NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will remain in his post until October 2024, the alliance announced Tuesday, extending his post by another year amid a failure to agree on a replacement given the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told French President Emmanuel Macron that Russia was planning "provocations" at the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant while Russia accused Kyiv of planning an attack. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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5:55am: Ukrainian army says it destroyed 'Russian formation' in Donetsk
Ukraine's military said it had destroyed a Russian "formation" in Russian-controlled Makiivka in the frontline Donetsk region, where Moscow-installed officials and media said one civilian was killed and dozens wounded in attacks by Kyiv.
"As a result of the effective fire impact of the units of the defence forces, another formation of Russian terrorists in the temporarily occupied Makiivka ceased to exist," Ukraine's armed forces said in a statement late Tuesday.
A video accompanying the post showed a huge explosion lighting up the night sky and the silhouette of at least one building.
It did not give further details.
The Russian-installed head of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, said Ukrainian forces had launched "fierce attacks" on residential areas and a hospital complex in Makiivka.
One man had died and 36 civilians "received injuries of varying degrees of severity" as a result of Ukrainian strikes, according to Russian state news agency Interfax.
Russia's TASS news agency said nine healthcare facilities had been damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces, citing Russian-installed officials in Donetsk.
9:08pm: Stoltenberg's tenure as NATO chief extended for another year
NATO members on Tuesday extended the tenure of alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg for another year after struggling to find a suitable replacement in the shadow of Russia's war in Ukraine.
The announcement comes a week ahead of a summit of NATO leaders in Lithuania that will be dominated by the Western military alliance's response to the conflict and Kyiv's push for membership.
“Honoured by NATO allies' decision to extend my term as secretary general until 1 October 2024," said Stoltenberg, 64, in a statement.
"The transatlantic bond between Europe and North America has ensured our freedom and security for nearly 75 years, and in a more dangerous world, our Alliance is more important than ever," he said.
NATO's 31 countries decided to extend the term of the former Norwegian prime minister – at the helm of the alliance since 2014 – after failing to agree on a replacement.
Stoltenberg’s tenure was already extended for a year shortly after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised "his personal efforts to support Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations", after a phone call with the NATO chief on Tuesday.
8:44pm: Zelensky tells Macron Russia planning attack at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that Russia was planning "dangerous provocations" at the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
"I warned Emmanuel Macron that the occupation troops are preparing dangerous provocations at the Zaporizhzhia plant," Zelensky said in a statement. "We agreed to keep the situation under maximum control together with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)," he added.
Russia and Ukraine earlier traded accusations on who was planning an attack on the plant. The Ukraine government accused Russia of planning a "provocation" while Russia claimed that Kyiv was planning to attack the facility.
The mutual accusations were made around the same time late on Tuesday.
Kyiv's military warned of the "possible preparation of a provocation on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia power plant in the near future", claiming that "external objects similar to explosive devices were placed on the outer roof of the third and fourth reactors".
Moscow could then use the incident to "misinform", it said.
In Moscow, an adviser to Russia's Rosatom nuclear agency, Renat Karchaa, accused Kyiv of planning an attack on the plant.
"Today, we got information that I am authorised to announce ... On July 5, literally at night, in the dark, the Ukrainian army will try to attack the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant," Karchaa told Russian state television.
Fears over the safety risks for the nuclear plant, Europe's largest, have been constant throughout Russia's invasion, but increased in early June after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, the source of cooling water for its reactors.
7:49pm Russia says drone attacks near Moscow 'not possible' without US, NATO help
Moscow said Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory would "not be possible" without US and NATO help, ratcheting up its rhetoric after reporting it had downed five drones near the capital on Tuesday.
7:22pm: Family and friends hold funeral for Ukrainian writer killed by Russian missile strike
Mourners gathered Tuesday at St Michael's cathedral in Kyiv to bid farewell to Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina, who died of wounds suffered in a Russian missile strike on a popular restaurant last week in Kramatorsk. Her coffin was draped with Ukraine’s blue-and-yellow national flag.
