Closing summary
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Washington on the first of the three-day Nato summit, which is expected to focus heavily on helping Kyiv fight Russian aggression in the war in Ukraine.
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the death of innocent children was painful and terrifying, a day after a lethal strike on a children’s hospital in Kyiv. “Whether it is war, conflict or a terrorist attack, any person who believes in humanity, is pained when there is loss of lives,” Modi said. “But even in that, when innocent children are killed, the heart bleeds and that pain is very terrifying.” The deadly hospital strike was likely caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile, Danielle Bell, head of mission for the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, said.
Modi arrived in Russia on Monday, shortly after Russian missiles struck across Ukraine, killing at least 41 people nationwide, including some children, officials said. The Czech foreign minister, Jan Lipavský, on Tuesday said he summoned the Russian ambassador in response to the strikes. The attack prompted the UN security council to hold an emergency meeting after Ukraine requested it to do so.
Ukrainian drones attacked a Russian oil refinery, military airfield, and electricity substation in an overnight joint operation by Kyiv’s security and military intelligence agencies, a security source told Reuters. The source said the attacks hit the Akhtubinsk airfield in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region, an oil refinery in the Volgograd region and an electricity substation in the Rostov region.
The Kremlin claimed to have captured the village of Yasnobrodivka in eastern Ukraine near the Russian-held city of Donetsk, according to its defence ministry.
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Updated
Zelenskiy arrives in Washington for Nato summit
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived in Washington for participation in the three-day Nato summit, Ukraine’s state news agency Ukrinform reported.
The Ukrainian president is expected to give a speech at the Ronald Reagan Institute later in the day. He has been urging allies to bolster Ukrainian air defence systems and is expected to renew those pleas during the summit.
Observers expect Nato members to pledge at least four additional Patriot missile batteries. Zelenskiy had previously asked Nato for seven batteries, saying that Vladimir Putin “must be brought down to earth, and our sky must become safe again … And it depends fully on your choice … [the] choice whether we are indeed allies.”
Зеленський та українська делегація прибули до Вашингтона на саміт НАТОhttps://t.co/OE6RsI85qS pic.twitter.com/9foQTYsZta
— Ukrinform (@UKRINFORM) July 9, 2024
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