Because the conflict enters its 859th day, these are the principle developments.
Right here is the scenario on Wednesday, July 3, 2024.
Combating
- Russian assaults on the central Ukrainian metropolis of Nikopol killed two ladies aged 61 and 86, and wounded 9 different folks, based on regional Governor Serhiy Lysak. The assaults broken residential housing, instructional services and a clinic within the metropolis, which lies throughout the Dnipro River from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
- Russia mentioned it destroyed 5 Ukrainian SU-27 fighter jets with Iskander-M missiles and broken two extra on the Myrhorod Air Base in Ukraine’s central Poltava area. The assault comes as Ukraine prepares for the arrival of long-awaited F-16 fighters.
- Ukraine mentioned there had been a strike on the Myrhorod Air Base however claimed Moscow was exaggerating the harm brought about. Its Air Drive commander, Mykola Oleschuk, mentioned Ukraine’s army had additionally carried out a “damaging strike” on a Russian ammunition depot within the city of Balaklava in Moscow-occupied Crimea on Monday.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence mentioned its air defence techniques destroyed 11 drones that Ukraine launched at Russian territory and the occupied Crimean Peninsula within the early hours of Tuesday.
- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko mentioned his nation is not going to enable any clashes on its border with Ukraine after its army beefed up air defences within the space attributable to elevated Ukrainian drone exercise there.
Politics and diplomacy
- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made his first journey to Kyiv in additional than a decade and urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to consider a ceasefire to speed up an finish to the conflict with Russia. Ukraine, nonetheless, mentioned it noticed its personal method as the trail to peace.
- Zelenskyy mentioned he spoke to Orban about Ukraine’s steps to convey peace at the side of worldwide companions, and that he invited the Hungarian prime minister to hitch Kyiv’s efforts.
- The US’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the Ukraine president’s chief of workers, Andriy Yermak, in Washington, DC and held discussions on NATO members’ intention to convey Ukraine nearer to the alliance, based on a US official. The talks got here as Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin additionally pledged to “take steps to construct a bridge to NATO membership for Ukraine” through the alliance’s summit within the US capital subsequent week.
- The governments of Germany and Poland introduced a joint motion plan wherein they agreed to debate boosting defence cooperation, together with a stronger NATO presence on the alliance’s japanese border, and the coordination of Ukraine help.
- Lithuania’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs mentioned it had made a diplomatic protest to Russia after a Russian civilian plane entered its airspace with out permission. The Pobeda airline plane entered Lithuanian airspace over the Baltic Sea for a minute on Sunday night, on its method from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport to Kaliningrad airport, the ministry mentioned.
- A spokesman for the Kremlin mentioned Russia couldn’t touch upon former US President Donald Trump’s thought for ending the conflict in Ukraine as a result of Moscow didn’t know what the plan concerned.
- Within the Russian metropolis of Rostov-on-Don, a courtroom sentenced a 19-year-old man to 12 years in jail for allegedly donating cash to Ukraine’s forces, based on Russian state media.
Navy help
- The US will quickly announce greater than $2.3bn in new safety help for Ukraine, Protection Secretary Austin mentioned throughout a gathering along with his Ukrainian counterpart on the Pentagon. Austin mentioned the newest weapons bundle would come with arms comparable to antitank weapons and air defence interceptors, and would enable accelerated procurement of nationwide superior surface-to-air missile techniques (NASAMS) and Patriot air defence interceptors.
- The Netherlands mentioned it’ll provide Ukraine with the primary of 24 promised F-16 fighter jets quickly, however didn’t specify what number of planes could be despatched within the preliminary supply and once they would arrive in Kyiv for safety causes.