Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a major upgrade of anti-aircraft defences after Russian drones killed at least two people in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Monday. Earlier, Zelensky made a joint call for the extension of the Black Sea grain deal with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Follow our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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05:35am: Two drones intercepted in Moscow region, one in Kaluga
Two drones were intercepted in the skies over the Moscow region and one in neighbouring Kaluga region, Russia's TASS state news agency reported on Tuesday, citing emergency services.
04:34am: Moscow diplomats meet with Russian detained in US on cybercrime charges
Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian national who is in pre-trial detention in Ohio on cybercrime charges, has met for the first time with Russian embassy employees, the Russian embassy in the U.S. told the TASS state news agency on Tuesday.
Dunaev was a member of a cybercriminal organization that deployed a computer banking trojan and ransomware suite of malware known as "Trickbot", the Justice Department said after his 2021 extradition from South Korea to Ohio.
"The compatriot does not consider himself guilty," Nadezhda Shumova, head of the consular section at the embassy, told TASS.
"He does not intend to sign an agreement with the prosecutor's office. Will stand to the end and fight for justice," she added.
10:22pm: Russian drones kill at least two, injure 19; Zelensky calls for upgraded air defences
A Russian drone attack killed at least two people and injured 19 in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Monday, prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for a major upgrade of anti-aircraft defences.
An official building and two residential buildings were damaged in an attack carried out with four drones, the Sumy regional administration said on the messaging app Telegram.
"Unfortunately, our country does not yet have a sufficient number of high-quality air defence systems to protect our entire territory and shoot down all enemy targets," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
7:07pm: Ukrainian writer killed in restaurant strike had been preparing move to Paris
Noted Ukrainian poet and novelist Victoria Amelina, who died on June 27 after sustaining injuries in a Russian missile attack on a restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, “wanted to say goodbye” to the region, said FRANCE 24’s Catalina Gomez reporting from Kyiv.
“She was going to live in Paris next year [with her son] because she [had] a literary residency” there, said Gomez.
The 37-year-old writer, who had turned to documenting Russian war crimes in Ukraine, had even considered enlisting in the Ukrainian army to contribute more to the war effort, said Gomez.
Please click on the video player below to watch the report.
6:31pm: Kyiv and Berlin call for Black Sea grain deal extension
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Monday for the extension of a deal allowing the safe export of grain and fertilisers from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, an official said.
The two made the call during a phone conversation, Scholz's spokesperson said.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Moscow and Kyiv last July to help tackle a global food crisis worsened by Russia's invasion of its neighbour and a blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
6:25pm: EU’s von der Leyen urges EU to include Ukraine and Moldova to avoid China, Russian influence
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday it was imperative for the European Union to address the issue of its enlargement as soon as possible to include countries such as Ukraine and Moldova to guarantee they do not fall under the influence of Russia or China.
Speaking in Madrid, von der Leyen said the bloc must look forward four years and imagine what the union should be like.
“Can we imagine the European Union will be without Ukraine, without Moldova, without the Western Balkans? And those parts of Europe are under the influence of Russia or China? Impossible,” she said.
Von der Leyen spoke alongside Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez following a meeting of EU commissioners and the Spanish government to review Spain’s plans for its six-month presidency of the EU Council, which began Saturday.
4:48pm: Award-winning Ukrainian writer dies from injuries following restaurant attack
Award-winning Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina was among those killed by a deadly Russian missile attack on a popular restaurant frequented by journalists and aid workers in eastern Ukraine, PEN America said.
Amelina, 37, who had turned her attention from literature to document Russian war crimes after the invasion, died from her injuries after the June 27 strike in the city of Kramatorsk, the literature and human rights organisation said Sunday in a statement.
Read moreRussian missile strike on restaurant kills 12 in Ukraine
At least 12 others were killed and 61 were wounded in the attack around dinnertime, when the restaurant was usually busy. Ukrainian authorities arrested a man a day later, accusing him of helping Russia direct the strike.
1:36pm: Slow Ukrainian counteroffensive gains 'not a surprise', says NATO commander
Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russian defences is an extremely difficult operation and it is "not a surprise" that it is not progressing at speed, a top NATO commander said Monday.
"The counteroffensive, it is difficult. People should never think that this is an easy walkover," Admiral Rob Bauer, the chair of NATO's Military Committee, told journalists.
"There's a considerable number of Russians in Ukraine. There are considerable defensive obstacles."
12:38pm: Zelensky says fight 'difficult' on the front line but hails 'progress'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday it was "difficult" fighting with Russian forces along the front line last week but praised his troops for making gains in the south and east.
"Last week was difficult on the frontline. But we are making progress. We are moving forward, step by step!" Zelensky said on social media.
12:01pm: Ukraine operation unaffected by mutiny, says Russian Defence Minister Shoigu
The brief mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group last month did not affect Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Monday.
In his first comments about the mutiny, Shoigu said that plans to destabilise Russia had failed because of troops' loyalty.
11:12am: 'Very fierce fighting' ongoing as Ukraine counteroffensive meets Russian resistance
In Kyiv, FRANCE 24's Emmanuelle Chaze has the latest on Ukraine's struggle to retake its Russian-occupied territories.
"We have to keep in mind just how difficult the situation is," she says.
10:46am: Russia's Medvedev says nuclear war 'quite probable'
Russia's former president Dmitry Medvedev has warned that Moscow's confrontation with the West will last decades and that its conflict with Ukraine could become "permanent".
