TOP HEADLINES

• Ukraine said its forces had recaptured 14 square kilometers (five square miles) from occupying Russian forces in the south and east of the country over the last week. "

• Russian shelling on an aid hub in the town of Orikhiv in southern Ukraine has killed four people, the regional governor Yuriy Malashko said on social media.

• Russian army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov made his first appearance since the Wagner mercenary group's short-lived mutiny in a televised clip shared by the ministry of defense. Gerasimov was one of the two main targets of a short-lived rebellion that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin launched against the conventional army last month. VIDEO ABOVE

• The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 29, five days after the group marched towards Moscow in a short-lived rebellion. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Putin invited 35 people to the meeting, including unit commanders, who told Putin they were his soldiers and would continue to fight for him. READ MORE BELOW

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed "brave" Ukraine on the 500th day of Russia's offensive, as the war's toll mounted with eight deaths reported in Russian rocket fire. READ MORE BELOW

• Russia has doubled production of its Su-34 and Su-35 fighter aircraft to meet its military needs in Ukraine, the RIA news agency reported, citing a top manager from state conglomerate Rostec.

• China warned that the "irresponsible transfer" of cluster munitions could lead to "humanitarian problems," after the United States approved the shipment of the weapons to Ukraine. Washington's decision drew "widespread attention from the international community, with many countries expressing opposition," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

• President Zelenskyy voiced hope for the "best possible result" from an upcoming NATO summit where Kyiv is hoping for a clear signal that it could one day join the alliance.

• Germany's president said the country should not "block" the U.S. from sending cluster bombs to Ukraine, while defending its opposition to the use of the controversial weapon. "Germany's position against the use of cluster munitions is as justified as ever. But we cannot, in the current situation, block the United States," said President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF. 

IN DETAIL

Kremlin: Wagner Chief Prigozhin met Putin after rebellion

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 29, five days after the group marched towards Moscow in a short-lived rebellion.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin invited 35 people to the meeting, including unit commanders, and that it lasted three hours. The Wagner commanders told Putin they were his soldiers and would continue to fight for him, Peskov said.

The brief mutiny led by Prigozhin, in which Wagner fighters took control of the southern city of Rostov, confronted Putin with the gravest challenge to his hold on power since taking over as Russia's paramount leader on the last day of 1999.

It was defused in a deal brokered by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. Putin has since thanked his army and security services for averting chaos and civil war.

Prigozhin has said the mutiny was not aimed at overthrowing the government but at "bringing to justice" the army and defense chiefs for what he called their blunders and unprofessional actions in Ukraine.

500 days: 'Another grim milestone in the war'

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed "brave" Ukraine on the 500th day of Russia's offensive, as the war's toll mounted with eight deaths reported in Russian rocket fire.

Zelenskyy published on social media an undated video clip of a visit to Snake Island in the Black Sea - a symbol of Ukraine's defiance against Russia.

"Today we are on Snake Island, which will never be conquered by the occupiers, like the whole of Ukraine, because we are the country of the brave," he said.

"I want to thank from here, from this place of victory, each of our soldiers for these 500 days," he said in the video, which showed him arriving on the island by boat and leaving flowers.

The UN has documented 9,000 civilian deaths since the start of the conflict on February 24, 2022, including 500 children, although it estimates the real toll could be significantly higher.

That toll rose again as Ukraine's interior ministry said eight people were killed and 13 injured by Russian rocket fire in the eastern town of Lyman.

Russian news agencies reported that two civilians were killed by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian-held town of Oleshky in the south.

Noel Calhoun, deputy head of the UN's Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said the 500th day of the conflict marked "another grim milestone in the war that continues to exact a horrific toll on Ukraine's civilians."

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