As the war enters its 624th day, these are the main developments.
Fighting
In the eastern Donetsk region, three people were killed in Russian attacks on the village of Bagatyr. A civilian vessel was damaged by a Russian missile in the Black Sea port in the Odesa region, resulting in one death and four injuries. Russian attacks on Ukrainian power infrastructure have occurred 60 times in the last several weeks. The assassination of Mikhail Filiponenko, a deputy in the Moscow-backed parliament in occupied Luhansk, was attributed to Ukraine. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that Ukrainian prisoners of war were sent to the front lines of their homeland to fight on Moscow’s side in the war.
Politics and diplomacy
The Group of Seven (G7) reiterated its unwavering support for Ukraine and called on China not to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine. The European Commission recommended opening formal membership talks with Ukraine, receiving support from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. After a meeting with top Chinese general Zhang Youxia in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded important “high-tech” Russian military cooperation with China. Two more Ukrainian soldiers who were captured in Mariupol in 2022 were sentenced by Russian military courts. Charges against Alexandra Skochilenko, an artist who staged a protest against Moscow’s war in Ukraine, have led to a request for an eight-year jail term by a Russian state prosecutor. The US had used 96 percent of the funds it had allocated for Ukraine, according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
Weapons
Ukraine’s parliament approved a law to allow funds raised from military personnel income tax to be used for arms purchases and production. Slovakia’s new government rejected a previously drafted plan to send more military aid to Ukraine, which included KUB air defense system rockets, cannon ammunition, and small arms ammunition.