Closing summary
And, on that note, we will be closing the blog for today.
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Ten people were killed in a Russian strike near the Ukrainian port city of Odesa on a merchant ship flying the flag of Guinea-Bissau (9:42).
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Overnight, Ukraine struck Moscow with hundreds of drones, wounding at least 10 people (9:38, 10:24).
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The attacks come as Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues behind-the-scenes talks looking at defusing a political crisis triggered by his decision to oust a popular defence minister last week (10:41, 12:32, 14:24, 15:07).
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Lithuanian defence minister Robertas Kaunas warned that Russia sees the Baltic countries and Poland as possible next targets as it looks for “a new escalation” amid stalling war in Ukraine (10:15).
In other news,
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Andy Burnham has become the new British prime minister, replacing Keir Starmer and pledging his arrival in power will be a “circuit breaker” moment for Britain and continued support for Ukraine (10:20, 12:56, 14:19).
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Hungary’s prime minister, Péter Magyar, has announced plans to ask Judit Polgár, widely considered the greatest female chess player of all time, to take on the largely ceremonial role of president (16:02).
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A fire that burnt down an entire neighbourhood in a town near the Norwegian city of Drammen was still smouldering on Monday and authorities said they expect to be fighting the fire for days to come (12:13).
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Italy condemns Russia's move to expel military attache from Moscow 'without cause'
Meanwhile, Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said that Russia had expelled an Italian military attache and one of his aides from Moscow “without cause,” AFP reported.
Tajani wrote on X that it represented a “blatant act of retaliation for Italy’s expulsion of two Russian military attachés”, whom he said had been caught spying against Rome.
Hungary opens probe into Chinese BYD carmaker's investment in country negotiated by previous government
Separately, Hungary’s government announced an investigation Monday into a large foreign investment by Chinese automaker BYD negotiated by a former foreign minister who last week resigned from parliament to take an executive position at the company, AP reported.
Péter Szijjártó’s announcement last Wednesday that he would take the job at the world’s top electric carmaker prompted accusations of a conflict of interest and criticism over his role in facilitating substantial government subsidies to the company while in office.
Prime minister Péter Magyar told lawmakers on Monday that Szijjártó, a close ally of former prime minister Viktor Orbán, had helped BYD while he was in office “with hundreds of billions (of forints) in public money, diplomatic support and state infrastructure.”
“We will examine all the decisions, negotiations and state commitments made by Péter Szijjártó that were related to the BYD Hungary investment,” Magyar said..
He added the investigation would look into all subsidies, tax breaks, permits, environmental exemptions and publicly funded investments given to large multinational firms during Orbán’s tenure, AP said.
Hungary’s Magyar picks chess prodigy for president after ousting Orbán-era loyalist
European community affairs correspondent
In other news, Hungary’s prime minister, Péter Magyar, has announced plans to ask Judit Polgár, widely considered the greatest female chess player of all time, to take on the largely ceremonial role of president.
Magyar said he would meet Polgár on Monday to discuss the matter. “Our country needs unity, peace and a president that all Hungarians can be proud of,” he wrote on social media. “Judit Polgár’s name has been synonymous with talent and perseverance for decades.”
The announcement by Magyar follows a months-long standoff between the newly elected leader and Tamás Sulyok, the president appointed during former leader Viktor Orbán’s time in power.
Since his landslide victory in April, Magyar has repeatedly called on Sulyok to step down, accusing him of being an Orbán “puppet” who had failed to stand up for the country as Orbán’s rightwing, nationalist Fidesz party was criticised for weakening democratic institutions and undermining the rule of law.
Last week Hungary’s parliament – where Magyar’s Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority – voted to back a constitutional amendment that included an immediate end to Sulyok’s term.
Russian attack on Odesa facility kills three, injures three more
Meanwhile, a Russian attack on an infrastructure facility in Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa on Monday killed at least three people and injured three others, a city official said, as reported by Reuters.
Ukraine's top military leadership denies reports suggesting army chief's sacking
in Kyiv
Ukraine’s top military leadership has denied reports that the country’s commander in chief Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi is to be sacked.
In a Facebook post published in the last few minutes it said claims “circulating in the media, particularly on social media and in certain news outlets are untrue”.
It added:
“Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi continues to carry out his duties as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lt Gen Andriy Hnatov, also continues to carry out his duties.
Dismissal from these posts takes place on the basis of a decree by the President of Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy’s presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn appeared to confirm the denial.
