Russia Plans New Offensive Operations on Ukraine, Kyiv Targeted in Overnight Attack

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Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to find ways in which Russia can launch new offensive operations on Ukraine to capture Kyiv, said Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.

These include Russian offensives launched from Belarusian territory to capture the Ukrainian capital and its surrounding areas, Syrskyi said.

Another scenario includes a strike from Russia's bordering Bryansk region towards Ukraine’s Chernihiv region, which is the most probable scenario, he said.

This comes as Ukraine struck a satellite centre in the Moscow region being used to gather intelligence for Russian forces for the second time on Tuesday, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

In a post on Telegram, Zelensky said his forces had attacked the Dubna space communications centre some 500km from the Ukrainian border.

He said the site was used for reconnaissance and ‌ for coordinating the activities of Russia's forces in Ukraine. It also came under Ukrainian attack last ⁠week, the Ukrainian military's General Staff said.

Two killed and 16 injured as Russia launches overnight drone and missile attack on Kyiv

Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv overnight killing at least two people and injuring more than a dozen, as drones and missiles struck residential buildings and started a fire in a hotel on a central boulevard.

President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier warned of a possible overnight attack and said he was cutting short his visit to Dublin for the start of Ireland's six-month term in the rotating presidency of the EU.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the capital's military administration, said two ⁠people had been killed and 16 injured. He did not elaborate.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko, writing on Telegram, said the first to sixth floors of an apartment building collapsed after a direct hit.

In an earlier post, he said the injured included paramedics and drivers at an ambulance station, and that some people ‌were still trapped inside damaged residential buildings.

Pictures posted online showed a fire burning out of control at the top of a building on the central Shevchenko Boulevard. Multiple explosions were heard in Kyiv, a Reuters witness said.

Carrying children, belongings, tents and pets, people crowded into underground stations, as air raid alerts were issued for most of Ukraine's territory on Thursday in Russia's worst attack on the country since mid-June.

Arpan Rai2 July 2026 03:57

Russia buys gasoline from India to tackle shortages – report

Russia has started seaborne imports of gasoline from India, two industry sources said, in an effort to mitigate fuel shortages triggered by Ukrainian attacks on its energy infrastructure.

Fuel shortages are being felt across Russia's 11 time zones with rationing, long queues at filling stations and a record gasoline price increase.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia was in contact with other countries and discussing imports of fuel at acceptable prices.

An industry source told Reuters that at least 60,000 metric tons of gasoline have been dispatched from India to Russia.

Another source said that two tankers, with ⁠parcels of 30,000 to 40,000 tons each, have been sent.

A third source said that in total, Russia plans to import 400,000 tons of gasoline from various countries each month, including from neighbouring Belarus, which has already been exporting fuel to Russia.

Gasoline consumption in Russia is at least 110,000 ‌tons per day in summer, when demand for fuel ‌is high.

It is not clear which Indian refiner will be supplying gasoline to Russia.

President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Sunday at a meeting with government ministers and other officials that Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries had triggered fuel shortages in some regions, but said that Russia was dealing with them.

Arpan Rai2 July 2026 03:49

Russia approved secret China military training at top level, sources say

China's covert military training of Russian forces last year was personally approved by president Vladimir Putin's defence minister and directly involved at least four Russian and Chinese generals, according to two European officials and documents seen by Reuters.

The officials said the involvement of such high-ranking individuals in training linked to the Ukraine war signalled the importance for Russia ⁠and China of such cooperation, which has caused alarm in Europe even as Beijing has denied it took place.

A classified Russian document seen by Reuters directly referred to an internal decree issued by defence minister Andrei Belousov in August, 2025.

It said that, in accordance with a decision by Belousov, a delegation from Russia's armed forces travelled to China to participate in training exercises at People's Liberation Army (PLA) facilities.

The report and a second one described and displayed images of Russian soldiers being lectured by a Chinese instructor, looking at a model nuclear reactor, and being taught about "chemical reconnaissance", "radiation reconnaissance" and protecting ventilation systems from contamination.

The inclusion of radiological, biological and chemical warfare training underlined the strategic nature of the exchanges, one of the European officials said, noting that the topic was particularly sensitive for militaries in ⁠general.

Alex Croft2 July 2026 03:00

Why Ukraine wants £5.56bn of EU peace funds to be directed towards military aid

As we earlier reported, Ukraine is asking the EU to direct €6.6 billion (£5.68bn) available under the European Peace Facility to military aid, to take advantage of what it sees as a six-to-nine-month "window of opportunity" on the battlefield.

Ukraine is set to receive about €28.3 billion for defence purposes this year from the €90-billion EU loan, but even with that and Kyiv's own funding, "substantial" defence financing needs remain unmet, Fedorov said in the letter, dated June 26.

The funds under the EPF could become "one of the most impactful European contributions to Ukraine's defence effort this year, but only if those resources are directed where they can generate the greatest and most immediate military effect," he said.

