215 were completely destroyed," it added.

Russia has already lost about 35,600 troops in Ukraine (+150 over the past day), as per the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook.

Between February 24, 2022 and June 30, 2022, the enemy’s total combat losses included also 1,573 tanks (+1 over the past day), 3,726 armored fighting vehicles (+6), 790 artillery systems (+9), 246 multiple launch rocket systems (+0), 104 anti-aircraft warfare systems (+1), 217 aircrafts (+0), 185 helicopters (+0), 2,602 motor vehicles and fuel tanks (+4), 14 warships/boats (+0), 641 unmanned aerial vehicles (+1), 61 special equipment units (+0). A total of 143 enemy cruise missiles (+1) were shot down.

As Russia's war in Ukraine has entered day 127, Kremlin troops conduct an offensive near Verkhniokamyanka and assault operations in the area of ​​the Lysychansk oil refiner, as per the latest report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"In Donetsk direction, the enemy, with the support of artillery, is trying to block the town of Lysychansk and take control of a section of Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway. The invaders fired at civilian infrastructure in the areas of Lysychansk, Verkhniokamyanka and Siversk, launched an airstrike near Vovchoyarivka," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Facebook.

Ukraine's assault aircraft launched up to twenty group airstrikes on the positions of the Russian occupation forces in various directions.

“Su-25 attack aircraft and Su-24m bombers hit an enemy command and observation post, two ammunition depots, a missile and artillery weapons depot, and destroyed the enemy's equipment and manpower,” the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine posted on Telegram.

The assault aviation was particularly active in Luhansk to back the Ukraine’s defense forces' unit from the air.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday said that the bloc has been preparing to face off Russia since 2014.

"We actually prepared for this possibility for a long time," he said at a news conference capping a second day of a NATO summit in Madrid as per TASS. "It’s not as if NATO suddenly woke up on the 24th of February and realized that Russia was dangerous."

"The reality is that we also have been preparing for this since 2014 because that’s the reason why we have increased our presence in the eastern part of the alliance, why NATO allies have started to invest more in defense," Stoltenberg added.

The top US intelligence officer claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wants to capture most of Ukraine but added that Russian troops have been weakened by the four-month-long combat. While speaking at the US Commerce Department conference, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, said that Putin's troops are still capable of gaining territories of Ukraine and added this could lead the war to stretch for longer. She affirmed that the Russian head still has the same goal but added it is unlikely to achieve that goal any time soon.

Ukraine's military intelligence released a video on Wednesday claiming to show the exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier confirmed that 144 Ukrainian military personnel had been released from Russian captivity as part of a prisoner swap. The exchange was the largest since the war's start. Of the Ukrainian prisoners freed, 95 were involved in defending the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the fighting that became a symbol of Ukrainian resilience.

Russia still has territorial ambitions beyond Donbas, said the US-based think tank Institute for the Study of War, adding Russian forces are continuing to engage in offensive operations north of Kharkiv.

It said the Kremlin "will continue to attrit manpower and equipment, potentially at the cost of offensive power on more critical axes of advance", as per the Kyiv Independent.

As the Russian offensive against Ukraine continues even after immense pressures from the West and its allies, a multinational task force said it has intercepted and seized $30 billion in sanctioned individuals’ property and funds. According to the US Treasury Department, the REPO task force has frozen $30 billion of Russian assets in its first 100 days in operation. "We continue to increase Russia’s cost of its war," Treasury said of the REPO task force, short for Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs.

Western supplies of advanced weaponry to Ukraine's military is flaring the conflict and this will "severely affect Ukraine," Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin has said during the Channel 4 interview.

Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said that he will "do everything to bring every Ukrainian man and woman home" who has been captured as a prisoner of war (POW) by the Russian soldiers. In a regular video address, Ukraine's leader hailed the prisoner swap with Russia that got 144 Ukrainian fighters home.

Others that returned home from captivity include 59 soldiers of the National Guard, 30 from Ukraine's Navy; 28 from the army, 17 border guards, 9 territorial defense soldiers, 1 policeman, Zelenskyy informed. The oldest of the liberated is 65 years old, the youngest is 19, he said.

"In particular, 95 Azovstal steel plant defenders captured at Mariupol return home. I am grateful to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine and to everyone who worked for this result. We will do everything to bring every Ukrainian man and woman home," Zelenskyy iterated. 

A day after Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy was allowed to speak before the UN Security Council remotely, Russian First Deputy Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky claimed it violated the existing practice as no council members were informed prior to his address. "We are seriously concerned over the stance of the Albanian Presidency with regard to the participation of President Zelenskyy of Ukraine in this meeting. There have been no consultations with all Council members on this issue," he said at the UN Security Council. "The delegations were confronted with this fact at the last moment. This violates the existing practice and working methods of the Security Council," he added.