“Don’t expect any personnel appointments today,” he said, urging people to treat information circulated by the media with caution.
Updated
Zelenskyy congratulates UK's new prime minister Burnham on his appointment
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the latest leader to congratulate Andy Burnham on his appointment as the new British prime minister.
In a post on X, he said:
“Congratulations to Andy Burnham @andyburnham on taking office as prime minister of the United Kingdom. We wish the prime minister and the British people every success in addressing the challenges of today.
Britain has always been one of the global leaders. We are ready to work together in all possible formats. We highly appreciate the UK’s political, defense, and values-based support. The foundation of our bilateral relationship is stronger than ever, and we will continue to make each other stronger. I’m looking forward to our conversation later today. Thank you!”
Pressure on Ukraine's army chief Syrskyi grows after days of street protests
in Kyiv
Meanwhile, Ukrainian media are reporting that Ukraine’s Commander in Chief, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi is to be sacked, following five days of noisy street protests calling for his dismissal.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reportedly agreed to fire Syrskyi after controversially sacking defence minister Mykhailo Federov last week.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside Zelenskyy’s office, calling for Federov’s reinstatement and for the commander in chief’s removal.
The news has not been confirmed, but sources indicate an announcement is expected this afternoon. There is speculation Federov will be brought back into government as deputy prime minister for military industry.
Federov is widely credited with improving Ukraine’s position on the battlefield during his six months in the job. He accused Syrskyi of using Soviet era tactics and allocating resources to brigades based on their “loyalty” rather than data.
“This sort of culture needs to be eradicated, because otherwise we won’t be able to defeat an enemy whose system is plagued by the very same issues,” he said. “We have no other choice if we want to defeat Russia asymmetrically, with minimal losses.”
Updated
'No change' in Britain's support for Ukraine, new PM Burnham says as he takes office
Just picking up one more thing from the UK, the country’s new prime minister Andy Burnham has pledged to make his first calls to US president Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In a clip recorded before he was officially appointed as British leader but released after his speech in Downing Street, Burnham was asked who he would contact first and whether that would be Trump, Zelenskyy or another world leader, Reuters reported.
He replied by saying said those two would be among his first calls.
He said he would make clear to Zelenskyy that there would be “no change” in Britain’s backing for Ukraine and that he would support the Ukrainian leader “100%” as his predecessor Keir Starmer had done.
“President Zelenskyy will be left in no doubt whatsoever that Britain’s support is steadfast, it is resolute. It will be there for him, and I will be there for him personally too,” Burnham told reporters.
AliExpress fined record €550m by EU for failing to stop sale of illegal and fake goods
In other news, the Chinese online retail platform AliExpress has been fined a record €550m (£470m) by the EU over its failure to stop illegal goods including harmful clothing, cosmetics and kitchen gadgets being sold through its site.
The European Commission fine is the biggest imposed by the bloc under the Digital Services Act (DSA), legislation that came into force in 2024 to protect consumers from illegal goods, deceptive or addictive marketing techniques.
Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said:
“The spread of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, dangerous cosmetics and other illegal and harmful products is not an unavoidable cost of shopping online – it is a failure by AliExpress to comply with its obligations under the Digital Services Act.
Scale is not an excuse; risks must be identified and addressed systematically to ensure consumers can safely shop online. Today, we are holding AliExpress to this standard and request it to take action.”
Russian anti-war politician ends run for parliament, citing legal setbacks
Back to Russia and Ukraine, Boris Nadezhdin, a Russian anti-war politician who had hoped to stand in parliamentary elections later this year, has announced he is ending his role in opposition politics for now, blaming what he said were politically-motivated legal setbacks, Reuters reported.
Nadezhdin, 63, a former liberal lawmaker, has been an outspoken critic of Moscow’s war in Ukraine but – like some other opposition politicians – had tried to work within the rules of Russia’s tightly controlled political system to be able to continue to voice his views publicly.
In a statement, Nadezhdin said he had ran out of political road however, after a series of setbacks. He received a small fine on Friday for displaying “extremist symbols” and was this month designated a “foreign agent” by the justice ministry.
Both rulings disqualified him from running for the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in September elections, his statement said. He said he had also been banned from leaving Russia.
Starmer formally resigns as British prime minister, with Burnham set to be confirmed as his successor
Over in the UK, Keir Starmer has now left 10 Downing Street for the last time and resigned as the UK’s prime minister, and we are waiting for Andy Burnham to be formally named as his successor.
