Overview

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named Brigadier General Hennadij Schapowalow—formerly a NATO liaison officer in Wiesbaden—to head Ukraine’s ground troops
• Mychajlo Drapatyj requested relief after taking responsibility for the deaths of 12 soldiers in a Russian missile attack on a Dnipropetrowsk training ground
• Under a humanitarian deal from early June talks in Istanbul, Russia returned over 6,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers in exchange for more than 50 of its own fallen troops
• Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reports that Russia has intentionally mixed Russian and Ukrainian remains to obstruct identification efforts
• Schapowalow’s appointment comes as Russian forces press advances on multiple fronts and international concerns rise over potential alliances with Iran and North Korea