As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance, US President Joe Biden welcomed the step and said their decision will make the alliance stronger and secure. "It will bolster the steps we’re taking during this summit to enhance our collective strength," he said in a tweet. 

UK's billionaire Sir Richard Branson travelled to Ukraine and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and foreign minister Dmytro Kuelba as well as Ukrainian business leaders. The reason he was visiting he said was because he wanted to explore "what business, in partnership with civil society and governments, can do to support Ukraine most effectively". he travelled to Gostomel Airport and saw the remains of world's largest plane Antonov AN-225 that was struck by Russian missile. Branson called the attacks on Ukraine "part of a deliberate strategy to spread fear and terror among Ukraine's civilian population." 

"I hope the Russian perpetrators of these shocking acts will be held to account," he said. 

In a hardened tone against NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the two nordic states Finland and Sweden that if they welcome NATO troops and military infrastructure onto their territory, Russia will respond in kind. Russia will have to “create the same threats for the territory from which threats against us are created," warned Putin. 

On the sidelines of the Summit of the "five" to ensure the security of the Caspian region, Putin met with Iranian leader Ebrahim Raisi. He told his Iranian counterpart that Russia shares "deep and strategic" ties with Tehran that shares similar security concerns. Putin did not name the United States, and also focused on some of the key regions like hot spot Syria. Russia–Syria–Iran–Iraq have a coalition, also referred to as 4+1 that shares a joint intelligence-sharing cooperation and conducts operations in Syria's Damascus and Iraq's Green Zone in Baghdad. 

Raisi reiterated that Russia and Iran ties are aimed at developing trade and economic relations more than ever. The meeting comes just a day after his Iran applied to join the BRICS mechanism following the summit of the five-nation bloc during which Putin demanded alternative to US' hegemony and switch to Asia's own payment system in the face of West's sanctions during the Russia war. He also opened the prospect of admitting new countries. 

“Nothing stopped the development of our trade and economic ties, and nothing will stop them. Our will is that we will develop our bilateral ties,” Iran’s Raisi iterated at the meeting. “Our view of the Russian Federation is strategic,” he stressed. 

“One of the areas in which we can cooperate is, of course, the area related to the Caspian Sea. We can cooperate in the Caspian on transport, transit, as well as on other issues related to the Caspian Sea,” Raisi said. 

Credit: Kremlin

A day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of becoming "a terrorist" as his forces attacked a shopping mall in Ukraine, the latter refuted the claims and said he does not consider it a terrorist attack. According to Putin, the Russian army does not shoot at civilian targets, and their "high-precision weapons" achieve their goals.
"There is no terrorist attack there.  I know, and we have said it many times, shown it, from the drones you can see when they place weapons, MLRS, artillery, heavy equipment in general in residential areas, somewhere else. Just like that" in the fields "Nobody shoots at us,"  RIA Novosti quoted Putin as saying.

Russians shelled at least seven settlements in Donetsk region overnight, that resulted in civilian casualties, Ukraine's National Police said. "20 civilian objects were destroyed, including residential buildings, a school, a factory, an agricultural company, businesses and a power transmission line," it said in a Telegram post. The occupants used S-300 air-defence systems, artillery, "Grad" and "Uragan" multiple rocket launchers, it added. 

Images credit: Anton Gerashchenko/telegram

NATO members have officially declared Russia a direct threat to the Alliance, said NATO's chief Jens Stoltenberg.  At the the Madrid summit , NATO endorsed its new Strategic Concept for 2030 wherein it identifies Russia as "the most significant and direct threat." The summit also approved an aid package for Ukraine, including accelerated deliveries of non-lethal weapons, enhanced cyber defense and modernization of the defense industry.

US-established international panel on Russian elites, proxies and oligarchs has blocked sub-sanctioned funds worth more than $30 billion. According to a statement by US Treasury, the measure will heavily restrict sanctioned Russians’ access to the international financial system SWIFT. European Union and the US also immobilized about $300 billion worth of Russian Central Bank assets. They restricted Russia’s access to the global financial system, making it more difficult for Putin's regime to procure technology necessary to sustain the ongoing war in Ukraine.

A bridge across the Irpin river that was destroyed from lightning strike has collapsed due to the subsequent detonation of explosive device near the village of Demydiv in Vyshhorod district in Kyiv Region. Kyiv regional administration notified in a post that at least one person died ,and two others were injured due to the incident.

Images credit: Anton Gerashchenko

Invading Russian forces have been trying to besiege Lysychansk and take control of a section of the Lysychansk-Bakhmut road, Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff said on social media. They are advancing in the Donetsk direction. Russia's Air Force also carried out an airstrike on the area of the Lysychansk oil refinery, said Armed Forces' General Staff of Ukraine. 