The 37-year-old was dining at the Ria Pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk – popular with journalists, the military and aid workers – when a missile strike hit. Amelina was one of 13 people, including three children, killed in the strike. Her family, including her 10-year-old son, as well as several writers and journalists attended the St Michael's ceremony. Her body will be taken for burial in her native city of Lviv in western Ukraine.
6:43pm: More than 40 wounded in Russian missile strike on Kharkiv
A Russian missile strike targeting a military funeral Tuesday on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region has wounded 43 people, including 12 children, said Kyiv.
“Civilians are the target of those Russian strikes, although Russia has been consistently denying it targets civilian population,” said FRANCE 24’s Emmanuelle Chaze, reporting from Kyiv.
Please click on the video player to watch the report.
5:36pm: Some 185,000 new recruits have joined the Russian army this year, claims Kremlin
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that 185,000 new recruits had joined the Russian army as professional contract soldiers since the start of the year.
In a video posted on Telegram, Medvedev, who earlier this year was appointed to a role overseeing Russia's domestic military production, said that almost 10,000 new recruits had joined up in the last week after a mutiny by Wagner Group mercenaries was quelled and its fighters were given the option of signing up as regular soldiers.
The Russian army had around 800,000 active personnel as of March of this year, according to Statista.
4:42pm: Russia and US in ‘contact’ over possible prisoner swap, including WSJ journalist
The Kremlin said Tuesday there were "certain contacts" with the US over detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, responding to a question about a possible prisoner exchange.
US ambassador Lynne Tracey was allowed to visit Gershkovich in prison on Monday after over two months.
Russian state media reported that Russian consular officials were also on Monday given access to Vladimir Dunaev, an alleged cyber criminal extradited from South Korea who is currently in detention in the United States.
Peskov was asked if the coincidence of these visits indicated a possible exchange.
"There are certain contacts on this matter but we do not want them made public at all. They should take place and continue in total silence," Peskov said, adding that "the right to consular contact should be respected by both sides".
Arrested on March 29 during a reporting trip in the Urals, Gershkovich was the first Western journalist arrested and accused of espionage – which has been denied -- by Moscow since the Soviet era, amid a sharp deterioration in relations over the conflict in Ukraine.
2:38pm: Russia sees no grounds to renew grain deal, says foreign ministry
Russia sees no basis for renewing the Black Sea grain deal, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday, less than two weeks before the expiration of the agreement, which has allowed grain to be shipped out of Black Sea ports despite the war in Ukraine.
The ministry said in a statement Russia was doing everything so that all ships covered by the deal could leave the Black Sea before it expires on July 17.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Moscow and Kyiv last July to help tackle a global food crisis worsened by Russia's invasion of its neighbour and a blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
2:18pm: Number of wounded from Russian shelling in Kharkiv rises to 31
The number of those hospitalised from Russian shelling in the small town of Pervomaisk in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region on Tuesday has risen to at least 31, the head of Kyiv's presidential office Andriy Yermak said.
Nine children are reported to be among the wounded. The interior ministry said the youngest of the injured children was aged 10 months.
Oleh Synehubov, the Kharkiv region's governor, said on the Telegram messaging app that the shelling took place at 13:35 Kyiv time (1035 GMT) and several cars were on fire.
Police also said a multi-story building was damaged and posted several pictures of the building with smashed windows, dark smoke clouds and an overturned car.
1:49pm: Russia planning 10% spending cut for 2024 budget redistribution, Vedomosti daily reports
Russia's finance ministry has proposed expenditure cuts to its 2024 budget, the Vedomosti daily reported on Tuesday, citing two sources close to the government, a step that would free up funds to spend on areas such as the military and national security.
Faced with a January-May budget hole of $42 billion Russian officials have acknowledged the need to rein in the deficit, agreeing at an economic forum last month that some spending cuts would be inevitable, while viewing increased domestic borrowing or higher taxes as less appealing alternatives.
