Russia-Ukraine war: Amid war Putin became most unpopular leader in the world

Chinese President Xi Jinping bashed the Western-imposed sanctions that have been imposed on Moscow in the backdrop of its "special military operations". He called the sanctions "a double-edged sword" that can bring disasters to people around the world. Notably, his statement came during an opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum on Wednesday. 
According to the news agency Xinhua, the Chinese President has termed the sanctions a "politicised" step and added the actions were taken with an aim to weaponise the global economy. Without naming the Biden administration, Jinping said that the sanctions were not imposed with an intention to penalise Moscow but to prove its dominance in international financial and monetary systems. According to China's head, the actions will eventually harm others and themselves and bring disasters to people around the world.

In a stalemate between Lithuania and Russia over Kaliningrad Transit, a top Russian official advised the West on June 22 to avoid talking about using NATO's "Article 5" mutual defence clause. After the Baltic state prevented the transit of products subject to EU sanctions from Russia to its Baltic exclave, Moscow has pledged practical retaliation that will damage Lithuania's population. "I would like to warn Europeans against dangerous rhetorical games on the topic of conflict," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on June 22, according to Interfax news agency.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday that he wants to discuss the outlines of a “Marshall plan for Ukraine” with the leaders of the Group of Seven countries at their upcoming summit in Germany.

Scholz hopes for a united front on long-term support for Ukraine when he hosts the annual G-7 summit in Bavaria next week. The group of the world’s leading economic powers is made up of the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., Canada and Japan.

The chancellor told Germany’s parliament that “rebuilding Ukraine will be a task for generations.” Recalling his visit last week to Irpin, a Kyiv suburb that saw intense fighting, he said that “some things there remind not just me of the pictures of German cities after World War II.”

Ahead of the much-awaited BRICS Summit, Kremlin confirmed that the Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the conference virtually and said the leader will discuss both regional and international issues. Notably, this year, the 14th Summit will be hosted by China in a virtual mode on 23-24 June. According to the statement released by the Kremlin, the Russian boss will touch on five major issues including--  political, economic, cultural and humanitarian areas. Besides, it said that Putin will also exchange his views on some international issues.

Watch: Latest visuals from the warzone here:

According to a survey conducted by Pew Research Center, consistent with trends for Russian favorability, majorities in almost every country surveyed express little confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin. Across 18 nations, a median of 90% say they do not have confidence in Putin to do the right thing in world affairs, and nearly eight-in-ten (78%) express no confidence at all in Putin. Over the last two decades, ratings for Putin have been on a downward trend in many countries, but in 2022, these numbers reached record lows in every nation where trends are available, with double-digit declines in most since the last survey year.       

A prominent Mexican scientist who led a double life with two families on separate continents and was co-opted by Russian agents into surveilling a U.S. government informant residing in Miami has been sentenced to four years and one day in federal prison. Hector Cabrera Fuentes, 36, was sentenced Tuesday in Miami federal court, according to court documents. He pleaded guilty in February to acting in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general.

Josef Aschbacher recalls gazing at the night sky above his parents’ Alpine farm when he was 7, trying to comprehend what he had just seen on the family’s black-and-white TV set: the landing of NASA’s Apollo 11 on the Moon. More than half a century later, Aschbacher heads the European Space Agency, a formidable force when it comes to scientific exploration, telecoms and Earth observation. But so far, the agency is still unable to put its own astronauts into orbit, relying on Russia and the United States for crewed spaceflight and some other high-profile missions. The 59-year-old aims to change that and hopes the recent turmoil caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will jolt European leaders into action.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will not be holding a meeting or any talks during the upcoming G20 ministerial meeting in Indonesia, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Wednesday. "No, there are no such plans," he said in reply to a corresponding question from a reporter on the same. Ryabkov further noted that Moscow has established several other channels of communication through the embassies to address current issues, adding that no in person meeting will happen on the sidelines. 

Families from many places, including war-ravaged Ukraine, told Pope Francis their stories of joys, sorrows and hopes at an event on a stage at the Vatican Wednesday evening. The occasion at the Vatican’s auditorium was part of events this week for the World Meeting of Families, a Catholic church tradition established by Pope John Paul II in 1994.

Francis was brought on stage in a wheelchair, as he is battling a knee problem, and listened in silence as five families recounted how they dealt with the challenges of staying united as a couple while raising children. After listening to several mothers, fathers and some of their older children, Francis offered his reflections. He told a Ukrainian woman and her daughter, who are refugees in Italy, that they had given voice to those whose “loves have been shattered by the war in Ukraine.” “We see in you the faces and stories of so many men and women who have had to flee their homeland,” the pontiff said.

Nearly three days after the heavy-weight leaders of France, Italy, and Germany visited war-torn Ukraine and took a "first-hand glimpse" of Russia's brutal aggression, it seems the members of the European Union (EU) have reached a common consent over granting EU membership to Kyiv. In the major development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held telephonic conversations with the Chancellor of Austria and Alexander De Croo Prime Minister of Belgium and hailed their decision to support Ukraine's EU membership bid. 

For more than two months, Ukraine, the United Nations, the European Union, and intermediaries have been debating the problem of grain exports being blocked in the country due to the ongoing war. Several routes have been suggested by analysts for the export of grain from Ukraine. However, no definitive decision on how to export around 20 and 25 million tonnes of grain has been made, according to various estimates.

The next attempt to free Ukraine's grain exports could take place in Istanbul as early as next week, according to Russian media agency TASS. The Turkish media also reported that a conference with representatives from the UN, Ukraine, Russia, and Turkey, which is serving as a mediator, is scheduled.

Coinciding with unrelenting cyberattacks against Ukraine, state-backed Russian hackers have engaged in “strategic espionage” against governments, think tanks, businesses and aid groups in 42 countries supporting Kyiv, Microsoft said in a report Wednesday. “Since the start of the war, the Russian targeting (of Ukraine’s allies) has been successful 29% of the time,” Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote, with data were stolen in at least one-quarter of the successful network intrusions, “As a coalition of countries has come together to defend Ukraine, Russian intelligence agencies have stepped up network penetration and espionage activities targeting allied governments outside Ukraine,” Smith said.

Finland has been preparing for a Russian assault for decades and will put up a strong fight if it happens, the head of the country's armed forces claimed on June 22. The Nordic nation has amassed a significant arsenal and apart from military weapons, General Timo Kivinen believes that the motivation of Finns to fight is crucial.

"The most important line of defence is between one's ears, as the war in Ukraine proves at the moment. We have systematically developed our military defence precisely for this type of warfare that is being waged there (in Ukraine), with massive use of firepower, armoured forces and also airforces," Kivinen said in an interview, APA reported.