"To support the offensive, they deployed subversive and reconnaissance groups. Ukrainian soldiers detected and neutralized them. The remnants of the enemy SRG retreated."

Russia's President Vladimir Putin met with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Ashgabat on the sidelines of the sixth Caspian Summit hosted by capital of Turkmenistan. Amid the ongoing military conflict with Ukraine, Russian leader arrived after the meeting of the "five" from Tajikistan where he warned against NATO influence or military forces deployment from the non  Caucasus states. 

It is learnt that the leaders will adopt a communique of the sixth Caspian summit, which will set out agreed positions on further multilateral cooperation for security in the Caspian region. This document will strictly underline the provision on the non-presence of extra-regional armed forces in the Caspian Sea. While Moscow considers it important to bring the convention into force, it is learnt that Iran still has not ratified it. Putin aims to establish new transcontinental transport routes via these countries as well as the development of the international North—South transport corridor as ties with the West have deteriorated. 

Several bilateral meetings are planned by Russia on the sidelines of the summit. After Azerbaijan, Putin is expected to talk with Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi. Russia's president already held a meeting with President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe.

Credit: Kremlin

Russia’s state natural gas producer Gazprom has announced that it will increase gas supplies to the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad. According to regional governor Anton Alikhanov the decision came as tensions simmered with the neighbouring Lithuania over Russian goods blockade. Russian President Vladimir Putin had declared in May that there will be boost to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply to Kaliningrad. 

Responding to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's "If Putin was a woman..' remark, Russia's president reminded him of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who he said had "decided to start hostilities, military operations against Argentina for the Falkland Islands." 

"Here a woman decided to start hostilities. Where are these Falkland Islands and where is Britain? And this is dictated by nothing else than Britian's 'imperial ambitions', and their imperial status and colonization as history explains," said Putin. 

Russia's President Vladimir Putin responded to the mockery that the leaders of the G7 directed at his Serbia vacation photos. A reporter asked at the press conference in Ashgabat: "G-7 summit in Germany was held under the sign 'How to punish Russia more painfully', with jokes about your, excuse me, shirtless photo. Everyone there joked. Prime Minister of Canada said: 'Let's take off our jackets, we'll be cooler than Putin.' Did you happen to discuss anything like this here at the Caspian summit?

To this Putin responded: "I don’t know how they wanted to undress, to the waist or below the waist, but I think that it would have been a disgusting sight in any case." He further condemned the joke advising: "You can be a sensible person." Furthermore, Putin said: "The colleagues you mentioned, I know all of them personally, we are not having the best period of our relations, this is understandable.." He noted, that those who passed such remarks "are all leaders, which means they can have character. And if they want, they will certainly achieve the desired success." 

Western nations pumping weapons into the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, their calls for Ukraine to "continue hostilities" and influence to abandon further negotiations or diplomatic dialogue with Russia explains that Ukraine is "no longer concerned with benefit of Ukrainian people" but is serving military interests and goals of NATO, and its allies, Putin said.

By fuelling war in Ukraine, "by the hands of the Ukrainian people", NATO members and the its allies in West are simply trying to assert their global dominance agenda and hegemonism, said Russia's leader. They introduced a concept in the world “whoever is not with us is against us”, Putin said, adding that NATO had been looking for an excuse of an "external threat" like Russia to meet its goals of converging allies' military forces. 

Putin also said that Russia will respond if NATO deploys troops in Finland and Sweden after joining the US-led military alliance

Russia's leader Vladimir Putin has responded on the allegations that Russia's troops hit the crowded shopping center in the Ukrainian town of Kremenchuk. “Our army does not attack any civilian infrastructure site. We have every capability of knowing what is situated where,” Putin clarified at the conference in Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat. “Nobody among us shoots just like that, randomly. It is normally done based on intelligence data on targets” and with “high-precision weapons. I am convinced that this time, everything was done in this exact manner." 

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy had severed diplomatic ties with Syria after the Russia's ally recognized the independence of eastern Ukraine’s two breakaway oblasts of Donetsk and Lugansk. “There will no longer be relations between Ukraine and Syria,” Zelensky said in a video on Telegram. he said that sanctions pain on Syria “will be even greater”. He called Syria a "worthless story”.

An ex US soldier captured in Ukraine by the pro-Russians claims that he did not fire a shot while fighting for Ukraine's Foreign Legion. According to RIA state news agency, Alexander Drueke, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and fellow American Andy Huynh, from Hartselle, Alabama who went missing earlier this month denied firing at enemy forces. During the captivity, Drueke said: "My combat experience here was that one mission on that one day. I didn't fire a shot. I would hope that would play a factor in whatever sentence I do or don't receive." 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine on Wednesday appealed to NATO leaders for more weaponry to fight against Russia’s invasion. Addressing the  30 leaders of the bloc, Zelenskyy said that his country is fighting “a war for the right to dictate conditions in Europe, for what the future world order will be like”.

