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On the night of June 30, explosions were heard in the temporarily occupied Crimea – the occupiers' air defense allegedly worked on drones in the Kerch area, so traffic on the Crimean Bridge was blocked.

Explosions in Crimea today: what is known

As Krymskiy Veter reported, citing eyewitnesses and videos from social networks, on the night of June 30, Russian air defense repelled an attack by unknown drones.

Because of this, traffic on the Crimean Bridge was blocked for about an hour and its lighting was turned off.

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Local publics also write that the occupiers have raised military helicopters into the air from the Kacha airfield.

At this time, there is no official confirmation of any drones being shot down or the consequences of the attack.

The full-scale war in Ukraine has been going on for 1,223 days.

The interactive map of military operations in Ukraine and the map of air raids in Ukraine allow you to monitor the situation in cities.

Explosions in the Kharkiv region thundered at night, June 30. Russian military attacked the villages of Pesochin, Kurotnoye and the city of Dergachi using drones. As a result, people were injured.

The head of the OVA, Oleg Sinegubov, spoke about the consequences of the explosions in the Kharkiv region tonight.

Explosions in Kharkiv region today, June 30

The first explosions in the Kharkiv region were heard around 1 a.m. As a result of the enemy drone attack, damage to buildings was recorded.

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Thus, in the village of Pesochin in the Kharkiv district, a service station building was damaged as a result of a drone strike. A fire broke out at the site.

As Sinegubov reported, four people were injured as a result of explosions in the Kharkiv region, namely in the village of Pesochin. They are receiving medical assistance.

— The village of Kurotnoye, Chuguevsky district. As a result of the shelling, a civilian building was damaged. A fire broke out, — the head of the regional state administration reported.

In the city of Dergachi in the Kharkiv region, a drone was also recorded hitting a building, which led to a fire.

The full-scale war in Ukraine has been going on for 1,223 days.

The interactive map of military operations in Ukraine and the map of air raids in Ukraine allow you to monitor the situation in cities.

Over the past 24 hours, 104 military clashes occurred on the front.

These data were released on June 30 by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

For more information on where the fighting is taking place in Ukraine and what the current situation is, see the combat maps.

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Maps of military operations in Ukraine as of June 30, 2025

Photo: ISW

Photo: ISW

Photo: ISW

Photo: ISW

Photo: ISW

Photo: ISW

Photo: ISW

Photo: ISW

Photo: ISW

The full-scale war in Ukraine has been going on for 1,223 days.

The interactive map of military operations in Ukraine and the map of air raids in Ukraine allow you to monitor the situation in cities.

Ukrainian athlete Yaroslava Mahuchikh took first place in the women's high jump competition at the 2025 European Team Championships. This victory brought Ukraine 16 important points in the overall standings.

Maguchikh wins 2025 European Team Championship

The athlete from Dnepr successfully cleared the height of 2.0 m on her first attempt. Maguchikh's attempts to jump 2.03 m to set the best result of the season in the world were unsuccessful.

The second place in this discipline was taken by the Belarusian jumper, who now represents Poland, Maria Zhodzik. The bronze medal was won by the German athlete Imke Onnen.

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How the competitions at the European Team Championships took place

Yaroslava Mahuchikh began her performance with jumps from a height of 1.91 meters, missing the first four bars (1.75 m, 1.80 m, 1.84 m and 1.88 m), and successfully cleared it on the first attempt.

There were eight participants left on the 1.91 meter bar. The Ukrainian confidently cleared the height of 1.94 m, again on her first attempt, thus guaranteeing herself a place in the top three along with the Polish Maria Jodzik and the German Imke Onnen.

Maguchikh conquered the height of 1.97 m on her third attempt, as did Zhodzik. Yaroslava cleared the 2.00 m bar on her first attempt, securing her victory ahead of schedule, since Zhodzik was unable to clear this height in two attempts.

The Ukrainian athlete decided to try to improve her result at a height of 2.03 m and set a season's world record, but she failed to clear this height in three attempts.

Let us recall that the European Team Championship is taking place in Madrid and ends on Sunday, June 29. The tournament began on Thursday, June 26.

The Ukrainian national team currently occupies 14th place and continues to fight for the right to remain in the first division. The gap from the 13th position, which is occupied by Hungary, is 12.5 points. It is the 13th place that allows them to remain in the elite division.

K-2 Battalion fighters together with the 118th Territorial Defense Brigade in the Seversky direction captured two men who turned out to be Cameroonian citizens. The foreigners said that the Russians tricked them into signing a contract with the Russian army

The 20th separate regiment of unmanned systems reported this on Facebook.

How Cameroonians ended up in the Russian army

One of the detainees, named Metugen Una-na Jean Pafa, arrived in Moscow for the purpose of employment – he planned to work at a company that produces shampoo.

