WAR IN UKRAINE: July 1, 2022
Rescuers evacuate the body of a person from a destroyed building in the Ukrainian town of Sergiivka, near Odessa, on July 1. (Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP/Getty Images)
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 131
Two overnight strikes on Odesa left at least 20 dead, including a child, and several injured. The missiles hit an apartment block and a holiday resort. Ukrainian officials say they were the same missiles which struck a shopping center in Kremenchuk. “It’s petulance and all they can do,” said the Daily Telegraph’s defense and security editor Dom Nicholls.
The Odesa attacks come on the heels of the NATO leaders summit in Madrid, where rolling pledges were made by the U.S., UK, France and other states. However, Ukraine still doesn’t have what it’s been begging for - the ability to close its skies.
Indonesia's president says he's delivered a message to Russia's Vladimir Putin from Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky. Joko Widodo tells reporters after meeting Putin in Moscow that he wants to help start communication between the two leaders - BBC
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by the end of the decade to adapt to a "more dangerous" world. Meanwhile, on the ground, Russia continues its assault in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. The regional governor of Luhansk has said it is no longer possible for people to evacuate from Lysychansk - BBC
Kyiv cuts diplomatic ties with Syria after the al-Assad government, which is allied with Moscow, recognizes authorities in Luhansk & Donetsk occupied territories. “We respond as harshly as possible to any attempts to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba
Russian citizens will need to obtain visas to enter Ukraine as of July 1, the chief of Ukraine's Border Service, Serhiy Deyneko announced. Separately, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the decision of Syria to recognize the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent - RFE/RL
UN: Nearly half of internally displaced Ukrainians return home. The International Organization for Migration reported that over 5.5 million people have returned to their homes in Ukraine, although 6.2 million remain internally displaced. According to the IOM, 15% of returnees report that their homes have been damaged by the war - Kyiv Independent
Bulgaria has expelled 80 Russian diplomats for spying. The Russian Ambassador told Bulgarian TV about the possibility of breaking off diplomatic relations due to the mass expulsion of Russian diplomats.
Russia has issued a new bank note. However ATMs which operate on western software cannot handle the new paper. A U.S. basketball star, Brittney Griner, detailed by Russia on alleged drug possession appeared in court today.
