Russia fired 597 drones and 26 missiles during a night attack on Ukraine, the country’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reported. A Russian drone strike on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv hit a maternity hospital, officials reported, shocking patients as windows broke and glass splinters fell onto hospital beds, with families scrambling to cover their babies. Three women and three newborns experienced acute stress and were treated for it.
Nine people were injured in Kharkiv, and an apartment building was also damaged in Russian attacks over the past day, while one person was killed and five others injured as a result of various Russian attacks in the surrounding region, governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Ukraine said its drones struck a Russian fighter aircraft plant in the Moscow region and a missile production facility in the Tula region, causing explosions and fires at both. The Russian Ministry of Defence said that 155 Ukrainian drones were downed between Thursday and Friday, including 11 bound for Moscow.
Dmitry Milyaev, the Tula regional governor, reported on Telegram that a man was killed and another was hurt in a Ukrainian strike on the region, about 200km (124 miles) south of Moscow.
Russia’s Defence Ministry announced that Russian forces had captured the village of Zelena Dolyna in Donetsk, northeast of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk cities, as its troops advance westward.
The United States resumed military aid to Ukraine, and the top Kyiv officials will discuss military coordination next week with US special representative Keith Kellogg, who will be visiting next week, Zelenskyy stated.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov informed Russian media reporting his ASEAN encounter in Malaysia that he had presented Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stance on resolving the Ukraine conflict in a meeting with senior US diplomat Marco Rubio yesterday.
Lavrov has landed in North Korea, the state media KCNA of North Korea has reported, the latest of a high-ranking Russian official to visit the reclusive nation following strengthening ties between the nations. Lavrov’s visit on Sunday consists of a meeting with the foreign minister of the nation.
Lavrov is then likely to head to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
North Korea might be planning to send more troops in July or August, following its deployment of over 10,000 soldiers to join Russia’s army in the conflict against Ukraine, according to South Korea’s intelligence service.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has labelled as “unacceptable” French President Emmanuel Macron’s offer to deploy a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine if Moscow and Kyiv should enter into an elusive ceasefire. He also blamed European leaders for a “pattern of militaristic anti-Russian rhetoric. Russia is expecting the “major statement” US President Donald Trump said he would make on Monday, Peskov added.
Peskov also indicated wartime censorship in Russia is appropriate during the war against Ukraine and the shutting down of opposition-leaning media. Some Russian-language media have been censored since the beginning of the war in February 2022, in addition to social media sites such as X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Exhaustion on the war in Ukraine and US-led foreign aid reductions are threatening attempts to assist individuals on the move from adversity, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Director-General Amy Vitorino cautioned, one day after a Ukraine recovery conference in Rome raised more than 10 billion euros ($11.69bn) for Ukraine.
The United Nations trade and development organisation, UNCTAD, said its deal with Moscow to ease exports of Russian food and fertiliser to global markets to curb global food prices “will not be renewed” after it runs out on July 22 due to disagreements.