Lawmakers in Bulgaria on Wednesday approved a no-confidence motion against the country’s minority coalition government that could topple the centrist prime minister and further stall efforts by Balkan countries to join the European Union. The centre-right opposition party GERB filed the motion last week, accusing the government of mishandling public finances and economic policy and failing to tackle soaring inflation. The no-confidence vote passed 123-116 with no abstentions.

Volunteers from the organisation Vostok SOS helped evacuate Ukrainians in need of specialised care from the Donbas region - which has sustained heavy shelling over the past few days. Russian attacks laid down a curtain of the fire Tuesday across areas of eastern Ukraine where pockets of resistance are denying Moscow full military control of the region, almost four months after the Kremlin unleashed its invasion.

With many buildings in the region flattened, volunteers focused their work on the vulnerable - evacuating to safety four people in need of specialised care. "First of all, safety for the people, for us. We try to do everything precisely, fast. Safety of the people is the number one priority," said Serhii Rozhok, who is volunteering as a driver.

A Ukrainian official overseeing the country’s push to join the European Union said Wednesday that she’s “100%” certain all 27 EU nations will approve Ukraine’s EU candidacy during a summit this week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed similar optimism, calling it a “crucial moment” for Ukraine. Ukraine’s membership bid is the top order of business for EU leaders meeting in Brussels.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said the decision could come as soon as Thursday when the leaders’ summit starts. Stefanishyna said the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark had been sceptical about starting accession talks with Ukraine while it is fighting Russia’s invasion but are now supportive. Asked how confident she was that Ukraine would be accepted as an EU candidate, she said: “The day before the summit starts, I can say 100%.”

The EU’s executive arm threw its weight behind Ukraine’s candidacy last week. Stefanishyna described the European Commission’s endorsement as “a game-changer” that had cut the ground from under “the legs of those most hesitating.”

EU candidate status, which can be granted only if the existing member countries agree unanimously, is the first step toward membership. It does not provide any security guarantees or an automatic right to join the bloc.

AP

Head of the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday that Russia may cut off gas to Europe entirely as a leverage in the Ukraie war, and advised the bloc to be prepared in advance.  “Considering this recent behaviour, I wouldn’t rule out Russia continuing to find different issues here and there and continuing to find excuses to further reduce gas deliveries to Europe and maybe even cut it off completely,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a statement sent to Reuters. “This is the reason Europe needs contingency plans”.

German government on Wednesday threatened Russia against taking any countermeasures over the transit ban of the Russian good via exclave of Kaliningrad by Lithuania. "We call on Russia not to take any measures that violate international law," German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said at a press conference. “We therefore clearly reject countermeasures announced by Russia,” Hebestreit added.  

German armed forces will train Ukrainian soldiers how to use the advanced Multiple Launch Rocket System Mars II, defense minister Christine Lambrecht said in the German parliament. The training will follow as soon as delivery of the weapons system begins, she furthermore informed. 

Russia has asked fellow G20 members to keep politics out of a global gathering on health issues, after envoys from the United States and some of its allies raised the Ukraine conflict during the health summit in Indonesia on June 20. During the G20 health meeting in Yogyakarta, American, British, Australian, and Canadian officials accused Russia of bombing Ukrainian hospitals.

"Far from promoting global health, Russia has disrupted health services, destroyed health facilities, and continues to strike buildings where innocent civilians including children are sheltering," claimed Andrea Palm, US deputy secretary of Health and Human Services, RT News reported. 

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Russian appeals against bans from international soccer because of the country’s war in Ukraine are set to be heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in July. The court on July 5 will hear the Russian soccer federation’s appeal against FIFA and UEFA’s joint decision to suspend its national and club teams days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

A second CAS hearing on July 11 will consider an appeal by four Russian clubs, including national champion Zenit St. Petersburg, against exclusion from the next UEFA club competitions.

UEFA’s executive committee made that separate ruling on May 2 among decisions affecting more than 15 European competitions. The Russian women’s team was also removed from the European Championship that kicks off next month in England. Lawyers and officials involved in the cases confirmed the CAS hearing dates which have yet to be listed formally by the court.

Source: Associated Press

Ukraine's city of Mykolaiv on Wednesday was struck by at least seven missiles, the head of the regional military administration, Vitaly Kim, said on his Telegram channel. “I have interrupted the inspection in the district. I return to the city. The city was hit with seven missiles,” he wrote.  On ess rpeorted killed and two were injured from the attack, the city’s mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych informed. 

“As of now we know about two private enterprises affected. Some fuel and lubricant materials were on the premises of these enterprises,” Sienkevych said. “Due to the missile hit into one of the enterprises the fuel and lubricant materials set on fire and now the whole city is covered with the black smoke. The firefighters are working on spot.”

Russian airstrikes on Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk ruined more than 10 residential buildings and a police station. In the city of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, a school burned down as the result of the shelling, the president’s office said. The Luhansk and Donetsk regions make up the Donbass. 

Ukrainian photojournalist and a soldier that were both killed during the intial weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were murdered “coldly” by Russian troops, Reporters Without Borders has claimed. Their mutilated bodies were discovered near Huta-Mezhyhirska, a village 30km (19 miles) north of Kyiv.

As fighting has intensified in the city of Sievierodonetsk, the hot spot of the battle, Ukrainian defenders held on to the Azot chemical plant in the industrial outskirts. About 500 civilians are sheltering at the plant, and Haidai said the Russian forces are turning the area “into ruins.”

“It is a sheer catastrophe,” Haidai told the AP in written comments about the plant. “Our positions are being fired at from howitzers, multiple rocket launchers, large-caliber artillery, missile strikes.”

Russian and Turkey are discussing the prospects of grain exports for the international market from blockaded Ukrainian ports, Russia's defense ministry said on Wednesday.  “On June 21, negotiations were held in Moscow between the delegations of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Turkey,” the Russian defense ministry said in press statement. “The parties discussed the safe exit of Turkish merchant ships and the export of grain from Ukrainian ports, as well as approaches to ensuring safe navigation in the Black Sea,” it added.

Russian attacks laid down a curtain of fire Tuesday across areas of eastern Ukraine where pockets of resistance are denying Moscow full military control of the region, almost four months after the Kremlin unleashed its invasion.

“Today everything that can burn is on fire,” Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, told The Associated Press.

Russia’s war has caused alarm over food supplies from Ukraine to the rest of the world and gas supplies from Russia, as well as raising questions about security in Western Europe. The Russian military currently controls about 95% of the Luhansk region. But Moscow has struggled for weeks to overrun it completely, despite deploying additional troops and possessing a massive advantage in military assets.

