Ukraine live blog: ++Kiev wants US approval for long-range weapons++

Ukraine wants the US to authorize the use of long-range weapons against targets in Russia as soon as possible. Russian troops have apparently taken control of the village of Urozain in the Donetsk region. Live blog for all developments.

The United States has not given Ukraine permission to use long-range weapons against targets on Russian territory. Ihor Shovka, deputy director of Zelensky’s presidential administration, told VOA in an interview.

Ukraine continues to cooperate with the United States on this issue and hopes to make concessions as soon as possible. “All important decisions made by the United States in the past were made extremely quietly, and this time is no exception,” said Shonka.

Ukraine has for some time been asking for permission to use long-range weapons, namely rockets or cruise missiles, supplied by the United States and other Western partners to attack targets on Russian territory.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz has publicly voiced support for more support for Ukraine to defend against a war of aggression by Russia and for the provision of fighter jets. ARD Format “Ask Yourself”: “It seems to me that it makes sense now to help Ukraine at least regain sovereignty over its airspace.”

Merz said rocket attacks cannot be controlled from the ground alone. That is why many countries in the world have already decided to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine. “As Germans, we should not be left behind,” the CDU leader continued.

Russian troops have apparently taken control of the village of Urozain in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, TASS reported, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.

After returning from the United States, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised further assistance to soldiers and defense companies. At the NATO summit in Washington, specific agreements were reached to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities; he said it was about providing weapons for soldiers and support for Ukrainian defense factories. There will also be more Patriots and dozens of other air defense systems. Zelensky did not reveal any details.

The Ukrainian head of state stated on the X-portal that last week alone, Russia launched more than 700 glide bombs, 170 drones of various types and nearly 80 missiles at Ukraine. Ukraine thanks all those who helped protect the country from Russian terrorist attacks by providing defense systems.

Moscow has called on the Washington government to review “its policies of inciting hatred” following the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Sunday condemned such policies by Washington as targeting “political opponents, countries and peoples.”

Zakharova also used the assassination attempt to denounce U.S. support for Ukraine. She addressed directly “those who voted in the United States to provide weapons to (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky.” She accused Ukraine of supporting “the assassination attempt against Russian President Vladimir Putin.” She added that the money “could perhaps be better used to fund the police and other services designed to ensure law and order in the United States.”

Nearly two weeks before the start of the Paris Olympics, hundreds of people took part in a demonstration in the city center to mourn Ukrainian athletes killed in Russia’s war of aggression. Rally participants wore T-shirts with photos of the dead athletes and waved flags. They demanded that athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus be banned from the Summer Olympics, which open on July 26.

According to rally organizers, about 450 top Ukrainian athletes have died on the battlefield since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Ukraine will send about a hundred athletes to the Paris Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decreed that Russian and Belarusian athletes cannot represent their country and can only participate as so-called neutral athletes.

In June, Belarus increased its troops on the border with Ukraine, citing the neighbor’s expanding military presence on the border. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has now announced that the so-called tensions are over. The danger has passed and the troops sent to reinforce will be withdrawn again. “It is clear that we have no intention of fighting here and we have no intention of concentrating our forces, except for special forces,” the state news agency BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying.

Ukraine has consistently denied reinforcing its troops on the Belarusian border and once again refuted Lukashenko’s claims. A spokesman for the Ukrainian border guards stressed: “The Belarusians created this threat for themselves from the very beginning, and then eliminated it.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to seek US support after NATO summit. An attack in a town in eastern Ukraine left five people dead, according to official figures. Saturday’s live blog is available for reading.