Russian attacks on the cities of Sumy and Odesa, on the regions of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia kill eight. Ukraine and the EU agree a drone deal, von der Leyen says. Graham\u2019s sanctions bill on Russia softened after talks with the White House, Reuters says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia dropped six glide bombs on Sumy on Wednesday morning, killing three people and injuring 21 others. The victims are a 75-year old woman and two men ages 54 and 77. Eight people, including two children, were taken to hospital. Four people, including a 16-year old boy, underwent surgery and remain in a grave condition, head of the regional military administration, Oleh Hryhorov said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attack damaged a dozen buildings, including medical facilities, apartment and office buildings, and cars parked nearby, he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Russian missile attack on Odesa on Wednesday morning killed three people and injured eight others. The strike damaged an apartment building, a non-residential building and a gas pipeline, igniting a fire, head of the regional military administration, Oleh Kiper said. Russia continues to attack Odesa and the wider region with missiles and drones for the fifth day in a row, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Russian drone attack on the Sofiyivka community in the region of Dnipro set fire to a truck, killing a 62-year-old driver, head of the regional administration, Oleksandr Hanzha said. A 13-year-old boy and a 69-year-old woman were injured in the Hleyuvatka community. They received the necessary treatment, he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Russian FPV drone hit a truck near Kalynivka in Zaporizhzhia region. The driver was killed, head of the regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drone attacks on Zaporizhzhia and Vilnyansk injured two women, he added. They are receiving medical treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine and the EU have agreed a defense industrial partnership, or a \u201cdrone deal,\u201d as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen referred to it, speaking at a ceremony \u200bto mark Ukraine\u2019s Statehood Day in Kyiv on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery day, Ukraine is making Europe stronger. And this is why today I say: Ukraine has \u2013 in many ways \u2013 gone from being a buyer to a net security provider for Europe. And that also entails a new way of working together. And that is why I am delighted to launch, together with you, Volodymyr, a new EU-Ukraine Defence Industrial Partnership. What we are signing today is our very own Drone Deal,\u201d von der Leyen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine has a unique battlefield experience, including that in the field of drones and anti-drone systems, she continued. \u201cWe must tap into this together, because we know the threats that Europe faces in this area \u2014 we have seen incursions and alerts across many Member States,\u201d she said, adding: \u201cWe have safe and secure production sites that can help to scale up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deal will send a clear message that \u201cnow is the time to invest in Ukraine, because this means to invest in Europe, and to invest in our common security and our common future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s Cabinet of Ministers adopted a transparent procedure for \u201ccontrolled exports\u201d of domestically produced weapons on July 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s then Defense Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, writing in English on X on July 1 said: \u201cWe\u2019ve launched a transparent export mechanism for our key partners under the Drone Deal framework, as initiated by President [Zelenskyi]. This gives our manufacturers clear rules to scale production and attract global investment, while keeping our Armed Forces\u2019 needs as the 100% priority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On July 2, the Secretary of Ukraine\u2019s Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, said the country had sealed six drone deals. Twenty more states were on their way to join the accords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine hopes to sign major defence deals with at least seven Nato countries by the end of the year, according to a top official, highlighting a new aspect of Kyiv\u2019s foreign policy intended to show it can be a provider as well as a recipient of military hardware and expertise, the Guardian said on July 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. senators on Tuesday unveiled an updated version of the Russia sanctions bill, championed by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, which \u200ceases the original proposal’s tariff threat on China, India and other importers of Russian oil and gas, Reuters said on Tuesday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the news piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill, backed by both Republican and Democratic senators, seeks to impose sanctions on Russian officials and to use tariffs to pressure China and India to reduce their dependence on Russia as an energy supplier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill is changed from the original version introduced by \u200bGraham, a Republican from South Carolina, and Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, in April 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new version of the measure eases tariffs that could be placed on \u200bthird-party buyers of Russian oil and natural gas to a maximum of 100% on the top five purchasers, from the previous proposal’s blanket 500%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also allows an exception for countries which import less than 15% of Russia’s natural gas exports and which are taking significant steps to reduce those imports, which could exempt Japan, France, Hungary and Belgium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill is a compromise that received support from the Republicans, Democrats and the Oval Office, people familiar with the matter said, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The top five importers of Russian crude oil in 2025 were China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan, said Blumenthal. The top five importers of Russian natural gas last year were China, France, Japan, Hungary and Belgium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The measure also imposes sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers that do not depend on Western maritime services, on Russian financial institutions including the Central Bank of the \u200cRussian Federation, \u2060and on Russia’s largest state-owned energy projects, including Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 1, 2 and 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, the new version includes a provision that allows Trump to waive the sanctions if he deems it in the U.S. national interest to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked about the softening of some of the provisions from the original bill, one of the Senate aides noted the months of negotiations that had gone into getting a deal with Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is the only product \u200bthat currently has buy-in from everybody and \u200bis likely the only product that \u2060is going to move forward and put pressure on Russia the way we would all like to get,\u201d the aide said. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions surrounding the bill were confidential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump told reporters at the White \u200bHouse earlier on Tuesday that sanctions on Iran and Hezbollah might be added to the bill, saying it would \u200bbe a \u201cvery big thing\u201d \u2060if those measures were added. Blumenthal expressed caution, however, about adding new targets in the bill. \u201cWith all due respect to the president, he has approved this bill, and we should move forward with this bill rather than opening it, in my view, to other potential targets,\u201d Blumenthal told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proposed bill would be the first time that Congress has authorized the use of tariffs as a geopolitical weapon, analysts say, according to the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey may well not be used as intended to pressure Russia, but rather as a way for Trump to wage trade wars against friends and foes alike,\u201d said Edward Fishman, a former senior U.S. sanctions official who now runs the geoeconomics program at the Council on Foreign Relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also assumed that the White House was eager to support the bill, understanding that it will grant Trump more freedom when it comes to tariffs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"