Russia-Ukraine war live: Drone attacks strike Kyiv, one dead

Stella Palmer

1 year ago

Ukrainian officials have reported an overnight “mass attack” of Iranian-made Shahed drones that had approached from different directions, killing at least one person.
Kyiv claims to have destroyed 20 drones and two cruise missiles overnight.
Moscow claims to have successfully repelled 30 Ukrainian attacks in 24 hours along the front line, while Kyiv claims to have advanced around Bakhmut.
Russia’s foreign intelligence chief Sergey Naryshkin has said that he and CIA counterpart William Burns discussed “what to do with Ukraine” in a phone call.

China is not credible in its support for Ukraine: Germany

The German government said in the China strategy it released on Thursday that China is not credible in its defence of Ukraine’s territorial integrity due to its support of Russian narratives.

“Chinese propaganda is amplifying Russia’s narratives regarding its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine,” the strategy reads.

“This requires systematic, evidence-based monitoring and countermeasures on all levels, including at [the] European level.”

Zelenskyy: NATO summit gave Kyiv a security foundation

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said the NATO summit had provided Ukraine with a security foundation that it had never before achieved.

“This is very important. For the first time since our independence, we have established a foundation of security for Ukraine on its path to NATO,” Zelenskyy said in a video posted on Twitter.

“These are concrete security guarantees confirmed by the world’s top seven democracies. Never before have we had such a security base and it is at the level of the G7.”

The Ukrainian leader added, “Previously, Russia’s rulers wanted to have their own fence in front of NATO’s door. We have left this Russian ambition on the margins of European history – behind the fence of our unity in Europe and, more broadly, in the free world.”

‘Friction and confusion’ since the Wagner mutiny: US

Russia’s leadership has been suffering from “friction and confusion” since the Wagner Group’s mutiny last month, the top US general says.

“At the strategic level, it is pretty clear that you have a significant amount of friction and confusion,” General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a small group of reporters travelling with him in Asia.

“There’s a lot of drama going on at the very senior levels. How that’s all going to play out at the end of the day? I’m not so sure yet,” Milley said.

“I don’t think we’re done with it. I think there’s many more chapters to be heard on that.”

The June 24 mutiny led by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose fighters seized the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, was abruptly defused in a deal brokered by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Shelling attacks reported across Belgorod: Gladkov

Governor of the Russian Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, says shelling attacks were reported in several regional villages.

“Seven artillery shells were fired at the Varishkin farm and 3 at the village of Zhuravlevka. In the village of Naumovka, the enemy dropped two explosive devices from a UAV. There were no casualties or damage in any of the settlements of the region,” Gladkov said.

The villages of Novopetrovka, Kozinka, Spodaryushino and Rozhdestvenka, Mokraya Orlovka, Grafovka, Repyahovka, the outskirts of Staroselye, and the farms of Maryino and Pankov were all attacked.

One man was injured in Grafovka due to a shrapnel forearm, arm and chest wound and was taken to the hospital.

Serbia bans Putin critic: Lawyer

Serbian police have banned Petr Nikitin, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, from entering the country, a Belgrade-based lawyer said.

Nikitin, a founder of the Russian Democratic Society, was denied entry to Serbia, where he has lived since 2016.

Cedomir Stojkovic, a lawyer who represents Nikitin, said the decision was made following the Security Information Agency’s request to the police to seek “a protective measure of expulsion of a foreigner”.

“This is unlawful as Nikitin’s children are here, this is a separation of a family, he is a resident, but the police can nevertheless deport him,” Stojkovic said.

Stojkovic said he would complain to the Ministry of Interior.

The Russian Democratic Society is a non-profit organisation advocating for Russians who have fled to Serbia.

Russian general claims he was dismissed for telling the truth

A Russian general says he was dismissed as a commander after telling military leadership about failings on the front line.

“The Ukrainian army could not break through our ranks at the front but our senior chief hit us from the rear, viciously beheading the army at the most difficult and intense moment,” Major-General Ivan Popov, who commanded the 58th Combined Arms Army, said in a voice message published by Russian lawmaker Andrei Gurulyov.

Popov spoke about the deaths of Russian soldiers and said the army lacked proper counter-artillery systems and reconnaissance of enemy artillery.

There was no immediate comment from the defence ministry.

It is also unclear when the message was recorded, and Popov’s current whereabouts are unknown.

Third night of strikes in Ukraine: AJ correspondent

Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Kyiv, said air defences shot down 20 Shahed drones in Russia’s latest overnight strike on Ukraine.

“This is the third night that Kyiv has been woken up by these drone attacks that do seem to be timed to coincide with the NATO summit that just wrapped up,” he said.

McBride added that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared upbeat in his nightly address despite Ukraine not receiving a formal invitation to join the NATO alliance or an official timeline on membership.

“[Zelenskyy welcomed] G7 support that had been given, these security guarantees…when it comes to NATO membership saying that finally any ambiguity about whether or not Ukraine will be a member of NATO has been removed,” he added.