As sanctions shrink energy revenues and spending soars to fund fighting in Ukraine, the budget deficit is already 17% above the plan for the whole of 2023.
1:40pm: Russian shelling wounds 12, including five children in Ukraine's Kharkiv region
Russian shelling wounded 12 people, including five children, in the small town of Pervomaisk in Ukraine's Kharkiv region on Tuesday, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said.
Synehubov said on the Telegram messaging app that the shelling took place at 13:35 Kyiv time (1035 GMT) and several cars were on fire.
1:18pm: Ukraine tells Georgian ambassador to go home for 'consultations'
Ukraine's foreign ministry summoned Georgia's ambassador on Tuesday to protest against the treatment of jailed former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and told him to go back to Tbilisi to resolve the situation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the Georgian authorities on Monday to allow Saakashvili, who has Ukrainian citizenship, to come to Kyiv for medical treatment.
Zelenskiy made the appeal after a video circulated showing Saakashvili looking emaciated during a court hearing and lifting his shirt to show protruding ribs.
12:24pm: Ukraine hails Stoltenberg's 'strong leadership' as NATO chief's mandate extended
Ukraine on Tuesday praised Jens Stoltenberg's leadership of the NATO defence alliance, a key military partner for Kyiv, after its members extended his tenure for one year.
"Excellent news on the extension of Jens Stoltenberg's mandate as NATO Secretary General. Tough times demand strong leadership. Jens Stoltenberg has demonstrated just that. I look forward to furthering our cooperation," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on social media.
11:45am: Putin reassures Asian allies of Russia's stability after 'attempted armed mutiny'
President Vladimir Putin reassured Asian leaders of Russia's stability and unity on Tuesday in his first appearance at an international forum since the country was rocked by a brief armed mutiny last month.
"The Russian people are consolidated as never before," Putin told a virtual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a group that also includes China and India.
"Russian political circles and the whole of society clearly demonstrated their unity and elevated sense of responsibility for the fate of the Fatherland when they responded as a united front against an attempted armed mutiny," Putin said.
11:18am: Ukraine says Georgia 'torturing' jailed ex-president Saakashvili
Ukraine on Tuesday accused Georgia of "torturing" jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, who is now a Ukrainian national, a day after he appeared extremely emaciated in a court hearing.
"Such treatment of Mikheil Saakashvili is absolutely unacceptable. The Georgian authorities must stop torturing this citizen of Ukraine," the foreign ministry said.
11:00am: Putin says Russia will resist 'sanctions and provocations'
President Vladimir Putin told Iranian, Chinese and other leaders on Tuesday that Russia would continue to counter sanctions imposed by Western countries over Moscow's large-scale military operation in Ukraine.
"Russia is confidently resisting and will continue to resist external pressure, sanctions and provocations," the Russian leader said during a televised address to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, during which he thanked the alliance for their support during a recent armed mutiny in Russia.
10:21am: Belarus opposition leader told husband died in jail
Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said on Tuesday she received an anonymous message saying her jailed husband Sergei Tikhanovsky, who she has not heard from since March, was dead.
"Today I received a very strange and horrifying message. An unknown person wrote that my husband, Siarhei, has died in Zhodino prison," Tikhanovskaya said in English on Twitter.
"There is no evidence or proof for this claim. This isn't the first time such rumours have circulated and I don't know how to comment on this. I haven't heard from Siarhei since March 9 and lawyers are denied access to him," she wrote.
Belarus is an authoritarian state in which opposition voices and independent media have been stifled during President Alexander Lukashenko's nearly three decades in power.
The Belarusian human rights organisation Viasna says there are now more than 1,500 political prisoners in Belarus.
Tikhanovsky planned to run against Lukashenko in the August 2020 presidential election but was arrested and detained before the vote.
