12:58 NATO states: No agreement on multi-year Ukraine aid
Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg failed in his attempt to get Nato member states to make multi-year commitments for military aid to Ukraine. The 32 allies could only agree to provide support in the amount of at least 40 billion Euros within the next year. This is reported by the German Press Agency and refers to statements from several delegations.
12:24 Ukraine: Five Dead after Attack on Dnipro The number of casualties from the Russian attack on Dnipro has increased, according to Ukrainian reports, to five dead, with at least 34 people injured, including a 14-year-old girl. The attack reportedly occurred with rockets and drones, causing several explosions and fires in the city. Reports suggest that a shopping mall and a weapons factory were hit.
11:31 Ukraine receives another 2 billion from the IMF The financially stricken Ukraine has received an additional tranche of over two billion Euros from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This money is part of an ongoing credit program worth around 15 billion Euros. The money will be used by the government, according to Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal, primarily for social welfare and salaries of civil servants, including doctors and teachers. Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has reportedly received over 80 billion Euros in aid from foreign partners, solely in the form of budgetary assistance.
11:01 Military base in Russian Kursk on fire Videos from the Russian city of Kursk show a large smoke cloud over the city. An Ukrainian attack is said to have set several vehicles on fire on a military base in the city center. The regional governor has confirmed a fire in the city center.
10:40 Multiple civilians killed in Russian attacks Russian troops reportedly shot at the village of Borova in the Charkiw region last night. This was reported by the Charkiw Military Administration on Telegram. According to their reports, one man was killed, two others were injured. In a Russian rocket and drone attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, at least three people were reportedly killed and 18 others injured.
10:19 Kremlin: No talks with Trump over Ukraine According to Kremlin statements, Russia is not in dialogue with former US President Donald Trump over Ukraine. This was reported by the Interfax news agency, citing a spokesperson for the Russian Presidential Administration. Trump had stated during a TV duel with President Joe Biden during the previous week that, if he won the November election, he would resolve the war in Ukraine before his inauguration in January.
09:46 Ukraine lacks Hangars to protect Combat jets
According to a report from the Ukrainian "Defense Express", the Ukrainian army does not have sufficient hangars at its disposal to shield all its fighter jets from Russian attacks. The newspaper reports that a military airbase in the Poltava Oblast does not have sufficient large hangar spaces for Su-27 combat jets. Therefore, Russia has released images of a recent air raid on the airfield, in which several Ukrainian Su-27 aircraft are seen damaged in the open. The Ukraine lacked hangars to shield all the planes.
09:16 Defense committee approves purchase of 105 Leopard-2A8 tanks
The Defense Committee of the German Bundestag is set to approve the purchase of 105 Leopard-2A8 battle tanks today. "We are exhausting all options," writes the new committee chairman Marcus Faber on the platform "X". "We are fully equipping the Brigade in Lithuania with battle tanks, replacing older Leo2 in the army, and creating room for further commitments to Ukraine," adds the FDP politician. According to the proposal, the order has a volume of approximately three billion Euros. The defense conglomerate KNDS is expected to deliver the tanks to the Bundeswehr by 2030.
08:44 Russia: Ukrainian attack on Black Sea port repelled
Russia claims to have repelled attacks from two unmanned Ukrainian mine-laying boats on the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The Defense Ministry reports that the drone boats were destroyed in the Black Sea. In Novorossiysk, there is a large harbor of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Russia has stationed many of its warships used in the conflict against Ukraine there after the Ukrainian forces attacked the harbors on the Crimean peninsula. The ministry did not comment on possible damages. The authorities in Novorossiysk urged people to stay in their homes and apartments during the night.
08:21 Majority of Ukrainians feel unity in society
Forty-four percent of Ukrainians believe that Ukrainian society is currently united, according to a nationwide survey conducted on July 2nd by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). A smaller percentage of interviewees, 15 percent, see Ukrainian society as divided. Corruption is cited as the primary problem, followed by language issues. Unfairness during the war, collaboration, and Russophilism are also considered factors contributing to societal division.
