Kyiv launches mass drone attack as Putin’s forces in assault on east frontline

Ukraine‘s top commander said on Monday that Russian forces were staging relentless assaults to try to advance towards the town of Pokrovsk, a logistics hub in the east, and that there was active fighting taking place along the entire front line.

“The enemy pays no attention to their fairly high level of losses and continues to push through towards Pokrovsk,” Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a statement from the eastern front.

Pokrovsk is less than 15 miles from Russian-occupied land, according to open-source intelligence battlefield maps, and lies at an intersection of roads and a railway that makes it an important logistics point for the military in the east.

“Active combat operations of varying intensity are taking place along the entire front,” Mr Syrskyi said, noting that Russian forces were also trying to capture floodplain islands near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X that he respected the “tough but strong decision” by US president Biden to drop out of the campaign, and he thanked him for his help “in preventing (Russian President Vladimir) Putin from occupying our country.”

In a post, he said: “Ukraine is grateful to President Biden for his unwavering support for Ukraine’s fight for freedom, which, along with strong bipartisan support in the United States, has been and continues to be critical.

“Many strong decisions have been made in recent years and they will be remembered as bold steps taken by President Biden in response to challenging times. And we respect today’s tough but strong decision. We will always be thankful for President Biden’s leadership.

“He supported our country during the most dramatic moment in history, assisted us in preventing Putin from occupying our country, and has continued to support us throughout this terrible war.

“The current situation in Ukraine and all of Europe is no less challenging, and we sincerely hope that America’s continued strong leadership will prevent Russian evil from succeeding or making its aggression pay off.”

Ukraine’s top diplomat will visit China on Tuesday at the invitation of Beijing for talks that Kyiv said would focus on how to end Russia’s war in Ukraine and on a possible Chinese role in reaching a settlement.

Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba will discuss bilateral ties at talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a trip to China from July 23 to 25, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.

“The main topic of discussion will be the search for ways to stop Russia’s aggression and China’s possible role in achieving a stable and just peace,” the Ukrainian ministry said in a statement on its website.

The Chinese statement said Kuleba’s visit would run from July 23 to 26 and provided less detail.

The trip is unusual as China is widely seen as close to the Kremlin, with which Beijing declared a “no limits” partnership in 2022 just days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Though the world’s second largest economy has not condemned the Russian invasion and helped keep Russia’s war economy afloat, Kyiv has been cautious in its criticism of Beijing.

China meanwhile says its ties with Russia are built on the basis of non-alliance and do not target any third party.

The PM is keen to maintain Britain’s position as one of the world’s most vocal supporters of Ukraine – a role that will become even more important as backing from other powers begins to waver, writes Mary Dejevsky

The Ukrainian capital has hosted its largest music festival since the full-scale invasion as images showed festival-goers flocking to the stages.

Atlas United, Ukraine’s biggest music festival, opened its doors on Sunday. While it had none of the usual big names headline – Kasabian, The Chemical Brothers and Liam Gallagher are among past attendees – the event proved hugely popular.

It was staged near the Kyiv shopping centre to offer attendees the chance to shelter should an air raid happen.

China’s foreign ministry said on Monday Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit China from 23-26 July.

EU foreign ministers are set to evaluate Hungary prime minister Viktor Orban’s “unacceptable” position on the bloc’s role in Ukraine and his trips to Russia and China.

Hungary took over the six-month rotating presidency of the bloc in July and almost immediately went to Moscow and Beijing in what was described as a “peace mission” despite none of his EU partners being aware, or mandating him to do so.

He also left a Nato summit early to meet former US President Donald Trump, has been a stern critic of Western military aid to Ukraine and has warm diplomatic relations with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday that the decisions taken by the Hungarian government were “unacceptable”.

He added: “We will discuss what has happened and positions taken by the Hungarian government.”

Some EU member states would like the bloc to show a tougher stance on Hungary and have suggested boycotting or downgrading the attendance of ministers at an informal meeting in Budapest at the end of August.

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters on arrival in Brussels that Borrell represented EU foreign policy for the ministers and that it was “not surprising that the ego trips” had irritated many.

Speaking on Monday, Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said: “For weeks now, the Brussels foreign bureaucracy and the leaders of some EU countries have been grinding their teeth over our peace mission, out of frustration/envy/exposure of their failed strategy.

“All we get from our Brussels and European friends is a childish sit-in boycott and verbal karate.”

A Czech-led initiative to buy ammunition from around the world for Ukraine will deliver 100,000 rounds to the country in July and August, Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky said on Monday.

The Czech Republic has been an avid supporter of Ukraine against Russian aggression and led efforts to raise funds to get more ammunition and shell deliveries to Kyiv.

“During July and August we will send about a total of 100 (thousand) pieces more. From September these deliveries will accelerate,” Mr Lipavsky told reporters in Brussels.

Ukraine has launched dozens of drones in a mass strike across targets in Russia and around the Black Sea, including a major oil refinery.

It comes as the country’s top commander said that Russian forces were staging relentless assaults to try to advance towards the town of Pokrovsk, a logistics hub in eastern Ukraine, and that there was active fighting taking place along the entire frontline.

“The enemy pays no attention to their fairly high level of losses and continues to push through towards Pokrovsk,” Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a statement from the eastern front.

The oil refinery in Tuapse was damaged in an overnight assault, officials from the Kasnodar region confirmed on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X that he respected the “tough but strong decision” by US president Biden to drop out of the campaign, and he thanked him for his help “in preventing (Russian President Vladimir) Putin from occupying our country.”

In a post, he said: “Ukraine is grateful to President Biden for his unwavering support for Ukraine’s fight for freedom, which, along with strong bipartisan support in the United States, has been and continues to be critical.

“Many strong decisions have been made in recent years and they will be remembered as bold steps taken by President Biden in response to challenging times. And we respect today’s tough but strong decision. We will always be thankful for President Biden’s leadership.

“He supported our country during the most dramatic moment in history, assisted us in preventing Putin from occupying our country, and has continued to support us throughout this terrible war.

“The current situation in Ukraine and all of Europe is no less challenging, and we sincerely hope that America’s continued strong leadership will prevent Russian evil from succeeding or making its aggression pay off.”