Sievierodonetsk "cleansed"; Exchange of dead soldiers; Zelensky: We are not giving up

Russian forces emphasize that they are finishing the "liberation of Svyatogorsk and neighboring territories" in the Donetsk region.
On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk are "dead cities".
Incident at the session of the United Nations Security Council: While the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, addressed the 15-member body and accused Moscow of inciting the global food crisis with its invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, left the meeting.

A stronger NATO presence in the Baltic countries

The presidents of Lithuania and Latvia used the visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is coming to Vilnius on Tuesday, to call for a stronger NATO military presence in the Baltic countries.
As the NATO summit in Madrid in late June decides whether to increase the number of troops on the east wing, given the changing security situation in Europe, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda and Latvian President Egils Levits called on the military alliance to deploy more soldiers in the region.
"The NATO summit in Madrid must be a summit of decisions," Nausėda told the dpa ahead of Scholz's one-day visit, adding that Lithuania hopes to reach an agreement with allies on the transition from "deterrence to defense, from battalion to brigade, from air surveillance to anti-aircraft" defense", he said.

Referendum in the Kherson region

In the Kherson region, the decision on referendum on possible entry into the Russian Federation was made.
This was announced by the deputy head of the military-civil administration of the region, Kirill Stremousov. He reminded that the Kherson region was left without legislative power,...