Top Naija News: Nigerian News, Breaking News Nigeria and World News Top Naija News is a daily news publication in Nigeria, delivering the latest breaking news in Nigeria and around the world.
- Ukraine has so far staved off any significant Russian advance into the north of its Donetsk region, but pressure is intensifying with heavy shelling on the city of Sloviansk and nearby populated areas, the Ukrainian military says.
- The mayor of the port city of Mykolaiv asserts there are “no safe areas” left in the city and urges residents to leave.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reveals Western artillery is “finally” helping his forces “inflict very noticeable strikes” on Russian weapons’ storage depots and logistics routes.
- Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin has visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and said there would be “no hiding places” for those committing war crimes.
Here are the latest updates:
Drone from Lithuania on way to Ukraine: Defence minister
Lithuania’s defence minister has shared a photograph of the Bayraktar drone hundreds of his country’s citizens fundraised to buy from Turkey in a show of solidarity for Ukraine.
“Last hours of Bayraktar ‘Vanagas’ in Lithuania,” Arvydas Anusauskas said on Twitter. “Very soon it will be delivered to Ukraine”.
Hundreds of Lithuanians contributed to the fundraiser and the target of 5 million euros ($5.4m) for the Byraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle was raised in just three and a half days.
Ukraine has bought more than 20 Bayraktar TB2 armed drones from Turkish company Baykar in recent years and ordered another 16 on January 27. That batch was delivered in early March.
Last hours of Bayraktar “Vanagas” in Lithuania. Very soon it will be delivered to 🇺🇦! pic.twitter.com/mBXkWFzCV3
— Arvydas Anušauskas (@a_anusauskas) July 6, 2022
Australia’s FM urges China to influence Russia to end the war
Australia’s foreign minister has urged China to exert its influence on Russia to halt the war in Ukraine.
In a speech in Singapore on Wednesday night, Penny Wong said it was vital powerful countries should “exert their influence” on Putin to end the conflict.
“This includes China, as a great power, a permanent member of the (United Nations) Security Council, and with its ‘no-limits partnership’ with Russia,” Wong said. “Exerting such influence would do a great deal to build confidence in our own region.
“The region and the world is now looking at Beijing’s actions in relation to Ukraine,” she added.
I’m delighted to be back in Singapore – a place I have visited often.
I thank Prime Minister @leehsienloong for a valuable discussion today.
Australia’s relationship with Singapore is one of our closest and most comprehensive, anchored in shared strategic and economic interests. pic.twitter.com/5piEOXL0CP— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) July 6, 2022
Russia records weekly inflation for first time since May
Prices rose across the Russian economy in the week to July 1 for the first time since late May when a surging rouble and a drop in consumer demand led Russia to record weekly deflation, data published on Wednesday showed.
Russia’s consumer price index rose 0.23 percent during the seven-day period, the Rosstat state statistics service said – an increase from its flat reading a week earlier and three consecutive weeks of falling prices in late May and early June.
So far this year, prices have jumped 11.77 percent, Rosstat said, far above the central bank’s inflation target of 4 percent
Russia saw weekly inflation hit a two-decade high of 2.22 percent in early March after it sent troops into Ukraine – a move which triggered unprecedented economic sanctions from the West, putting pressure on Russian households struggling after almost a decade of stagnant or falling wages.
Biden speaks with wife of basketball star detained in Russia
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have spoken with the wife of US basketball player Brittney Griner, who is detained in Russia, the White House has said.
“The President called Cherelle (Griner) to reassure her that he is working to secure Brittney’s release as soon as possible, as well as the release of Paul Whelan and other US nationals who are wrongfully detained or held hostage in Russia and around the world,” the White House said in a statement after the call.
Read more here.
Western artillery inflicting raids on the Russian army: Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy has said that Western artillery received by Ukraine had “finally … started working very powerfully”.
“Its accuracy is exactly as needed. Our defenders inflict very noticeable strikes on depots and other spots that are important for the logistics of the occupiers,” he said in his nighttime address.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he had spoken Wednesday with his German and United States counterparts, where he noted the importance of continuing military aid was discussed.
Mykolaiv mayor urges residents to leave
The southern coast port of Mykolaiv was heavily shelled on Wednesday, its mayor has said, while air alarms were activated several times in the city on Thursday morning.
The city has already shed about half of its pre-war population of 500,000.
“There are no safe areas in Mykolaiv,” Oleksandr Senkevych told a briefing.
“I am telling the people … that they need to leave.”
‘No hiding places’ for war crime culprits: Irish PM in Kyiv visit
Ireland’s prime minister has said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a gross violation of international law and that there would be “no hiding places” for those committing war crimes.
“The use of terror against and the deliberate targeting of civilian populations are war crimes. Those responsible, those carrying out these actions, and those directing them will be held fully accountable,” Martin said during his visit to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said he discussed with Martin the preparation of the seventh package of sanctions against Russia, as well as a common response to the issues created by war.
Martin also visited several cities in the Kyiv region, such as Bucha and Borodyanka, that were affected by the Russian invasion. He said that Irish people have been enormously moved by the suffering of the people of Ukraine, adding that “every Irish town and city is a sea of yellow and blue”.
Russia pounds Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk region: Officials
Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, is being subjected to “constant” longer-range Russian shelling, its mayor has said.
“Russia is trying to demoralise Kharkiv but it won’t get anywhere,” Ihor Terekhov said on Ukrainian TV. Ukrainian defenders pushed Russian armoured forces well back from Kharkiv early in the war, and Terekhov said about 1 million residents remained there.
Zelenskyy said the National Pedagogical University in Kharkiv was destroyed by a Russian missile raid on Wednesday, “the main building, lecture halls, university museum, scientific library”.
South of Kharkiv, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk said that the region had been battered by missiles and shelling.
Sloviansk shelled for two weeks: Mayor
The city of Sloviansk has been shelled for the last two weeks, its mayor has said.
“The situation is tense,” Vadym Lyakh told a video briefing, adding that 17 residents had been killed there since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces into Ukraine on February 24.
Ukraine so far keeping Russian army back from northern Donetsk: Army
Ukraine has so far staved off any significant Russian advance into the north of its Donetsk region, but pressure is intensifying with heavy shelling on the city of Sloviansk and nearby populated areas, the Ukrainian military has said.
In its evening note on Wednesday, Ukraine’s military suggested Russian forces were intensifying pressure on Ukrainian defenders along the northern flanks of Donetsk province. It said Russian forces were bombarding several Ukrainian towns with heavy weaponry to enable ground forces to advance southward into the region and close in on Sloviansk.
“The enemy is trying to improve its tactical position … [They] advanced … before being repulsed by our soldiers and retreating with losses,” the military update said.
Other Russian forces, it said, aimed to seize two towns en route to the city of Kramatorsk, south of Sloviansk, and were also trying to take control of the main highway linking Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.
Read all updates from July 6 here.