Credit: Associated Press

Source: Associated Press

Russia is afraid of the prospect of close cooperation between Poland and Ukraine and other countries in the region due to high “common interests”, said Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and compared Moscow with a “wounded bear”. During a meeting with Polish ambassadors on Tuesday, the Polish PM said, “Now a whole new Ukraine and a new concept of the Intermarium is being born, with Lithuania, Belarus free in the future, Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic states, Romania. This is a concept that can create a certain geostrategic regional space with a very high denominator of common interests”, according to Ukrinform.

"Ukraine and its allies have the right to feel moral winners. However, moral victory is definitely not enough today, especially when there is an opponent on the other side who is guided by no moral principles,” Poland’s PM said.

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In a bid to help Ukraine fight Russian aggression, Germany has supplied the first shipment of 'Panzerhaubitze2000 self-propelled artillery units' to the war-torn nation as a part of the security assistance. Oleksii Reznikov, the Ukrainian defence minister, who announced the information on Facebook, stated, "We have reinforcements! The first Panzerhaubitze2000s – German Panzerhaubitze2000s with trained Ukrainian crews have joined the Ukrainian artillery family". Reznikov further expressed his gratitude to their German allies for their assistance. 

According to the Ukrainian Defence Minister, the recent delivery is considered to be the sixth kind of 155 mm artillery that improves Ukraine's defences. The M777, FH70, M109, AHS Krab, and Caesar are the kinds of artillery which are already being used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to engage the Russian forces. “From now on, Ph2000 has joined the club,” Reznikov continued. 

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Russia would “never trust [the] West again”, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov indicating that the tensions between Moscow and the Western nations would not fade away soon. In an hour-long interview with NBC News, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary said that the fallout over the conflict in Ukraine would “be a long crisis”. According to Peskov, Russia’s ties with the West would stay icy for good. 

When asked about Russia’s relations with the world and if “we are in protracted conflict”, Peskov stressed, “Yes, it will be a long crisis” and added, “We will never trust the West again.”

It is not the first time that Russia has revealed the exact level of its relations with the West, especially during the ongoing Ukraine war. Peskov’s remarks to NBC News came just a few days after he told the RIA news agency that the bilateral relations between both the countries stand at “zero”. 

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At least 1 person was killed and 11 others injured after Russian troops shelled Donetsk's Chasiv Yar region with cluster munitions. Among the injured were 6 children, Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a Telegram update. 

The European Union granting candidate status to Ukraine will "finally kill the ambiguity over what Ukraine is for EU," said Vsevolod Chentsov, Kyiv's ambassador to Brussels, while speaking to The Guardian. 

He added, that once Kyiv becomes eligible for EU membership it will end Russia's claims over Ukrainian territories. 

This comes after the  European Council on June 20 recommended Ukraine and Moldova be eligible for EU candidacy. The final decision will be taken this weekend. 

In the initial days of the Russian invasion, a Ukrainian photojournalist and a soldier accompanying him were "coldly executed" after being tortured, said an investigation report published by Reporters Without Borders.

"The evidence gathered by RSF indicates that the Ukrainian photo-journalist Maks Levin and the friend who was with him were executed in cold blood by Russian forces, probably after being interrogated and tortured, on the day they went missing, 13 March 2022," the report read.

The probing group discovered material evidence that suggested journalist Maks Levin and his company Olesiy Chernyshov were executed "in cold blood." The report, citing evidence like a gasoline jerrycan found near Chernyshov's body, further claimed that the Ukrainian soldier was burnt to death. Reporters Without Borders investigators also found Levin and Chernyshov's IDs and bulletproof vests. In addition, they retrieved bullet shells and food packages, and plastic cutlery with probable DNA traces on them. 

Russia-appointed leader of occupied the Zaporizhzhia region on Tuesday said that the border between Russia and Ukraine "is worse than the Berlin Wall." Speaking to RIA Novosti, Vladimir Rogov said, "For us, the border with Russia is worse than the Berlin Wall for the Germans."

He added, "According to various estimates, 60-68 percent of the inhabitants of East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) had relatives in West Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). In Ukraine, depending on the region, 73-85 percent of residents have relatives in Russia. Accordingly, this border should not exist."

Rogozov demanded the eradication of borders in the coming time. "Our reunification with Russia is inevitable, there should be no borders between us," he told RIA Novosti.

The DPR casualty rate is equivalent to around 55 percent of its original force, which highlights the extraordinary attrition Russian and pro-Russian forces are suffering in the Donbass, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in its war update. 

In its latest response to Moscow's war in Ukraine, Ireland on Tuesday froze Russian assets approximately worth 1.3 billion euros. 

The United States has appointed its famous "Nazi hunter" Eli Rosenbaum to lead US Justice Department's investigations into war crimes in Ukraine and persecution of those responsible. 36-year-old has previously solved as a director of Human Rights and Enforcement Strategy and Policy. During his time as a Justice Department executive, he has helped deportation of over 100 suspected Nazis.

With the Russia-Ukraine war in the 17th week, Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to mark the day when Hitler’s Nazi Germany forces invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. The day is remembered in Russia as the ‘Day of Remembrance and Sorrow’. The Guardian stated that Putin is expected to lay the flowers to honour the dead on Wednesday. Russian defence ministry had also issued a statement saying, "Just as nowadays, in 1941, the Nazis prepared provocations in advance to discredit our state". 

“It’s appalling”, said US on Tuesday after Russia indicated that two Americans captured while fighting for the Ukrainian army, could face execution as the Moscow-Kyiv war continues for day 119. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby condemned Moscow for ‘even suggesting’ the death penalty for the two American citizens -- Alexander John-Robert Drueke and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh -- who fought for Ukraine against Russian troops. 

Kirby’s remarks came just a day after Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that both Americans are not protected under the Geneva Conventions on prisoners of war. The spokesperson for foreign policy at the White House, Kirby said that Russia was being at minimum reckless with the comments, regarding US citizens who were captured by Moscow’s forces in Kharkiv. 

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Governor of Luhansk Oblast, Serhiy Haidai, on Tuesday claimed that at least 568 people are stuck in bomb shelters in the Azot industrial plant of Severodonetsk as Russia renewed its strikes. He said at least 38 among them are children. 

Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel stressed that his visit was a confirmation of Luxembourg's solidarity with Ukraine. He stated that the Duchy would support our state both in the fight against Russian aggression and in the post-war recovery, as reported by Ukraine's Presidential press release. 

