Liberation of the LPR // The Flag of Ukraine on the Zmeiny island

1 Russia — Donbass

During a meeting with the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, Vladimir Putin stated that the Russian forces that participated in the liberation of the LPR must rest. «The units that took part in the active hostilities, and achieved the victories in the Lugansk region, naturally, should rest, and imcrease their combat capabilities» — he explained. Sergei Shoigu previously reported to Vladimir Putin about the liberation of the LPR. The Russian and the LPR forces have the full control over the city of Lisichansk, and nearby settlements. The total area of the liberated territories by 3rd of July was 182 square kilometers — the RIA NEWS reported.

2 Ukraine

A Ukrainian flag was planted on the Zmeiny Island in the Black Sea — the head of the Ukrainian press center of the Operational Command «South», Natalia Gumenyuk, stated on 4th of July. «I can report that a Ukrainian flag has been planted on the Zmeiny Island. The military operation has been completed. The island has been returned to the jurisdiction of Ukraine» — Natalia Gumenyuk stated during a briefing, which was broadcast on the YouTube. The TASS reported that she gave no other details, including the details about the deployment of any Ukrainian forces on the island. Previously the island was captured by the Russian forces at the end of February. On 30th of June, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the pulling of the garrison. The ministry explained that it was a goodwill move to demonstrate that Russia isn’t hindering the UN efforts to organize the export of the Ukrainian agricultural products.

3 Donbass

1 from the 3 of the mercenaries, sentenced to death in the DPR, namely Aiden Aslin, a UK citizen, filed an appeal against the sentence — the Supreme Court spokesman of the DPR told to the RIA NEWS. «On 4th of July, an appeal was filed in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court by the counsel for the 3rd convicted man, Aslin Aiden, regarding the change in sentence» — the spokesman explained. On 9th of June, in the city of Donetsk, 3 captured foreigners were sentenced to death. They are the UK citizens Sean Pinner and Aiden Aslin, and a Moroccan citizen, Saadoun Brahim. They all have pleaded guilty to be a part of the Ukrainian military aggression, aimed at seizing the power in the DPR.

4 Ukraine

The mayor of the city of Lvov, Andrei Sadovoy, called an urgent operational meeting. He told to his subordinates that an invasion from Belarus is being expected. «A defense HQ will be set up in each district of the city. Additional training will be carried out for the members of the volunteer territorial defense groups. For the time being, we won’t keep them on the round-the-clock duty. But this decision can change at any time» — he explained. Andrei Sadovoy announced the plans to form reserve volunteer battalions from the employees of the city council and the public utilities. According to him, the city of Lvov continues to form a strategic reserve of food in case of blocking of the supply routes. The city authorities also remember about the upcoming winter, which the inhabitants of Ukraine might meet without the gas heating.

5 Ukraine

Slovakia is considering the options of transferring of their military equipment to Ukraine. It is planned to send their MiG-29 fighters and T-72 tanks. The Prime Minister, Eduard Heger, announced the plans for new deliveries of Slovak military equipment to Ukraine. He explained that Slovakia is considering to transfer all of their MiG-29 fighters to the Ukrainian forces after the recently made agreement with the Czech Republic to cover the Slovak airspace by the Czech Air Force. By the request of Ukraine, Eduard Heger didn’t disclose any details of the new military supplies. During the recent NATO summit in Madrid, a decision was made to send more military support to Ukraine. Thus, the transfer of a new batch of weapons would include, among other things, the Slovak weapons.

6 Ukraine

After Slovakia, Australia will supply a new batch of military equipment to Ukraine as well. New anti-Russian sanctions will be announced soon. Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia, reported on the transfer of Australian military equipment to Ukraine. According to him, the new batch of military air will include 20 combat vehicles ’Bushmaster’, 14 APCs, some UAVs, and some other armored vehicles. The price of the military aid is about $68 millions of US dollars. As an additional support to the Ukrainian Forces, Australia will provide about $6 millions of US dollars to support the Ukrainian Border Guard via improving their surveillance equipment, ensuring their cyber security, and upgrading their Rapid Response Force. In addition, the Australian government will introduce new sanctions against 16 Russian officials, and ban the import of gold from Russia. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS