The Russian Federation is trying to increase the production of all kinds of weapons, especially drones and missiles, said the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, quoted by Ukrinform. “In general, war is actually a war of technologies. And we see that the Russians are trying to increase the production of all kinds of weapons, especially drones and missiles,” he said.

A brief summary of recent events:

• Russia struck the city of Odesa again, killing at least one person and wounding 19 others, including four children, Ukrainian officials said.

• According to officials, the bombing damaged the historic cathedral and other cultural objects. Kyiv has promised to respond, but its army’s anti-aircraft defenses are barely repelling repeated attacks on Odesa.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin, during negotiations with his close associate Belarusian leader Oleksandr Lukashenko, said that Ukraine’s counteroffensive “failed.” “There is no counteroffensive,” Lukashenko said, according to Russian news agencies. To which Putin replied: “Yes, but it didn’t work.” Last month, Ukraine launched its long-awaited counteroffensive, but so far it has made only modest progress.

• Criminals, volunteers and arms dealers from Ukraine last year stole some of the weapons and equipment provided by the West and intended for Ukrainian forces, but they were eventually recovered, according to a report by the inspector general of the Ministry of Defense obtained by CNN, writes News.ro.

• US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Ukraine has regained about 50% of the territory that Russia seized since the start of the war last year, although Kyiv’s counteroffensive will take months.

• The spokesman of the Patriarchate, Vasile Benescu, reacted to the damage to the Orthodox Cathedral in Odesa as a result of shelling by Russian troops on the night from Saturday to Sunday.

• Naymanets, who took part in Yevgeny Prigozhin’s one-day uprising against the Russian military leadership a month ago, says that he and his comrades “had no idea” about the plan of the leader of the paramilitary group, which gave the order to occupy the city of Rostov-on-Don and march on Moscow, the BBC writes.

• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv and Warsaw “will always remain united” after Vladimir Putin and Oleksandr Lukashenko accused Poland of territorial ambitions. “Putin’s attempts to drive a wedge between Kyiv and Warsaw are as futile as the failed invasion of Ukraine,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Unlike Russia, Poland and Ukraine have learned lessons from history and will always stand together against Russian imperialism and disrespect for international law.”

• The meeting of the new Ukraine-NATO Council, which will consider security issues in the Black Sea, is scheduled for Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sunday.

Highlights of the war in Ukraine, day 516, LIVETEXT:

06:44Training of Ukrainian pilots to fly US F-16 fighter jets will begin in August and last at least six months, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.

06:30The Russian Federation is trying to increase the production of all kinds of weapons, especially drones and missiles, said the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, quoted by Ukrinform. “In general, war is actually a war of technologies. And from the point of view of their improvement, we see that the Russians are trying to increase the production of all kinds of weapons, especially drones and missiles,” he said.

06:20In the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian border guards destroyed an enemy kamikaze drone filled with explosives. “A kamikaze drone filled with explosives was unable to reach the border positions in the Kharkiv region. Military personnel of the State Border Service of Ukraine, opening fire with small arms, shot it down,” the State Security Service of Ukraine said in a Telegram message. .

10:45 in the evening Criminals, volunteers and arms dealers from Ukraine last year stole some of the weapons and equipment provided by the West and intended for Ukrainian forces, but they were eventually recovered, according to a report by the inspector general of the Ministry of Defense obtained by CNN, writes News.ro.

20:42The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, assured on Sunday that Kyiv and Warsaw “will always be united”, after the statements of Vladimir Putin and Oleksandr Lukashenko, in which they accused Poland of wanting, according to them, to return territories from the west of Ukraine, reports AFP.

19:26The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine published a photo of the destruction caused by the Russians, who bombed the Palace of Culture in Chesovoy Yar, Donetsk region, which was used as a center for humanitarian and medical aid.