TOP HEADLINES

• Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces were advancing "in all directions" as part of Kyiv's counter-offensive against Russian troops, while a top U.S. general said Ukrainian forces were "advancing steadily", but stressed the operation was going to be long and "very, very bloody."

• A Russian missile attack on a village school near the frontline in Ukraine's Donetsk region killed two women, including a teacher, and injured six, according to Ukrainian police. 

• President Zelenskyy has ordered top military commanders to strengthen Ukraine's northern military sector following the arrival of Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in Belarus. Prigozhin flew from Russia into exile in Belarus earlier this week under a deal negotiated by President Lukashenko that ended his mercenaries' mutiny in Russia.

• President Vladimir Putin discussed the Ukraine conflict and last week's aborted mutiny in Russia in a telephone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "While discussing the situation in Ukraine, PM (Modi) reiterated his call for dialogue and diplomacy," New Delhi said.

• CIA Director William Burns called the head of Russia's secret service after last week's aborted mutiny in Russia to assure the Kremlin that the U.S. had no role in it, according to reports from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

• Russia's communications watchdog has blocked media outlets linked to Prigozhin, Russian newspaper Kommersant reports. While the Wagner group has not been outlawed following the abortive mutiny, its fighters have been given the option of being integrated into Russia's regular armed forces, joining their leader in exile in Belarus or returning home.

• Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the Kremlin's closest ally in the Ukraine conflict, has said he is certain that Russian tactical nuclear weapons deployed in his country would never be used.

• Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov said he saw no reason to extend the Black Sea grain deal beyond July 17 because the West had acted in such an "outrageous" way over the agreement. However, he assured poor countries that Russian grain exports would still continue.

• Russia has introduced a ban on Polish trucks transporting cargo on its territory, with some exceptions, according to the country's TASS state news agency. Russia's transport ministry reportedly said the decree excluded critical goods like medicines and medical devices.

• Belgium's prime minister said the windfall profit from Russia's frozen assets in Europe could provide 3 billion euro ($3.27 billion) a year to rebuild Ukraine. The EU says it has frozen more than 200 billion euros ($217.78 billion) of Russian central bank assets in reaction to the conflict.

IN DETAIL 

Ukraine, U.S. say counteroffensive creeps ahead

Ukraine has been cautious in boasting of its gains in a counteroffensive it launched this month to reclaim territory occupied by Russian forces, but on Friday its president and a U.S. general acknowledged that progress had been made, but it was being measured in blood.

Top U.S. military officer, Army General Mark Milley, said in Washington that the counteroffensive was "advancing steadily, deliberately working its way through very difficult minefields ... 500 meters a day, 1,000 meters a day, 2,000 meters a day, that kind of thing."

He said he was unsurprised progress was slower than some people might have predicted.

"War on paper and real war are different. In real war, real people die. Real people are on those front lines and real people are in those vehicles. Real bodies are being shredded by high explosives."

He added, "What I had said was this is going to take six, eight, 10 weeks, it's going to be very difficult. It's going to be very long, and it's going to be very, very bloody. And no one should have any illusions about any of that."

Last week, President Zelenskyy said the counteroffensive was "slower than desired". Ukraine says it has recaptured a group of villages, retaking 130 square km (50 square miles) in the south, just a small percentage of the total territory held by Russia.

But on Friday, Zelenskyy said his forces advanced "in all directions of our active operations," while Hanna Maliar, deputy defense minister, said the military assessed progress as "going according to plan," and that the counteroffensive should be evaluated by "a lot of different military tasks."

He was also quoted as saying Ukraine wanted to show results before a July 11 NATO gathering in Lithuania, at which Kyiv is hoping for an invitation to begin the process of joining the U.S.-led military alliance.

"Before the summit we have to show results," Spanish national broadcaster RTVE quoted him as telling Spanish media in Kyiv, based on a translation of his remarks. "But every kilometer costs lives."

Zelenskyy acknowledged plans for the counteroffensive had slowed in recent months. "We stopped because we could not advance," he said. "Advancing meant losing people and we had no artillery."

Spain's RTVE quoted him as saying Ukraine was "very cautious in this regard" and that he would choose to take longer if it meant losing fewer people. "Between time and human beings, people are the most important," he said,

Subscribe to Storyboard: A weekly newsletter bringing you the best of CGTN every Friday