EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
InformNapalm reports that the traffic jam at the entrance to Crimea is more than 9 km on July 1st. The reason being that every car was inspected for security. The Russian authorities claim that Wagnerites will be bringing explosives into Crimea. The Moscow Times’s latest: the traffic jam is now 10 km long.
Defense of Ukraine has issued a travel Advisory for all unwanted guests.
Stories we’re following…
Russia attacks 9 border communities in Sumy Oblast 25 times. The Russian military launched 25 attacks at nine border communities in Sumy Oblast on June 28, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on the Telegram messaging app.
Kyiv authorities report shooting down all Russian drones in latest aerial attack on capital. Kyiv officials said the city's air defenses shot down all Russian drones launched at the capital overnight on July 2 in the first drone attack on the capital in almost two weeks.
Russian shelling hit a residential area in Kherson on July 2, injuring several people, according to the regional military administration’s report as of 12 p.m, the Kyiv Independent reports. A high-rise residential building, a pharmacy, and a restaurant were struck by the shelling. The victims include a 50-year-old man. They have been hospitalised.
Mayor: Part of Rosatom employees leave Russian-occupied nuclear plant. About 100 employees of Russian nuclear monopoly Rosatom have left Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Russian-occupied town of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, the town's mayor, said on July 2.
An explosion near a military airfield in Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Krasnodar Krai, in the Russian Federation; an explosion crater has formed at the site. Portal 93.ru notes that around 16:00, residents of Primorsko-Akhtarsk reported hearing a loud explosion, after which a column of black smoke rose into the sky. According to the portal, the explosion occurred in the area of the military airfield. (video: Mash)
Military reports advances on flanks of Bakhmut. Ukrainian forces continue to gradually advance on the flanks of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast, the Eastern Command spokesperson Serhii Cherevatyi told national television on July 2.
Emil Kastehelmi: “During the last month, Ukraine has continued to slowly push Russian troops out of multiple areas. I wouldn't call this a second battle of Bakhmut yet, but Ukraine is definitely on the offensive. This week, Ukraine finally cleared the last Russian positions from western side of the Donets-Donbas canal. On top of that, the 3rd Assault Brigade has already been observed to make gains on the eastern side. Ukrainian forces are assaulting Russian positions on the southern and northern flanks, with a success near Klishchiivka and Kurdiumivka south of Bakhmut.
Southern Forces report engaging in heavy combat near Antonivsky Bridge. Heavy fighting is ongoing in the area of the destroyed Antonivsky Bridge in Kherson Oblast, according to Southern Operational Command spokeswoman Natalia Humeniuk.
Pro Russian source claims Ukrainian troops went on the offensive near Orikhiv, Zaporizhia Oblast: "On the Novodanylivka-Robotyne line, the enemy launched an attack on our positions, having managed to reach the trenches"
The mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, reports that on Saturday evening at 19,30, all of Melitopol heard a loud explosion near the Russian military base. The explosion occurred in the city's north near the village of Semenivka, where the enemy captured a farm, and one of the enemy's military bases was located there.
UK Defense Ministry: Ukraine 'almost certainly' deploying personnel to east bank of Dnipro River. Ukraine has "almost certainly" restarted deploying personnel to the east bank of the Dnipro River since around June 23 in what could be preparations for an offensive near the ruined Kakhovka Dam, the U.K. Defense Ministry said on July 1.
Zelensky visits Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, discusses safety measures. President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant on July 1 and discussed regional safety measures, the President's Office reported.
UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office:Russian forces have systematically detained, interrogated and deported vast numbers of Ukrainian civilians. As evidence of the widespread use of torture grows, the Kremlin continues to claim no harm to civilians. See the reality through Oleksiy's eyes.
Russia's top diplomat Lavrov sees no reason to extend Black Sea grain deal. Russia said on Friday it saw no reason to extend the Black Sea grain deal beyond July 17 because the West had acted in such an "outrageous" way over the agreement, but assured poor countries that Russian grain exports would continue.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative last July to help tackle a global food crisis worsened by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine - something it calls "a special military operation" - and its blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
The deal allows food and fertiliser to be exported from three Ukrainian ports - Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdennyi (Yuzhny). The agreement has been extended three times.
The ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia is working on a bill that would temporarily ban the travel of close relatives of high-ranking officials to “unfriendly countries,” the RIA state news agency reports. Restrictions may also affect law enforcement officers, judges, top managers of state corporations, and the board of directors of the Central Bank.
