Transnistria was also discussed in Kyiv yesterday
On Monday, President Maia Sandu travelled to Ukraine where she visited Bucha, Irpin and Borodyanka and saw the scale of destructions left after the Russian occupation with her own eyes. “I was left speechless by the level of violence and destruction we saw. It’s an unimaginable tragedy,” Maia Sandu posted on Twitter.
In Kyiv, she had talks with her Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenski.
According to press reports, Ukraine and Moldova intend to create new transit routes and to strengthen cooperation in all the areas. In a joint news conference with Maia Sandu, Zelensky said that any action that will threaten Ukraine from Transnistria will receive an appropriate response.
“If it happens, I think it would be a global mistake. We receive all kinds of signals, and they are quite unpleasant. But people in Transnistria should know: for us it will not be a blow, but a slap. But we will definitely respond with a blow,” said Volodymyr Zelensky.
Russia is a pigmy against G7
The Group of Seven (G7) leaders on Monday said they intend to continue to impose individual sanctions against Russia amid a "devastating war" that has produced dramatic consequences far beyond Europe.
Condemning unprovoked and unjustifiable war, the leaders pledged USD 29.5 billion worth of support to Ukraine to help the country close its financing gap and continue ensuring the delivery of basic services to the Ukrainian people. "We will continue our targeted use of coordinated sanctions for as long as necessary, acting in unison at every stage,” the leaders said in a joint statement.
The G7 countries said they will cut off Russia from participating in world markets, as well as limit its revenues, including from gold exports.
The group also plans to further limit Russia’s access to key industrial inputs, services, and technologies produced by our economies, particularly those supporting Russia’s armament industrial base and technology sector.
Shopping center hit by rockets
Russian troops launched a rocket attack on a shopping center in Kremenchug, where more than a thousand people were staying. There are dead and wounded. The information about the dead and wounded was confirmed by the mayor of Kremenchuk Vitaliy Maletsky on Facebook.
The Institute for the Study of War said the missile strike on Kyiv on June 26 was “likely to coincide” with ongoing talks by Western leaders at the summit about aid to Ukraine, reminiscent of when airstrikes were conducted during UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ visit to Kyiv on April 29.
Taken away for being placed under Russian guardianship
Since the beginning of the war, according to media reports, at least two thousand orphans from Ukraine have been taken to Russia without any consent to evacuation. We are talking about children from boarding schools and those who have lost touch with their parents because of the war. Now they are under temporary care in Russian families or in temporary accommodation centers, according to Nestka.
The publication found out that hundreds of minors are in the camp “Romashka” near Taganrog. Employees of the temporary accommodation center say that many children talk about the desire to return home. Some of the children that Nyurstka writes about are already under temporary guardianship in Russian families.
Sources of the publication said that children from boarding schools in Donetsk, as well as from the boarding school in Uglegorsk, are in Romashka. It was not possible to verify the data that orphans from Mariupol and Volnovakha are also there.
NATO responds to Kyiv’s criticism
Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Mircea Geoană, responded to Kyiv’s criticism about the lack of the Alliance’s assistance.
The Deputy Secretary General of NATO disagrees with the criticism that NATO is not helping Ukraine enough to defend itself against Russian aggression because the Alliance’s role is connected with all helping partners. He specified that NATO’s non-lethal assistance was fuel, chemical, biological, and nuclear defenses, cyberspace and disinformation resilience, and training for the Ukrainian military since 2014.
“Of course, we all applaud and admire the courage of your soldiers. But one component of their success on the battlefield is that they have been trained to fight by NATO standards! It has been done by both the Alliance and individual allies - Canadians, Brits, Americans, Poles, Romanians, etc. The current success of the Armed Forces is a combination of heroism and ingenuity. We see a lot of cool military decisions. But these are the NATO-style solutions that have become possible by the command approaches we have taught you. And it helps Ukraine!” the Deputy Secretary General noted.
A battery of anti-aircraft missile system NASAMS class “ground-to-air” was deployed in Latvia at the military air base in Lielvarda. This will serve to strengthen the defense capabilities of the Baltic region. Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks noted that the country, together with NATO allies, is beginning to form a brigade of international forces.
Ukrainians realize Russia will not retreat
According to Kirill Budanov, head of the Central Intelligence Agency of Ukraine, Russia cannot admit that it has failed to defeat Ukraine, as this would mean the collapse of its statehood.
“If Russia now admits that it failed to defeat Ukraine, it will not be the collapse of the system, It will be the collapse of statehood. Therefore, they will fight as much as they can. The Russian army will have to fight to the end. They have no choice,” Budanov stated for FT.
Russia shot down reports that it defaulted on its external debt Monday, after a deadline on $100 million in interest payments passed.
Bloomberg had earlier reported that Russia has defaulted on its foreign debt after the expiration of the grace period on about $100 million in interest Sunday evening, in what would mark its first such default since the Bolshevik revolution in 1918.
The Kremlin dismissed the reports, saying the payment had been made in foreign currency in May. “There are no grounds to call this situation a default,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