“The question is who is next for Russia? Moldova? The Baltic States? Poland? The answer is all of them,” Zelenskyy said at the summit. “We need to break the Russian artillery advantage. We need much more modern systems, modern artillery.”

At the recent summit of the "five" littoral states, Russia warned the non-Caucasia states' military against any influence in the Caspian region dominated by Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Moscow. Caspian basin has been a quagmire for Western nations such as United States as well as defense Alliance NATO, both of whom have poured billions of dollars for energy projects that have helped establish a significant regional presence. The European Union aims to build a transportation corridor in the Caspian region dominated by Russia that links Asia and Europe. 

The United States that has become a leading trade partner to several littoral states passed the 'Silk Road Act' declaring Caspian region "area of vital interest." 

NATO meanwhile has maintained Partnership for Peace and regional Peacekeeping organization forces that conduct regular military exercises with the Caspian states' forces. NATO's Central Asian Battalion (CENTRASBAT) forces hold military exercises with Kazakhistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan. These military drills are sponsored by US Atlantic Command, that recently shifted to US Central Command following the modification of the Unified Command Plan to include this region in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.

Military units from the national peacekeeping battalions of NATO and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, as well as a US battalion have been expanding cooperation, which Moscow now sees as a threat after it waged a war on Ukraine, labelling the expansion of NATO as "threat" to its own security. 

In a continued accusations of provocation against the Ukrainian forces during the ongoing war, Russia's military is claiming that Ukraine's armed forces have deployed US supplied armoured vehicles, large-caliber artillery MLRS in Russian occupied Donetsk region. While calling the move an escalation, Russian MoD lambasted West, saying that such deployments are being done in midst of the civilian infrastructure for military purposes. 

"This demonstrates the Ukraine's military's own disregard for international humanitarian law," Russian MoD said on Telegram. It accused the West of "tacit consent" to Ukraine, adding that flow of Western weapons and its use on Russian forces will trigger response. 

Canada announced that it is increasing the diplomatic presence in central and eastern Europe as well as the Caucasus to “help counter Russia’s destabilizing activities” the region.

The announcement comes shortly after Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned at the ministerial meeting of the Caspian littoral states, that only the five states located off the Caspian Sea namely  Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia have "sovereign rights" in Caspian region. The presence of forces of any non-Caspian and non-littoral state in the region "is out of the question," he said.

"We are increasing our diplomatic footprint. Canada will be opening four new embassies in Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Armenia [Transcaucasus state],” Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly said on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Madrid.

“This diplomatic expansion will help guide Canada’s response to evolving security threats, enhance political and economic cooperation to support European allies, and further counter the impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and support Armenia in its democratic development,” the ministry said in a statement.

It added that Canada will enhace its engagement in the region, help counter Russia’s destabilizing activities and increase support for Operation REASSURANCE.”

Canadia has deployed 1,400 soldiers in Latvia to reinforce NATO’s collective defense.

Russia's military is claiming that the Ukrainian nationalists and foreign mercenaries tried "burning Avdiivka to ground'  in the battle of Donetsk oblast. Russia's military shared the intercepted radio communications of the Ukraine nationalist battalions from the time when the Armed Forces of Russia and the Donetsk People's Republic approached Avdiivka and surrounded the region. 

"They [Ukrainian nationalists] that have been attacking the Russian speaking population, have tried to scorch the entire town with missiles using the tactics of the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War [WWII]," said the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on Telegram. 

It cited the intercepted messages: “... we have an order to burn Avdiivka to the ground and what about the peaceful, yes, by (obscene language), do what you want with them, just don’t let them out [refers to pro Russian fighters] (obscene language)."

"The purpose of such actions by Ukrainian nationalists is to accuse the Russian Armed Forces of indiscriminate strikes on civilian infrastructure," said Russian MoD. "This would then give extensive coverage in Ukrainian and Western media," it stated. 

Russia's leader Vladimir Putin wants to seize "most of Ukraine", a top US intelligence official claimed. Avril Haines, the US director of national intelligence, said at the commerce department conference: "We continue to be in a position where we look at President Putin and we think he has effectively the same political goals that we had previously, which is to say that he wants to take most of Ukraine."

Russia president Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said that it is expedient to increase the capacity for rapid response in the Caspian Sea given the geopolitical scenario. He urged that the Alliance of "five" must boost regional trade and investment ties, deepen industrial and high-tech cooperation. Putin's remarks came as West imposed a barrage of sanctions on Moscow for its war in Ukraine, and cut off the trade ties. Putin pushed for implementation of treaties for prevention of maritime incidents by non caspian states' armed forces in the region. 

