► Moscow and Pyongyang sign a mutual assistance agreement
North Korea and Russia signed a “global strategic partnership”providing for mutual assistance in the event of” assault “announced Russian President Vladimir Putin, welcomed with great fanfare in Pyongyang during a state visit, where he received the fervent support of his host Kim Jong-un for his war against Ukraine.
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“The Comprehensive Partnership Treaty signed today provides, among other things, for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against any part of the treaty”Vladimir Putin told the press after signing the document. “Both Russia and Korea pursue independent foreign policies and do not accept the language of blackmail and diktat”he warned.
The Russian president called the agreement “truly revolutionary document”adding that Russia “did not itself exclude military-technical cooperation” with Pyongyang.
“We are grateful to the leaders and people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea regarding the situation in Ukraine, he also declared. Today, we fight together against the hegemonic and neocolonialist practices of the United States and its satellites.”
► North Korea helps Russia in “mass murder of Ukrainians”, according to kyiv
Ukraine has accused North Korea of providing military aid to Russia that enables “mass murder” of civilians and called for measures “more rigorous” to isolate the two countries.
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“North Korea today actively cooperates with Russia in the military sphere and deliberately provides resources for the mass murder of Ukrainians”, denounced Mykhailo Podoliak, advisor to the Ukrainian presidency. He accused Pyongyang of providing Moscow “a large number of large caliber shells” which allow him to “maintain high intensity of artillery and missile attacks”.
► Russian attacks intensify against the city of Toretsk, according to kyiv
Russian forces have intensified their attacks in the direction of the town of Toretsk, located near the front in eastern Ukraine, after a prolonged lull, officials reported.
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The eastern front is still at the heart of intense fighting with an understrength Ukrainian army, but the Toretsk area in the Donetsk region has been relatively spared in recent months.
“After a long lull, the attacker became more active in the Toretsk sector”indicated Tuesday evening the general staff of the Ukrainian army during a briefing, assuring “repel the aggressor”. Russian forces launched “five assault operations in the vicinity of New York, Pivnitchne and Pivdenne”around Toretsk, the latter said in another press release.
► Ukraine announces the signing of a security agreement with the EU
The Ukrainian presidency announced the signing ” in the near future “ of a security agreement with the European Union, the latest in a series of agreements ratified between kyiv and its Western partners.
“The negotiating teams of Ukraine and the EU finalized the text of the security agreement and agreed to sign it in the near future”the Ukrainian presidency said on its website.
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kyiv has already signed agreements with “17 countries”including EU and G7 member states, and is preparing to sign with “10 more”according to another press release from the Ukrainian presidency dated June 13.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a defense agreement last week ” unprecedented “ with the United States, calling it ” bridge “ towards NATO membership for his war-ravaged country.
► A Russian informant arrested in Ukraine
Ukrainian security services say they have arrested a Russian informant, recruited through a “dating chat”.
“It has been established that the occupiers (Russians, editor’s note) engaged in cooperation with this man through a popular meeting chat on Telegram messaging”assured the kyiv intelligence services (SBU) on social networks.
The SBU said it seized the phone the suspect used to communicate with his ” friend “ Russian and which also served him to photograph “military installations” for’“help Moscow” to prepare attacks on Kharkiv, a large northern city of the country. The suspect was apprehended, placed in custody and faces “up to 8 years in prison”according to the same source.
► Ukrainian electrical installations damaged by drones
An overnight Russian drone attack damaged electrical installations in central and western Ukraine, leading to further power outages, Ukraine’s energy ministry said.
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These strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure come as the authorities have announced more frequent restrictions to alleviate a network significantly weakened by Russian attacks. “The enemy hit an electrical installation in the center of the country, supply restrictions were put in place”explained the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy on its Telegram account.
In the Lviv region (west), equipment and power lines were also damaged during this nighttime attack, the ministry said.
► Ukraine hopes for “positive” decisions from the EU
Ukraine hopes for decisions “positive” from the European Union after the recent European elections, marked by a surge of the far right, declared Tuesday Andriï Iermak, chief of staff of President Zelensky.
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“I hope that once again, given the position of European society, that the choices and major decisions of the European Council, the Commission and the European Parliament will be positive” for Ukraine, he said during a videoconference, while his country is in difficulty on the battlefield against Russia.
