Ukraine invasion: What you need to know right now

Here's what you need to know about Russia's invasion of Ukraine right now:

FIGHTING

  • A Russian shell smashed into a two-storey building in the eastern Ukrainian town of Toretsk on Monday, killing six civilians who were sheltering there, the State Emergency Service said.
  • Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered generals to prioritise destroying Ukraine's long-range missile and artillery weapons after Western-supplied weapons were used to strike Russian supply lines.
  • British military intelligence said Russia has used the private military contractor Wagner to reinforce its frontline forces in the Ukraine conflict.
  • Russia's defence ministry said its aircraft had shot down a Ukrainian MI-17 helicopter near the eastern town of Sloviansk and an SU-25 aircraft in the Kharkiv region.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.

ECONOMY

  • Russia's Gazprom has told customers in Europe it cannot guarantee gas supplies because of "extraordinary" circumstances, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Dated July 14, the letter from the Russian state gas monopoly, said it was declaring force majeure on supplies, starting from June 14.
  • Foreign allies need to increase their financial support for Ukraine to help the country maintain financial stability during the war with Russia, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office said.
  • Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations will most likely meet this week to discuss resuming Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said.

SOCIETY

  • Dozens of relatives and local residents on Sunday attended the funeral of 4-year-old Liza Dmytrieva, one of 24 people killed in a Russian missile strike in the city of Vinnytsia last week.

DIPLOMACY

  • EU foreign ministers agree another 500 million euros ($504 million) of funding to supply arms to Ukraine, taking the bloc's security support to 2.5 billion euros since Russia's invasioj began.
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Tehran on Tuesday for a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the first trip by the Kremlin chief outside the former Soviet Union since the invasion of Ukraine.

QUOTES

  • Three people lost their lives, why? What for? Because Putin went mad?" said Raisa Shapoval, 83, sitting in the ruins of her home in Chuhuiv.

Reuters