You can follow all of that on our UK live blog with Andrew Sparrow:
The European Commission has been asked to respond to mass protests against Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to fire a popular defence minister last week (10:41).
Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho said the issue “came up briefly” in commission president von der Leyen’s recent discussions with Zelenskyy, but declined to comment in any further detail.
“But what we can say is that we have enjoyed good cooperation with minister Fedorov at a crucial moment of the defence and defence policy, both for the EU and for Ukraine, which we fully appreciated.”
The commission also responded to public demonstrations against Fedorov’s resignation, saying that “peaceful demonstrations are a fundamental right in all democratic countries.”
Updated
EU pledges to continue close work with Ukraine on reforms, drones, energy under new PM
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen held a courtesy phone call with the new Ukrainian prime minister, Sergii Koretksyi, this morning.
In a post on X, she said:
“Very good phone call with @KoretskyiUA. We will continue cooperating closely on reforms that move Ukraine’s EU accession process forward. Our Drone Deal will harness the EU’s industrial strength to produce Ukraine’s most innovative defence equipment at speed and scale. We also discussed preparations ahead of winter and critical energy infrastructure. You can count on our full support, including in your work to improve energy sector’s governance.”
The European Commission just told reporters that they are further working on more disbursement of the EU’s €90bn loan for Ukraine.
Norway sees 'largest fire in modern times' destroy over 100 homes
Nordic correspondent
In other news, a fire that burnt down an entire neighbourhood in a town near the Norwegian city of Drammen was still smouldering on Monday and authorities said they expect to be fighting the fire for days to come.
Around 100 houses in Krokstadelva were destroyed over the weekend and around 400 people evacuated.
On Sunday, police told local newspaper Drammens Tidende that they believe the fire was caused either be accident or spontaneous combustion.
Ståle Fuglaas, operations manager for Norway’s south-east police district, said they plan to continue extinguishing the fire for 10 more days.
“This is a long-term operation in the area. That says something about the heat in the area,” Fuglaas told VG.
“There we will assist evacuees with retrieving any items that have not yet been retrieved from the fire area. A plan is being worked on between the municipality and the emergency services when it comes to returning to safe places.”
Fire services said they have preventively placed water sprinklers in the area and are patrolling with fire crews, drones and helicopters.
“But I wouldn’t say we have control, I wouldn’t use that word yet. It looks better now than before,” firefighter Erik Smidsrød told VG.
There is also a bit more from Reuters on the context – and the significance – of these continued strikes on ships:
“Both Russia and Ukraine are major grain exporters, and the renewed violence on this route has raised concerns about supply.
Ukraine, which in recent seasons accounted for about 6% of global wheat exports and about 11% of global corn exports, has lost about a third of its capacity to export grain via its Black Sea ports due to Russian missile and drone attacks, traders and analysts have said.
The Ukrainian attacks have forced Russia, the world’s top grain exporter, to limit shipping in the Sea of Azov – a route that handles about a quarter of its grain exports, sources have told Reuters.”
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha responded to the attack on a Guinea-Bissau flagged ship (9:42) last night, saying:
“Upon prime minister @KoretskyiUA’s instructions, @MFA_Ukraine is already informing the International Maritime Organization and our international partners about Russia’s latest attacks on civilian shipping, as well as the governments of the states whose citizens were killed or injured.
During president @ZelenskyyUa‘s recent visit to London, I discussed this issue with the IMO leadership and called for the deployment of an international monitoring mission to Ukraine’s ports. We expect this mission to begin its work as planned in the fall and help document every act of Russia’s maritime terror, paving the way for accountability.”
We are getting more pictures coming through on agencies showing the aftermath of the Ukrainian drone strikes near Moscow.
Zelenskyy to hold 'key talks' on defusing political crisis triggered by defence minister's sacking
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy said he would hold “key talks” today as he tries to defuse a domestic political crisis after last week’s government reshuffle exposed a deep split between the military’s old guard and young innovators over how to fight the war, Reuters reported.
Zelenskyy needs to reassure Ukrainians that sacrificing 35-year-old Mykhailo Fedorov as defence minister and keeping faith with 60-year-old Soviet-trained Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi as armed forces chief won’t derail the fight against Russia amid street protests against the decision.
