Russia’s Ukraine War: Kiev Blows Out Plane and Missile Attack by Putin Forces

The European Union signed a security agreement with Ukraine in Brussels.

The pact, confirmed today, is meant to complement similar agreements between Ukraine and its allies as it continues to defend itself against Russian aggression.

The agreement strengthens the EU’s commitment to help Ukraine in nine areas of security and defense policy – including arms supplies, military training, defense industry cooperation and demining.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Warsaw on July 9 before the NATO summit in Washington.

“We have agreed with President Zelenskiy to talk before the NATO summit in Warsaw,” Tusk said in a post on social media platform X.

Ukraine’s president has called on EU leaders to keep promises and deliver military equipment to his war-torn country, days after the bloc opened membership talks with his government.

“We need to work on the next steps,” Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters in Brussels as he arrived to attend a summit of EU leaders.

He said he and the leaders will discuss “urgent matters – this is air defense”.

Mr. Zelensky thanked countries that had pledged equipment, weapons and ammunition, but stressed that “we urgently need them on the battlefield.”

Analysts say Russian forces are trying to use their superiority in troop numbers and weaponry before Ukraine’s armed forces are boosted by promised Western military aid, some of which flows to the front lines.

The European Union began membership talks with Ukraine on Tuesday, a decade after Russian troops seized the Crimean peninsula to stop the country from drawing closer to the West.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Brussels today, where he plans to sign three security agreements, including one with the European Union.

“For the first time, this agreement will uphold the commitment of all 27 member states to provide broad support to Ukraine, regardless of internal institutional changes,” he said on X.

Russia says it has carried out missile strikes on Ukrainian airfields it believes are designated to host Western warplanes, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

Russia used long-range naval-based precision weapons, the Kinzhal hypersonic missile, and drones in the attack.

All the intended targets were hit, the ministry added, without naming the list of targets.

The Kremlin has said Russia is considering a possible cut in diplomatic relations with the West due to the deepening involvement of the United States and its allies in the Ukraine war, although no decision has yet been made.

“The question of reducing the level of diplomatic relations is standard practice for states facing unfriendly or hostile manifestations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the possibility of such a move.

Due to the increasing involvement of the West in the Ukrainian conflict, the Russian Federation cannot consider different options to respond to such a hostile intervention of the West in the Ukrainian crisis.

Mr. Peskov said that no decision had yet been made on the issue and that Russia was considering various ways to respond to the West.

At least two people have been killed and one is missing after a passenger train derailed in northern Russia, the state railway company said.

A 14-car train derailed in the northern Russian republic of Komi on Wednesday night, sending nine cars off the tracks, Russian Railways said.

Up to 50 people were injured, the Russian news agency “Interfax” reported, citing representatives of the emergency services.

The train, carrying 232 passengers, was headed to the southern city of Novorossiysk from Vorkuta, a coal-mining town north of Komi, Russian Railways said.

Authorities said heavy rainfall that washed away parts of the track was the likely cause of the derailment.

The Russian Navy’s Varyag missile cruiser has conducted exercises in the Mediterranean Sea, state news agency TASS reported on Thursday, citing the Navy’s command.

The drills focused on repelling a mass attack by naval aircraft, the naval command said.

It also included simulated encounters with enemy ships and submarines.

Earlier this month, a Russian naval frigate conducted exercises in the Atlantic Ocean to search for submarines en route to Cuba.