Russian missile attacks on residential areas killed at least 21 people early on Friday near the Ukrainian port of Odesa, authorities reported, a day after the withdrawal of Moscow’s forces from an island in the Black Sea seemed to ease the threat to the city. Video of the attack before daybreak showed the charred ruins of buildings in the small town of Serhiivka, about 50 kilometers from Odesa. The Ukrainian President’s office said three Kh-22 missiles fired by warplanes struck an apartment building and a campsite.
Data | India’s imports from Russia soar amid sanctions
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. The conversation that came days after PM Modi participated in the G7 summit in Germany, included the Ukraine crisis and the latest developments in the global commodities market. "The two leaders reviewed the implementation of the decisions taken during President Putin's visit to India in December 2021. In particular, they exchanged ideas on how bilateral trade in agricultural goods, fertilizer and pharma products could be encouraged further," informed an official press release. The two sides discussed the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis, with Prime Minister Modi reiterating "India's long-standing position in favour of dialogue and diplomacy."
President Vladimir Putin has denied his forces were responsible for that attack and Moscow made no immediate comment on the Odessa strikes. On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed a new chapter in its relationship with the European Union, after Brussels recently granted Ukraine candidate status in Kyiv’s push to join the 27-member bloc, even if membership is likely years away. “Our journey to membership shouldn’t take decades. We should make it down this road quickly,” Mr. Zelensky told Ukraine’s parliament.
Here are the latest updates:
Top Russian general inspects troops involved in Ukraine operation: Defence ministry
The chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, has inspected divisions of Russian troops involved in Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
The ministry published still photographs of Gerasimov at work. It was not immediately clear when the visit took place or if Gerasimov had visited Ukraine itself.
The ministry issued a similar statement about Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu last week. - Reuters
Russia’s messages with missiles tell West to back off
The latest in a litany of horrors in Ukraine came this week as Russian firepower rained down on civilians in a busy shopping mall far from the front lines of a war in its fifth month.
The timing was not likely a coincidence.
While much of the attritional war in Ukraine’s east is hidden from sight, the brutality of Russian missile strikes on a mall in the central city of Kremenchuk and on residential buildings in the capital, Kyiv, unfolded in full view of the world and especially of Western leaders gathered for a trio of summits in Europe.
Were the attacks a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin as the West sought to arm Ukraine with more effective weapons to bolster its resistance, and to set Ukraine on the path to joining the European Union?
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko suggested as much when missiles struck the capital on June 26, three days after EU leaders unanimously agreed to make Ukraine a candidate for membership. - AP
Powerful explosions heard in Ukraine city of Mykolaiv: Mayor
Powerful explosions were heard in the early hours on Saturday the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, mayor Oleksandr Senkevich said in a social media post.
“There are powerful explosions in the city! Stay in shelters!” Mr. Senkevich wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
It was not immediately known what caused the explosions. Reuters could not independently verity the report.
Air raid sirens sounded across the whole Mykolaiv region before the blasts. - Reuters
Ukraine’s Zelensky talks to Argentina, Chile presidents
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pressed on with his campaign to obtain support from Latin America with calls Friday to the leaders of Argentina and Chile.
“I continue to establish relations with an important region — Latin America,” Mr. Zelensky wrote on social media.
The conversations with Alberto Fernández of Argentina and Gabriel Boric of Chile came a little more than two weeks after Mr. Zelensky spoke with Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso and Guatemalans President Alejandro Giammattei. - AP
U.S. announces $820 million in Ukraine aid, including missile systems
The U.S. announced on Friday that it will provide Ukraine with $820 million in new military aid, including new surface-to-air missile systems and counter-artillery radars to respond to Russia’s heavily reliance on long-range strikes in the war.
Russia in recent days has launched dozens of missiles across Ukraine and pinned down Ukrainian forces with continuous fire for sometimes hours at a time. Ukraine’s leaders have publicly called on Western allies to quickly send more ammunition and advanced systems that will help them narrow the gap in equipment and manpower.
All told, the U.S. has committed more than $8.8 billion in weapons and military training to Ukraine, whose leaders have sought more help from Western allies to repel larger and heavily equipped Russian forces. About $7 billion of that aid has been announced since Russia’s February invasion. - AP
EU prepares emergency plan to do without Russian energy
The European Union’s executive arm on Friday pledged to draft an emergency plan this month aimed at helping member countries do without Russian energy in the wake of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the initiative would build on EU moves to ditch Russian coal, oil and natural gas and would complement a bloc-wide push to accelerate the development of renewable energy such as wind and solar power.
“We are preparing emergency plans for Europe,” Ms. von der Leyen said in the Czech town of Litomysl, where she marked the start of the country’s six-month stint as holder of the rotating EU presidency. “Energy prices are high. People — rightly so — expect us to do something about it.” She said the contingency plan, due around mid-July, would focus on two key points including having a “clear idea” of where to cut back on Russian energy supply and to do it “in a smart way” as well as to rally around EU countries facing supply squeezes. - AP
Ukraine says link restored to Zaporizhzhia nuclear station
Ukraine’s nuclear power operator said on Friday it had re-established its connection to surveillance systems at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, which is occupied by Russian forces.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N.’s atomic watchdog, has said it wants to inspect the plant in southern Ukraine urgently, but Ukrainian authorities oppose any such visit while Russian forces remain in control.
It was the second time communications had been lost with the plant, made up of six reactors.
Ukraine state Energoatom agency said on its Telegram channel that it had restored the connection “by its own efforts”. - Reuters
Russian missiles kill at least 21 in Ukraine’s Odesa region
A view shows an apartment building heavily damaged during the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the city of Sievierodonetsk in the Luhansk Region, Ukraine on July 1, 2022. | Photo Credit: Reuters
Russian missile attacks on residential areas killed at least 21 people early on Friday near the Ukrainian port of Odesa, authorities reported, a day after the withdrawal of Moscow’s forces from an island in the Black Sea seemed to ease the threat to the city.
PM Modi reiterates dialogue, diplomacy in phone call with Putin
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. The conversation that came days after PM Modi participated in the G7 summit in Germany, included the Ukraine crisis and the latest developments in the global commodities market.