I have not heard new proposals on grain deal: Russia’s Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that he had not heard any new proposals regarding the Black Sea grain export deal, which is set to expire on Monday.

The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, allows Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger, a boost to global food security after the war drove up prices.

Russian forces using armoured cars as explosives: British MoD

The British Ministry of Defence said Russian forces use old armoured cars as explosives.

“In June 2023, there have been several reports of Russian forces using antiquated armoured vehicles packed with several tonnes of explosives as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs). The crew likely bail out of the vehicle after setting it on its course,” an intelligence update said.

The ministry said Chechen units likely pioneered the tactic.

While the vehicles have “almost certainly” detonated before reaching their target, the large explosion is still “likely to have a psychological effect on defending forces”, the ministry added.

F-16 jets in Ukraine will be seen as ‘nuclear’ threat: Lavrov

Russia will regard Western F-16 fighter jets sent to Ukraine as a “nuclear” threat because of their capacity to carry atomic weapons, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

“Russia cannot ignore the ability of these aircraft to carry nuclear weapons. No amount of assurances will help here,” the Russian foreign ministry said quoting Lavrov.

“In the course of combat operations, our servicemen are not going to sort out whether each particular aircraft of this type is equipped to deliver nuclear weapons or not.”

“We will regard the very fact that the Ukrainian armed forces have such systems as a threat from the West in the nuclear sphere.”

The Netherlands and Denmark are leading a plan to train Ukrainian pilots on using US-made aircraft as part of an 11-nation coalition. The programme will begin in Denmark in August after the US authorised the move.

Russia’s FSB detains activist for treason: TASS

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained an individual they refer to as an “LGBT activist” involved in treason, the TASS news agency said on Thursday.

TASS said the individual had volunteered for the OVD-Info rights group and donated money to the Ukrainian army, quoting the FSB.

OVD-Info rights group, one of Russia’s largest human rights NGOs, is an independent human rights media project aimed at combating political persecution.

According to the news agency, the individual could face 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.

Russia, US intelligence chiefs spoke after failed Wagner mutiny: TASS

Russia’s foreign intelligence chief Sergey Naryshkin has said that he and CIA counterpart William Burns discussed “what to do with Ukraine” in a phone call late last month, according to a report by the state-run news agency TASS.

The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported on June 30 that Burns had called Naryshkin to assure the Kremlin that the United States had no role in the brief mutiny a week earlier by Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner group of fighters.

Kyiv claims advances around Bakhmut, Moscow says it repelled attacks

Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on the messaging app Telegram: “In the Bakhmut sector, we attacked today on the southern flank around Bakhmut. There is an advance. Our defenders are digging in at their established positions.”

Maliar said Ukrainian forces had contained attempted Russian advances on towns along the front line.

The Russian defence ministry said its forces had repelled 30 Ukrainian attacks in 24 hours in areas spanning the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It listed one of the sites of its successful operations as Klishchiivka, a village occupying heights outside Bakhmut.

Ukraine said this week its forces had control of elevated positions allowing for direct strikes on the battle-ridden city of Bakhmut.

Ukraine claims ‘successful air defence operation’ overnight

Ukraine says it downed 20 attack drones and two cruise missiles overnight in a third night of strikes on Kyiv and elsewhere in the country.

“We have a successful air defence operation,” air force spokesperson Yuriy Ignat said.

“Twenty Shaheds were destroyed – all those flying were downed. Two Kalibr cruise missiles were also destroyed.”

Kyiv reports ‘mass attack’ of drones overnight, one person dead

The head of Kyiv’s military administration, Serhiy Popko, has described the assault as a “mass attack” using Iranian-made Shahed drones that had approached from different directions.

Officials said Ukrainian anti-aircraft units engaged the swarms of drones, which triggered fires and falling debris in several districts that killed at least one person. At least four people were injured.

Explosions resounded in other Ukrainian regions, including Khmelnitskyi in the west, Mykolaiv in the south and Zaporizhia in the southeast.

China is not credible in its support for Ukraine: Germany

Zelenskyy: NATO summit gave Kyiv a security foundation

‘Friction and confusion’ since the Wagner mutiny: US

Shelling attacks reported across Belgorod: Gladkov

Serbia bans Putin critic: Lawyer

Russian general claims he was dismissed for telling the truth

Third night of strikes in Ukraine: AJ correspondent

I have not heard new proposals on grain deal: Russia’s Lavrov

Russian forces using armoured cars as explosives: British MoD

F-16 jets in Ukraine will be seen as ‘nuclear’ threat: Lavrov

Russia’s FSB detains activist for treason: TASS

Russia, US intelligence chiefs spoke after failed Wagner mutiny: TASS

Kyiv claims advances around Bakhmut, Moscow says it repelled attacks

Ukraine claims ‘successful air defence operation’ overnight

Kyiv reports ‘mass attack’ of drones overnight, one person dead