The war in Ukraine has reached its 125th day, after a day when Russian troops attacked a shopping mall in Kremenchuk where there were believed to be close to 1,000 civilians. The country’s defense has already explained the reasons for the attack, alleging that the missiles hit a weapons depot and that the explosions reached the establishment. On Monday, shortly after the attack, Ukraine’s president called it one of the most daring “terrorist acts” in European history.

In the last few hours, Finland and Sweden have come closer to joining NATO with the signing of a memorandum between the Nordic countries and Turkey. Addressing the UN Security Council, the Ukrainian president called for Russia’s permanent expulsion from the group. The Italian Prime Minister has revealed that the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the next G20 summit in Bali is ruled out.

What happened during the afternoon and evening?

• A senior US official assured that the US did not offer any concessions to Turkey for its decision to lift the veto on the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO.
• The Ukrainian president called for Russia’s permanent expulsion from the UN Security Council following the attack on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk.
• A Russian shelling of the Kharkiv town of Tsyrkyny left two dead and six wounded.
• The US president congratulated Finland, Sweden and Turkey on the agreement that paves the way for the two Nordic countries to join NATO.
• The pro-Russian forces that captured Americans Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh in Kharkiv may be willing to negotiate the release of the two soldiers.
• The governor of the Lugansk administration reveals that the situation in the city of Lysychansk has become “very difficult” with the increase in shelling by Russian forces.
• The British Foreign Secretary argued that the UK should have given Ukraine arms “earlier”.
• The secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, announced that the military organization will formalize the invitation to Finland and Sweden on Wednesday.
• Turkey lifted the veto on the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO.
• Satellite images from Planet Labs show the destruction caused by the missile attack on Kremenchuk, which left 18 dead and 59 wounded.
• Russian oligarch and businessman Oleg Deripaska has called the conflict in Ukraine, where Russia launched a major offensive in February, a “colossal mistake.”
• The Ukrainian president spoke for the first time with Belizean Prime Minister John Briceño, a conversation he described as “productive.”
• The Russian space agency has published the coordinates of the Western defense headquarters, including the Pentagon and the NATO summit site.
• Russia fired six missiles at the Dnipropetrovsk region, three of which were intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses.
• The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has decided to expel 70 diplomats in order to reduce the number of Russian officials in the country.
• Russian-speaking separatist forces have claimed to control 30 percent of the city of Lysychansk together with the Russian military.
• Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said the body’s Indonesian presidency ruled out Russian President Vladimir Putin’s participation in person at the upcoming G20 summit in Bali.
• In addition to the shopping mall in Kremenchuk, Russia is said to have fired another missile at an industrial factory in that city as well. The information was provided by the press officer of the Poltava region, which has Kremenchuk as its administrative city.
• The new US sanctions will hit Russia’s defense and gold industry, placing restrictions on 100 more targets and banning gold imports.
• The secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, lamented that China has not been “capable” of condemning the Ukraine conflict and that it is propagating “false narratives” about the West.
• The Ukrainian president thanked American actor Sean Penn for the documentary he is making about the war in Ukraine.
• An aide to the mayor of Kherson revealed that Russian forces took the ruler away.
• The G7 leaders have pledged to increase the costs for Russia of the war in Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Tuesday, reiterating that the Russian leader cannot emerge victorious from the conflict.

What happened during the morning?

• Russian forces are said to have arrested Kherson Mayor Igor Kolykhaev on Tuesday. The information was provided by an adviser to the mayor, Galina Lyashevskaya, who made a mail on his Facebook page: “They took Igor Kolykhaev.”
• At the close of the G7 summit, Olaf Scholtz, the German chancellor and host of the meeting, said that the leaders of the world’s seven most powerful economies are united in their support for Ukraine and will raise the price of war for Russia.
• Russian activist Ilya Yashin was sentenced to 15 days in prison by a Russian court. In question were the “scorns”. In this way, what was predicted by his lawyer was confirmed after, on Monday night, the activist was arrested in Moscow, while walking with a friend. Putin’s opponent has spoken out against the military operation in Ukraine.
• Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO, opened the organization’s summit, which warned that “more prepared forces” and “more pre-positioned equipment” are needed, but also anticipated the negotiation of an “agreement on an assistance package for Ukraine” . so that the country has the capacity to “earn the right to self-defense.”
• The group of the seven most industrialized countries in the world (G7) reached an agreement that allocates 4,700 million euros to combat “food insecurity”. Of this amount, more than half comes from the US.
• Russia increased the US sanctions list and included President Joe Biden’s wife and daughter, Jill and Ashley Biden, respectively. The decision was made as a “response to increased US sanctions against Russian public figures and politicians.”
• Michelin announced the sale “until the end of 2022” of its activities in Russia, which represent 2% of the group’s sales, specifying that this operation will not have an impact on its financial objectives.
• Russia has revealed that it did not purposely fire missiles at the Kremenchuk shopping mall. The Russian Defense Ministry explained that it fired missiles at an arms depot in the Ukrainian city and that the explosions from that attack caused a fire in a disused shopping center.

What happened during the night?

• The death toll in the attack on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk, in central Ukraine, has risen to 18. So far, 59 injuries have been reported, 25 of whom required hospital care. Authorities continue to work on the rescue and removal of the remains. On Monday, following the news of the missile attack, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke out about what happened, calling it one of the most daring “terrorist acts” in European history.
• The United Nations reports that, to date, more than 10,000 civilians have been killed and injured during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with 4,731 civilians killed and 5,900 injured. Since February 24, at least 330 children have been killed and 489 injured have been injured.
• Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, warned that any invasion of the Crimean peninsula by a NATO member state could lead to a declaration of war on Russia and “World War III.” “For us, Crimea is part of Russia. And that means forever. Any attempt to invade Crimea is a declaration of war against our country.”
• Christine Lagarde, at the annual ECB Forum in Sintra, says that “inflation is undesirably high” and promised that the central bank will “go as far as necessary” to control prices.
• The financial rating agency Moody’s considers that the non-payment of interest on the Russian debt constitutes a default. “On June 27 [segunda-feira]Russian debt holders had not received payment in eurobonds corresponding to 100 million dollars. At the expiration of the 30-day period, we consider it to be in default,” Moody’s said in a statement.
• Joko Widodo, the president of Indonesia, the country that will host this year’s G20 summit, will meet this Tuesday in kyiv with his Ukrainian counterpart, in an attempt to reach a ceasefire in the conflict caused by the invasion of Russia.
• The Russian army has bombed the entire Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine on a large scale in recent hours, with a greater incidence in the enclave of Lysychansk, under Ukrainian control on the border with Russia.
• G7 leaders will deliver a clear message in response to Russia at the end of a meeting dominated by the war with Ukraine, with their eyes on Madrid and the opening of the NATO summit. Within hours of that statement, G7 leaders condemned the “abominable war crime” against the shopping mall in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk.