Europe Watch

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At least four people were killed and more than 30 injured in another round of Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight, just days after a series of phone calls between US president Donald Trump, Russian president Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

A view shows the site of apartment buildings hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine. Photograph: State Emergency Service Of Ukraine/Reuters

The latest attack will once again pose questions on what’s next for Ukraine as the US ceasefire proposal, pursued by Trump, appears to be failing to make any further progress.

Zelenskyy’s top aide Andriy Yermak said in an update on Telegram that “one of the important principles of defence is the destruction of the enemy’s ability to produce weapons,” as he called for “Russia’s military-industrial complex … to be weakened in various ways: from sanctions to direct strikes.”

The western world must realise that Russia’s scaling up of weapons production only brings us closer to the day when it will be used not only against Ukraine.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin fired his transport minister on Monday following massive disruptions of Russian civilian airspace caused by Ukrainian drone raids.

The Kremlin provided no specific details or reasons for the dismissal of Roman Starovoit, who had served as the governor of Russia’s Kursk region before being reappointed transport minister in May 2024.

However, his firing comes after almost 300 flights were grounded at major airports over the past weekend due to the latest Ukrainian drone raid.

On Saturday and Sunday, 485 fights ended up getting cancelled, according to the Russian federal aviation agency, Rosaviatsiya.

In total, from early morning on Saturday until Monday morning, so

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DONALD Trump issued a bleak warning that Putin wants to “keep killing people” after Russia launched its largest-yet barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine.

In a middle finger to the US, the onslaught hit just hours after Putin and Trump had a fruitless 60-minute phone call – which touched on the possibility of fresh American sanctions.

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Green Party lawmakers reportedly want to spend at least €8.5 billion on weapons for Kiev

A group of German lawmakers from the Green Party has called on Chancellor Friedrich Merz to urgently increase military aid to Ukraine, claiming that Berlin must contribute more in light of a slowdown in US arms deliveries, according to a letter obtained by Bild.

The letter, signed by Bundestag deputies Robin Wagener, Sara Nanni, Sebastian Schafer and Anton Hofreiter, criticized the federal government’s recently announced increase in military assistance from €7.1 billion to €8.3 billion as insufficient.

The lawmakers pointed to the US decision to pause certain weapons shipments to Kiev as a critical factor, arguing that Berlin should raise the figure to at least €8.5 billion and commit to maintaining that level through 2029.

The Green MPs, who have been among Kiev’s most vocal supporters in the Bundestag, reportedly said the government still had room to maneuver within the approved budget framework and argued that Germany’s constitutional limits on debt spending could be sidestepped through special exemptions.

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KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed new agreements with allies that he said would provide “hundreds of thousands” of new drones to the fight against Russia, while US President Donald Trump hinted at possible additional sanctions against Moscow as it continues to reject his cease-fire push.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy on July 5 said separate agreements with a US firm and European allies — including Denmark and Sweden — would give Ukraine the ability to hit important targets inside Russia, including defense industry assets, airbases, and oil refineries.

Ukraine is “preparing new steps that will make Russia truly feel that it will pay for this war. There must be accountability for the aggressor. And there will be – entirely just and keenly felt.”

The remarks come in uncertain times for Kyiv regarding the supply of weapons from its most important ally. On July 2, Ukrainian officials reacted with shock as the United States announced plans to halt some unspecified supplies of weapons it previously provided to Ukraine, citing its own dwindling stockpiles.

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RUSSIA’S former transport minister has reportedly been found dead just hours after being fired by Vladimir Putin.

Roman Starovoit, who had held the post for less than a year, was dismissed earlier Monday amid escalating turmoil in Russia’s transport sector.

Hours later, he was reportedly found dead in a car at his home in the Odintsovo neighbourhood – marking another grim twist in the Kremlin’s growing shadow of sudden deaths.

Major channels with links to the Russian security forces reported the cause of death as suicide, claiming the minister was found dead with gunshot wounds.

The firearm, according to Russian media, was an award pistol issued to him in 2023 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Some accounts say it was a Yarygin PYa pistol (Rook), or a Makarov.

Unconfirmed reports suggest he was killed using his own weapon.

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Russia said Sunday it had captured two more settlements in east Ukraine, one in the Donetsk region and one in the Kharkiv region.

Ukraine did not immediately comment on Russia’s claims.

Moscow has been grinding forward on the front line for over a year, pressing its advantage against overstretched and outmanned Ukrainian troops.

On Sunday, Russia said it had captured the village of Piddubne in Donetsk and Sobolivka in Kharkiv.

Piddubne was home to around 500 people before the conflict and lies just 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the border of Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region.

