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Lukashenko regime designates exiled Belarusian opposition body as 'terrorist organization'
Dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s regime often labels organizations that oppose its policies as terrorists or extremists in order to ban their activities.
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Zelensky arrives at Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome
This conference marks the fourth major international event focused on mobilizing political and private-sector support for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
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SBU officer shot dead in Kyiv, investigation underway
A Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officer was murdered on July 10 in the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv, the SBU’s press service told the Kyiv Independent after a reported shooting in the district.
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EU suspends Ukrainian language interpreter for suspected espionage on Zelensky for Russia, Le Monde reports
The European Commission’s interpreter was present during a closed-door meeting between European Union leaders and Volodymyr Zelensky on Dec. 19, 2024.
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Pro-Ukraine partisans sabotage railways in Russia's Volgograd, occupied Crimea, group claims
The Atesh movement regularly commits sabotage attacks on Russian territory and in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
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12 killed, 52 injured in Russian attacks against Ukraine over past day
Moscow’s forces launched yet another mass aerial attack, deploying 18 ballistic and other missiles and about 400 drones, including 200 Shahed-type kamikaze models, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
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Ukraine needs new Marshall Plan, Trump's envoy Kellogg says ahead of Recovery Conference
International partners must help Ukraine rebuild by introducing their own Marshall Plan, U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg said.
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MASSIVE attack on Kyiv: consequences of the strikes on the Ukrainian capital #shorts
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US reportedly resumes some arms deliveries to Ukraine after pause
The full content of the resumed shipments is not immediately clear, though officials told the U.S. media they include 155 mm artillery rounds and GMLRS guided rocket munitions.
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General Staff: Russia has lost 1,030,580 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022
The number includes 920 casualties that Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
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Estonia may veto EU's 18th sanctions package if Russian oil price cap not lowered, foreign minister says
Estonia may veto the European Union’s 18th sanctions package against Moscow if the Russian oil price cap is not lowered, Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhna said.
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Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces behind every 3rd Russian target hit in June, commander in chief says
The Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) were responsible for every third Russian target hit in June, Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
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Fact Check: 2023 Video Could NOT Show A Celebration Of Release Of Israeli Soldiers Detained In 2024 Detention Center Rape Case -- Video Shows An Unrelated Party
Does a viral video show Israeli soldiers celebrating the 2024 release of comrades who had been detained in connection with charges that nine soldiers had raped a Palestinian at a desert prison camp? No, that's not true: The video was first posted to X on November 10, 2023 and depicts a rowdy party unrelated to the Sde Teiman camp rape case. The prisoner center was set up after Israel's Knesset in December of 2023 passed the "Unlawful Combatants" law exempting some Palestinian detainees from prisoner of war protection. Arrests in the Sde Teiman rape case were made in July of 2024, eight months after the party video had been posted online.
The claims about the party video were made in a July 7, 2025 X.com post (archived here) by the @Partisan_12 account. The post opened: "Do you know what this celebration was for?" It continued:
1$rael released 9 soldiers who RAP€D PAIESTlNlAN hostages in detention centre... This is what western media hides from you!
This is what the post looked like on Twitter at the time this fact check was written:
(Source: Screenshot made by Lead Stories of @Partisan_12 post on X.com)
The video does show Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers partying. But the event was a wartime morale-booster featuring Avihu Pinhasov, a former Israeli Eurovision contestant. Posted to X on November 10, 2023, the video was central to disciplinary actions taken against soldiers who attended the rager on an IDF base, as reported by The Jewish Chronicle (archived here) on November 17, 2023. Below is an embed of the original post:
כמה שאני אוהב אותם שמחים
-- אורן חסקי 🇮🇱haski oren (@haski_oren) November 10, 2023
אביהו פנחסוב קורע מצחוק. pic.twitter.com/ZTZ2PAZbdLHere's how the video, seen millions of times, of the IDF base party featured in news coverage of the disciplinary case:
(Source: Screenshot made by Lead Stories of thejc.com web page.)
The Sde Teiman detention camp rape case has been widely covered by the press in Israel and in the U.S., including CNN (archived here) and The Washington Post (archived here). The detention center was set up at a desert Army post after Israel's Knesset adopted, on December 18, 2023, the "Unlawful Combatants Law" which exempted certain Palestinian combatants from protections granted by law to prisoners of war. The law was one of several measures adopted after the attack by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.
Some soldiers arrested on suspicion of raping and abusing a Palestinian held at Sde Teiman have indeed been released, but those releases were reported in August 2024, long after the rowdy party video was posted to X.
Lead Stories' search of Google News and Yahoo! News' indexes of news stories did not yield reports of the final disposition of the case, but The Times of Israel reported (archived here) five of the arrested soldiers were on house arrest.
Readers interested in more Lead Stories fact checks about the IDF will find them collected here.
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Russia targets Kyiv, western Ukraine with mass attack second night in a row
Fires blazed at residential buildings in Kyiv during a mass drone attack on July 10. The assault comes a day after Russia launched its largest-ever drone and missile strike against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war.
