Latest developments:
- President Joe Biden will visit Europe for a three-country trip to strengthen the international coalition against Russian aggression as the war in Ukraine continues into its second year. The main focus of Biden’s five-day visit next week will be the annual NATO summit, held this year in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12.
- Poland will send 500 police officers to strengthen security along its border with Belarus, the Polish interior minister said Sunday. “Due to the tense situation on the border with Belarus, I have decided to bolster our forces with 500 Polish police officers from riot control and counter-terrorism units,” Mariusz Kaminski tweeted, adding the officers would join the border guards already guarding the frontier.
- About 100 employees of Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom have left Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Russian-occupied town of Enerhodar, Mayor Dmytro Orlov said Sunday, amid warnings by the Ukrainian authorities that Russia may be planning a terrorist attack at the plant. There are no structures in the town where people could shelter in case of an explosion at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, Orlov said.
Ukrainian officials said Sunday that Russian forces advanced in parts of eastern Ukraine amid fierce fighting, while Ukrainian troops made gains in the southern part of the country.
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said the Russian advances took place in several parts of the Donetsk region, including Lyman, Avdiivka, and Marinka.
"Fierce fighting is going on everywhere," Maliar wrote on Telegram. "The situation is quite complicated.”
Maliar said that in the south, Ukrainian forces faced “intense enemy resistance, remote mining and redeployment of (Russian) military reserves.”
Russia said its forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks near villages ringing Bakhmut and in areas further south, particularly the strategic hilltop town of Vuhlear.
Drone attack
After a 12-day lull, Russia launched an overnight drone attack early Sunday across Ukraine, injuring one person in the Kyiv area from falling debris. The attack was repelled by Ukrainian air defense systems.
Officials in the Ukrainian capital didn't provide the exact number of drones that attacked the city and its surrounding areas. But Ukraine's air force said that all eight Iranian-made Shahed drones and three Russian Kalibr cruise missiles were shot down by air defense systems.
Witnesses heard blasts resembling the sound of air defense systems hitting targets. There was no immediate information about damage from the attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Black Sea port city of Odesa Sunday to hear a report from the navy commander, discuss prospects for the development of a naval drone and missile program, as well as present awards to service members.
In a tweet, Zelenskyy said, “The enemy will definitely not dictate the conditions of the Black Sea and occupiers will have to be as afraid of approaching our Crimea and Azov Seas coast as Russian ships are already afraid of approaching our Black Sea coast.”
During a Saturday news conference with Spanish media in Kyiv, Zelenskyy hailed Pence’s recent visit to Ukraine, but expressed concern of losing bipartisan support from the United States following what he called "dangerous messages coming from some Republicans."
Zelenskyy said that regardless of who wins the next U.S. presidential election, maintaining bipartisan support is "the most important thing for Ukraine."
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