"Russia is expanding the transport infrastructure in the Caspian, paying special attention to the ports of Astrakhan, Olya and Makhachkala," said Putin. 

Russia on Wednesday lashed out at the British government for what it describes "vague" gender stereotypical remarks made by the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson against Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Russia's MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova issued response statement, saying: "What's up with the British government? Why are they so bent on gender and sex issues today?"

Further she asserted, that "following in the footsteps of their Prime Minister" British Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace also made controversial remarks saying that said that Kremlin's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova "is definitely a woman and threatens every single week to drop a nuclear bomb on other nations." 

 "If you do not want to be known worldwide as a complete liar, give at least one example of how and when exactly did I “threaten to drop nuclear bombs on everyone on a weekly basis," Zakharova asked. She accused Wallace of "slander and pushing fake claims."

In context, British Prime Minister had appeared to suggest that  Russian President Vladimir Putin "would not have started the war in Ukraine if he was a woman." 

"If Putin were a woman, I just don't think he would have launched such a macho war. If you want a very good example of toxic masculinity, we have that in this person [Putin]," Johnson had told German broadcaster ZDF.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has once again lost the remote connection to its safeguards surveillance systems installed at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), further underlining the need for the IAEA to go there very soon, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has reportedly called for Russia to adhere and respect the 'rules-based international order' adding that with its expansion, NATO is “sending a clear message to Putin." In a statement issued to the American broadcaster, CNN television, Sánchez iterated that NATO will bolster and enhance its fight until "Russian troops leave the country and they respect the territorial integrity and the national sovereignty of Ukraine.” 

Italian PM also emphasized that Finland and Sweden have sought the membership in NATO "not because they want to expand their territories but to defend their values, their democracies."

He called "expansionist and imperialism behaviour by Putin and his regime" unacceptable.

Following a ministerial meeting of the Caspian littoral states, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated that only the five states located off the Caspian Sea namely  Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia have "sovereign rights" over the Caspian Sea and its resources. 

The presence of the armed forces of any non-Caspian and non-littoral state in the region "is out of the question," Lavrov stressed. He was indicating at the prospects of mobilizing the NATO operations from Turkey's Incirlik Air Base to Azerbaijan, as well US military's invovlement in the Caucasus. 

It is to be noted that Russia already warns against the NATO expansion into Eastern Europe, as it waged a war to counter the defense Alliance expansionist agendas. The eastward military presence of non Caucasus states into the Caspian would only confirm Russia's worst fears. Moscow is already wary of the US military's committments in the Gulf, Bosnia and Kosovo. 

Lavorv said during the conference that West declares Russia a threat "only because we don’t want to accept the neo-liberal world order dominated by the US." "United States is imposing it on all others as a “rules-based order," Lavrov asserted. 

Vladimir Putin monitors the Kavkaz-2020 strategic command-and-staff exercises at the Kapustin Yar training ground. Credit: AP

UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that the British surveillance aircrafts will secure the shipping routes to release Ukraine's trapped grain off the blockaded ports in the Black Sea.  Speaking to the reporters at the NATO summit in Madrid including Sky news, Wallace said that Rivet Joint or P8 Poseidon aircrafts could patrol areas of the Black Sea, and would allow the Ukrainian grain to pass. 

This has increased speculation about the Royal Navy warships sent in the Black Sea, a region dominated by Moscow. 

 "We have to put this in perspective, even when Ukraine is at full throttle in its ports, it's about three million tonnes a month. They have 23 million tonnes to ship.So you've got to sort of manage the expectations. If there's a ceasefire on the Black Sea or there's a safe passage, it's not going to be like 'oh, you can have it for six weeks, isn't it generous of Russia'. I mean, you're going to get out not very much in exchange," said Wallace. 

"What the Turks are trying to do is - with the UN - hammer out details with the Russians about doing it," UK's defense secretary reportedly said. "This is first and foremost about getting Ukrainian grain out of Ukraine. It's not about helping stolen grain, allowing Russian ships with stolen grain out of the Black Sea, because the Ukrainians won't buy that and they are not going to lift things for that.

"So we have to see what we could do. Britain's role in that could be ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), we could help in overwatch, we could help in Rivet Joint, P8s down in the southern part of the Black Sea to protect," said Wallace. 

During his first ever visit to Iran since the World War II, Russia's president Vladimir Putin had warned the West against bringing their military aggression into the Caspian Sea. Tensions have since simmered between Iran and Washington, D.C. over barrage of sanctions. Putin had categorically warned that he will not accept military aggression against Iran or any state in the Caspian Sea region. 

