Russian invasion

The world's response
Zelensky hopes for support from Poland's new president

Volodymyr Zelensky hopes that relations between Ukraine and Poland will remain strong even when Karol Nawrocki takes over as president.

Nawrocki, from the right-wing nationalist Law and Justice party, will be sworn in in early August. During his presidential campaign, he promised to continue supporting Ukraine while criticizing Zelensky and putting his foot down on Ukrainian membership in NATO.

“We will do everything in our power to ensure that the relationship between our countries only grows stronger,” Zelensky said at a press conference with outgoing President Andrzej Duda.

Poland is one of Ukraine's closest allies and has been a focal point for military support sent from the West.
 

Putin's Russia
Putin claims Russia will reduce military spending
By Helena Sällström
Published June 28, 10:41

President Vladimir Putin says Russia will reduce military spending next year, writes Reuters.

– Europe, for its part, is thinking about how to increase its spending. So who is actually preparing for some kind of aggressive action? Us or them? he said at a press conference in Minsk.

The statement was made after NATO leaders agreed that five percent of GDP should be spent on defense by 2035 – this as a response to the increased threat from Russia.

Russia has had large military spending in the past three years due to the offensive war against Ukraine. That spending would suddenly decrease is a claim that is likely to be viewed with great skepticism by the West, as there is no indication of an end to the war in the near future.

Putin's Russia
Putin claims Russia will reduce military spending

President Vladimir Putin says Russia will reduce military spending next year, writes Reuters.

– Europe, for its part, is thinking about how to increase its spending. So who is actually preparing for some kind of aggressive action? Us or them? he said at a press conference in Minsk.

The statement was made after NATO leaders agreed that five percent of GDP should be spent on defense by 2035 – this as a response to the increased threat from Russia.

Russia has had large military spending in the past three years due to the offensive war against Ukraine. That spending would suddenly decrease is a claim that is likely to be viewed with great skepticism by the West, as there is no indication of an end to the war in the near future.

The fighting
Ukraine: New heavy fighting in important Kostiantynivka

Heavy fighting is currently taking place around the town of Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine, according to the country's top commander Oleksandr Syrskyj. The town in the Donetsk region is considered strategically important and Russian forces have long tried to capture it, writes Reuters.

Syrskyj believes that Russia is not achieving anything other than "many losses". Viktor Tregubov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian forces, tells Ukrinform that the Kremlin's strategic ambitions are to advance in Kostiantynivka and in the town of Pokrovsk a few kilometers to the west.

Russia's slow advance in eastern Ukraine has led to great devastation in cities and damage to infrastructure.