9:47 Azov commanders: “We will return to the front” Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov battalion, who has just returned to Ukraine from Turkey with four other high-ranking Ukrainian officers, taken by President Zelensky in violation of the agreements made with Moscow, has promised that with his released comrades they will do “everything possible to end the war”.11:03Kiev: we advance to BakhmutThe Ukrainian armed forces are advancing in the direction of Bakhmut, and confirm that they have made progress, wrote the commander of the ground forces Alexander Syrsky on Telegram. The Ukrainian officer posted a video showing the work of a Ukrainian sniper from the “Ghost” group of the Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky Brigade. “Bakhmut direction. We are making progress, the defense forces continue to advance and the enemy is trapped in some points.” 11:11 Nato summit, Vilnius is a fortress Vilnius, in view of the NATO summit, has become a fortress defended by advanced weapons. In fact, it is only 32 kilometers from Lithuania’s border fence with Belarus, Moscow’s only official ally in the war on Ukraine. Biden and the other leaders of the Alliance on July 11 and 12, will be defended by a total of about a thousand soldiers, and by advanced air defense systems.11:32Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Spain against cluster bombsGreat Britain , Canada, New Zealand and Spain, countries allied with the US, have expressed their opposition to Washington sending cluster bombs to Ukraine. Cluster bombs are banned in 123 countries due to the risk they pose to civilians. Amnesty International also criticizes. 12:08 Russian forces: Ukrainian cruise missile shot down near Kerch The Russian air defense forces said they shot down a cruise missile near Kerch, in the Crimea. Serghei Aksyonov, local governor, wrote on his Telegram channel: “In the Kerch area, the air defense forces shot down a cruise missile. No damage or casualties.”12:32Missiles over Crimea, Kerch bridge closedAccording to what they publish several Telegram channels report traffic on the Crimean bridge has been disrupted. Russian Governor Aksionov said a cruise missile was shot down near Kerch, near the link between the mainland and the peninsula annexed by Moscow. According to Radio Liberty, the Russian authorities have declared that air defense operations are underway in the Rostov region. 13:25 Zelensky surprisingly met with Polish President DudaUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met today with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in Lutsk, the city of northwestern Ukraine, the capital of Volhynia oblast, where the two visited the cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. The meeting between the two presidents in Lutsk had not been announced.14:50Biden in London before the NATO summitThe British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, will receive the President of the United States, Joe Biden tomorrow, who will stop in London before heading to the NATO summit in Lithuania. And at the center of the meeting in Downing Street – the fifth of the two in five months – there will certainly be a theme, that of cluster bombs in Ukraine, which is one of the first major issues that divides the two leaders.15: 46Russians shoot down a missile aimed at RostovRussian air defense systems have shot down a Ukrainian missile in the Rostov region, the governor, Vasily Golubev, said. There were no casualties. Fragments from the missile damaged the sayings of several buildings. The attack took place at noon today.16:24Turkish Foreign Minister talks with LavrovTurkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed the Black Sea wheat deal and the latest developments in Ukraine with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a telephone conversation that took place today: the Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed this to RIA Novosti. “Today Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. They discussed recent developments in Ukraine and the situation of the Istanbul ‘grain’ agreement,” the ministry said.17: 50Biden: “Ukraine’s accession to NATO? Only after the end of the war”Can Ukraine’s accession to NATO be considered after the end of the war with the
Russia. This was stated by the president of the United States, Joe Biden, in an interview with Cnn. “I don’t think there is consensus in NATO on whether or not to let Ukraine in now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” Biden said. “I think we have to trace a rational path – added the US president – so that Ukraine can qualify for NATO membership”.
19:11Ukraine: “We hit the Kerch bridge”Ukraine for the first time has admitted to having hit and severely damaged the Kerch bridge, which connects Russia to Crimea, last October, after denying it for 8 months in the face of accusations from Moscow. And at the same time he also claimed again the sinking of the missile cruiser Moskva in the Black Sea in April 2022, in the early stages of the war, which Russia has instead always refused to admit was the work of the Kiev military. The Kerch bridge was badly damaged by a truck bomb explosion, which also killed some motorists, and blocked the bridge for months before it was repaired, except for a single lane which reopened after about ten days.19:35Lavrov: “Destructive supply arms to Ukraine”Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, that the course towards continued arms supplies to Kiev is destructive, the Russian Foreign Ministry said after their telephone conversation. “Ankara’s attention was drawn to the destructiveness of the path towards the continuation of arms supplies to the Kiev regime. It was emphasized that such steps can only lead to negative consequences,” the ministry said.19:57Missiles Ukrainians shot down by Russians in BytoshTwo Ukrainian missiles were intercepted and destroyed as they attacked the village of Bytosh in the Bryansk region of Russia. The wreckage of one of the two would have destroyed a sawmill, causing no casualties. This was claimed by the governor of the region Alexander Bogomaz on Telegram. 21:55 “Explosion at a military base in Melitopol” A strong explosion was recorded near the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region. Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, wrote in Telegram. The explosion allegedly took place in a hangar that has been turned into a Russian military base. The city of Melitopol is an important railway hub that allows the Russians to move military equipment to southern Ukraine. “Residents of Melitopol in the north of the city report the sound of a powerful explosion. According to reports, something happened in the hangar located in Zarichne, which has been transformed into an enemy base.” 22:20 Phone call between Biden and Erdogan: candidacies discussed of Sweden in NATOTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed Sweden’s candidacy for NATO in a telecall with US President Joe Biden ahead of this week’s alliance summit. The two leaders also discussed Ukraine’s position in NATO, the delivery of F-16 fighter jets and Turkey’s efforts to join the EU, according to a statement from Erdogan’s office.