On Wednesday, as Moscow held a key meeting of Caspian littoral states, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov renewed warnings against NATO's expansion in the basin dominated by Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia. The Apsheron Peninsula has long been an issue of contention since Russia's ally Azerbaijan supported allied air base of the US troops in the region to protect the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the trans-Caspian gas line. Azerbaijan's motive in seeking support from US and Turkey, a NATO member, has triggered Russia. 

Russia has opposed such moves in Caucasus as one that counter-balances its influence.

NATO has maintained forward presence of its multinational battlegroups in Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. They have also sent more ships, planes and troops to NATO’s eastern flank, from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south. Russia has challenged the ever growing military Alliance of the West, labelling it a threat to its own national security. 

On Wednesday, Russia reiterated that only five states located off the Caspian Sea have sovereign rights over the Caspian Sea and its resources. This came as NATO agreed on Wednesday at a summit in Madrid to put over 300,000 troops at high readiness from 2023, up from 40,000 previously. 

Russia's foreign minister Lavrov, at the key meeting of Caspian littoral states, called to speed up the work on the agreement on reinforcement of trust-building measures, and military cooperation in the Caspian Sea in face of NATO's military expansion. 

"Military cooperation. We underscored the importance of cooperation in this area. It was proposed to speed up the work on the agreement on development of trust-building measures regarding military activities of Caspian littoral states," Lavrov said during a press conference.

Ukraine has been able to exchange nearly 144 soldiers, including 95 soldiers who were captured at the Azovstal steel plant in port city of Mariupol, the Ukraine Defense Ministry’s Defense Intelligence said in a statement. 

“Another exchange of prisoners took place, thanks to which 144 Ukrainian defenders returned home. This is the largest exchange since the beginning of a full-scale Russian invasion. Of the 144 released, 95 are Azovstal defenders. Among them are 43 servicemen of the Azov Regiment,” the statement read. 

Credit: AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the G20 summit in Bali as he accepted the invitation of Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo in Kyiv on Wednesday. “Ukraine’s participation will depend on the security situation in Ukraine and who else might be attending,” Zelensky said at the joint press conference that marked Widodo’s first visit to Ukraine. 

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday thanked Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for lifting the objections to Finland and Sweden's NATO membership. "I want to particularly thank you for what you did, putting together the situation with regard to Finland and Sweden, and all the incredible work you're going to try to get the grain out of Ukraine," Biden told Erdoğan during the NATO summit in Madrid. "You're doing a great job," Biden added.

Indonesian president has offered to take the message from Zelenskyy to Russia's president Putin during his Ukraine visit. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has stated that he will help in peace talks and urge Russian president to agree to a ceasefire. 

"Even though it's very hard to achieve, I expressed the importance of a peace resolution, the Indonesian leader said after meeting Zelenskyy. "I offered to deliver a message from President Zelenskyy to President Putin whom I'll meet soon."

With Finland and Sweden all set to become the latest members of NATO, Ukraine's FM Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the decision. At the same time, he also expressed Ukraine's interests to be looked at in the same manner, especially during the current circumstances when the country is ravaged due to full-throttle Russian aggression.

Syria, on Wednesday, 29 June, recognised the independence and sovereignty of the two breakaway regions of Ukraine, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), Syrian state-run media agency SANA reported, citing an official source in country's Foreign Ministry.

The source further claimed that proper communication channels with the respective administrations will be held in due course of time.

Referring to its Open Door Policy, NATO confirmed extending a formal invitation to Finland and Sweden to join the bloc. Their membership was seemingly in doubt with Turkey in strong opposition of the same. With the three nations reaching a common ground at the summit in Madrid, membership of the nordic states was imminent.

"We reaffirm our commitment to NATO’s Open Door Policy.  Today, we have decided to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO, and agreed to sign the Accession Protocols.  In any accession to the Alliance, it is of vital importance that the legitimate security concerns of all Allies are properly addressed.  We welcome the conclusion of the trilateral memorandum between Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden to that effect.  The accession of Finland and Sweden will make them safer, NATO stronger, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure.  The security of Finland and Sweden is of direct importance to the Alliance, including during the accession process," NATO's Madrid Summit declaration read.
 

The membership process went ahead despite Russia's concerns and threats of retaliation. Furthermore, NATO also described Russia as "the most significant and direct threat" to its allies as well as "peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area".

The Norwegian government has announced that they will help Ukraine in obtaining multiple rocket launchers from Britain, EuroIntegration reported. The Norwegian Defence Minister Bjorn Arild Gram said that they will give Norwegian systems to the UK in order to provide multiple rocket launchers from Britain to Ukraine. He stressed that Norway will continue to support Ukraine in its fight for "freedom and independence."
 