BBC News: Camp spotted on suspected Wagner site in Belarus. A new high-resolution satellite image obtained by the BBC reveals hundreds of new tent-like structures at the site of a suspected Wagner camp in Belarus. The satellite image appears to show activity at a disused military base about 13 miles (21km) from the town of Asipovichy - around 64 miles from Minsk, the capital of Belarus. The area has been reported in Russian media as a place which could house Wagner fighters. BBC Verify has identified over 300 tent-like structures erected within the past two weeks.
Reuters: Poland said on Sunday it will send 500 police to shore up security at its border with Belarus to cope with rising numbers of migrants crossing as well as any potential threats after the Wagner group of mercenaries relocates to Belarus.
"Due to the tense situation on the border with Belarus I have decided to bolster our forces with 500 Polish police officers from preventive and counter-terrorism units," Minister of Interior Mariusz Kaminski wrote on his Twitter account.
A spokeswoman for Poland's Border Guard said that Polish patrols at the border have also faced more aggressive behaviour in the past two months as the number of migrants rose.
"The groups are more aggressive. There have been many attacks on Polish patrols. Seventeen vehicles have been damaged this year, of which 13 in June alone," Border Guard spokeswoman Anna Michalska said.
"We assume the Wagners aren't going to Belarus to recuperate, but to carry out a mission. This mission could be aimed at Poland, but also against Lithuania or Ukraine," he added.
Rueters reports that a social media 'troll factory' owned by Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin to allegedly influence public opinion in the US and other countries, has reportedly been disbanded.
PMC "Wagner" has suspended the recruitment of mercenaries for a month "in connection with the temporary non-participation of the Wagner PMC in a special military operation and relocation to the Republic of Belarus."
The Kremlin’s spin on Prigozhin and Wagner: the Kremlin had denied any connection to Wagner as it allowed the leadership an opportunity to deny having any hand in operations in Crimea and then Donbas, Syria and other theatres in the global south.
Julia Davis: “Meanwhile in Russia: just like Vladimir Solovyov, head of RT Margarita Simonyan asserted that she realized since spring that Yevgeny Prigozhin had been plotting a coup.”
Rossiya Airlines, part of Aeroflotgroup, has reportedly resumed scheduled flights toCuba, which had been suspended since western countries shut Russia out of their airspace in response to its invasion of Ukraine. The first flight of what will begin as a twice-weekly service took off for the Cuban resort of Varadero from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Saturday, Aeroflot said, Reuters reports.
Following mutiny, Russian state media downplays Wagner's battlefield results.In a recent broadcast, Russian state-owned First Channel made comparisons of the battles of Bakhmut and Mariupol, saying that Mariupol was, in fact, more important than Bakhmut, and taken much faster – in 71 days, as opposed to the 10-month-long siege of Bakhmut.
Zelensky concerned over delayed F-16 pilot training. President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed its weariness over pilot's training courses' on F-16 jet fighters, hinting at Western partners' lack of will, he said in a joint conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on July 1.
Reconstruction ministry: UNDP transfers 430 generators to Kherson Oblast. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) transferred 430 generators purchased with funds from the Japanese government for Kherson Oblast, the Reconstruction Ministry reported on July 1.
Russian Embassy in London tweet— In an interview on Sky News with Ambassador Andrei Kelin, he states that “Russia is not a threat to the UK.” The UK and Russia “have a long history of productive cooperation,” and that “It was regretful to see the UK government take an adversary approach towards Russia at some point before for no reason.” The Ambassador
CNN: CIA is "open for business": Disaffection with the Ukraine war has provided the CIA with a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to recruit Russians, the agency's director William Burns said.
"Disaffection with the war will continue to gnaw away at the Russian leadership, beneath the steady diet of state propaganda and practiced repression. That disaffection creates a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us at CIA, at our core a human intelligence service. We're not letting it go to waste," Burns said in remarks to the Ditchley Foundation in England.
Forty diplomats and Russian embassy staffin Bucharest were set to leaveRomania on Saturday following a request from the government, with ties worsening between the two countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, AFP has reported. Eleven diplomats and 29 technical and administrative staff, accompanied by their families, “will leave Romania onboard a civilian aircraft belonging to a Russian airline,” the Romanian foreign ministry said.
Austria, a neutral country, announced its intention to join the European Sky Shield initiative, launched in 2022 by Germany against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer said the decision did not call into question the neutrality of the country but cited “a threat that has considerably worsened”. “We must and will take precautions to protect our country against the risk of drone or missile attacks,” he said.
