Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been going on for 513 days. Since Monday, Russian troops have used almost 70 missiles and 90 Shahed combat drones against Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. As he noted, due to the insufficient number of air defense systems, it was not possible to shoot down all enemy targets. Here are the highlights of the last hours.
> An aviation alert has been declared throughout Ukraine in connection with the launch of the MiG-31K fighter, which is the carrier of the Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, Ukrinform reported on the basis of a statement from the Ukrainian Air Force.
> Since Monday, Russian troops have used almost 70 missiles and 90 shahed combat drones against Ukraine, the Ukrainian president said Volodymyr Zelensky. As he noted, due to the insufficient number of air defense systems, it was not possible to shoot down all enemy targets.
> Ukrainian forces are making good use of the cluster munitions donated to them, and it is already having an impact on Russian defensive formations, said US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. The official also repeated his warning that Russia intends to attack merchant ships in the Black Sea and blame it on Ukraine.
> The Belarusian army leads training with the Russian Wagner Group. The training site is to be a training ground near Brest, on the border between Belarus and Poland, the Ministry of Defense in Minsk reported. “Poland’s borders are safe, we are monitoring the situation on an ongoing basis,” the Polish Ministry of Defense assured. Former ambassador of Belarus to Poland Pawel Latuszka he assessed that one of the goals of the Wagnerian presence in Belarus is to “permanently create threats to neighboring countries”, including Poland.
> We need to increase the protection of our borders. European Union must be prepared to react appropriately if any hostile action were to occur, said the undersecretary of state in Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Paweł Jabłoński after the meeting of the Community’s foreign ministers in Brussels, where he provided information about the increased activity of the Wagner Group in Belarus. – If we have the presence of organized paramilitary or military groups in Belarus, the risk of various kinds of provocations increases – he added.
Ukrainian soldier near DonetskOLEG PETRASYUK/PAP/EPA
> A group associated with the mercenaries of the Wagner Group shared a recording on Telegram in which it is said to be visible Yevgeny Prigozhin On Belarus. It was registered in the twilight, in the field. As described by the BBC, in the recording Prigozhin described the recent events on the front line in Ukraine as “a disgrace”. The head of the Wagner Group is also supposed to suggest that the fighters may return to the front at a later time.
> The European Council decided to extend it by six months sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine. The restrictions are to apply until January 31, 2024.
> Thirty-one people died in early June as a result of the destruction of the Dnieper dam in Nova Kakhivka in southern Ukraine, summed up Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.
> The US Senate objected to an attempt to tie military aid to Ukraine to defense spending by other NATO members. It was decided by an overwhelming majority of votes.
> This unfriendly and populist movewhich will seriously affect Ukraine’s global food security and economy, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on Twitter on Thursday. Prime Minister on Wednesday Mateusz Morawiecki He announced that if the European Commission does not extend the ban on grain imports from Ukraine after September 15, Poland will close the border for these goods itself.
Main photo source: OLEG PETRASYUK/PAP/EPA