U.S. President Joe Biden says America’s military presence in Europe is about to get bigger, as NATO responds to the threat from Moscow following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Biden says the U.S. is establishing a permanent headquarters in Poland, sending two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the UK and will send more “air defense and other capabilities” to Germany and Italy.

The U.S. is also beefing up its military assets in Romania and the Baltic region.

Meeting Wednesday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Madrid for the alliance’s annual summit, Biden says: “NATO is strong and united, and the steps we’re taking during this summit, we’re going to further augment our collective strength.”

“Today I’m announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security,” Biden said, detailing the announcements.

A day earlier, Biden announced that the U.S. would base two additional destroyers at its naval base in Rota, Spain.

The United States provides the bulk of NATO’s military power.

(The Associated Press)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the NATO summit in Madrid, urging allies to help stop Russia's aggression against peaceful Ukrainian cities and "find a place" for Ukraine in the common security space. In his speech, Zelenskyy stated that the war, which has been ongoing for more than four months, should not be prolonged, and that Ukraine should be provided more weapons, particularly modern artillery.

"The war should not drag on. To prevent this from breaking Russia's artillery advantage, we need much more such modern systems, modern artillery. By providing them to us, you can completely break Russia's tactics of destroying cities and terrorising the civilian population. This is a fundamental thing. The distance from Kyiv to Madrid is less than the range of the missiles used against us. Can one state respond to such a threat without the help of partners? You can provide this help," the Ukrainian President said.

Ukraine, according to the Zelenskyy, also requires modern missiles and air defence systems to protect civilians from Russian missile attacks and bombings. The Ukrainian President further called for more support for Ukraine, as well as "such sanctions against Russia that will stop its ability to pay for the war."

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The UK government has announced fresh sanctions aimed at Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle. The sanctioned people include Russia's second-richest man and owner of conglomerate Interros, Vladimir Potanin, Anna Tsivileva, Russian President Vladimir Putin's first cousin and President of the prominent Russian coal mining company, JSC Kolmar Group and Tsivileva’s husband Sergey Tsivilev. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on Tuesday, reckoned that Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine "if he was a woman." Speaking to German public broadcaster ZDF following the ongoing G7 summit in Bavarian Alps, Johnson asserted that he believes that the Russian President was a “perfect example of toxic masculinity.”

In his interview, the UK PM emphasised that gender has played a contributing factor in the ongoing war.  “If Putin was a woman, which he obviously isn’t, if he were, I really don’t think he would have embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has. If you want a perfect example of toxic masculinity, it’s what he is doing in Ukraine,” the UK PM said. 

Notably, earlier at the conference, he, along with other G7 leaders, had mocked the Russian Czar for a photograph wherein he was seen bare-chested astride a bay horse. It has been over four months since Vladimir Putin ordered his so-called ‘Special Military Operation’ on Ukraine, underscoring that the erstwhile Soviet state and its western neighbour jeopardised his country's security. 

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Ukraine has claimed that Russia has lost 35,450 soldiers since the war began on February 24. In addition, the Russian army has lost 1,572 tanks, 3720 armoured personnel vehicles, and 781 artillery systems since the onset of the war. Apart from this, the Russian armed forces suffered a loss of 246 multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), 103 anti-aircraft warfare systems among other weapons. 

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine has said that two emergency service workers have been wounded during the rescue operation in Kremenchuk's shopping mall, The Kyiv Independent reported. According to State Emergency Service, two State Emergency Service officials were wounded while they were preparing to "dismantle concrete slabs."
 

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance faces its “biggest challenge” since World War II amid the war in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said at the start of the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday that the allies are meeting “in the midst of the most serious security crisis we have faced.”

“This will be a historic and transformative summit,” he told reporters.

Stoltenberg said the alliance is going to agree on deterrence to be able to deploy more combat formations and get more pre-positioned equipment in Eastern Europe by next year.

Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskyy is expected to address the 30 leaders via video link Wednesday, as Russia’s invasion stretches into its fifth month.

The gathering has already seen a breakthrough agreement between Turkey and Finland and Sweden for the Nordic countries to begin their accession process.

The asked to join the alliance after witnessing Russia’s brutal attack on its neighbor Ukraine, but Turkey had some misgivings that were overcome Tuesday.

(The Associated Press)

NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg thanked US President Joe Biden for his “decisive leadership, strong support for Ukraine & the vital US contributions to European security in NATO.” Leaders from all the 30 member states have gathered in Madrid for 3-day long summit. 

World leaders gathered for the second day of NATO summit which is scheduled to end tomorrow. In a tweet, the military organisation said that 30 NATO leaders were meeting in the Spanish capital to discuss pivotal matters of global security. It added that they will be joined by partners- Australia, Finland, Georgia, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, New Zealand, Ukraine and the EU.

