The European Union has begun negotiations on the accession of Albania and North Macedonia to the EU. The procedure itself includes such stages as filing an application, obtaining candidate status, negotiations, ratification and integration. These countries received candidate status in 2014 and 2005, respectively. Ukraine passed the first two stages much faster. The European Union does not hide that such a swift granting of the status of a candidate is more a gesture of support for a country that is resisting Russian aggression. Ukraine now faces a host of political, legal, and economic reforms that could take years. So far, EU accession has been hampered by corruption, problems with the rule of law, governance, democracy and the ongoing military crisis. However, giving this state the status of a candidate already allows it to count on loans, grants in the field of science and culture, and support for the economy.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov admitted that the “geographical tasks” of the “special operation” have changed

The Simonovsky Court of Moscow fined the founder of The New Times magazine New Times LLC and editor-in-chief Yevgenia Albats 670 thousand rubles for publications about the war in Ukraine

Russian Ambassador to North Korea Oleksandr Matsegora, in an interview with Izvestiya, said that North Korean workers could be recruited to rebuild Ukrainian cities destroyed by the Russian army (although, according to him, “Ukronazis” are to blame for the destruction)

Norway and Canada launched a campaign to raise funds for the purchase of Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones for Ukraine

Aleksey Kutsurubenko, head of the investigative department of the “DPR” Prosecutor General’s Office, confirmed that a large number of civilians initially hid in the Mariupol Drama Theater, which killed about 600 people as a result of the strike.

In Ukraine, the property of a Russian restaurateur worth 400 million hryvnias ($13.55 million) was arrested, the Economic Security Bureau (BEB) of Ukraine reported

On July 18, the Foreign Ministers of the European Union (EU) countries agreed on a new package of sanctions against Russia: it includes 48 individuals, including one of the Deputy Prime Ministers of the Russian government and several regional leaders

The European Union (EU) will allocate another €500 million for military assistance to Ukraine

The scenario for the dismissal of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Irina Venediktova and the head of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov was with President Volodymyr Zelensky even before February 24