Russia has attacked Ukraine’s Naftogaz’s gas production facilities in the northeastern Kharkiv region for three days in a row, the state-owned energy company said this morning, as reported by Reuters.
Meanwhile, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains under pressure over his sacking of a popular defence minister, with calls to reinstate him into his position and fire the army chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Rare wartime protests against Zelenskyy’s decisions continued last night, with rumours swirling that he was close to agreeing to some of the demands.
I will keep a close eye on this today for you.
Elsewhere, I will be looking at the situation in Italy after a 42-year-old man died during a police arrest, sparking large protests in the city; but also at Greece and Spain, which face another heatwave with temperatures exceeding 40C.
I will also keep an eye on France where lawmakers are expected to approve a bill banning social media access for children under 15 later today.
Lots to cover.
It’s Tuesday, 21st July 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
A strike on a ship in the Black Sea carrying propane to the Ukrainian port of Reni wounded three seafarers and forced the crew’s evacuation, Romania’s president Nicușor Dan said.
“Last night, the LPG tanker Gas Lisbon, flying the Liberian flag, was struck outside Romanian territorial waters, approximately 20 nautical miles off the Romanian coast,” Dan said on X.
While the authorities were still working to establish who had hit the tanker, Dan claimed the incident was “most likely part of the Russian Federation’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine,” AFP reported.
The strike on the ship, which was carrying more than 3,790 tonnes of propane from the port of Alexandria in Egypt, caused a major fire on board the vessel.
After the strike, two Romanian rescue vessels evacuated the ship’s 17 crew members, including three who “required emergency medical care”, the emergency services said.
AFP noted that the Black Sea has been a regular theatre of confrontation between Ukraine and Russia since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.
Russian has launched more ballistic missiles against Ukraine in July so far than it is thought to produce each month, the Institute for the Study of War thinktank said.
“Russia appears to be dipping into its stockpiles to continue increasing the number of ballistic missiles it launches against Ukraine, as these missiles have a higher success rate than drones and cruise missiles.”
Russia has attacked Ukraine’s Naftogaz’s gas production facilities in the northeastern Kharkiv region for three days in a row, the state-owned energy company said this morning, as reported by Reuters.
Meanwhile, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains under pressure over his sacking of a popular defence minister, with calls to reinstate him into his position and fire the army chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Rare wartime protests against Zelenskyy’s decisions continued last night, with rumours swirling that he was close to agreeing to some of the demands.
I will keep a close eye on this today for you.
Elsewhere, I will be looking at the situation in Italy after a 42-year-old man died during a police arrest, sparking large protests in the city; but also at Greece and Spain, which face another heatwave with temperatures exceeding 40C.
I will also keep an eye on France where lawmakers are expected to approve a bill banning social media access for children under 15 later today.
Lots to cover.
It’s Tuesday, 21st July 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.