For today, links to six reports from the Kyiv Post, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, the Moscow Times, and Tass, and to commentary from the Kyiv Independent; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM
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Ukrainian drones set another Russian oil refinery ablaze – local officials call it a ‘grass fire,’ by Stefan Korshak | Kyiv Post Ten explosives-toting, long-range robot aircraft reportedly flew most of the length of the Black Sea from a launch site in south-west Ukraine to hit in a western industrial district of the Russian city Rostov shortly after midnight. Independent news reports and local social media . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine receives third Patriot air defence system from Germany, envoy says. From Reuters. KYIV — Ukraine has taken receipt of its third German-supplied Patriot air defence system, Berlin’s ambassador to Kyiv said today following months of Ukrainian pleas for equipment to protect its civilians and infrastructure from Russian air strikes. READ MORE . . .
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Ukrainian partisans blow up Russian railroad track used to transport ammo from North Korea, by Kateryna Zakharchenko | Kyiv Post Ukrainian partisans say one of their agents blew up a railroad track near the Russian city of Yekaterinburg—about 1,600 kilometers (995 miles) from Ukraine—that was being used to transport North Korean ammunition to be used for Russia’s ongoing Ukraine invasion, the Atesh underground movement said today. READ MORE . . .
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Putin tells Orban he is ready to discuss ‘nuances’ of Ukraine conflict. From Reuters. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán traveled to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin today, in rare visit by a European leader since Russian forces invaded Ukraine more than two years ago. Orbán’s visit comes only days after he made a similar unannounced trip to Kyiv, where . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from AFP.
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Report estimates 120,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine. From the Moscow Times. Around 120,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the Ukraine war began in 2022, according to a joint investigation by independent media outlets Mediazona and Meduza published today. The updated figure is an estimate based on . . . READ MORE . . .
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Improvement of Russia’s positions to push West to talks on Ukraine — UN envoy. From Tass. MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. Russia does not observe any significant attempts to begin negotiations on Ukraine from Western states, but their position will change as the situation in the special military operation area unfolds, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said in an interview for Rossiya-24. READ MORE . . .
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What Ukraine’s partial Chasiv Yar withdrawal actually means, by Chris York and Martin Fornusek | The Kyiv Independent Ukraine announced on Thursday that its troops had withdrawn from the Kanal neighborhood in Chasiv Yar, a strategically important town in Donetsk Oblast, and the scene of an intense, bloody battle that began . . . READ MORE . . .