In an article for the government's Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper, he said tensions between Russia and the West were "much worse" than during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
A nuclear war was "quite probable" but was unlikely to have any winners, said Medvedev, who has repeatedly said Western support for Ukraine increases the chances of nuclear conflict.
9:19am: FSB thwarts ‘assassination attempt’ on Russian-installed Crimea head, reports state media
Russia's FSB security service has thwarted an assassination attempt on the Moscow-installed head of the Crimean peninsula, Russian news agencies reported Monday.
"An assassination attempt organised by Ukraine's special services targeting the head of the Republic of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov, was foiled," Russian state-run agency TASS reported, citing an FSB statement.
The FSB said it had detained a Russian man who had been hired and trained by Ukraine's security services to kill Aksyonov by blowing up his car. The details of the FSB's statement could not be independently verified.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
8:11am: Ukraine reports modest gains after heavy fighting
Ukraine said on Monday its forces had gained some ground along eastern and southern fronts in the past week in heavy fighting with Russian troops, reclaiming 37.4 square kilometres of territory.
Ukrainian forces were advancing in the Bakhmut direction, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said, adding that Russian forces were attacking in the Lyman, Avdiivka and Mariinka directions in the Donetsk region.
7:26am International office investigating Russian invasion of Ukraine opens in The Hague
An international office to probe Russia over its invasion of Ukraine opens on Monday in The Hague, in the first step towards a possible tribunal for Moscow's leadership.
The International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression (ICPA) features prosecutors from Kyiv, the European Union, the United States and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
It will investigate and gather evidence in a move seen as an interim step before the creation of a special tribunal that could bring Kremlin officials to justice for starting the Ukraine war.
6:15am: EU considers Russian bank concession to safeguard Black Sea grain deal
The European Union is considering a proposal to allow a Russian bank under sanctions to carve out a subsidiary that would reconnect to the global financial network as a sop to Moscow, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
This will be aimed at safeguarding the Black Sea grain deal that allows Ukraine to export food to global markets, FT said.
The plan, which was proposed by Moscow through negotiations brokered by the UN, would allow the bank to create a subsidiary to handle payments related to grain exports, FT said, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The new entity would be permitted to use the global SWIFT financial messaging system, which was closed to the largest Russian banks following the Ukraine invasion last year.
5:23am: Wagner's departure does not impact Moscow's combat potential, says Russian lawmaker
The Wagner Group's departure from Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine does not impact Russia's combat potential, state-owned media agency TASS cited Colonel General Andrei Kartapolov, who chairs Russia's lower house of parliament's defence committee, as saying on Monday.
The influential lawmaker told TASS that the Russian regular army has been able to repulse Ukraine's new offensive without Wagner fighters.
"No new wave of mobilisation will be required," Kartapolov said.
5:10am: Ukraine says Russian troops advancing in 'fierce fighting'
Ukraine said on Sunday that Russian troops were advancing in four areas in the east of the country amid "fierce fighting" but reported its forces moving forward in the south.
Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Maliar said that Russian troops were advancing near Avdiivka, Mariinka, Lyman and Svatove.
"Fierce fighting is going on everywhere," Maliar wrote on social media, adding: "The situation is quite complicated".
Ukrainian forces have made gradual progress in their counteroffensive launched last month but have so far failed to produce a major breakthrough and have urged Western allies to escalate pledges of military support
4:14am: Moscow says 700,000 children from Ukraine conflict zones now in Russia
Russia has brought some 700,000 children from the conflict zones in Ukraine into Russian territory, Grigory Karasin, head of the international committee in the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, said late on Sunday.
"In recent years, 700,000 children have found refuge with us, fleeing the bombing and shelling from the conflict areas in Ukraine," Karasin wrote on his Telegram messaging channel.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion on its western neighbour Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow says its programme of bring children from Ukraine into Russian territory is to protect orphans and children abandoned in the conflict zone.
However, Ukraine says many children have been illegally deported and the United States says thousands of children have been forcibly removed from their homes.
Most of the movement of people and children occurred in the first few months of the war and before Ukraine started its major counter offensive to regain occupied territories in the east and south in late August.
In July 2022, the United States estimated that Russia "forcibly deported" 260,000 children, while Ukraine's Ministry of Integration of Occupied Territories, says 19,492 Ukrainian children are currently considered illegally deported.
2:14am: No grounds to maintain Black Sea grain deal status quo, says Russian UN envoy
Russia's envoy to the United Nations in Geneva said there were no grounds to maintain the "status quo" of the Black Sea grain deal that is set to expire on July 18, the Russian news outlet Izvestia reported on Monday.
In a wide ranging interview, envoy Gennady Gatilov told the outlet that the implementation of Russia's conditions for the extensions of the agreement was "stalling." Those conditions included, among others, the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the SWIFT banking payment system.
"Russia has repeatedly extended the deal in the hope of positive changes," Gatilov told Izvestia. "However, what we are seeing now does not give us grounds to agree to maintaining the status quo."
Gatilov said he hopes "common sense" will prevail in the United States and there will not be the need to consider the option to denounce the New Start nuclear weapons treat, the last remaining US-Russia arms control treaty that caps the countries' strategic nuclear arsenals.
Key developments from Sunday, July 2:
Russian forces advanced in four sectors on the eastern front as Ukrainian troops inched forward south of Bakhmut, Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Maliar said on Sunday.
The White House also announced that US President Joe Biden had scheduled a trip to Europe with stops in the United Kingdom, the NATO summit in Lithuania and meetings in Finland.
Read yesterday's liveblog to see how all the day's events unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