07:55 Kremlin: Ten Ukrainian attack drones destroyed over Russian territory
Russia claims to have shot down ten Ukrainian attack drones over Russian territory. Five drones were shot down over the Belgorod border region, four over the Brjansk border region, and one over the Moscow region, according to the Defense Ministry's Telegram post. Additionally, two Ukrainian mine-laying drones were destroyed that had approached the Novorossiysk Black Sea port in the Krasnodar region.
07:20 Ukrainian General Staff: nearly 1200 Russian casualties yesterday
The Ukrainian General Staff reports 1,180 casualties on the Russian side in the past 24 hours. Accordingly, 16 destroyed tanks, 17 armored vehicles, 57 artillery systems, and 63 tank and other vehicles were also destroyed. Two Russian air defense systems and a missile were allegedly destroyed by the Ukrainians. The number of dead or wounded soldiers on the Russian side, according to the General Staff, has exceeded 546,000 since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
06:48 Putin arrives at the SOZ summit in Kazakhstan
Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Kazakhstan, according to Kremlin reports. He is participating in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana. During the two-day meeting, issues of regional security, defense, and cooperation will be discussed. The heads of state and government of the SCO member states will discuss "the current situation and prospects for further deepening of multifaceted cooperation," according to Moscow. Putin plans to hold bilateral talks, including with China and Turkey. Representatives from 16 countries are participating in the summit - among them India, Iran, and Pakistan. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also expected.
06:11 Ukraine rejects territorial concessions to Putin again
Ukraine continues to reject territorial concessions to Russia to end the war, according to the words of the chief of staff of the Ukrainian president, Andrij Yermak. "We are not willing to make compromises on important things and values," Yermak said to journalists during a visit to Washington. He named "independence, freedom, democracy, territorial integrity, sovereignty." The chief of staff reacts to statements by Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump, who claimed he could quickly end the conflict. The Ukrainian government is open to advice, however, to achieve a "just peace." Trump said during the television debate that he would not accept Putin's conditions. Putin had stated that Russia would end the war if Kiev was willing to surrender the territories claimed and occupied by Moscow in the east and south of the country. In response to a question about how the Ukraine evaluates Trump's handling of the war, Yermak said: "Honestly, I don't know. We'll see."
05:42 USA releases new military aid for Ukraine
Ukraine is in urgent need of military supplies to counter the Russian offensive. The USA will make additional military aid to Ukraine available in the coming days in the amount of approximately 2.3 billion US dollars (around 2.14 billion Euros). This was announced by US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin during a visit by his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umjeroв in Washington. The package includes "additional air defense missiles, anti-tank weapons, and other important ammunition from US stocks," explained Austin. A "realignment of some foreign military deliveries" will also make it possible for the USA to provide Patriot and other air defense systems "in an accelerated timeframe."
04:49 NATO strengthens presence in Kiev
The NATO is expanding its civilian presence in Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia. A spokesperson confirmed that the 32 alliance members have decided to send special representatives to the capital Kiev. The high-ranking official is supposed to oversee the political and practical support of the alliance on site. The background is mainly that the NATO intends to give the starting signal for a new deployment for the coordination of weapons deliveries and training activities for the Ukrainian armed forces at the upcoming summit in Washington. The headquarters for this should be built in Wiesbaden. Who will get the new NATO position in Kiev is still unknown.
03:42 UN call for release of Gershkovich
Experts of the United Nations are calling for the immediate release of US journalist Evan Gershkovich, who is in Russian custody on espionage charges. "The deprivation of freedom for Evan Gershkovich is arbitrary" and violates several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the experts write in a statement. In light of the circumstances of the case, the "immediate" release of Gershkovich is appropriate.
02:40 Serbian President Vucic receives Russian deputy foreign minister
The Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic received the Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Gruschko in Belgrade. He spoke with Gruschko about the bilateral relations between Serbia and Russia and assessed them as "very good", Vucic said in an Instagram post. He also thanked Russia "for its support of Serbia's territorial integrity, as well as in relation to the UN resolution on Srebrenica". Moscow still refuses to recognize Kosovo's independence. Serbia has been an EU membership candidate since 2012, but maintains good relations with the Kreml despite the Russian intervention in Ukraine.
