Ukraine

The Kremlin has threatened military intervention in eastern Ukraine. In the event of a flare-up of fighting, Russia will not stand idly by and watch a possible "human catastrophe", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax agency.

Russia will take measures to protect its citizens, he added. Peskov also said there was a concentration of Russian troops in the region because the country's security was at stake.

The war in the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region continues. Yesterday, the OSCE extended its observation mandate in Ukraine by one year. But their job on the front line is not getting any easier: the Ukrainian army reported eight enemy shellings yesterday, the breakaway "Donetsk People's Republic" two. Grenade launchers and heavy machine guns were used.

The OSCE has already registered almost 14,000 violations since the ceasefire began in summer 2020. Just last Friday, four Ukrainian soldiers were killed. "We have to answer fire," the newspaper Levy Bereg quotes Kiev parliamentarian Sergiy Rakhmanin as saying. "The snipers should work without having to wait for orders."

In an unprecedented decree, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj has banned three opposition news channels. The ban includes the revocation of broadcasting licenses, TV frequencies and the blocking of accounts for an initial period of five years, the presidential office announced Wednesday night. The shutdown of ZIK, NewsOne and 112 channels was immediate in the capital, Kiev.

The move was justified by an alleged threat to national security and dissemination of Russian propaganda. In a joint statement, the broadcasters called the ban a "reckoning with inconvenient media."

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has demanded acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller to "immediately cease" installing Trump's National Security Council staffer Michael Ellis as new NSA General Counsel.

"I ask that you immediately cease plans to improperly install Michael Ellis as the new NSA General Counsel. Additionally, with a copy of this letter to the Acting Inspector General, I am also requesting an investigation into the circumstances of the NSA General Counsel selection process. I have serious concerns about your statement that this process was free from political interference," Pelosi wrote. "Public reporting indicates that Mr. Ellis, a relatively recent law school graduate with a limited resume, was selected due to interference by the White House, and was chosen over much more qualified candidates. Moreover, Mr. Ellis has been reportedly involved in highly questionable activities that are disqualifying – including the infamous 2017 “midnight run” to launder intelligence information through Rep. Devin Nunes and with efforts to shield information about President Trump’s July 2019 call with the President of Ukraine."

Dmitriy Stuzhuk, a fitness influencer promoting healthy living, had contracted Covid-19 on a trip to Turkey. After his return to Ukraine, he had tested positive and subsequently been taken to a hospital. After eight days of treatment, he had been discharged but rushed back soon after due to heart complications.

His ex-wife has announced his death via Instagram stating that "only warm memories remain, three beautiful kids and valuable experience".

During the day thousands of Belarusians have protested peacefully. Workers all across the country have gone on general strike including hospital, metro and factory workers.

Videos have surfaced that show police convoys apparently leaving the area around the independence square in Minsk. Lukashenko has appeared on television claiming that outside forces from Poland, Netherlands, Ukraine, and Russia have infiltrated the country in order to spark protests and destabilize it. He ordered all people to stay in their homes and not go outside.

The government of Ukraine has extended the nationwide lockdown until August 31st after high levels of new infections. The lockdown has been eased in May after being imposed in early March to lessen the economic impact of the pandemic. Ukraine has reported over 60,000 total confirmed cases so far.

Following a forest fire in the restricted zone around Chernobyl, a spike of radiation has been reported by the Ukrainian state ecological inspection service. To combat the fire the government has mobilized around 100 firefighters and uses planes and a helicopter. The emergency service has said that no increase in radiation in the air has been detected, no people are in danger and that the fire was not visibly burning on Sunday morning.

In a CBS News interview, the former U.S. Ambassador to the Ukraine Bill Taylor made a statement regarding the conspiracy theory that Ukraine allegedly interfered with the U.S. elections in 2016. The conspiracy theory was heavily promoted by President Donald Trump, but following Taylor "no one [at the U.S. State Department] took it seriously".