Here is Luke Harding in Kyiv, explaining the background to these protests:
10 injured in Ukrainian strikes on Moscow overnight
Meanwhile, 10 people were reported injured in Ukraine’s strikes on Moscow overnight.
In a statement on Telegram, Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said that seven people, including three Chinese nationals, had been wounded in a drone attack on the town of Domodedovo, close to one of Moscow’s main airports, Reuters reported.
The mayor of Domodedovo, Yevgeniya Khrustaleva, said in a statement on Telegram that a fire had broken out at a local industrial park, and that a residential building had also been struck.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv had struck logistical facilities and an oil depot in the region of the Russian capital.
He said:
“Our long-range sanctions have produced results against logistics facilities and an oil depot. … The targets were more than 400 kilometers from our border. Two shadow fleet tankers and four cargo ships were also struck in the Black Sea.
We are responding, justly, to every Russian strike against our cities and communities. This war must be brought to an end, and that is only possible by increasing the pressure on the sole cause of this war – Russia.”
By the way, our UK politics live blog is now live with Andrew Sparrow guiding you through the day as Andy Burnham is set to take over as the British PM from Keir Starmer.
You can read it all below – but stay here for updates from across Europe.
Russia sees Baltics, Poland as 'nearest targets' as it looks for 'a new escalation,' Lithuania's defence minister warns
Russia sees the Baltic countires and Poland as their “nearest targets” as they look for “a new escalation” amid stalling war in Ukraine, Lithuania’s defence minister warned.
Speaking to public broadcaster LRT, Robertas Kaunas said:
“Since the war in Ukraine is not unfolding as Russia planned, they are unable to win, and today explosions are echoing within Russia itself, there are fuel shortages [...] Russian society is already questioning the Kremlin regime about why this is happening and where the promised victory is.
The Kremlin, [Vladimir] Putin, needs a new escalation, some kind of new win, and the Baltic region and Poland are the nearest target in this case.”
His comments come amid repeated warnings from Lithuanian, Latvian (Europe Live, 15th July), and Polish leaders about a potential escalation by Russia as it struggles to make progress in its war against Ukraine.
Updated
Russian strikes have killed 28 people in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region in July, the regional governor said on Monday, as reported by Reuters.
“If you take since the beginning of July, the Odesa region was under constant daily shelling. There were days when 13-15 air raid alerts had been announced in the region,” Oleh Kiper told Ukrainian television.
10 killed in Russian strikes on merchant ship near Ukraine's Odesa
in Kyiv
Ten people were killed in a Russian strike near the Ukrainian port city of Odesa on a merchant ship flying the flag of Guinea-Bissau. The vessel loaded with grain set off on Sunday. On board were 17 crew members – citizens of Syria and India – as well as a local Ukrainian pilot.
“The search and rescue operation lasted all night. The fire on the ship was brought under control. Eight crew members were rescued and brought ashore. Unfortunately, 10 people including the pilot, died,” the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority said.
In recent weeks Ukrainian drone forces have hit at least 118 Russian-linked vessels in the Sea of Azov, and a further 54 ships in the neighbouring Black Sea. The campaign has effectively closed down a major Russian commercial route used to export grain and other products, as well as for military purposes. Kyiv’s goal is to isolate Crimea.
Russia has bombed Odesa since the start of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale 2022 invasion. It now appears to be copying Ukrainian tactics.
Morning opening: Ukraine sends drones to Moscow after one of largest attacks on Kyiv of the war
Ukraine targeted Moscow with 400 drones overnight, wounding two people and setting buildings ablaze, Russian officials said and Reuters reported, a day after Russia carried out one of the largest ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv of the full-scale war.
Kyiv has in recent months intensified its strikes on Russian territory, describing them as retribution for more than four years of bombardments against its territory, AFP noted.
Elsewhere, I will be looking at updates from Hungary, after the country’s outgoing president and Viktor Orbán loyalist Tamás Sulyok has agreed to stand down amid pressure from the new government of Péter Magyar, and from Germany, where a resignation of a senior ruling centre-right party politician gives Friedrich Merz a chance to reshuffle his struggling government.
I will bring you all the latest from across the continent here.
Furthermore, we will obviously keep an eye the events from the UK where Andy Burnham is set to take over as the British prime minister from Keir Starmer. I will point you to our UK politics blog before the key moment of the day, so you won’t miss a thing.
It’s Monday, 20th July 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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