Ukraine's total defence need is estimated at around €136 billion this year, with the Ukrainian budget covering around €53 billion of that amount, defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in a letter.

Russia's advances have slowed this year, with Ukraine staging successful counterattacks on some parts of the frontline and leveraging its mid- and long-range attacks on Russian territory to disrupt Moscow's logistics and curb its oil revenue.

Separately, Fedorov told a news conference on June 17 that he was seeking an additional $20 billion in military funding from the Ukraine Defence Contact Group — an alliance of 50 nations, also known as the Ramstein group, that provides aid to Ukraine — on top of $40 billion already committed.

Alex Croft2 July 2026 02:01

In pictures: Russia launches attack on Kramatorsk, Donetsk region

Alex Croft2 July 2026 00:30

Poland concerned Russia may seek to exploit Ukraine tensions with attack

Polish special services are preparing for possible Russian sabotage operations aimed at inflaming tensions between Poles and Ukrainians, Tomasz Siemoniak, minister in charge of special services, told RMF FM Radio on Wednesday.

Relations between Poland and Ukraine have deteriorated after President Karol Nawrocki's decision to strip Volodymyr Zelensky of Poland's highest state honour due to a dispute over the naming of a Ukrainian army unit after insurgents blamed for massacring Poles during World War Two.

Siemoniak said Russian information warfare against Poland had intensified in recent weeks, with trolls and bots seeking to amplify disputes and influence Poland's online space.

"Russia's dream, the dream of the Russian services, was and is the greatest possible tension between Poland and Ukraine," Siemoniak said.

Asked about the possibility of a Russian provocation, including an attack targeting Ukrainians in Poland that could further inflame public sentiment, Siemoniak said such scenarios were entirely plausible.

He said authorities were not suggesting any specific plot was imminent but had to anticipate attempts by Russia to exploit current tensions.

Alex Croft1 July 2026 23:30

Opening of Russia-North Korea bridge likely delayed, says US think tank

Russia and North Korea are unlikely to open a road bridge connecting their countries soon, despite an earlier target of mid-June, US think tank 38 North said.

Satellite imagery has showed Russian-side facilities unfinished.

The 850-metre (2,789-ft) bridge, which ⁠will connect to Russia's highway system, was agreed during Russian president Vladimir Putin's visit to Pyongyang in June 2024, and will be a first road link between the two. The Russian embassy in ​Pyongyang had said in April that it would open on June 19.

Analysts say the bridge could eventually increase logistics activity by more than 40 per cent and help North Korea reduce its heavy reliance on China by deepening economic ties with Russia.

38 North, citing satellite imagery, said on Tuesday that the bridge over the Tumen River appears complete and North Korean border facilities are largely finished, but much more work is needed on the Russian side before the crossing can become operational.

The North Korean side has a large warehouse, parking lot, paved access roads and what appears to be a completed frontier post, while Russia's probable customs complex is far less advanced and is likely to be at least three times larger, the think tank said.

Russia's transport ministry declined to comment. The North Korean embassy in Moscow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alex Croft1 July 2026 22:31

Watch: Zelensky mocks Putin’s 15 failed deadlines to capture Donbas

Alex Croft1 July 2026 21:29

Ukraine, Putin or call centre fraud: The theories behind assassination attempt on Ukrainian tycoon in Monaco

Vadym Iermolaiev was returning to his apartment in Monaco on a warm summer night last Monday with a woman and child when the bomb exploded.

Within seconds, the Ukrainian oligarch and the woman and child were lying covered in blood on the floor outside the building on the Rue Révérend-Père-Louis-Frolla.

The suspect, who dropped a suspected parcel bomb in the lobby, had already fled the scene. A manhunt to locate him is ongoing, while Iermolaiev and the other two victims are being treated for serious injuries at the Pasteur Hospital in Nice.

Two days since the attack, the case remains shrouded in mystery with sources offering various theories for why Iermolaiev, one of Ukraine’s richest men, was targeted.

Read more:

Everything we know about the Monaco attack on a Ukrainian oligarch

A manhunt continues for the suspect two days since Vadym Iermolaiev was targeted by a suspected parcel bomb in the lobby of his apartment

Alex Croft1 July 2026 20:31

Russia starts imports of gasoline from India

Russia has started seaborne imports of gasoline from India, two industry sources said on Wednesday, in an effort to mitigate fuel shortages triggered by Ukrainian attacks on its energy infrastructure.

Fuel shortages are being felt across Russia's 11 time zones with rationing, long queues at filling stations and a record gasoline price increase.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia was in contact with other countries and discussing imports of fuel at acceptable prices.

Russia's energy ministry and India's oil ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

An industry source said at least 60,000 metric tons of gasoline have been dispatched from India to Russia. Another source said that two tankers, with parcels of 30,000 to 40,000 tons each, have been sent.

A third source said that in total, Russia plans to import 400,000 tons of gasoline from various countries each month, including from neighbouring Belarus, which has already been exporting fuel to Russia.

Alex Croft1 July 2026 19:30