In a show of strong support, Luxembourg has committed at least 15% of its defence budget to the Ukrainian Army. Speaking at a joint presser, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the visiting Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel for their immense contribution and support to help Kyiv fight off Russian aggression. 

"We have been in constant contact, and Luxembourg has always helped us… I am very grateful on behalf of our people, and I will say in detail: Luxembourg has allocated 15% of its defense budget to our defenders," Zelenskyy said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday extended an invitation to his Irish counterpart, Micheal Martin, to Ukraine. His request came after President Martin backed Kyiv's EU membership bid at the June 20 meeting of EU leaders. 

"Talked to Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin on the eve of the historic European Council meeting. Thanked for Ireland's active support of Ukraine's European aspirations and the status of a candidate for EU membership. Invited to make the first visit to Ukraine in the history of bilateral relations," Zelensky wrote in a Twitter post. 

It is pertinent to mention that on June 17, the European Commission tabled its opinions on Ukraine's EU membership appeal. In addition, the commission recommended Kyiv and Moldova be granted candidate status. The final decision by the 27-nation bloc is due. The commission is expected to make a final decision at the EU Leaders' summit on June 23-24. 

The Ukrainian Air Force Command on June 21 intercepted two Russian drones and destroyed two ammunition depots with anti-aircraft missiles. The defence unit also struck a Russian Kh-59 air-to-surface missile in the Kyiv and Donetsk region. 

"Strike groups of attack and bomber aircraft, supported by fighter jets, launched several air strikes on enemy positions. Up to ten armored combat vehicles and manpower of the enemy were eliminated, and two ammunition depots of the Rushists were destroyed," the statement read.

Ukrainian FM Dmytro Kuleba on Tuesday engaged in conversation with European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The diplomats discussed Ukraine’s EU candidate status, with Kuleba stressing that the move "will draw a line under decades of ambiguity and set it in stone: Ukraine is Europe, not part of the ‘Russian world’." He also thanked Borrell for the 27-nation bloc's relentless support for Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian war. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday discussed the potential outcome of the ministerial meeting of NATO leaders in Madrid, Spain with Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez. Taking to Twitter, Zelenskyy said that the leaders also deliberated ver food security amid the ongoing Russian blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports. 

The United States will help Kyiv prosecute those accountable for war crimes in Ukraine, said Merrick Garland, the US Attorney Secretary. During his trip to the embattled ex-Soviet nation on Tuesday, garland stressed: "The US is sending a clear message...they have nowhere to hide."

On the 118th day of the brutal Russian onslaught on Ukraine on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the European Union (EU) to expedite efforts to impose the 7th package of sanctions against Moscow. In his regular late-night address, the president of the embattled ex-Soviet nation demanded that the penalties must be approved as soon as possible. He went on to outline distinctive reasons why the sanctions should be forced on Russia.

"In all negotiations with foreign partners, I constantly emphasise that the seventh package of EU sanctions is needed as soon as possible," Zelenskyy said as per Ukraine's President Office.

"Russia must feel the growing pressure for the war and its aggressive anti-European policy," he added.

Zelenskyy stressed new Russian threats to Lithuania over the goods transit row, Moscow's "malicious lies" about the global food crisis, and pressure on energy supplies to European nations were a few reasons why he deemed the 7th package necessary.

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As India stood firm on its stance in the Russia-Ukraine war, US National Security Council coordinator John Kirby on Tuesday again stated that Washington wishes more international pressure on Moscow. Noting that the US values its relationship with India, Kirby told a press briefing on June 21 that Washington wants to ramp up pressure on Russia for its military aggression in Ukraine. 

It is noteworthy to mention here that since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the “special” military operation, the Western nations, particularly the United States have been pushing the international community to follow suit by taking action against Moscow. 

But, Indian officials including External Affairs Minister dr S Jaishankar have made it evident that India, the largest democracy in the world, would keep its own interests over the international pressure. As the West batted for the world to abandon Russian energy imports, India has chosen to continue buying the limited amount of Russian oil.

“India is also a very key strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific region. And there are many ways that partnership represents itself both in defence and security, economic as well. I think we'll let Indian leaders speak about their economic policies,” Kirby said.

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The Vice-Chancellor of Germany and Minister of Economy Robert Habeck on Tuesday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of carrying out an "economic attack" on European Union after Moscow significantly reduced Russian gas supplies to member nations. On the occasion of Industry Day, Habeck stressed that Russia is resorting to its old-school tactics of using energy as a weapon and limiting supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline with an aim to "provoke" Germany in particular, Ukrinform reported. He added, "such strategies should not succeed." 

Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki on Tuesday claimed that the Russian Federation is "afraid of" close cooperation between Poland, Ukraine, and other neighboring European countries. Speaking at a meeting with Polish ambassadors, the Polish PM said "Russia is frightened by the prospect of Poland's cooperation with Ukraine, the Baltic states, and the restoration of Poland's position in the international arena. We should not waste this opportunity," Ukrinform reported. He went on to add that Ukraine has emerged as a "completely new" democracy amid its fight for territorial defence and this has led to the birth of "a new concept of the Mediterranean, with Lithuania, Belarus free in the future, Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic countries, Romania." 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival noted that everything changed for Ukraine. We are defending against a nuclear state that has unlimited access to money and has disregarded any limits on violence.

He urged attendees to help promote Ukrainian bravery in order to make Kyiv's fight for freedom "legendary." He added, that Ukraine is fighting not only for freedom but for the freedom of the entire democratic world; for all of those who cannot even imagine the extent of tyranny and censorship that exist in Russia. 

I believe that the power of human creativity is greater than the power of a nuclear state that is stuck in the past, Zelenskyy said. 

Elite swimmer Mykhailo Romanchuk doesn’t know if his father was able to see him winning a medal for Ukraine at the swimming world championships. Romanchuk’s father is fighting in the east of Ukraine, where pockets of resistance are still denying Russia full military control of the region almost four months after it unleashed its invasion. “He’s in a hot spot and it’s a hard time,” Romanchuk said after taking bronze in the men’s 800-meter freestyle race on Tuesday.

Romanchuk doesn’t dare talk to his dad out of fear his father’s location could be tracked through the call. “It’s not possible for them to join the network because the Russians can search everything,” Romanchuk said. “But every morning he sends me (a message) that he is OK.” The 25-year-old Romanchuk – who still intends to race the men’s 1500, then the 10K and 5K races in open water at the worlds – almost never made it to Budapest.