01:29 Russian court sentences 19-year-old to twelve years
A Russian court has sentenced a 19-year-old to twelve years in prison for "treason", after he was accused of donating money to the Ukrainian army. "The Rostov Regional Court found the man guilty and sentenced him to a twelve-year prison term in a penal colony", it says in a comment from the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB, which was taken up by the state-controlled Kremlin media. The teenager is said to have sent money to help the Ukrainian army buy food and drones. Since Russia's attack on Ukraine, thousands of Russians have been arrested and many of them have been imprisoned. According to Amnesty International, at least 21,000 people were the target of repressions against war opponents in 2023.
00:20 A quarter of US citizens find US aid to Ukraine insufficient
Almost a quarter of Americans believe that the United States is not providing enough military aid to Ukraine. This share has increased since November last year, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. According to the survey, 24 percent of respondents believe that the United States is not providing enough aid to Ukraine, compared to 18 percent in November 2023, when the survey was last conducted. However, more Americans (31 percent) believe that the United States is providing too much aid, and 25 percent believe that the US aid is sufficient.
22:53 Lithuania reports airspace violation by Russian aircraftLithuania reports the violation of its airspace by a Russian aircraft. The unspecified machine of the Russian airline Pobeda allegedly entered the airspace of the Baltic EU and NATO member unlawfully on the evening of June 30th and stayed there for approximately one minute, according to the Foreign Ministry in Vilnius. The representative of the Russian embassy was summoned and the Russian authorities were urged to take necessary measures to prevent such incidents in the future. The airspace violation occurred over the Baltic Sea, as the aircraft was on its way from Moscow to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad bordering Lithuania. The EU has closed its airspace as a reaction to Russia's aggression in Ukraine for Russian aircraft.
22:12 Survey in Member States: High Trust in NATO, Low Trust in ZelenskyNext week, NATO celebrates its 75th anniversary. In the member states, the transatlantic defense alliance is viewed favorably, according to a survey by Pew Research. On average in 13 countries, 63% of the population holds a positive opinion, while 33% hold a negative one. Germany is slightly above the average with 64% positive sentiment. The rating in Poland stands out: 91% hold a positive image of the alliance there. The trust in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stands at an average of 40% and has decreased in the member states in the past year. Poland also stands out, where the head of state has lost 22 percentage points - from 70% to 48%. In Germany, trust has decreased by 7 percentage points to 54%.
21:27 Zelensky rejects Orban's peace proposalUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected a peace proposal from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for peace negotiations. During his first visit to Kiev since the start of the war, Orbán proposed a rapid ceasefire. "This could accelerate peace negotiations with Moscow," he said. "The president listened, but in response, he clarified Ukraine's position and rejected the proposal," said a spokesperson for the Presidential Administration. Kiev had previously rejected ceasefires, citing the risk that Russian forces could regroup during this time.
21:02 Ukraine: Moscow recruits minorsRussia is actively recruiting minors for the war in Ukraine, according to Ukraine. The recruitment contracts are allegedly signed with minors and take effect upon reaching adulthood. "They hope to recruit tens of thousands of teenagers with propaganda," says the Ukrainian agency "National Resistance Center": "We warn that any enemy on our territory will be eliminated." On occupied Ukrainian territory, Russia also employs minors, for example, to manufacture drones.
- Despite Nato's failure to secure multi-year military aid commitments for Ukraine, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg managed to secure at least 40 billion Euros in support within the next year.
- The increasing number of casualties in Ukraine, including five deaths and at least 34 injuries in Dnipro due to a Russian attack using rockets and drones, has prompted international concern.
- In response to the Russian invasion, Ukraine has received over 80 billion Euros in aid from foreign partners, with the International Monetary Fund providing an additional 2 billion Euros to support social welfare and salaries.
- In a diplomatic move, Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Kazakhstan to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, where issues of regional security, defense, and cooperation will be discussed.
- As the conflict in Ukraine continues, there are concerns about the safety of Ukrainian fighter jets, with reports that the Ukrainian army lacks sufficient hangars to protect them from Russian attacks.
