Ukraine news latest: Putin warned deadly apartment block bombing could be war crime

Ukraine accused Russian forces of using phosphorous bombs to attack Snake Island, Al Jazeera reported.

Valery Zaloghny, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Army, claimed that two Russian Su-30 fighters had dropped phosphorous bombs over Snyk Island. Bombs on Zminyi Island,” the army said, referring to Snake Island.

White phosphorous, which ignites on contact with air, is often used to identify enemy targets and produce a smokescreen to mask troop movements.

It can also be used to start fires, and it can burn to the bone when it comes in contact with meat. It can kill, maim and poison victims.

The use of phosphorous in densely populated civilian areas is prohibited under international law – but it is not considered a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Russia has previously been accused of using white phosphorous munitions.

Ukrainian officials said phosphorous bombs were dropped in attacks on the cities of Lutsk in the west and Popasna in the east earlier this month.

Germany’s energy regulator has identified priority areas that will have protected access to energy this winter if the country faces gas shortages.

These range from homes and hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and paper producers.

Authorities are forced to make urgent preparations ahead of winter due to sharp cuts in Russian gas shipments through the Nord Stream pipeline.

“We can’t classify every company as system-wide,” Klaus Muller, head of Germany’s Federal Network Agency monitoring agency, told the Funke press group in an interview published on Saturday.

“Recreational products and services will be less important…swimming pools are clearly not important and neither is the chocolate chip industry.”

While families are a top priority, Mueller hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a blackout.

“If it comes to rationing, we will have to cut industrial consumption first,” he said.

I can guarantee that we will do everything to avoid leaving private homes without gas. But we have learned from the coronavirus crisis that we should not make promises that we are not sure we can keep.”

Russia has blamed technical difficulties stemming from sanctions for halving Nord Stream pipeline flows in recent weeks, although German officials say the cuts are in retaliation for Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, reiterating his country’s “position in favor of dialogue and diplomacy”.

“The two leaders reviewed the implementation of decisions taken during President Putin’s visit to India in December 2021,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. “In particular, they exchanged ideas on how to further encourage bilateral trade in agricultural commodities, fertilizers and pharmaceutical products.”

“The leaders also discussed global issues, including the state of international energy and food markets,” the paper said. Indian Express. “In the context of the current situation in Ukraine, the Prime Minister reiterated India’s longstanding position in favor of dialogue and diplomacy.”

The two leaders had earlier spoken to each other three times since Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year. The Indian government, while critical of the Bucha killings, has so far failed to directly condemn Russian aggression.

Mayor Oleksandr Senkevich said that strong explosions were heard early Saturday morning in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv.

“There are strong explosions in the city! Stay in shelters!” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The cause of the explosions was not immediately known.

Reuters reported that sirens sounded throughout the Mykolaiv region before the explosions, adding that they could not independently verify the mayor’s allegations.

At least 21 people, including two children, were killed after Russian missiles hit an apartment building and two holiday camps near the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa Friday morning, Ukrainian authorities said.

Ukrainian officials said independent At least 18 people were killed in the raid on a nine-storey apartment building in the village of Serhivka, and three more died in the bombing of the resort.

A member of the military administration in Odessa said that two children at the resort were in critical condition and that the search for the missing was continuing.

Bill Troy And the Shweta Sharma Report.

The European Union’s executive arm pledged on Friday to draft a contingency plan this month aimed at helping member states wean themselves off Russian energy in the wake of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the initiative would build on EU moves to ditch Russian coal, oil and natural gas and complete a bloc-wide push to accelerate the development of renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

“We are making contingency plans for Europe,” said von der Leyen in the Czech city of Litomysl, where she celebrated the start of the country’s six-month term as president of the European Union. Energy prices are high. People really expect us to do something about it.”

She said the emergency plan, due around mid-July, would focus on two main points, including having a “clear idea” of where to cut Russian energy supplies and doing it “a smart way” as well as getting around EU countries facing supply pressures.

WNBA star Britney Greiner, 31, has been detained in Russia since February after officials at Moscow airport found drugs in her luggage.

Her arrest occurred shortly before Russia launched its war in Ukraine, with geopolitical tensions undoubtedly making securing her release more difficult.

Ms. Greiner’s family, friends and fans – along with many public figures – have been calling for Russia to release her for months, as has the US State Department to intervene.

Her trial began on Friday (July 1), days after a court ordered her detention to be extended until December.

Here’s everything we know about the ordeal:

Russian media say two British men captured by Russian forces in separatist-held Ukraine have been accused of mercenaries.

Aid worker Dylan Healey, 22, was stopped at a checkpoint earlier this year while helping a woman and children flee a combat zone in Russian-backed territory, according to a relief charity.

Andrew Hill, a military volunteer who was detained in the Mykolaiv region around the same time, appeared in camouflage clothing on Russian state television.

Ukraine’s nuclear power company said on Friday it had reconnected with monitoring systems at Europe’s largest nuclear plant, Zaporizhzhya, occupied by Russian forces.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s atomic energy agency, has said it wants to urgently inspect the plant in southern Ukraine, but Ukrainian authorities oppose any such visit while Russian forces remain in control.

This is the second time that contacts with the six-reactor plant have been lost. Ukraine’s state agency Energoatom said on its Telegram channel that it had reconnected “by its own efforts”.

It added that the link was lost “due to the fact that the occupiers in Innerhodar have cut off all Ukrainian mobile operators, including Vodafone, with whom (the International Atomic Energy Agency) has a contract for data transmission.”

Energoatom said all “mandatory monitoring data is being transmitted” and the agency confirmed receipt.

The IAEA said earlier this week that the loss of communication links “only adds to the urgency of sending this mission” to Zaporizhia. She added that the connection was cut off “due to the failure of the facility’s communication systems.”

American basketball star Britney Grenier appeared in a Russian court on Friday, four months after she was arrested for possession of cannabis at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport while she was traveling to play for a Russian team.