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Another Cameroonian, Anatole Frank, came to the Russian capital to undergo dental treatment.

However, according to the testimony of the Cameroonians, immediately after arriving at the airport they were detained by the Russian Migration Service.

After the inspection, they were taken to an unknown location, where they were forced under pressure to sign a military contract.

For participation in the military actions, they promised a monetary reward of 1 million 100 thousand rubles. This amount is significantly less than what Russia offers its citizens for participation in the war against Ukraine.

Wounded and captured

During Metugen Una's first combat mission, Jean Pafa came under intense fire. He survived and walked independently for six days until he met a Ukrainian soldier to whom he surrendered.

Anatoly Frank was sent to storm the building at night, as a result of which he ended up in the hands of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

In the video, one of the Ukrainian soldiers shared details of the incident. He noted that during the attempt to evacuate Franco, a Russian drone attacked him and two Ukrainian soldiers. As a result of the attack, all three were injured.

Another fighter reported that a Yemeni citizen was also captured in the Northern direction. The Cameroonians said that citizens of Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and China were among the Russian mercenaries.

Metugen Una-na Jean Pafa said that he arrived in Moscow in March, Anatole Frank – in August 2024. Frank also emphasized that he had a return ticket.

Screenshot : 20th separate regiment of unmanned systems

The Kremlin's plans to attack one of the NATO countries are increasingly being discussed in high offices and among experts. And the leaders of the military bloc countries in a joint communiqué acknowledged Russia as a long-term threat.

Therefore, those who do not believe that the boot of a Russian soldier will finally set foot on the territory of a European NATO member are becoming fewer and fewer. But who and how exactly could start a new wave of Russian aggression — read on further.

Which countries are most at risk from Russia?

The Estonian army is training at a rapid pace: in the last few years, the country has begun to pay much more attention to its own defense. But even by European standards, the Estonian army is one of the smallest on the continent. And this is despite the fact that its neighbor is Russia.

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If we talk about Moldova and Romania, the unrecognized pro-Russian Transnistrian Republic could become a springboard for aggression. The ground operation will be supported by combat aircraft from Crimean airfields and the remnants of the Russian Black Sea Fleet from Novorossiysk.

But another direction is considered more threatening – from the Belarusian border. Along the so-called Suwalki corridor.

This is the shortest route between Belarus and the Kaliningrad region. The distance is only 65 kilometers. Moreover, the offensive can occur simultaneously – from the south and north. As a result, Russian troops can separate three countries from Europe at once: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia!

After all, the new NATO members, the Finns, are already receiving their share of threats. True, Finland is already a tough nut to crack, and they have experience in how to fight back against the Kremlin.

Already now, there are clear preparations for a possible attack: the signs are the same as before a full-scale invasion.

Until recently, it was believed that an attack on any country in the military bloc would automatically oblige the Pentagon to intervene. However, the policy of US President Donald Trump has changed the situation in the military bloc and now no one can be completely sure that Washington will act.

NATO still has no new plan. Meanwhile, Russia will conduct the Zapad-2025 exercises. 17 years ago, just after Kavkaz-2008, Russia occupied part of Georgia, and Zapad-2021 became a harbinger of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

And one more reminder: 8 years ago Russia already practiced an attack on NATO. With a clear understanding of who it would strike first.

— In the West in 2017, they practiced fighting Vaishnoria, that mythical state that lies on the territory of the Baltic States. The probability that the exercises would turn into direct combat was there, but it was not that high, — says Pavel Lakiychuk, head of security programs at the Center for Global Studies Strategy XXI.

If Zapad-2025 turns into a new invasion, then most likely it is the Suwalki Gap that will be under threat. The exercises themselves will take place in Belarus, but some of the maneuvers will be in the Leningrad Region. That is, next to Estonia.

Overall, NATO forces are superior to the Russian Federation:

• 4 million military personnel against 1 million 500 thousand;
• 4,500 tanks in NATO versus 3,000 that Moscow has;
• 7 thousand Western aircraft against 4 thousand Russian;
• 1,500 helicopters in NATO and about 500 in Russia.

But, as the Russian-Ukrainian war has shown, Moscow will be assisted by its allies in the axis of evil. The main one is China. Therefore, the proportions in technology may be somewhat different.

Meanwhile, for Western democracies, the main question remains: will that same Article 5 of NATO on collective assistance to the victim of aggression work? Not on paper, but in real life.

— If not, Russia will receive an argument: let's go from Suwalki. They will go into the Suwalki corridor, unite Kaliningrad with Belarus, divide Lithuania, Poland in such a way, demonstrating that Russia is now dictating what happens. Then, of course, there may be provocations in Transnistria, — says Mikhail Samus, an expert at the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies.

Western analysts have already calculated that NATO countries will not be without difficulties in the conflict with Russia, but they will emerge victorious. True, Putin can turn defeat into victory.

— As a result, what will we get: NATO is destroyed. But another group of countries is formed that will fight. For Russia, this is an ideal option. That is, they destroyed NATO, they divided, they established these conflict zones within NATO, which will only get worse, — says Samus.

But will Putin be able to conduct two military campaigns simultaneously? After all, providing strike forces and logistics on both the Ukrainian and NATO fronts is clearly not a “Kyiv in three days” task.

This is precisely why, in fact, European countries and Great Britain are very willing to try to hide behind Ukraine and finance Ukrainian defense needs, but unfortunately, they finance it in the same, well, not completely, I would say, qualitatively, says the head of the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, Valentin Badrak.

However, be that as it may, the latest NATO summit gives reason to hope for closer military cooperation.

The United States and other G7 countries have reached an agreement that will exempt American companies from paying the global minimum tax for corporations.

The agreement aims to increase the stability of the international tax system while recognizing existing U.S. tax laws, according to a statement from the Canadian Ministry of Finance, which currently holds the G7 presidency.

US companies will not pay global corporate tax

In response, Washington is expected to abandon the “tax vengeance” envisaged in US President Donald Trump’s “great, beautiful” bill to cut taxes and increase government spending.

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Article 899 of this document allowed taxes to be raised (+5 percentage points per year for four years) for individuals and companies from countries that pursue “discriminatory” tax policies.

One such policy could well be a minimum tax for large corporations, which is being actively promoted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which includes 38 countries, including most members of the European Union.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, according to Axios, has already asked Congress to exclude the “tax retaliation” clause from Trump’s bill, which passed a procedural vote in the US Senate on June 28.

“After several months of productive dialogue (…) we will announce an agreement among the G7 countries that protects American interests,” Bessent wrote on June 26 on the X network.

The New York Times newspaper cited an estimate that over 10 years, “tax vengeance” could bring the US budget more than $100 billion (that is, more than €85 billion).

German Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil said the agreement reached between Washington and other G7 countries would “continue the fight against tax havens, tax evasion and tax dumping.”

What is known about the global tax for corporations

On July 2, 2021, the OECD announced that 130 countries representing 90% of the global economy had agreed to introduce a global minimum tax for large corporations with a rate of “at least 15%.”

The aim of the innovation was to put an end to the situation where IT giants such as Apple, Google, Amazon or Facebook paid taxes only at their place of registration, and not in other countries where they received income.

This led to many companies registering their headquarters in jurisdictions with lower tax rates.

Later, the finance ministers of the Group of 20 (G20), including the United States, agreed on this tax reform at their meeting in Venice. The final declaration of the meeting stated that they wanted to create “a more stable and fair international tax architecture.”

At that time, the future German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was then serving as the FRG's Minister of Finance, called this decision “historic”.

“The importance of this moment could be judged by the fact that at the end of the debate (…) there was applause,” he told journalists.

Slovakian Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said that in order to resolve the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, it is important to establish dialogue with Moscow.

He stated this on air on the Slovak broadcaster STVR, TASR reports.

Slovakian Foreign Minister Calls for Dialogue with Russia

According to Blanar, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has no military solution. He believes that the path to its resolution lies exclusively in “diplomatic means and respect for international law.”

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“We will return to compliance with international law and will seek ways of communication with the Russian Federation,” said the head of Slovak diplomacy.

The head of the Slovak Foreign Ministry also noted that Western countries need to find a way to establish cooperation with Russia.

“And maybe even forgive everything that happened,” Blanar added.

Slovakian government officials are among the few in Europe to continue to maintain ties with Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

Since coming to power in 2023, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has visited Moscow twice and held meetings with Russian dictator Putin.

Fico recently commented on the possibility of a meeting between him and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying the meeting would be pointless because Zelensky “hates” him.

All cultural events with the participation of Russian state and private structures have been cancelled by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan.

About this The state news agency AZERTAC reports.

The decision was a response to the recent detentions of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg, which resulted in the deaths of two people.

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Azerbaijan cancels all events with Russians

The cancelled events include concerts, festivals, performances, exhibitions and more. The ministry said it made the decision due to “targeted and extrajudicial killings and acts of violence” against ethnic Azerbaijanis, “demonstratively committed by Russian law enforcement officers.”

Let us recall that on the morning of June 27, Russian security forces conducted a special operation in more than ten places of residence of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg and the region, during which they detained members of the Safarov family, who are accused of contract killings in the early 2000s.

Three people were detained in this case – Ayaz, Mazahir and Akif Safarov – who were taken into custody for 22 days. In addition, the court also chose a preventive measure for another suspect – Shahin Mamedali oglu Lalayev.

During the operation, two brothers died and several others were taken to hospital. In total, nine people were detained.

This caused great indignation on the part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.