6 July 2023
Lviv attack
At least six people were killed and 40 more were wounded when the debris of a Russian missile hit a block of flats in Lviv, western Ukraine, in the early hours of 6 July. Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyy called it the largest attack on the city's civilian infrastructure over the entire war. More than 50 flats were destroyed, and an infrastructure facility was hit. Nearly 30 buildings and over 50 cars were damaged.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia attacked Lviv Region with 10 Kalibr missiles, seven of which were destroyed by air defences.
Prisoner exchange
Ukraine has brought home another 45 servicemen and two civilians from Russian captivity, according to presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak. The servicemen are members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Service. There are two officers, 41 privates and a sergeant, a civilian worker at Azovstal and a territorial defence member from Kherson.
International agenda
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy savaged his Bulgarian counterpart Rumen Radev on a visit to Sofia, according to Politico. "You cannot support Russia and support a balancing position because Russia wants to destroy NATO, wants to destroy Europe and the European Union; these are their goals. Do you get me?" he said.
Zelenskyy began his visit to the Czech Republic by meeting his counterpart Petr Pavel. He also plans to meet Prime Minister Petr Fiala, the chairmen of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament, Milos Vystříl and Markáta Pekárová Adamová.
Zelenskyy will visit Turkey on 7 July, Anadolu Agency reports. He will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan one-on-one and together with delegations.
Russia has launched more than a thousand Iranian drones at Ukraine, the country's permanent representative to the United Nations, Serhiy Kyslytsya, said at a meeting of the UN Security Council. He noted that the Ukrainian government considers the transfer of drones from Iran to Russia to be a gross violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, in particular paragraph 4 of Annex B to this document.
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyy had a telephone conversation with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley. They discussed the operational situation at the frontline and the current needs of the Armed Forces for weapons and ammunition.
Finland will provide military assistance to Ukraine worth 105m euros. The timing of the delivery of the weapons is not disclosed for security reasons.
Martin Harris CMG OBE has been appointed His Majesty's Ambassador to Ukraine in succession to Dame Melinda Simmons DCMG, according to the UK Government website.
NATO summit
Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov has told The Times that the expectations of Ukrainian society from the NATO summit to be held in Vilnius on 11-12 July will not be met. According to him, he has seen the drafts of the speeches and knows what summit participants plan to say.
War
Russia used 10 Kalibr missiles to fire at Ukraine, seven of which were shot down, and carried out 41 air strikes and 42 attacks from multiple launch rocket systems, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.
Russia is concentrating its main efforts on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka and Maryinka sectors where 20 combat engagements took place over the last day.
The Ukrainian Defence Forces' aviation conducted six strikes on Russian clusters. Missile and artillery units hit a cluster of Russian manpower, weapons and military equipment, an ammunition depot, six artillery pieces at firing positions and three electronic warfare stations.
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the Armed Forces have liberated about 1,900 settlements, Zelenskyy said at a meeting with representatives of Bulgarian political circles, the public and media. "The victory may not be in the distant future, but quite soon," but will depend on allies' support.
Conscription
After the war is over, Ukraine will abandon the format of conscription that has existed so far, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said. It is planned that a professional army will form the core of defence.
Economy
Ukraine's international reserves have reached almost $39 billion, according to the governor of the National Bank. "This level of reserves strengthens the NBU's ability to continue to maintain exchange rate stability," said Andriy Pyshnyy.
Energy
Russians plan to put the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant's unit No 4 into a hot shutdown mode, Ukraine's atomic energy company Energoatom said. The Russians deliberately do not comply with the decision of the Ukrainian regulator by refusing to put power unit No 5 into cold shutdown.
Crime
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has announced a new suspicion to pro-Russian blogger Anatoliy Shariy and found evidence of his work for the Russian Federal Security Service. At the request of the Russian special services, he participated in the preparation and distribution of staged videos in which Nazis interrogate Ukrainian prisoners.
Ukraine has nationalised an aircraft of one of the largest producers of military aviation technology in Russia, the SBU said. The Higher Anticorruption Court has granted another lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Justice for the transfer of property belonging to the sanctioned Russian corporation Rostec to Ukraine. The aircraft in question is an AN-140-100 cargo-passenger plane, valued at nearly UAH 150 million.