The situation in Borodyanca more serious than in Bucha, Russia acknowledges the recent loss of troops from war

-The president of the European Commission and EU representative Josep Borrell are headed for Kiev this morning. Ursula von der Leyen shared a picture of her coming down from a Ukrainian train, writing” eagerly to Kiev”.

-Boris Johnson will meet with German Chancellor today, while they seek to discuss how to help European countries give up Russian gas after the attack in Ukraine. Johnson will host Olaf Scholz in Downing Street on Friday, with a press conference scheduled for the afternoon, the PA Media reports.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the situation in Borodyanka's city was much worse than in nearby Bucha, where the alleged killings of civilians by Russian forces received world condemnation. Ukraine's attorney general, Iryna Venedicova, added: “Borodyanka is the worst in destruction and in uncertainty about the number of victims”.

-Kremlin has admitted to having suffered significant troop losses since Russia began its invasion in Ukraine, in a rare admission of how bad war has gone. In an interview for Sky News, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov asked if the war was a humiliation for Russia given the number of missing troops. He replied: “We have considerable troop losses. And this is a great tragedy for us.”

Russian forces have now completely withdrawn from northern Ukraine towards Belarus and Russia, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence has said. At least some of these forces will be transferred to eastern Ukraine to fight in Donbas”, the report added.

-The Sumy region in northern Ukraine is now free of Russian forces, according to the city mayor. Dmytro Dyvytsky said the region is free of Russian forces, but the blasts can still be heard after rescue service workers drop the ammunition left by the Russian military.

The European Union approved an embargo on imports of Russian coal and closing the bloc's ports to Russian ships due to the war in Ukraine. The move will take effect by mid-August.

In addition to sanctions, the EU also supported a proposal to increase its funding of arms supplies to Ukraine by 500m euros, bringing it to a total of 1.5 billion euros.

Britain is preparing to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine and has demonstrated new missile systems and armoured vehicles that believe they can help Kiev in the next phase of fighting.

-The World Health Organization (OBSH) said it has confirmed more than 100 attacks on health services in Ukraine, after calling for humanitarian access to the besieged city of Marioupolis.

-The UN General Assembly voted for Russia's suspension of the UN Human Rights Council for reports of <x) serious and systematic violations and human rights abuses” by the invasions of Russian troops in Ukraine. Ninety-three countries voted in favour of the US-led motion, while 24 countries voted against and 58 seats abstained.

-The perspective of Finland and Sweden's NATO membership was part of the discussion between the foreign ministers of the military alliance in Brussels this week, a senior US State Department official said.

Russia has imposed sanctions on Australian citizens and New Zealand, including their prime ministers, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced.

Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was wounded in Ukraine during an attack that killed two of his colleagues, said Thursday he had suffered serious injuries, but felt a very fortunate “that had survived”./ P ERISCOPI/