For the second night in a row, Russia carried out a wave of kamikaze drone attacks on Kyiv and the area near the capital, the Ukrainian military announced a few hours before the meeting of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi with NATO leaders at the Vilnius summit. “The 504th day of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The enemy has launched a new air strike on the capital,” said the head of the military administration in Kyiv, Serhii Popko. On Wednesday, Zelenskyi will take part in the inaugural meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council in Vilnius, a body created to bring Kyiv and the 31-member transatlantic military alliance closer together.

Ukrainian war. Day 504. LIVETEXT:

08:10Why are Ukrainian refugees in Romania not working and when will they return home? – interview with Pablo Zapata, representative of the United Nations Office for Refugees (UNHCR) in Romania

00:49 Ukraine’s accession to NATO at the height of the war “may lead to the beginning of the third world war”

Ukraine’s accession to NATO may now mean “the beginning of the third world war”, said the ex-deputy secretary general of the alliance.

Rose Gottemueller told Sky News that US President Joe Biden “was right” to say that Kyiv was not ready to join NATO because it could mean “all-out war in Europe”.

A brief summary of recent events:

• What NATO leaders decided on the first day of the summit in Vilnius – official announcement. “The most comprehensive defense plans since the end of the Cold War”
• Ukraine’s accession to NATO may now mean “the beginning of the Third World War”, said the former deputy secretary general of the alliance. Rose Gottemueller told Sky News that US President Joe Biden “was right” to say that Kyiv was not ready to join NATO because it could mean “all-out war in Europe”.
• Ukraine’s accession will make NATO “stronger”, – Zelenskyi in Vilnius. “We are together to protect our freedom,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyi from Lukiska Square in Vilnius. He said he believed in “a NATO that does not hesitate, does not waste time and does not look back at the aggressor”, according to the BBC.
• Analysis: The North Atlantic Alliance will soon have 32 members, including all the Nordic countries from Iceland to Finland, meaning the Baltic Sea will soon become a “NATO lake”.
• According to ISW military analysts, Ukraine’s counteroffensive steps could “seriously threaten” Russia’s hold on Bakhmut.
• Reuters analysis: Turkey is once again turning to the West for economic reasons
• Testimony of an Irishman in the Ukrainian army: “On the “zero line” of the front, there is simply slaughter.” Rhys Byrne, nicknamed ‘Rambo’, is an energetic 28-year-old from Dublin. He fought in several units in Ukraine, in particular the 59th brigade of the Ukrainian army, where he operated a large-caliber machine gun.
• Ukraine announced on Tuesday the formation of a “coalition” of 11 countries to train its pilots on F-16 fighter jets, which Kyiv demands to be delivered to support its frontal counteroffensive, AFP reports.
• The Kremlin accused NATO of treating Russia as an “enemy” on Tuesday, adding that it would closely monitor any decision taken at the alliance’s summit in Vilnius today.
• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg sent a tongue-in-cheek message to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, saying the war he has launched against Ukraine has had the exact opposite effect of what was expected.
• Russian troops would be able to advance 1.5 km deep in a section of the front line near Loshman in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Russia’s defense minister said on Tuesday, AFP reported.
• After a Russian warplane capable of carrying supersonic missiles took off in Kyiv following the start of a NATO summit
• “Seven shots in the back”: Ukrainian military intelligence revealed how Russian submarine commander Stanislav Rytskyi was shot dead in Krasnodar, southern Russia.

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Tuesday’s events related to Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro