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Morning opening: What’s subsequent for Ukraine?
Jakub Krupa
At the very least 4 folks had been killed and greater than 30 injured in one other spherical of Russian strikes on Ukraine in a single day, simply days after a sequence of telephone calls between US president Donald Trump, Russian president Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The newest assault will as soon as once more pose questions on what’s subsequent for Ukraine because the US ceasefire proposal, pursued by Trump, seems to be failing to make any additional progress.
Zelenskyy’s prime aide Andriy Yermak stated in an replace on Telegram that “one of many vital rules of defence is the destruction of the enemy’s means to provide weapons,” as he referred to as for “Russia’s military-industrial complicated … to be weakened in numerous methods: from sanctions to direct strikes.”
The western world should realise that Russia’s scaling up of weapons manufacturing solely brings us nearer to the day when it will likely be used not solely towards Ukraine.
Elsewhere, some elements of Europe nonetheless battles heatwave with temperatures near 40 Celsius in Greece, whereas others in central and jap Europe are on alert for storms and torrential rains.
In Strasbourg, the European parliament will maintain a debate forward of this Thursday’s vote of no confidence in Ursula von der Leyen’s EU fee.
We’re additionally ready for extra updates from EU-US commerce talks, and on the newest scenario on the Polish border with Germany after Poland has reintroduced controls in a single day in an try to forestall irregular migration.I’ll carry you all of the updates from Ukraine and throughout Europe right here.
It’s Monday, 7 July 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa right here, and that is Europe Dwell.
Good morning.
Key occasions
Russia claims first foothold in new Ukraine area
Again to Ukraine, Russia claimed it captured its first village in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk area after grinding in direction of the border for months, dealing a physchological blow for Kyiv as its worries mount, AFP reported.
The Russian defence ministry stated its forces captured the village of Dachne within the Dnipropetrovsk area, an vital industrial mining territory that has additionally come underneath mounting Russian air assaults.
Russian forces seem to have made crossing the border a key strategic goal over current months, and deeper advances into the area may pose logistics and financial issues for Kyiv, the company famous.
However Ukraine has up to now denied any Russian foothold in Dnipropetrovsk, and its military stated earlier on Monday that its forces “repelled” assaults in Dnipropetrovsk, together with “within the neighborhood” of Dachne.
EU requires ‘shut coordination’ between international locations affected by reintroduction of border controls
The fee additionally addressed the reintroduction of Polish border controls with Germany and Lithuania, confirming at its noon media briefing that it had obtained a proper notification from Poland on Friday.
EU spokesperson Markus Lammert confirmed that “reintroducing momentary inner border controls is feasible topic to sure circumstances, as set out in EU laws, and particularly within the Schengen borders code.”
He added the transfer requires “shut coordination at EU degree, and particularly with all member states involved,” and stated the EU was in shut contact with all events.
“It’s vital, let me add, that that neighbouring international locations with momentary border controls coordinate intently with one another to restrict the impression of those border controls to a minimal, together with as regards clean site visitors flows.”
EU’s von der Leyen spoke with US president Trump on commerce over weekend, work in direction of 9 July deadline, fee says
In the meantime over in Brussels, European Fee spokesperson Stefan de Keersmaecker confirmed that fee president Ursula von der Leyen spoke with US president Donald Trump on Sunday and they’d “an excellent change,” with out going into additional particulars.
EU’s commerce spokesperson Olof Gill provided a bit extra color, stressing “the EU has been utterly unflinching and unchanging in its place.”
We wish to attain a cope with the US. We wish to keep away from tariffs. We imagine they trigger ache. We wish to obtain win-win outcomes, not lose-lose outcomes.
He added that EU’s commerce commissioner Maroš Šefčovič made “substantial progress” throughout his conferences in Washington DC final week, and the state of talks was mentioned with member states on Friday, “as we now have performed systematically and in depth in any respect levels on this sorry saga.”
“We’ve got been persevering with political and technical degree contact with the US on substance, our goal stays to seek out an settlement earlier than 9 July at current.”
The spokesperson additionally declined to reply to feedback by US officers over the weekend.
EU border controls essential to cease Belarus, Russia-inspired irregular migration flows, Tusk says
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has simply been talking in regards to the border scenario at a joint press convention with Dutch prime minister, Dick Schoof.
He repeated Poland’s essential argument that irregular migration flows in Europe had been “organised by hostile powers, let’s name them for what they’re, primarily by the Lukashenko regime [in Belarus], but additionally supported by Putin’s administration” in Russia.
He stated that the Polish border guard’s closely militarised operation on the border with Belarus stops 98% of all makes an attempt to cross into border, however he warned “all of it gained’t make any sense if different exterior borders of the EU gained’t be as tightly guarded.”
Tusk pressured that the choice to reintroduce controls with Lithuania are supposed to catch all circumstances the place somebody fails to get into Poland from Belarus, however succeeds to undergo the Baltics as an alternative.
He additionally provided a bit extra element on the 4 Afghan residents stopped in a single day on the Polish-Lithuanian border (12:05), saying that they’d been beforehand registered as making an attempt the unlawful crossing from Belarus.
The Polish prime minister additionally repeated his thinly veiled criticism of Germany, saying the brand new controls will permit the Polish authorities to rigorously scrutinise each case of a suspected irregular migrant being turned away by the German border drive and pushed again into Poland.
“It is going to not be the case that anybody who has crossed the border illegally, and whose documentation is incomplete or unclear, will probably be despatched to Poland from anyplace – whether or not from Germany or every other nation.”
He then added:
“We’re doing this for you: for the Germans, the Dutch, the French, as a result of it’s the border of the European Union,” he insisted.
“I actually need Europe to grasp why we, supporters of Schengen, of Europe with out borders … must partially reintroduce controls on the border.”
Poland introduces border controls with Germany, Lithuania
Poland has launched border controls with Germany and Lithuania in a bid to handle rising worries about irregular migration by means of the nation, which Warsaw says is impressed by Russia and Belarus.
Asserting the transfer final week, Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk stated that the current coverage shift in Germany had positioned undue stress on Poland to simply accept people denied entry on the German border.
In remarks originally of the weekly cupboard assembly, Tusk blamed Germany for the transfer, accusing it of a coverage shift leading to “successfully refusing entry … to migrants who’re heading to Germany to use for asylum or different types of standing”.
“With no border checks on the Polish facet, it turns into tough to find out whether or not these being returned or redirected to Poland must be despatched there,” he stated.
Polish inside minister Tomasz Siemoniak defended the transfer this morning saying it was justified by what authorities see on the border.
Poland has lengthy been warning towards what it says is a Russian-Belarusian marketing campaign to destabilise the European Union by incentivising irregular migration by means of the bloc’s jap borders with Belarus.
He informed non-public broadcaster TVN24:
“We should take very clear motion in a scenario the place the German facet, on one hand, doesn’t admit … migrants and doesn’t topic them to the readmission process, and however, because of the tightening of our Polish-Belarusian border, (…) we’re seeing a big improve in unlawful migrants crossing the border into Lithuania, Latvia, after which touring to Poland.”
Siemoniak added that minutes earlier than the controls kicked in at midnight, the Polish border guard stopped an Estonian man making an attempt to smuggle 4 folks, probably Afghan residents, throughout the border with out the required paperwork.
By the top of June this yr, 412 folks have been detained on the Polish-Lithuanian border – simply wanting the overall for your entire yr of 2024, which was 432. Greater than 15,000 folks tried to cross the Polish-Belarusian border illegally, in response to official figures.
800 extra border guards, 300 cops, and over 500 members of the territorial defence forces had been despatched to implement the brand new measures.
The measure, launched after a sequence of far-right-inspired protests alongside the border, was initially launched for 30 days, however Siemoniak stated, “If Germans don’t take away their controls, we are going to proceed with ours too.”
Zelenskyy mentioned changing Ukraine ambassador to US with Trump, Bloomberg says
Again to Ukraine, Bloomberg Information (£) has simply reported that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned changing the present ambassador to the US throughout his telephone name with President Donald Trump on Friday.
Bloomberg reported that Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal is excessive on the listing of potential candidates, with another senior figures reminiscent of his deputy Olha Stefanishyna and defence minister Rustem Umerov additionally believed to be into account.
Paris reopens Seine River to public swimming after century-long ban

Kate Connolly
Parisians and vacationers flocked to take a dip in the Seine River this weekend after metropolis authorities gave the inexperienced gentle for it for use for public swimming for the primary time in additional than a century.
The opening adopted a complete clean-up programme sped up by its use as a venue in final yr’s Paris Olympics after individuals who repeatedly swam in it illegally lobbied for its transformation.
The outgoing mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, additionally helped to champion the plans, leaping within the river herself earlier than the Olympics.
About 1,000 swimmers a day will probably be allowed entry to a few bathing websites on the banks of the Seine at no cost, till the top of August.
Zakynthos hit by earthquake, with no accidents reported
The Greek island of Zakynthos was hit by a 4.1 magnitude earthquake in a single day, Kathimerini reported.
No accidents or important harm had been reported, it added.
The paper famous that “Zakynthos was all however destroyed in a 6.8 magnitude tremor in 1953.”
Contemporary scandal hits Spain’s ruling occasion as official quits over sexual harassment claims
Sam Jones
in Madrid
Pedro Sánchez’s efforts to reset Spain’s ruling socialist occasion after damaging corruption allegations that threatened to topple his coalition authorities have suffered a extreme setback over the weekend after a celebration official resigned over accusations of sexual harassment.
The prime minister had hoped this weekend’s assembly of the federal committee of his Spanish Socialist Staff’ occasion (PSOE) would assist the occasion transfer previous weeks of scandals which have undermined the moral and anti-corruption pledges on which it got here to energy seven years in the past.
However such hopes had been flattened late on Friday evening after the web newspaper elDiario revealed allegations from various feminine PSOE employees who stated they’d been subjected to sexual harassment by Francisco Salazar, who oversaw institutional coordination on the Moncloa palace, the workplace and official residence of the prime minister.
The accusations prompted Salazar to announce on Saturday that he was stepping down from that submit and from his new position as a deputy within the PSOE’s organisational secretariat.
He informed elDiario he couldn’t recall any inappropriate interactions. “I’ve racked my brains over it and it appears mind-boggling to me,” he stated. “I preserve questioning if I’ve screwed up and stated one thing inappropriate to a workmate, and the reality is, I can’t discover [an example].”
Sources at Moncloa, in Madrid, stated an investigation had been launched, however added that no official complaints had up to now been made towards Salazar.
On Saturday, Sánchez apologised once more for what he referred to as his misplaced confidence in these accused of wrongdoing, including: “I used to be improper to put my belief in individuals who didn’t deserve it, however we gained’t fall brief in a time of democratic regeneration.”
The prime minister, who’s underneath rising stress to name a snap election, stated he had no intention of stepping down.
Zelenskyy tells companions to ‘fulfill every thing we agreed on’ as he seeks extra air defence for Ukraine
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has now responded to the in a single day assaults on Ukraine, ramping up stress on the US and European allies to assist with air defence techniques.
“We very a lot anticipate that our companions will fulfil every thing we agreed on. Air defence is the primary factor for safeguarding life,” he stated.
Zelenskyy added that Ukraine was creating investments plans to extend its personal weapon manufacturing, together with “all sorts of drones,” and with “particular consideration paid to interceptor drones.”
Morning opening: What’s subsequent for Ukraine?

Jakub Krupa
At the very least 4 folks had been killed and greater than 30 injured in one other spherical of Russian strikes on Ukraine in a single day, simply days after a sequence of telephone calls between US president Donald Trump, Russian president Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The newest assault will as soon as once more pose questions on what’s subsequent for Ukraine because the US ceasefire proposal, pursued by Trump, seems to be failing to make any additional progress.
Zelenskyy’s prime aide Andriy Yermak stated in an replace on Telegram that “one of many vital rules of defence is the destruction of the enemy’s means to provide weapons,” as he referred to as for “Russia’s military-industrial complicated … to be weakened in numerous methods: from sanctions to direct strikes.”
The western world should realise that Russia’s scaling up of weapons manufacturing solely brings us nearer to the day when it will likely be used not solely towards Ukraine.
Elsewhere, some elements of Europe nonetheless battles heatwave with temperatures near 40 Celsius in Greece, whereas others in central and jap Europe are on alert for storms and torrential rains.
In Strasbourg, the European parliament will maintain a debate forward of this Thursday’s vote of no confidence in Ursula von der Leyen’s EU fee.
We’re additionally ready for extra updates from EU-US commerce talks, and on the newest scenario on the Polish border with Germany after Poland has reintroduced controls in a single day in an try to forestall irregular migration.I’ll carry you all of the updates from Ukraine and throughout Europe right here.
It’s Monday, 7 July 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa right here, and that is Europe Dwell.
Good morning.