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US Congress ready to move forward on Russia sanctions bill, but Trump wants changes, Politico reports
“Senate Republicans are committed to working with the House and White House to get this legislation through Congress and on to the president’s desk,” Majority Leader John Thune said.
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Estonia vows to veto EU's 18th sanctions package on Russia without stricter oil price cap
Estonia has issued a stark warning to veto the European Union's proposed 18th sanctions package against Russia unless it includes a tougher cap on Russian oil prices, according to ERR. Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna announced the country's firm stance, emphasizing that the reduction of the oil price cap should be key in the forthcoming sanctions.
"We hold a very clear position that the reduction of the oil price cap must be incorporated into this package. We have a strong stance on this matter," Tsahkna stated. He explained that the European Commission initially proposed lowering the current cap from $60 a barrel to $45. Still, Mediterranean countries with significant shipping industries, notably Malta, oppose this provision. As a result, Estonia is prepared to veto the adoption of the 18th package without this critical price cap adjustment.
Tsahkna also expressed hope for backing from major EU countries, reminding that the $60 cap has been enforced for two years without decrease due to Western resistance. Now, however, there appear to be signs of a renewed will from G7 nations to implement a stricter cap on Russian oil. Additionally, recent signals from the U.S. suggest an inclination towards increasing pressure on Russia with fresh restrictions.
The EU continues to ban member-state vessels from transporting Russian oil sold above the ceiling. Insurance companies and other service providers are similarly prohibited from supporting such transactions. Despite this, Russia has been selling oil above the cap to other global markets, leveraging its 'shadow fleet' of tankers.
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Russia plans to establish domestic lithium-ion battery production after capturing one of the largest Ukrainian lithium deposits
Russian state corporation Rosatom has announced its intention to fully localize the production of lithium-ion batteries within Russia by the year 2030. This ambitious announcement followed Russia's capture of the Shevchenko settlement in Ukraine's Donetsk region, home to one of Ukraine's largest lithium deposits. Despite the ongoing conflict, Russia continues to import lithium from Chile.
Rosatom aims to achieve complete localization through two "gigafactories" situated in Russia: one in Kaliningrad Oblast (Neman) and the other within Moscow's boundaries (Krasnaya Pakhra in the Troitsky Administrative Okrug). This information was shared by Anastasia Mikhailova, CEO of Renera, a battery producer under Rosatom, during the "Innoprom-2025" forum.
This announcement comes merely weeks after international media, including Le Figaro, reported that Russian forces had established control over Shevchenko village and its nearby lithium deposit. The Shevchenko lithium site, discovered in the 1980s, is considered one of the most promising for development in Ukraine. According to Ukraine's State Geological and Subsoil Service, the local rocks contain lithium oxide at a concentration of 1.24%. For comparison, major deposits in Australia, where lithium is also extracted from minerals, have concentrations ranging from 1% to 3%.
Ukraine's lithium wealth includes four major deposits, two of which remain under Kyiv's control in the country's west. However, Shevchenko and Krutaya Balka, near the Sea of Azov, are now under Russian control.
Interestingly, Russian authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic reported gaining control over the Shevchenko lithium deposit as early as January this year. Despite this assertion, clashes persisted around the area throughout January, February, and into the spring of 2025.
Russia does not domestically mine lithium. Prior to the conflict, Chile and Argentina were primary suppliers of lithium carbonate to Russia. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that it would no longer receive lithium from these countries, despite them not imposing sanctions on Russia. Indeed, customs data for 2022-2023 show the absence of such imports.
Nonetheless, imports from Chile persisted, indirectly, with documentation originally labeling some Chilean lithium as exports from Belgium. In 2022-2023, Belgium emerged as the leading lithium supplier to Russia, despite not being a producer itself.
Two Belgian companies - SQM Europe N.V. and Umicore - handled shipments of lithium carbonate, later refined into pure metal or compounds. SQM Europe N.V. is linked to Chile's largest lithium producer, Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM). Umicore is a major Belgian chemical and metallurgical company. The Insider reached out to both firms for comment but has not yet received a response.
Customs data identifies Chilean companies Albemarle Limitada and SQM, alongside America's FMC Lithium, as the leading producers of lithium, holding a near-monopoly in its extraction and production market. SQM has stated that it adheres to "all international trade embargoes and sanctions" in response to inquiries from The Insider.
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Amid Ukraine weapons debacle, Trump claims he 'would know' about any decision to halt shipments
CNN reported earlier that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the pause without informing the White House, and Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from the decision in public comments.
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Russian attack in Donetsk Oblast leaves 3 dead, administrative building 'destroyed'
Rescuers retrieved the bodies of two victims from under the rubble, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. A third man was killed by a drone and another civilian injured in the front-line city of Kostiantynivka.
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Two more units join the 17th Army Corps
New information has emerged regarding the 17th Army Corps of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. According to posts published on the unit’s official Facebook page, two additional brigades have been assigned…
