Ukraine, IAEA: drone strikes cooling tower at a Russian nuclear power station

At the same time, any serious economic agreement will depend on the US sanctions regime. Some restrictions against Russia remain in place, and a new initiative by the US Congress envisages further pressure on the Russian energy sector and other sources of revenue for the Kremlin. The war, in any case, continues. The Russian Ministry of Defence has announced the capture, in the last 24 hours, of two settlements in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk. These are the villages of Verolyubovka and Zolotoy Kolodez, according to the ministry’s Telegram channel.

In short, tensions in Eastern Europe remain high. Poland scrambled its fighter jets this morning whilst Russia launched another attack on Ukraine. This was reported by the Polish Armed Forces’ operational command, according to Ukrainska Pravda. Ground-based air defence systems and radar surveillance have been placed on high alert, whilst, for the third consecutive day, the airports in Rzeszów and Lublin have suspended operations. ‘These measures are preventive in nature and aim to ensure the security and protection of airspace, particularly in areas adjacent to threatened zones,’ a statement reads. The operational command is monitoring the current situation, and the forces and assets under its command remain ready to intervene immediately. According to reports from the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian drones were spotted this morning, particularly in the Rivne and Vinnytsia regions.

Drones were also reported this morning in the skies above Copenhagen, where the police have cordoned off the area around the US embassy. The presence of the drones and the security cordon in the area have been confirmed to Adnkronos by a witness who is currently at the scene. ‘Everything is closed, schools and buildings have been evacuated, and there are helicopters flying overhead.’ Copenhagen police have officially confirmed the closure of Dag Hammarskjölds Allé, the street in the Østerbro district where the US embassy is located, and have urged motorists to use alternative routes. The authorities report that they are investigating a ‘suspicious incident’, without specifying its nature at this stage or officially linking it to the presence of the drones.

Meanwhile, Lithuania has drawn up an evacuation plan for the residents of Vilnius in the event of a military threat or a serious crisis. One of the three main escape routes from the capital will be the border with Poland. This is reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the Lithuanian radio station Rollskieradio. The authorities in the Podlaskie Voivodeship are already preparing the region for a possible role as a transit corridor for residents of the Baltic states. In addition to Poland, routes are planned to the north and west of Lithuania. According to the plan, the evacuation order will depend on the location and scale of the threat. In addition to Poland, routes are planned to the north and west of Lithuania.

Ukraine plans to launch two negotiating groups on accession to the European Union between September and October , and a further two by the end of 2026, Mr Zelensky said today. “We hope that two clusters, as I have already mentioned, will be open for negotiations between September and October, and we would like to get another two off the ground by the end of the year,” the Ukrainian president said at the Carpathian Summit.

Russian hybrid attacks “will not go unanswered”. This was stated by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, during a meeting at the Élysée Palace with the leading candidates for the 2027 presidential election and party leaders. “No one is safe” from the Russian threat, Macron said, citing once again the drone attack on Leipzig Airport. “We must all be vigilant”, Macron added. “The very nature of deterrence lies in not revealing what one intends to do”, but “it would be a mistake on Russia’s part to continue acting in this way towards Europeans”, he concluded.

And there’s more. The underlying aim of Russia’s hybrid attacks “is to intimidate us and undermine our efforts to support the Ukrainians. The result will be the opposite,” said Macron, citing the example of Leipzig last summer. “We will not be intimidated, because we know that our security, both today and tomorrow, is at stake in Ukraine,” the president warned.

“During the Carpathian Eight Summit, I held a bilateral meeting with the President of Romania Nicusor Dan”, Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X today. “I am grateful that there is active dialogue and practical cooperation between our countries. Today we are expanding this to include a further dimension: the regional one, centred on our shared Carpathian Mountains. This offers significant potential not only for our economies, but also for security and for strengthening the ties between our peoples,” explained the Ukrainian president.

“We discussed the projects on which we can speed up progress and help one another. These include Safe and the joint production of drones, infrastructure and humanitarian issues, and, of course, security in the Black Sea region,” added Zelensky. “I would like to thank Romania for its support for the Carpathian Initiative and for its continued assistance to Ukraine,” concluded the Ukrainian leader.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has voted online in the State Duma elections currently taking place in Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine. The Kremlin has released the image of the President sitting at his desk in front of a computer, his right hand on the mouse and his gaze focused. This is nothing new. Putin had already voted remotely in 2024, during the presidential elections. Online voting is criticised, not only in Russia, for its lack of transparency and oversight. In countries such as Russia, with a history of electoral fraud and other irregularities, it is considered more dangerous than elsewhere.

Kiev and Moscow are growing increasingly frustrated with the US-mediated peace process and, in particular, with Washington’s envoy Steve Witkoff, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to the Kyiv Independent.

Behind the scenes, several separate initiatives are reportedly taking shape to oust Witkoff from the mediation process . Officials and those close to the mediation process, in both Kyiv and Moscow, are reportedly questioning his role. However, US President Donald Trump appears reluctant to remove him from his post.

“They keep telling us, ‘You must put an end to this war’. As if we didn’t want to end it, for heaven’s sake,’ a Ukrainian official involved in the peace talks told the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian officials who have taken part in the peace talks and are familiar with the Kremlin’s thinking have stated that, in their view, Russian officials are increasingly convinced that Witkoff played a part in the failure of last year’s summit in Alaska and that he sometimes passes information to Trump in ways that do not accurately reflect Moscow’s intentions.

Ukrainian officials have long questioned his understanding of the war and his approach to diplomacy. A person who took part in a round of trilateral negotiations told the Kyiv Independent that Witkoff would sometimes leave the negotiations without telling the other participants where he was going. “He’s more interested in restaurants and things like that,” the source told the Ukrainian newspaper.

Ukraine is facing a ‘colossal funding shortfall’, but is working hard to find a solution: ‘Yesterday we spoke with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and we will be meeting her soon. We are preparing a number of proposals to tackle this.’ Zelenskyy made these remarks during a media briefing on the sidelines of the ‘Carpathian 8’ meeting. The president emphasised that Ukraine will find a way out of this situation: “I already know of a few. Agreements are already in place,” he added.