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Ukraine-Russia live news: Kyiv prepares for Donetsk battles | Russia-Ukraine war News


  • Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his troops have “no alternative” but to “push back and destroy the offensive potential” of Russian forces, as the battle moves from Luhansk to nearby Donetsk.
  • President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Russian troops on “liberating” the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk.
  • Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai discloses Ukrainian forces that retreated from Lysychansk are now holding the line between Bakhmut and Sloviansk, preparing to fend off a further Russian advance.
  • Ukraine is holding talks with Turkey and the United Nations to secure guarantees for grain exports from Ukrainian ports, Zelenskyy says.
  • Reconstructing Ukraine is expected to cost $750bn, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said, adding that seized Russian assets should be used to pay for the recovery.

Here are the latest updates:

Putin likely directed an ‘operational pause’: ISW

Putin has likely directed his troops to take an “operational pause” after they captured Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said.

After congratulating his troops on taking the Luhansk region, Putin said the forces participating in the recent gains should “absolutely rest and recover their military preparedness.”

“Putin’s public comment was likely meant to signal his concern for the welfare of his troops in the face of periodic complaints in Russia about the treatment of Russian soldiers. His comment was also likely accurate – Russian troops that fought through Severodonetsk and Lysychansk very likely do need a significant period in which to rest and refit before resuming large-scale offensive operations,” the ISW said.

“It is not clear, however, that the Russian military will accept the risks of a long enough operational pause to allow these likely exhausted forces to regain their strength,” it added.


Putin would not congratulate Biden on July 4 due to ‘unfriendly’ relations: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin would not congratulate his US counterpart Joe Biden on Monday’s US Independence Day because of Washington’s “unfriendly” actions towards Moscow, the Kremlin has said.

“Congratulations this year can hardly be considered appropriate,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call. “The United States’ unfriendly policies are the reason.”


Zelenskyy gifted 1711 letter from Swedish King recognizing early Ukrainian people’s independence

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has given Zelenskyy a letter written in 1711 by King Charles XII – previously kept in each country’s national archives – in which the king instructs the Swedish ambassador in Constantinople to recognize the Zaporizhzhian Sich as an independent state.

The Zaporizhzhian Sich was as a semi-autonomous quasi-state of the Cossacks, a predominantly eastern Slavic group originating in the steppes of Ukraine, that existed between the 16th to 18th centuries. It is centered around the region spanning the lower Dnieper river, where Ukraine’s current Zaporizhia region is located.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed the letter to journalists and read out a fragment he thought relevant, according to a statement from his office:

“… to implement as soon as possible the article about the will of Ukraine and all Cossacks that all Ukraine and the Zaporizhzhia Army under the current commander Pylyp Orlyk regain the ancient freedom, possession of their land and its former borders, so that from now on this people will become an independent state and never again be subject to the obedience or protection of the king.”

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showing letter from King Charles given to him by Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson at a news briefing, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 4, 2022
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showing letter from King Charles given to him by Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson at a news briefing, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 4, 2022 [Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters]

Ukraine is in talks with Turkey, UN on grain exports: Zelenskyy

Ukraine is holding talks with Turkey and the United Nations to secure guarantees for grain exports from Ukrainian ports, Zelenskyy has said.

“Talks are in fact going on now with Turkey and the UN [and] our representatives who are responsible for the security of the grain that leaves our ports,” Zelenskyy told a news conference alongside Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.

“This is a very important thing that someone guarantees the security of ships for this or that country – apart from Russia, which we do not trust. We therefore need security for those ships which will come here to load foodstuffs.”

Zelenskyy said Ukraine was working “directly” with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the issue and that the organization was “playing a leading role, not as a moderator”.


Ukraine has not lost the war: Luhansk governor

Serhiy Haidai, the Ukrainian governor of the Luhansk region, has acknowledged his entire province was now effectively in Russian hands but told the Reuters news agency: “We need to win the war, not the battle for Lysychansk… It hurts a lot, but it’s not losing the war.”

Haidai said Ukrainian forces that retreated from Lysychansk were now holding the line between Bakhmut and Sloviansk, preparing to fend off a further Russian advance.

Russia captured the city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, bringing an end to one of the biggest battles in Europe in generations and completing its conquest of Luhansk province, one of two regions it has demanded Ukraine cede to separatists in the Donbas region.

Ukraine could have withdrawn from Luhansk weeks ago but chose to keep fighting to exhaust the invasion force. It hopes the ferocious battle will leave the Russians too depleted to hold gains elsewhere.


‘We need to break them’, Zelenskyy says after Putin congratulates his forces

Ukraine’s armed forces were undeterred in their efforts to “break” Moscow’s will to pursue a nearly five-month war, Zelenskyy has said, as Russia’s Vladimir Putin has hailed his military’s victory in the grueling battle of Luhansk.

“There have been no significant changes on the battlefield in the past 24 hours,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video message.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine respond, push back and destroy the offensive potential of the occupiers day after day. We need to break them. It is a difficult task. It requires time and superhuman efforts. But we have no alternative.”

Earlier on Monday, Putin congratulated Russian forces on “victories in the Luhansk direction”, after his troops captured the town of Lysychansk, Ukraine’s last stronghold in the region. Participants in that combat should “absolutely rest and recover their military preparedness” while units in other areas keep fighting, the Russian president said in a brief televised meeting with his defense minister.


Sweden’s PM meets with Zelenskyy in Kyiv

The Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson visited Kyiv on Monday to meet with Ukraine’s President, with the two parties signing a joint statement on defense and energy cooperation.

“This is the first such document in the history of bilateral relations. The joint statement sets out key issues for both our states. This applies, in particular, to defense cooperation, sectoral cooperation in the fields of nuclear energy, energy efficiency, and financial support for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in a statement.

Zelenskyy also thanked Sweden for its humanitarian support for Ukraine.

“One hundred thousand Ukrainian citizens are in Sweden, and Sweden supports them. We will remember your sincere attention to the citizens of Ukraine in this difficult time of the Russian war,” he said.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomes Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomes Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 4, 2022 [Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters]

Read all the updates from July 4 here.





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