
China may ask Russia to attack NATO if Taiwan is invaded, Rutte says
Fears of escalating Chinese military intervention in Taiwan have risen sharply since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Fears of escalating Chinese military intervention in Taiwan have risen sharply since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The news comes amid a major deterioration in Russian-Azerbaijani relations after a deadly June 27 operation in Russia's Yekaterinburg, where Russian security forces killed two Azerbaijani nationals.
Russian forces launched four S-300 anti-aircraft missiles and 157 Shahed drones against Ukraine overnight, according to Ukraine's Air Force.
The number includes 1,180 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
Russian air defenses on July 5 shot down four drones advancing on Moscow, prompting a temporary halt to outgoing flights at Sheremetyevo, one of the capital's main airports.
"Russia is reconstituting itself at a pace and a speed which is unparalleled in recent history," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said, adding that "...they are now producing three times as much ammunition in three months as the whole of NATO is doing in a year."
The slowdown indicates that Western sanctions, though not a knockout blow, are increasingly damaging the Russian economy.
Explosions near Russia's Vladivostok damaged a gas pipeline and destroyed a water pipeline that supplied military facilities in the area, an unnamed intelligence source told the Kyiv Independent on July 5.
The facility develops and manufactures Kometa adaptive antenna arrays used in Shahed-type drones, Iskander-K cruise missiles, and guided aerial bomb modules, according to the Ukrainian military.
Russian troops have been escalating their assaults in the area and are attempting to breach into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, which has not seen significant Russian incursions since 2022.
Russian troops are ramping up attacks in the sector using large numbers of troops, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
Some passengers reported waiting more than 10 hours, according to the pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Shot.
Moscow is organizing the deployment of a combined unit of military engineers from the Lao People's Armed Forces to Russia's Kursk Oblast, allegedly to help with demining operations, Ukraine's military intelligence said.
Russia launched 322 drones overnight, including Iranian-designed Shahed-type attack drones, according to Ukraine's Air Force.
"It just seems like he wants to go all the way and just keep killing people. It's not good," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
The number includes 1,050 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day, according to the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte presided over the handover, commending outgoing U.S. Army General Christopher G. Cavoli for his contributions to modernizing NATO's collective defense and bolstering support for Ukraine.
The airfield hosts Su-34, Su-35S, and Su-30SM jets that Russia regularly uses in air strikes against Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian military.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu hopes her pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) will retain its parliamentary majority in the September 28 elections.
"The US has to make sure that the stockpiles are at the level we need for the U.S. to have, because they are crucial for our collective defense," Rutte told reporters on July 4. "At the same time, of course, we hope for the flexibility, we have to make sure also that Ukraine can move forward."
Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, commander of the elite drone unit "Birds of Magyar," warned on July 4 that Russian Shahed drone strikes could increase to 1,000 per day, prompting Ukraine to consider relocating drone production.
The unexplained death of a top Russian oil executive on July 4 is fueling renewed scrutiny over the rising number of high-profile Russian officials and businessmen who have died under mysterious circumstances, specifically, have fallen out of windows. Andrei Badalov, vice president of Transneft, Russia's largest state-controlled pipeline transport company,
Key developments on July 4: * 'Nothing but terror and murder' — Russia pounds Kyiv with record overnight drone, missile attack, 1 dead, 26 injured * Zelensky, Trump discuss air defense, joint drone production amid Russian strikes * 'There is also good news' — Ukrainian drones hit key military optics plant in Russia, General Staff
Berlin is reportedly considering purchasing up to 2,500 GTK Boxer armored vehicles and up to 1,000 Leopard 2 battle tanks.
KYIV — Ripe cherries and apricots fill the stalls of fruit vendors, while people bustle about on a scorching July Friday. Yet just a five-minute walk from the stand, the scene shifts dramatically: a gaping hole mars the five-story residential building where the stairwell once stood. Rescuers tirelessly sift through the
China has not publicly acknowledged the incident or reported any damage to its diplomatic premises in Odesa.
"Today we discussed the situation: Russian air strikes and, more broadly, the situation on the front lines. President Trump is very well informed," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Dutch intelligence services, together with German intelligence, have found that Russia is systematically escalating the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces, the Netherlands Military Intelligence (MIVD) reported on July 4.
"Our people are home. Most of them had been in Russian captivity since 2022," President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in a statement.
While Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is reportedly advocating for the easing of energy sanctions, others in the administration disagree. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum favors reducing U.S. reliance on Russian imports rather than expanding trade, according to Politico.
The latest U.N. figures show a threefold jump in the number of deaths and injuries for children over the three months ending in May.
"I'm speaking to President Zelensky tomorrow in the morning, and I'm very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin," U.S. President Donald Trump told journalists.