Ukraine's FM Dmytro Kuleba has responded to this week's controversial claims by Orbán who said Ukraine was "no longer a sovereign state", in an interview with Bild, Welt and Politico. "I am tired of countering all these meaningless arguments. It’s all just blah blah blah," said the minister, reacting to Orbán's interview with Bild. Kuleba says he does not consider Orbán an ally of Putin, "but the political perception is very similar in his office and in the Kremlin," the minister said. "I hope he is still an ally of the EU and NATO," Kuleba stated.
French authorities made hundreds of arrests on the fifth night of unrest sparked by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old, but reports from across the country indicated that rioting was much less intense. A total of 486 people had been arrested across the country by 3am on Sunday, interior minister Gérald Darmanin said, adding that the level of violence appeared to have declined since rioting first broke out over the death of Nahel M in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday.
Victoria Amelina has died
On July 2 in the late evening, Pen Ukraine gave the terrible news that Victoria Amelina did not survive the Russian missile attack that hit the pizzeria in Kramatorsk. I have no words at this time. I’m truly shaken.
Runners to deliver flag from Bakhmut to NATO summit in Vilnius—Ukrainska Pravda
On 1 July, Ukraine's border guards met ultramarathon participants, who were delivering the flag from Bakhmut to the NATO Summit in Vilnius, on the Ukrainian-Polish border.
At the Ustyluh checkpoint, the participants of the Raising the Flag for Ukraine in NATO marathon handed over the Ukrainian flag to Lithuanian athletes. This was part of the ultramarathon that started in Kyiv on 25 June.
The athletes ran the route with the Ukrainian flag, which they received from the Ukrainian military in Bakhmut. In particular, the route ran through Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne and Volyn oblasts.
At the Ustyluh checkpoint, a team of Ukrainian runners handed the flag over to their friends from Lithuania. They will deliver the Ukrainian flag to Vilnius, where they plan to raise it before the NATO summit, which is due to start on 11 July.
"With this action, we want to draw the world's attention to the war in Ukraine and bring Ukraine's opportunity to become the 33rd member of NATO closer. In Lithuania, people will hang Ukrainian flags on houses, balconies and bridges when the NATO summit takes place, so that all delegations can see the flags on all the roads they travel," said race organiser Daminikas Kubilius.
Byline Times investigation: Boris Johnson's links to the KGB while he was in charge of MI6.
Johnson is not the only one from the British establishment to have close ties to Russians. Dan Sabbagh reports that two British peers were among 50 people who attended a party organised by the Russian ambassador to the UK at his opulent residence in west London last month, to mark the creation of a Russia independent of the Soviet Union.
Andrei Kelin, the Russian ambassador, spoke at the event where he sought to justify his country’s bloody invasion of Ukraine, while those attending included the Conservative Lord Balfe and cross-bencher Lord Skidelsky.
An account of the event published by the Sunday Times includes photographs of Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin, who is banned from the UK parliament, addressing an audience of about 50, including Russian embassy staff, foreign diplomats and a number of Britons.
The ambassador accused Britain of making a “big strategic miscalculation” by engaging in a confrontational approach to Moscow.
Balfe confirmed to the Guardian he was present at the event where, he said, he had perfunctory conversation with the Russian defence attache. The peer said he believed that eventually there would have to be a negotiated settlement in which Ukraine gave up some territory to Russia.
“Ukraine is, to be honest, a mess of a country. It was knocked together by Churchill and Stalin towards the end of world war two,” he said.
He added that he believed “Crimea is most definitely Russian” and that Moscow had legitimate claims on Donetsk and Luhansk, while there should be negotiations around a land corridor to Crimea.
Balfe is a former Labour MEP who defected to the Conservatives in 2002, and has had a history of making statements sympathetic to Russia. During the Skripal poisoning crisis in 2018, Balfe echoed Russia’s calls to inspect the nerve agent used.
Skidelsky, an economist and crossbencher who has been a member of the Conservatives, Labour and the SDP, said he was opposed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but attended because “I wanted to show my respect and affection for the Russian people on their national day, especially in these circumstances”.
The peer was also a non-executive director of a Russian oil company, Russneft, between 2016 and 2021, and wrote a letter shortly after Moscow’s invasion that condemned the move but also questioned why the west had not given a commitment that Nato would not expand its membership to Ukraine.