The Sobolivka village lies some 3 kilometers (2 miles) west of the town of Kupiansk, outside of areas Russia claims it is holding, according to battlefield maps by the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

In two separate Telegram posts, the Russian Defense Ministry said its army units had “liberated” the settlements of Poddubnoye and Sobolevka, using Russian spellings for the localities.

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A medical professional whom people trusted to care for them sparked a national uproar after showing off her evil soul following one of the worst U.S. natural disasters in recent memory, and now she no longer has a job.

As Mediaite reported, Christina B. Propst, a Houston, Texas pediatrician, gloated about the 82 victims of the Texas flooding in Kerr County, saying they voted to gut FEMA and got what they deserved as a result.

These victims included 28 innocent little children.

“May all visitors, children, non-MAGA voters and pets be safe and dry,” she wrote. “Kerr County MAGA voted to gut FEMA. They deny climate change. May they get what they voted for. Bless their hearts.”

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Tagesspiegel reports that the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, or BKA) announced that more than 65 search warrants were executed, and many suspects questioned in connection with over 140 investigations.

The “Day of Action against Hate and Incitement Online,” coordinated by the BKA alongside state law enforcement agencies, is the twelfth such operation aimed at curbing illegal speech on the internet.

Prosecutors allege that many of the posts included criminal incitement to hatred (Volksverhetzung), insults against public figures, and the use of banned symbols linked to “unconstitutional or terrorist organisations.” Some suspects are also accused of endorsing or glorifying criminal acts.

According to the BKA, roughly two-thirds of the offending content came from purportedly far-right sources. One case cited involved a user on X (formerly Twitter) who allegedly posted: “Heil Hitler!! Once again. We are Germans and a successful nation. Male foreigners out.”

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US rock band ZZ Top stormed the charts in 1983 with a song about a “Sharp Dressed Man,” lyrics that this week could apply to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy is currently in The Hague attending this year’s NATO summit in a bid to ensure continued Western military support for his country, which, more than three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, is still trying to repel Moscow’s forces.

And this time around, the Ukrainian president looks more formal than he has been since Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine started in early 2022.

Gone are the army fatigues Zelenskyy has worn since then; in their place is a blazer (albeit with military overtones), dress pants, and a dress shirt, sans necktie.

But why the switch? There are several possible reasons. But first, let’s take a quick look at why Zelenskyy ditched the more usual presidential attire of suit, dress shirt and tie in the first place.

Between his election to the Ukrainian presidency in 2019 and the Russian full-scale invasion, Zelenskyy dressed much like any other head of state: he was clean-shaven and wore tailored suits, dress shoes, shirts and ties.

But after the 2022 invasion, Zelenskyy opted for a sartorial switch, favouring instead sweatshirts, cargo pants and work boots. He has also worn a military-style vyshyvanka — a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt that is part of the country’s cultural heritage.

The choice of clothes partly reflects the fact that he is Ukraine’s commander-in-chief and is also a sign of solidarity with Ukraine’s armed forces.

“Zelenskyy dresses demonstratively. But the only message he wants to convey with his clothing is: ‘In my country, there is a war,'” Ukrainian fashion historian Zoya Zvynyatskivska told The Kyiv Independent newspaper.

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Starmer is taking the UK down a dark path.

The culture of death is taking hold of the United Kingdom.

A mere two days after the UK House of Commons voted to decriminalize late-term abortion ‘up to birth’, the Labour party of failing Prime Minister Keir Starmer has approved a bill legalizing assisted suicide.

Starmer was glad to vote for the bill, and – as proof of just how committed the UK has become to the culture of death – a good deal of Tories (including failed Globalist, former PM Rishi Sunak) and even Reform UK MPs also backed the bill.

The ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’ was approved in the House of Commons by 314 votes with 291 against, a majority of 23 (down from a majority of 55 in the last reading of the bill).

The Bill now goes to the House of Lords for further scrutiny, and if approved in the upper house it will ‘pave the way for assisted dying services to be introduced by the end of the decade’.

But there’s ongoing pushback from the right-thinking decent folk of Britain.

The Telegraph reported:

“Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, said: ‘This should not be treated as a conscience issue. It is assisting a person to kill themselves. We need political parties and leaders to rise up who will speak clearly on this point and refuse to implement a state suicide service’ […] Ross Hendy, CEO of the charity, CARE, described the result as ‘a blow to human dignity and people whose legitimate fears have been dismissed as irrelevant’.”

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Activist group Palestine Action took credit for the startling break-in at Royal Air Force Brize Norton, posting footage online that shows alleged members of their organization spray painting the runway and the inside of jet engines.

“Flights depart daily from [RAF Brize Norton] to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. From Cyprus, British planes collect intelligence, refuel fighter jets and transport weapons to commit genocide in Gaza,” the group explained as their motivation.