Amid the ongoing war, Ukraine General Staff, in its daily war update, reported that the Russian forces captured the Pidlisne and Myrna Dolyna regions which are located southwest of Sievierodonetsk. Also, it said that Putin's forces have also had partial success near the Hirske settlement in Luhansk Oblast. In the Donetsk direction, the opponent regrouped in order to strengthen for further action in the Bakhmut direction, it said. 

Russia captures Pidlisne and Myrna Dolyna regions

Polish and Ukraine government officials say they plan to put on public display in Warsaw damaged or burnt-out Russian tanks and armoured vehicles captured by Ukrainian forces during the war. The head of the Polish prime minister’s office, Michal Dworczyk, said the idea is to highlight Russian “atrocities” and the Ukrainian response. “On one hand we are showing the atrocities that the Russian army is carrying out in Ukraine, (and) on the other hand we are showing the heroic defence of Ukraine’s armed forces and the results of these fights,” Dworaczyk said.

As major Ukrainian ports have been under the control of Russia since the onset of the war, representatives of Moscow, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations will meet in Istanbul. According to media reports, the representatives will discuss the issue of grain export from the war-torn country.

Days after introducing rubles and distribution of Russian passports, Moscow has now started broadcasting its channels in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region. The major development came on Tuesday after the Russian engineers forcefully reconfigured at least seven television towers in the Kherson region to broadcast the Russian agenda. According to the Russian army, the TV towers reconfigured on Tuesday will allow the people of Kherson to know "crucial information for free". Notably, Kherson-- located around 650 kilometres from the national capital, Kyiv-- was one of the first cities that came under the brutal attack of the Russian forces. 

 A court in the Russian capital on Tuesday extended the arrest of a municipal legislator charged with discrediting the country’s military after his criticism of Russia’s military action in Ukraine. Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court ordered Alexei Gorinov to be kept in custody pending his trial. Gorinov, a member of the municipal council of Moscow’s Krasnoselsky District, has remained in jail since his arrest in April. He was accused of discrediting the country’s military after speaking out against Russia’s military action in Ukraine during the council’s session in March.

AP

As Ukraine facing heavy infrastructural damages since the onset of the brutal war, the head of the European Investment Bank, Werner Hoyer, said that the country needs at least  $1.1 trillion in external assistance to rebuild the country. 

UK Foreign Minister Liz Truss, on Tuesday, clarified that the Boris Johnson-led government will impose sanctions on Russia unless and until Russian head Vladimir Putin stops the brutal aggression against Ukraine. Further, while addressing the UK House of Commons, she affirmed that the administration was taking every possible step to export grains from the war-ravaged nation.

Nearly three days after the heavy-weight leaders of France, Italy, and Germany visited war-torn Ukraine and took a "first-hand glimpse" of Russia's brutal aggression, it seems the members of the European Union have reached a common consent over granting EU membership to Kyiv. In the major development, the ministers backed granting "candidate status" to Ukraine during a meeting held with top EU ministers on Tuesday. According to France's EU minister, Clement Beaune, nearly all the current members of the Union voiced their support to welcome Ukraine into the 27-member bloc. He said that the formal decision will be announced by the Union during the forthcoming EU Summit this week. Apart from Kyiv, the minister, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said that the members have also vowed to support Moldova in getting the EU membership. 

The Kremlin Press Secretary told NBC's Today show that two Americans captured in Ukraine will face consequences. "They were taking part in the battlefield activities," said Dmitri Peskov. "They will be punished." Alex Drueke and Andy Huynh, both from Alabama, were believed to be the first Americans captured by Russian forces since the war began on Feb. 24. Drueke, who served in the U.S. Army, and Huynh, who served in the U.S. Marines, went missing after their group came under heavy fire in the northeastern Kharkiv region on June 9.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Tuesday, held telephonic conversations with Prime Ministers of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, Ireland PM, Micheál Marti, and Spain PM Pedro Sánchez. Taking to the microblogging site, he thanked all leaders for supporting Ukraine's European Union membership bid. While interacting with Spain's PM, Zelenskyy said he discussed the possible outcomes of the most-awaited NATO Summit and the ongoing food crisis. 

A Google executive warned the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that cyberattacks, disinformation and other forms of information warfare being waged in Ukraine are a “crystal ball” for future problems elsewhere.

“States must find a way to turn the volume down and settle on some kind of deterrence doctrine for the cyber domain,” Jared Cohen said at a council meeting on hate speech, incitement and atrocities in Ukraine.

He argued that while tech companies have needed expertise, “there is no magical algorithm or single fix for this,” and finding a solution will take a lot of experimentation.

Cohen heads Jigsaw, a part of Google that aims to build technology to combat disinformation, censorship and extremism online.

He said Ukraine “has been disproportionately targeted” by advanced cyberattacks since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, adding: “It is essentially our crystal ball for what is likely to come.”

AP

As the ravaging war between Russia and Ukraine continues even after 118 days, the European Union is reportedly mulling imposing fresh sanctions on Russian gold, aiming to penalise Moscow for its "unlawful action" against Kyiv. According to the media reports, the announcement would be made by the top EU officials during the forthcoming European Union Summit. Notably, the EU leaders will meet on June 23 and 24 to discuss injecting more pressure on the Russian economy. However, there were no official comments made on whether the 27-nation bloc would announce the seventh round of sanctions or will separately declare any action on gold. As of now, the Union has adopted six rounds of sanctions against Moscow and its ally, Belarus since the onset of the "special military operation".

President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy dialled the Prime Minister Of Hungary, Viktor Orban, to talk about Ukraine's bid to join the European Union (EU), of which Viktor Orban has claimed to be a supporter. Orban reportedly stated that the EU should remove the bureaucratic obstacles to Ukraine's EU accession as soon as possible and that he intends to represent this position at the upcoming EU summit on June 23-24, in Brussels. Zelenskyy and Orban also discussed the refugee situation in Ukraine as Hungary has already welcomed around 800,000 Ukrainian refugees and that the Hungarian government plans to continue its support.

The European Parliament President, Roberta Metsola, on Tuesday, June 21, said that the EU should give candidate status to Ukraine so that the "symbol of hope" would be able to continue boosting the morale of Ukrainians, TASS reported. She asserted Ukraine is fighting for the values of Europe. Speaking at a press conference in Helsinki, Metsola stressed that Ukraine has been fighting for democracy, territorial integrity, sovereignty, freedom and justice. She said that it would be "amiss" for European Union if it closes its door to Ukraine. 

"We have a population that is fighting for the values that we share values of democracy, territorial integrity, sovereignty, freedom and justice," Roberta Metsola said in Helsinki. 