Norway's refusal to allow a shipment of food for Russian miners on its archipelago Spitsbergen "violates human rights and principles of humanism," said deputy speaker of the Russian Council of Federation Konstantin Kosachev. Earlier, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation reported that at least twenty tonnes of Russian goods were stopped at the Storskog border station. Subsequently, the mining company Trust Arktikugol and the Russian Embassy sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the case. However, it rejected the plea underscoring the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has arrived in Kyiv. "From platform 4 of Przemysl Glowny Station in the city of Przemysl, Poland, at nine o'clock in the evening, I and a limited group of people train to Kyiv, Ukraine. We started this peace mission with good intentions. Hope it gets easier," he wrote on Twitter, sharing a photograph from the Ukrainian capital. The number of foreign leaders visiting Ukraine has increased in recent days. 

Two people were killed in the Dnipropetrovsk region after Russian troops shelled a trucking company. The casualties were confirmed by the head of the regional military administration Valentin Reznichenko on Telegram. 

British Defence Ministry its latest update has said that Russian airstrike on the Kremenchuk shopping centre was intended for a nearby infrastructure target. However, the missile missed the target. The ministry underscored that Russia’s accuracy in hitting its predetermined targets has led to mass casualties several times in the past. 

British Defence Minister Ben Wallace said that the United Kingdom will need to bolster its spending on defence if it wanted to maintain a global leadership role after 2024 when his department’s current budget allocation will be reviewed. “If Britain wants to maintain this leadership role post-2024 we’re going to have to see probably greater investment,” Wallace told Sky News. UK is one of the highest suppliers of defence aid to war-hit Ukraine. 

A Russian missile strike has killed three people and injured five in the port city of Mykolaiv. The attack occurred in the wee hours of Wednesday. According to Governor Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych, a high-rise residential building was hit. The strike came just a day after a similar attack killed three people including a six-year-old girl. 

Several powerful explosions thundered in Mykolayiv earlier this morning, Nexta reported. In the aftermath, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said that a high-rise residential building was hit by invaders. He added that rescuers and medics have already left for the scene. Meanwhile, photos and videos that were shared on social media show people's belongings scattered everywhere. 

Nato is concerned about Vladimir Putin’s close ties with China, the military alliance's chief said. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Nato does not view China as an adversary but is concerned about its relationship with Russia. 

“We don't regard China as an adversary,” Stoltenberg said at the Nato summit Tuesday. “But we are disappointed by the fact that China has not been able to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that China is spreading many of the false narratives about Nato, the West, and also that China and Russia are more close now than they have ever been before.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that 'western sanctions against Russia will only end when Putin accepts that his plans in Ukraine will not succeed.' Speaking at the G7 summit, the Chancellor highlighted all the punitive measures on Russia imposed after its invasion of Crimea were still in place. Thus, he said that the only way out of sanctions was to accept failure in Ukraine. 

“All the sanctions we imposed over Crimea are still there. All the sanctions we imposed because of the Russian-incited uprising in Donbas are still there. And the same will go for the decisions taken now, which are much more severe,” Olaf Scholz said at the closing news conference. "There is only one way out: for Putin to accept that his plans in Ukraine will not succeed,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia has become a terrorist state and called for it to be expelled from the United Nations. His remarks came as he virtually addressed UN Security Council on Tuesday. Zelenskyy ended his address by asking all in the chamber to stand in silent tribute to the “tens of thousands” of Ukrainian children and adults killed in the war.

Duma deputy Mikhail Delyagin, known for his proposal to supply nuclear weapons to Azerbaijan has now suggested cutting off all electricity in Ukraine. Other "crazy" solutions included blowing up all bridges & tunnels, destroying the economy of the Baltic countries, and stopping all energy exports to the West. His remarks were broadcasted by Russian State Media. 

Russian troops attacked a crowded shopping mall in Kremenchuk. The aftermath photos released by Ukrainian State Emergency show firefighters working to take away the debris at the charred and obliterated shopping complex. 18 people have been killed, according to  Dmytro Lunin, the head of the Poltava region military administration while another 36 people are missing. The death toll is expected to rise. 

All Image credits: AP

Norway has banned the passage of cargo for Russian settlements in its archipelago Spitsbergen. Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation reported that at least twenty tonnes of Russian goods were stopped at the Storskog border station. Subsequently, the mining company Trust Arktikugol and the Russian Embassy sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the case. However, it rejected the plea underscoring the ongoing war in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron denounced Russia’s fiery airstrike on a crowded shopping mall in Ukraine as a “new war crime” and vowed the West’s support for Kyiv would not waver, saying Moscow “cannot and should not win” the war. Macron's remarks came as he attended the G7 annual summit in Germany along with other western leaders. Notably, the leaders banned Russian gold in the summit in a move to further slow down Putin's war machine.