FILE – A British Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft carrying members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade arrives at Brize Norton, England, Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool, File)

“Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US and Israeli fighter jets,” a spokesman for the group said.

The scooter-riding vandals committed the crime without being detected and successfully fled the scene without arrest.

<b>Macron rejects Trump's plan for Greenland, proposal for Putin to mediate Israel-Iran crisis</b>- <i> www.cbc.ca</i>

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French President Emmanuel Macron, during a visit to Greenland to offer his support to the Arctic island, said on Sunday that Russia lacked the credibility to mediate the crisis between Israel and Iran, as U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested.

In an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Trump said he was open to Russian President Vladimir Putin — whose forces invaded Ukraine in 2022 and who has resisted Trump’s attempts to broker a ceasefire with Kyiv — mediating between Israel and Iran. Macron said he rejected such an idea.

“I do not believe that Russia, which is now engaged in a high-intensity conflict and has decided not to respect the UN Charter for several years now, can be a mediator,” he said.

Macron also said France did not take part in any of Israel’s attacks against Iran.

The French leader was visiting Greenland — a self-governing part of Denmark with the right to declare independence that Trump has threatened to take over — ahead of a trip to Canada for the G7 leaders’ summit.

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Russia launched one of its largest air strikes on Kyiv in over three years of war and struck a maternity ward in the southern city of Odesa in attacks that killed at least three people, officials said on Tuesday.

The overnight strikes followed Russia’s biggest drone assault of the war on Ukraine on Monday and were part of intensified bombardments in what Moscow says is retaliation for attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russia.

The Russian attack also damaged Saint Sophia Cathedral, a UNESCO world heritage site located in the historic centre of Kyiv, Ukrainian Culture Minister Mykola Tochytskyi said.

“The enemy struck at the very heart of our identity again,” Tochytskyi wrote on Facebook about the site he called “the soul of all Ukraine”.

Loud explosions shook Kyiv and blasts and fires lit up the sky in the early hours of Tuesday morning, leaving palls of heavy smoke over the city, Reuters witnesses said. Authorities deployed two firefighting helicopters to douse flames.

One person died in the attack on Kyiv, city authorities said.

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Russia claims its forces are now pushing into previously unoccupied regions of Ukraine, with Kyiv claiming the move is part of a wider plan to seize more than half the country by the end of 2026. On Monday, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its 90th Tank Division had reached the western edge of Donetsk Oblast and begun advancing into neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk – a region not included in Moscow’s 2022 annexation claims.

If confirmed, the offensive would mark a major shift, extending Russia’s invasion into previously untouched territory. Kremlin officials said the move was part of the “new realities on the ground” – a phrase repeatedly used by former president Dmitry Medvedev to describe what Russia believes Ukraine must concede in any future peace talks. The announcement follows unverified reports that Russian troops have also entered Sumy Oblast, in Ukraine’s northeast.

Videos circulating online on Monday appeared to show Russian troops crossing into the Dnipropetrovsk region, although the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said it had not seen verifiable geolocation evidence to confirm the claims.

In a further development, Russian military bloggers reported that troops had reached the Donetsk-Dnipropetrovsk border near the village of Horikhove.

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At least 10 people are dead following a mass shooting at the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school in Graz, Austria, according to state police.

Among the dead were eight students, one adult, and the suspected gunman in the deadliest mass shooting in Austria’s postwar history.

Mayor Elke Kahr called the shooting a “terrible tragedy” and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said in a statement on X that it “has deeply shaken our entire country.” Stocker has cancelled all appointments today and is on his way to Graz.

Local media reported that 28 people injured in the attack are also being treated in hospital, according to the BBC.

Special forces were among those sent to the school after police received a phone call at 10 a.m. local time in Austria’s second largest city. The school has been evacuated and police wrote on X that everyone has been taken to a safe meeting point and the situation is “secured,” AP reported.

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Kyiv, Ukraine – Russian President Vladimir Putin faces criminal charges for the “unlawful deportation and transfer of children”.

That is the definition of the 2023 arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court, the intergovernmental tribunal based in The Hague.

On June 2, as ceasefire talks rumbled on, Ukrainian diplomats handed their Russian counterparts a list of hundreds of children that they said were taken from Russia-occupied Ukrainian regions since 2022.

The return of these children “could become the first test of the sincerity of [Russia’s] intentions” to reach a peace settlement, Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, told media. “The ball is in Russia’s corner.”

But Ukraine claims the number of children taken by Russia is much higher. Kyiv has so far identified 19,546 children who it says were forcibly taken from Russia-occupied Ukrainian regions since 2022.