The State Department is confirming the death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine who is believed to be only the second American to have been killed in the conflict there. The department said Tuesday that Stephen Zabielski had died in Ukraine and that it is in touch with his family to provide consular support and assistance. “Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have nothing further,” it said. The department did not provide a date or the circumstances of his death but an obituary published in his hometown newspaper said Zabielski, 53, had died on May 15. The Recorder in Amsterdam, New York, where Zabielski had lived until 2018, said he had been killed while fighting in the village of Dorozhniank, Ukraine.

Russian attacks laid down a curtain of fire Tuesday across areas of eastern Ukraine where pockets of resistance are denying Moscow full military control of the region, almost four months after the Kremlin unleashed an invasion. “Today everything that can burn is on fire,” Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, told The Associated Press.

Russia’s war has caused alarm over food supplies from Ukraine to the rest of the world and gas supplies from Russia, as well as raising questions about security in Western Europe. The Russian military currently controls about 95% of the Luhansk region. But Moscow has struggled for weeks to overrun it completely, despite deploying additional troops and possessing a massive advantage in military assets.

In the city of Sievierodonetsk, the hot spot of the fighting, Ukrainian defenders held on to the Azot chemical plant in the industrial outskirts. About 500 civilians are sheltering at the plant, and Haidai said the Russian forces are turning the area “into ruins.”

AP

kremlin has refuted all reports claiming that Russia's President Vladimir Putin has been ill, saying that he was playing hockey at the weekend. It comes as ex-official of United Kingdom's (UK) Intelligence agency MI6 has claimed that Russia's President Vladimir Putin has been leaving meetings to receive medical treatments and that he is "constantly accompanied around the place by a team of doctors," raising speculations about possible health issues.

Recently, there have been multiple unconfirmed reports that Putin has been undergoing a medical issue, although it remains unclear what ailment Russia's President may be battling.

A senior Ukrainian government official was detained by Ukraine's SBU on suspicion of espionage. The official who was not named for security purposes, is also allegedly a part of Russian spy network, Ukraine’s security service (SBU) said on Telegram. The senior official is employed at the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers and is a department head at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

US state department on Tuesday confirmed the death of an American citizen in Ukraine named Stephen Zabielski who was involved fighting alongside the Ukraine's armed forces. Zabielski died on 15 May, as per his obituary in the newspapers.  "We have been in touch with the family and have provided all possible consular assistance. Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have nothing further," an official reportedly said. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov on Tuesday said that the two Americans captured in Ukraine "are not covered by the Geneva Convention" and therefore "the death penalty for US citizens can not be ruled out."

Russia’s president Vladimir Putin is furious with Lithuania’s recent blockade of the Russian goods via the enclave of Kaliningrad In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Russian president hinted at the use the Sarmat ballistic missile, which he said would be ready to be deployed by the end of the year 2022. Russia's Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev iterated that "Russian border security needs to be strengthened in the light of new threats , including the intention of Sweden and Finland to join NATO.”

Patrushev said Russian countermeasures against the blockade of Kaliningrad would have "very negative consequences for the people of Lithuania", calling the country's action "hostile".

Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel on Tuesday visited Ukraine and took stock of the war atrocities committed by the invading Russian froces. "You can count on Luxembourg to support the investigations of national and international actors into these war crimes," said Bettel. The Prime Minister has already visited Borodyanka and Bucha.

Russian forces launched rocket on a school in the city of Avdiivka, Donetsk, that resulted in fierce blazes, Ukraine's first deputy minister of foreign affairs informed in a post. Emine Dzheppar shared the video on her official handle that showed the roof of the school burning as the Ukrainian flag unfurls in the smoke and gusts. 

"Russian invaders continue destroying, killing and robbing Ukrainian children's futures," she said.

At least seven Belarusian Army battalion consisting of roughly 3,500 to 4,000 soldiers on Tuesday concentrated on the Ukraine's border.  Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, said in a telegram post that the Russian troops were also deployed in Belarus. 

Credit: Associated Press

In a punitive measure, Russian on Tuesday banned UK newsppaer The Telegraph's website, criticising its biased coverage of the Ukraine war. Russians found themselves restricted from the digital access earlier today. Kremlin says that the British media disseminated "inaccurate information about the special military operation conducted by Russia's Armed Forces on the territory of Ukraine", TASS news agency reported. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday said that Russia will not apply the Geneva Convention on the two captured American fighters, and will instead treat them as mercenaries.  Alexander John-Robert Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, Alabama have been brought to Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk region after being captured by Russian forces during the battle in eastern Donbass. 

Holed up in a bombed-out house in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian troops keep a careful accounting of their ammunition, using a door as a sort of ledger. Scrawled in chalk on the door are figures for mortar shells, smoke shells, shrapnel shells, flares.Despite the heavy influx of weapons from the West, Ukrainian forces are outgunned by the Russians in the battle for the eastern Donbas region, where the fighting is largely being carried out by way of artillery exchanges.

While the Russians can keep up heavy, continuous fire for hours at a time, the defenders can’t match the enemy in either weapons or ammunition and must use their ammo more judiciously, Associated Press reports. 

Germany will suppply weapons to Ukraine "as long as it is needed," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a speech at the Annual meeting of the Federation of German Industries, according to state broadcasters. Olaf stressed that he stands firm in support of his Lithuanian allies and other European partners. 

"Europe and the Western democracies do not accept the violent attack on Ukraine. Therefore Ukraine was supplied extensively with weapons and unprecedentedly tough sanctions were imposed. These sanctions do work. Yes, these sanctions are hurting ourselves as well. They hurt our companies, but they are right," Scholz reportedly said.

"I will never forget the images of horror I saw there [in Ukraine," German chancellor reiterated, as he recalled his trip to Irpin. 

Russia's military is grinding down Ukraine’s defenses with intense combat in eastern areas as war is entering a “decisive” phase. In Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, which in recent weeks has become the focal point of Moscow’s attempt to impose its will on its neighbor, battle is raging for the control of multiple villages, the local governor said.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said the Kremlin had ordered the Russian military to overrun the entire Luhansk region by next Sunday. Currently, Moscow’s forces control about 95% of the region.

While Russia has kept quiet about its war casualties, Ukrainian authorities say up to 200 of their soldiers are dying each day. Russian forces are gaining ground slowly in the east, but experts say they are taking heavy losses. The United States last week upped the ante with its largest pledge of aid for Ukrainian forces yet: an additional $1 billion in military assistance to help repel or reverse Russian advances.

But experts note that such aid deliveries haven’t kept pace with Ukraine’s needs, in part because defense industries aren’t turning out weaponry fast enough.

