1. Ukraine says Snake Island ‘navy operation’ accomplished
The Ukrainian flag has been raised once more on Snake Island within the Black Sea, Ukraine’s navy stated on Monday, after Russian forces withdrew from the strategic outpost final week.
“The navy operation has been concluded, and … the territory (Snake Island) has been returned to the jurisdiction of Ukraine,” Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern navy command, informed a information convention.
Some analysts have stated Russia’s withdrawal from Snake Island off Ukraine’s southwestern coast might loosen its blockade on Ukrainian ports.
However a Kyiv-based overseas diplomat informed Reuters it was nonetheless not sufficient to permit for secure transit of Ukrainian grain.
“There’s a requirement for demining, and Russia nonetheless has capabilities (navy vessels, costal defence methods and air superiority) that can permit them to interdict delivery lanes,” the diplomat stated.
2. Putin declares victory in Luhansk after Ukrainian forces withdraw
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared victory within the jap Ukrainian area of Luhansk, sooner or later after Ukrainian forces withdrew from their final remaining bulwark of resistance within the province.
Russia’s Protection Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin in a televised assembly Monday that Russian forces had taken management of Luhansk, which along with the neighbouring Donetsk province makes up Ukraine’s industrial heartland of Donbas.
Shoigu informed Putin that “the operation” was accomplished on Sunday after Russian troops overran town of Lysychansk, the final stronghold of Ukrainian forces in Luhansk.
Putin, in flip, stated that the navy items “that took half in energetic hostilities and achieved success, victory” in Luhansk, “ought to relaxation, enhance their fight capabilities.”
Putin’s declaration got here as Russian forces tried to press their offensive deeper into jap Ukraine after the Ukrainian navy confirmed that its forces had withdrawn from Lysychansk on Sunday.
Luhansk governor Serhii Haidai stated on Monday that Ukrainian forces had retreated from town to keep away from being surrounded.
“There was a danger of Lysychansk encirclement,” Haidai informed the Related Press, including that Ukrainian troops might have held on for a couple of extra weeks however would have probably paid too excessive a value.
“We managed to do centralized withdrawal and evacuate all injured,” Haidai stated. “We took again all of the tools, so from this level withdrawal was organized effectively.”
The Ukrainian Basic Workers stated Russian forces had been now focusing their efforts on pushing towards the road of Siversk, Fedorivka and Bakhmut within the Donetsk area, about half of which is managed by Russia.
The Russian military has additionally intensified its shelling of the important thing Ukrainian strongholds of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, deeper in Donetsk.
3. Ukraine lays out reconstruction plan at Lugano convention
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated Monday the reconstruction of his war-battered nation is the “widespread job of all the democratic world,” as his prime minister laid out a $750 billion restoration plan as soon as the weapons of Russia’s invaders fall silent sooner or later.
As Russian forces continued their crushing advance in Ukraine’s jap Donbas area, Zelenskyy spoke by video message to the Ukraine Restoration Convention in Switzerland in regards to the wants of the nation that has been on an up-and-down march towards democracy because the finish of the Chilly Battle and now faces widespread devastation.
“The reconstruction of Ukraine will not be a neighborhood challenge, will not be a challenge of 1 nation, however a standard job of all the democratic world — all nations, all nations who can say they’re civilized,” Zelenskyy informed a whole lot of attendees in Lugano.
”Restoring Ukraine means restoring the rules of life, restoring the house of life, restoring all the pieces that makes people people.”
UK Overseas Secretary Liz Truss stated such a restoration would require a kind of “Marshall Plan” for Ukraine to assist it rebuild.
Such ambitions, Zelenskyy stated, would require wide-scale building, funding and safety “in all of our nation which might be pressured to proceed residing beside Russia.”
The duty, which is already underway in some areas that had been liberated from Russian forces, goals to leverage outdoors experience, authorities funds and work of Ukrainians to rebuild hospitals, colleges, authorities buildings, houses and flats — but in addition water pipes, fuel strains and different battered infrastructure.
4. Turkish authorities cease Russian-flagged ship accused of carrying stolen Ukrainian grain
Turkey has halted a Russian-flagged cargo ship off its Black Beach and is investigating a Ukrainian declare that it was carrying stolen grain, a senior Turkish official stated on Monday.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkey stated on Sunday that the Zhibek Zholy was detained by Turkish customs authorities. Ukraine had beforehand requested Ankara to detain it, in accordance with an official and paperwork seen by Reuters.
Kyiv has accused Moscow of stealing grain from the territories that Russian forces have seized since their invasion started in late February, an allegation the Kremlin beforehand denied.
“Upon request, the ship named Zhibek Zholy was halted off Karasu,” a senior official stated. “The allegations are being investigated totally. It’s not written on the grain who it belongs to.”
Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar had stated on Ukrainian nationwide tv that the ship’s destiny could be determined by a gathering of investigators on Monday and that Ukraine hoped for the confiscation of the grain.
5. All three foreigners sentenced to loss of life by DNR enchantment towards verdict
A British and a Moroccan man who fought within the Ukrainian military and had been sentenced to loss of life by the pro-Russian separatists’ judiciary have appealed to the Supreme Court docket of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Folks’s Republic, or DNR.
They had been sentenced to loss of life for “mercenary actions” and “terrorism” within the jap Ukrainian area, which has been within the palms of Moscow-backed and armed separatists since 2014.
Britain’s Aiden Aslin filed his enchantment on Monday, a Supreme Court docket spokesman informed Russian information companies, whereas Moroccan Brahim Saadoun did the identical on 1 July, the court docket stated in an announcement.
The second Briton, Shaun Pinner, had filed his enchantment with the court docket in June, in accordance with his lawyer.
In line with the households of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, the 2 males, who’ve been residing in Ukraine since 2018 and are married to Ukrainian ladies, had been serving within the Ukrainian military for a number of years. London had harshly criticised the conviction.
Brahim Saadoun’s father confirmed on Monday that his son had joined the Ukrainian navy in 2021, earlier than the beginning of the Russian offensive in February 2022, and stated he was “sporting the official uniform of the Ukrainian military”.
6. Zelenskyy vows to reclaim misplaced floor after Russia captures Lysychansk
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged in his handle on Sunday evening that Kyiv’s forces had withdrawn from the strategic metropolis within the jap Donbas area after a grinding Russian assault.
He nevertheless vowed to regain management over the realm with the assistance of long-range Western weapons.
Moscow stated the seize of Lysychansk meant it had “liberated” the Luhansk area, lower than per week after taking neighbouring Sievierdonetsk.
Lysychansk was the final Ukrainian stronghold in Luhansk, a key goal for Russia. Its seize will present Moscow’s troops with a stronger base from which to press their advance within the Donbas — the previous industrial area of mines and factories that Vladimir Putin is bent on capturing.
The battlefield focus now shifts to the neighbouring Donetsk area, the place Kyiv nonetheless controls swathes of territory.
