Ukraine exits Euro 2024, the law on the English language, and details from Krotevych's complaint on Sodol: June 26 highlights

Ukraine exits EURO 2024

The match Ukraine vs Belgium ended with 0-0 draw. This means that the Ukrainian national team exits Euro 2024 taking the last place in the group, as the parallel match in the group – between Romania and Slovakia – also ended with a draw. A Romanian victory would help Ukraine reach the playoffs.

The law on the use of English

President Zelenskyy signed the law on the use of the English language in Ukraine. The law establishes the status of English as a language of international communication in Ukraine.

New details of Krotevych’s complaint

Chief of staff of Azov Brigade, Bohdan Krotevych, accuses now former Ukraine's Joint Forces commander Yuriy Sodol of dooming the defense of Mariupol in 2022 and failure to supply Azov Brigade with ammo or build up the city's defense structures before the attack, says the Washington Post citing the details of Krotevych complaint.

Krotevych also said that Sodol didn't spend a single hour in Mariupol and, instead of giving instructions on the defense of the city, said, "We are screwed," and hung up. Sodol was later awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.

New NATO Secretary General

NATO selected Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the next Secretary General. He will replace Jens Stoltenberg starting on October 1, 2024.
Cyber attack on Russian providers

Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence launched a massive cyberattack on the largest Internet providers in the occupied Crimea. 

The occupation "administration" has warned local residents that Internet access may be disrupted in the near future. According to Yulia Kirik, a Russian protege who is the "Deputy Minister" of Internal Policy, Information and Communications, the profiles of DDoS attacks are constantly changing, so providers are taking measures to counteract the attacks. 

According to the source, Russian servers, online services, and network infrastructure have been attacked systematically lately. 

Slovakia and the Czech initiative

Slovakia did join the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine but did it in a special way.

According to President Peter Pellegrini, Slovakia contributes to the success of the Czech initiative with its production capacity. Thus, the country has increased production at its factories that produce or restore ammunition of the required calibers.

Pellegrini says that a significant portion of the ammunition that Ukraine will receive under the Czech initiative will be restored at Slovak plants.

Other news

• US President Joe Biden grants pardon to several thousand US military veterans who were previously convicted under a law banning LGBT relationships in the military. He called the validity of these sentences a "historical injustice."
• Hungary blocked the EU joint statement on Russia's decision to ban 81 European media outlets on its territory.
• During his visit to the Donetsk region on June 26, President Zelenskyy said he would "have a separate conversation" in Kyiv with some government officials who haven't visited the frontline communities for "six months or more."
• Danish Foreign Ministry to allocate to Ukraine €4,7 million for restoring damaged energy facilities in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions, says Ukraine's Ministry of Energy.