“We’re moving from peacetime to wartime,” said Francois Heisbourg, a senior adviser at the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research think tank.

“Peacetime means low production rates, and ramping up the production rate means that you have to first build industrial facilities. … This is a defense-industrial challenge which is of a very great magnitude.”

Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian positions from a U.S.-supplied M777 howitzer in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Credit: AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky/File

Source: Associated Press

Two American fighters of Ukraine's International Legion who were captured by the Russian soliders in Ukraine have been transferred to Russian-backed separatist region of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, Interfax news agency reported. Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, who served as a US Marine, and Alexander Drueke, a former US Army personnel who was deployed in Iraq, were volunteering with a unit of foreign fighters in the Ukrainian Army when they mysteriously disappeared.

Drueke hails from Tuscaloosa, in Alabama, and had first enlisted with the US Army after 9/11, and was later deployed in Iraq as a staff sergeant. Huynh, born to Vietnamese parents, hailed from California and lived in Alabama's Tennessee Valley. He served four years in the US Marines but lacked combat experience. 

Russia’s military, in an update on the Telegram messaging app, said that the two American fighters, who got separated from their cohort and disappeared after destroying a Russian tank, were captured by its soldiers as prisoners of war. 

Credit: @PaulGoward/Twitter

Hollywood actor Ben Stiller met with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy . "You are my hero," he told the politician turned comedian. US actor has also met with the refugees in Poland and Ukraine. In a video shared on teelgram, Stiller is heard telling Zelenskyy: "It's great honour for me. You are my hero. You quit a great acting career for this." "Not so great as you," he replies.

Hollywood star contineus, "What you have done, the way you rallied the country and for the world, it's really inspiring."

Several loud explosions rocked the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv on Tuesday, according to the regional administration.At least three blasts  resonated in the region and thick black lume of smoke was witnessed in the city that borders the Kherson region. Russian forces have been consistently shelling the territory incuding the town of Shyroke, 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of Mykolaiv, Ukrainian military said in an update. There were no casualties reported.

Russia on Tuesday said that the fire at seized drilling rigs in Black Sea is continuing after the Ukrainian attack. Russian senator in Crimea Olga Kovitidi said firefighters tried to reach the rigs. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova in a statement outlined five distinctive causes for unprecedented fuel price hikes and supply shortages. She claimed the "short-sightedness" of the Westen sanctions was primary reason behind global inflation. Citing statistics, she went on claim that trade and grain levels are higher than last year and “there will be more grain in the world."

She claims that the causes of rising prices and shortages are:

• Systematic errors made by the west when making forecasts for its agricultural policy.
• Global inflation was caused by short-sighted financial and monetary mechanisms that the west used during the pandemic.
• The ill-conceived transition of Europe and North America to green energy was based on the forced introduction of biofuel technologies.
• Illegitimate sanctions have disrupted the established commodity-money chains.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will consider "incitement to violence leading to atrocity crimes" as one of the causes that contributed to the Russian onslaught in Ukraine. Special Advisor of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the Prevention of Genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu will address the meeting at New York headquarters. 

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday. His visit reportedly shows his country's solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

Crimea, which Russia occupied in 2014, has launched integration projects with the occupied areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, RIA Novosti reported, citing the deputy chairman of the council of ministers of Crimea, Georgy Muradov.

“The creation of transport routes will ensure the uninterrupted supply of food, medicine and humanitarian aid to the liberated territories. It will also strengthen interregional ties in various fields," Moradiv said, as quoted by RIA Novosti. 

A volunteer from US Stephen Zabielski was killed in Russian airstrikes in the Zaporizhzhia region in Ukraine, taking the total death tally for Americans up to two. According to reports by the Washington Post, Stephen was killed on May 15 in action near Dorozhnyanka. 

Following Lithuania's ban on the transit of Russian rails carrying goods through Kaliningrad, Moscow's Foreign Ministry on Monday said it is set to summon the European Union envoy to Russia, Kaliningrad’s governor, Anton Alikhanov, told Russian television late on Sunday.

This is, of course, a situation, that can be resolved by diplomatic means,

As far as I know, tomorrow Marcus Ederer, the European Union ambassador to Russia, will be summoned to the foreign ministry .... and he will be told of the appropriate conditions involved here," he said, as quoted by The Guardian.

Denmark on Monday declared an "early warning" over impending energy supply difficulties given the uncertainty from Russian energy exports. Danish Energy Agency, Martin Hansen in a statement said, the country is facing a "serious situation" that was escalated by a reduction in supplies. As per Danish Energy Agency, Russia is the main source of natural gas supplies to Denmark. 

Ukrainian forces claimed their first successful use of western-donated Harpoon anti-ship missiles to engage Russian maritime forces, British intelligence says.

The target of the attack on 17 June was almost certainly the Russian naval tug Spasatel Vasily Bekh, which was delivering weapons and personnel to Snake Island in the north-western Black Sea, according to the latest UK ministry of defence report.

The destruction of the Russian vessel on a resupply mission “demonstrates the difficulty Russia faces when attempting to support their forces occupying Snake Island” the report adds.

Russia on Monday announced dates for its 44th International Film Festival. The event will be held from August 26 to September 2, 2022, the directorate said in a statement. The starlit festival was supposed to take place in April 2022, however, it was postponed given the geopolitical situation. 

Over 200 applicants from Argentina, Brazil, Peru, the US, the UK, Serbia, Italy, France, India, Iran, China, countries of the Middle East, and other regions have already registered to showcase their talents in filmmaking, Tass reported. 

At least three people were killed and two others injured in Kharkiv Oblast after Russia renewed shelling in region. Among the dead were two elderly women and a 49-year-old man. "Two other people – a 61-year-old woman and a 49-year-old man were killed in the city of Balakliya. Two more civilians were injured in the Industrial District of Kharkiv city," Kyiv Independent reported. 

Ukrainian Deputy PM Iryna Vereshchuk on Monday claimed that at least 1,500 Ukrainian civilians are captured in Russian prisons. Addressing a presser, she told reporters that the imprisoned people include priests, volunteers, activists, journalists and heads of local governments of occupied regions. 

Americans captured in Ukraine were “mercenaries” engaged in illegal activities and should take responsibility for their “crimes”, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. In the first comments by the Kremlin over the detention of two Americans in the pro-Russian region so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Peskov said in an interview with NBC that the men did not come under the Geneva convention as they were not regular Ukrainian troops fighting against Russia. 

Peskov further said that the two Americans captured in Ukraine while fighting with the Ukrainian military were “endangering” the Russian soldiers and should be “held accountable for those crimes".