9:05am: Journalist badly beaten in Russia's Chechnya province
An award-winning Russian investigative journalist is in hospital after being badly beaten by armed assailants during a trip to Chechnya, the Memorial human rights group said on Tuesday.
“Elena Milashina’s fingers have been broken and she is sometimes losing consciousness. She has bruises all over her body,” the group said on social media.
The incident happened early on Tuesday as Milashina and Alexander Nemov, a lawyer, were travelling from the airport.
“They were savagely kicked, including in the face, received death threats and were threatened with a gun to the head. Their equipment was taken away and smashed,” Memorial said.
The Committee Against Torture, a human rights group, published photos of Milashina in hospital with her head shaved and covered in a green-coloured dye used on cuts and her hands bandaged.
The media rights group Reporters Without Borders said it was “horrified by the savage attack” on Milashina.
Milashina’s paper Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s top independent publication, confirmed the incident.
8:59am: Last few days 'fruitful' for military, says senior Ukrainian official
A senior Ukrainian security official said on Tuesday that Kyiv's troops are "fulfilling the number one task" in their counteroffensive against Russian forces and have had a "particularly fruitful" last few days.
"At this stage of active hostilities, Ukraine's Defence Forces are fulfilling the number one task – the maximum destruction of manpower, equipment, fuel depots, military vehicles, command posts, artillery and air defence forces of the russian army," Oleksiy Danilov, the head of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, wrote on Twitter.
"The last few days have been particularly fruitful."
8:20am: ‘We need a lot more’: Lack of firepower hampers Ukraine’s advance on Zaporizhzhia front line
As Ukraine’s top army general has put it, every metre of ground in the country’s counteroffensive is being won “with blood”. The Ukrainian soldiers’ progress is particularly gruelling in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region. FRANCE 24’s Gwendoline Debono reports from the front line, where Russian forces are giving Ukraine’s artillerymen no respite.
7:42am: Russia says Ukraine attacked Moscow with drones
Russia said on Tuesday that Ukraine had launched a drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region that disrupted flights at one of the capital's main airports.
At least three drones were intercepted in the skies over the Moscow region – including two just 30 km (19 miles) southwest of the Kremlin, Russian news agencies said. One drone was detected in the neighbouring Kaluga region.
Landings and takeoffs at Moscow's Vnukovo were restricted for several hours early on Tuesday before normal operations resumed after 05:00 GMT. A number of flights were diverted on their approach to other airports.
"The Kyiv regime's attempt to attack an area where civilian infrastructure is located, including the airport, which incidentally also receives foreign flights, is yet another act of terrorism," Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova said.
6:32am: Russian air defences down two drones near Moscow, state media report
Russian air defences downed two drones in the Moscow region on Tuesday, state media reported, adding there were no casualties.
"Two drones were suppressed by means of electronic warfare" in the region of New Moscow, emergency services told the TASS news agency.
A third drone was "shot down" in the Kaluga region, around 190 kilometres (110 miles) from the capital, TASS said.
According to "preliminary reports", the three drones were heading toward Moscow, TASS said.
4:34am: Moscow diplomats meet with Russian detained in US on cybercrime charges
Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian national who is in pre-trial detention in Ohio on cybercrime charges, has met for the first time with Russian embassy employees, the Russian embassy in the US told the TASS state news agency on Tuesday.
Dunaev was a member of a cybercriminal organization that deployed a computer banking trojan and ransomware suite of malware known as "Trickbot", the Justice Department said after his 2021 extradition from South Korea to Ohio.
"The compatriot does not consider himself guilty," Nadezhda Shumova, head of the consular section at the embassy, told TASS.
"He does not intend to sign an agreement with the prosecutor's office. Will stand to the end and fight for justice," she added.
Key developments from Monday, July 3:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a major upgrade of anti-aircraft defences after Russian drones killed at least two people in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Monday.
Zelensky made a joint call for the extension of the Black Sea grain deal with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Read yesterday's liveblog to see how all the day's events unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
