Moscow has accused Kyiv and Ankara of violating a prisoner exchange deal after five commanders from Ukraine’s Azov regiment returned to Ukraine from Turkey. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti Neither Turkey nor Ukraine consulted Russia about the transfer. Office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said He returned to Ukraine from Istanbul airport after a state visit to Turkey.
NATO member states will meet this week in Vilnius, Lithuania, where Ukraine’s candidacy and Sweden’s bid to join the banned military alliance are expected to dominate the agenda. President Biden leaves for Europe on Monday.
Here’s the latest news on war and its ripple effects around the world.
Ukraine Pushes to Reclaim Bagmouth, Struggles on the Edges of the Fallen City: Russia captured the city of Pakmut in eastern Ukraine in May following weeks of heavy fighting — its only significant territorial gain in 2023. But now, its troops are fighting a counteroffensive from Ukraine, fighting inches from the city’s flanks. , report by Fredrick Kunkle and Serhii Korolchuk.
On a recent moonlit night, a four-man Ukrainian team tried to float a drone amid the rubble of a kindergarten in a village south of the city.
“We’re trying to unite as many Muscovites as possible around Bakmut,” says Mykola Beliskov, a research fellow at Ukraine’s National Institute of Strategic Studies.