He said, “They're soldiers of fortune and they were involved in illegal activities on the territory of Ukraine. They were involved in firing and shelling our military personnel. They were endangering their lives”.

“They should be held responsible for those crimes that they have committed…Those crimes have to be investigated,” he also said in the first bits of the interview made public by the network.

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Russia's attempts to threaten Lithuania by banning the transit of goods to the Kaliningrad region pose a challenge for the European Union and NATO, said the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office Andriy Yermak on Telegram.

"The Kremlin's attempts to threaten Lithuania are a challenge for the EU and NATO. Now it is important to maintain a stable position and make no concessions to Russia on sanctions and restrictions on transit of goods from Russia to Kaliningrad. Any concession will be perceived by Russia as a weakness," Yermak said.

[IMAGE: @President.gov.ua]

Hollywood star Ben Stiller and UNHCR Representative in Ukraine Karolina Lindholm Billing visited the Office of the President after a visit to the occupied settlements of the Kyiv region on June 20. "You are my hero," Stiller said during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"As you quit a great acting career for this," Stiller continued. "What you've done and the way that you've rallied the country, and you know, for the world, it's really inspiring," Stiller said.

Stiller and Lindholm visited, in particular, the ruined residential areas of Irpin, where they talked to people who survived the occupation."It's one thing to see this destruction on TV or on social networks. Another thing is to see it all with your own eyes. That's a lot more shocking," said Stiller, as quoted by President.gov.ua.

The European Council on Monday decided to renew its sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow's illegal annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation. The sanctions introduced in  June 2014 were expanded until 23 June 2023, the EU said in a statement. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday refused to guarantee leniency for Americans captured by Russian troops in Ukraine, saying that the sentencing will depend on investigation. In an interview with NBC television, Peskov said, "I cannot guarantee anything" when asked if the US prisoners of war, who Russia labelled as "mercenaries", will not same fate as the 3 Britons sentenced earlier this month. 

US President Joe Biden on Monday said that he is "not likely" to visit Ukraine during his trip to Europe for the Group of Seven summit and a meeting of NATO leaders later on this week.

He told reporters a stop in Ukraine is "not likely" on the upcoming trip, adding that  he does not want to "cause more difficulty for Ukrainians" by adding a stop. The trip to Europe includes stops in Germany and Spain. 

On Saturday, Biden will travel to Schloss Elmau in southern Germany to take part in the G7 Leaders' Summit, a meeting that is expected to include a focus on Russia's ongoing war on Ukraine. On June 28, the President will travel to Madrid, Spain, for the 2022 NATO Summit.

Head of Luhansk Military administration, Serhiy Haidai on Monday claimed that Russian troops have enough artillery and equipment to launch a "large scale offensive" on Severdonetsk, the largest city in Donetsk Oblast. He further claimed the invading soldiers accumulated dozens of pieces of Russian heavy military equipment that were already deployed on the battlefield.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of holding Africa “hostage” by blocking wheat deliveries and driving the spike in food prices on the continent. While addressing the African Union leaders on Monday, Zelenksyy noted that the Russia-Ukraine war might “seem distant” to Africa but the conflict has led to rising food prices. 

The Ukrainian President also said that Kyiv is holding “complex multilevel negotiations” to end Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports and allow the export of millions of tonnes of grain. However, he said, “there is no progress yet. ... That is why the global food crisis will continue as long as this colonial war continues”.

Zelenskyy said, "This war may seem very distant to you and your countries. But catastrophically, rising food prices have already brought it home to millions of African families."

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday claimed that Russia is regrouping its forces to renew attacks on Kharkiv and capture Sloviansk city in east Ukraine's Donbass. Speaking at the opening session of the Global Policy Forum, Zelenksyy urged world leaders to "do more for Ukraine to win." He said, "We can set a historical precedent. Earlier, when the aggressor started a war against another state, he hoped that the war would break the victim. And now we have proved that Ukraine cannot be broken." He also noted the growing number of Ukrainian refugees emerging as the war in east Ukraine intensified. 

Unfortunately, this day has recently become especially painful for all of us, for millions of Ukrainians. To be precise, for more than 12 million of our citizens. Imagine! Those who at the beginning of this year had a home, complete security, plans for the future. And all this was destroyed by the Russian invasion.

More than 12 million Ukrainians have become migrants. They left their cities, communities and sought refuge in a safe area. Where at least Russian artillery does not reach.

More than 5 million Ukrainians out of these 12 have left our country and found refuge in other countries, including Italy, Zelenskyy said. 

The Nobel Peace prize auctioned off by Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov fetched a whopping $103 million, surpassing previous records, The Guardian reported. Muratov, the editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta sold off his prized possession to raise money for Ukrainian children. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2021 for his immense contribution to journalism before his publication was shut down during the Kremlin's crackdown on dissidents. 

Muratov said the money will go down to charity. The proceeds will be delivered directly to UNICEF "to give the children refugees a chance for a future”. In an interview with Associated Press, Muratovm had said, “We want to return their future.”

Russia stated that if the transit of goods to and from Kaliningrad through Lithuania is not restored in the near future Moscow reserves the right to take countermeasures, said the head of the delegation of the Russian Federation and permanent representative of Russia to the international organisations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov. He added, "Very mild reaction at this stage despite the fact that Vilnius violated the 2002 EU-Russia agreement.”

The looming decision on Ukraine's candidacy in the European Union is making Russia "very nervous", said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his usual nightly address on Monday. As Russia continued its "brutal offensive actions" in the western, eastern, and southern districts, Zelenskyy said, the whole region of Kharkiv, Odesa, and Donbass "is the hardest battle."

"The next days of the week will also be busy. We are moving toward the main decision of the European Council, which will be adopted on Friday...As I predicted, Russia is very nervous about our activity,” Zelenskyy said. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin fears that a "spark of democracy" will spread through Russia as the war against Ukraine intensified in the days to come, said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Speaking to a local German publication Muenchner Merkur newspaper, he warned that Putin was trying to divide Europe and track back the world to the phase divided by influence. 

"The Russian President must accept that there is a community of law-based democracies in his neighbourhood that is growing ever closer together...He clearly fears the spark of democracy spreading to his country," Scholz said. 

However, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova hit back at Scholz, saying “German sparks have spread onto us a couple of times. We will not allow any more fires," The Guardian reported. 

Russia on Monday labelled the three Americans captured in Ukraine as "mercenaries." As reported by Russian RIA Novosti, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the Americans were not covered under the UN's Geneva Convention as they were not regular troops. They engaged in illegal activities, including shooting at Russian servicemen, he added.