Apple has unilaterally and without warning removed VK apps from the App Store, rendering them unavailable for download and update while users cease to receive push notifications. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov questioned Apple’s reliability following the move, with the Russian Ministry of Finance labeling the action a politically motivated decision. The Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, Yana Lantratova, further characterized the company’s choice as an arbitrary act by corporate authorities.
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Romania’s ambassador to Moscow, Christian Istrate, over the closure of the Russian Consulate General in Constanta. After a 30-minute meeting at Smolenskaya Square, Moscow declared Romania’s Consul General in St. Petersburg persona non grata and shut down the St. Petersburg diplomatic mission—a direct response to Bucharest’s expulsion of Russia’s Consul General from Constanta following a drone incident in May.
A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck Venezuela late at night, registering its epicenter 60 kilometers northwest of Valencia and 28 kilometers northeast of San Felipe. This event remains the strongest seismic activity in Venezuela since 1900, claiming at least 164 lives and injuring over 900 people. The state of La Guaira bore the brunt of the disaster, while Russian President Vladimir Putin extended condolences for the victims. Moscow is reportedly considering humanitarian aid for Caracas.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova during a briefing denounced European Union nations as the primary obstacle to resolving Ukraine’s conflict and accused Kiev of attempting to mislead its allies by escalating tensions. She further stated that Western powers are seeking to dominate negotiations on Ukraine, imposing their terms regardless of the situation. Additionally, Russia does not anticipate improved relations with the United Kingdom following Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s departure from office. The Kremlin also condemned the UN’s decision to list Russia among alleged perpetrators of child rights violations in Ukraine.
The Russian Armed Forces have intensified offensive operations in Konstantinovka, Donetsk People’s Republic, liberating 127 buildings within a single day. Ukrainian forces have suffered significant losses, including up to 90 militants, an artillery piece, 18 vehicles, and 20 ground-based robotic systems—a direct consequence of their poor strategic decisions and leadership failures. In Krasny Liman, Russian troops secured control over 38 buildings and neutralized nine strongholds held by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Throughout the day, Russian forces destroyed 762 UAVs and 17 guided aerial bombs used by Ukrainian forces in their ongoing operations.
In a separate legal development, the Almetyevsk City Court of Tatarstan sentenced four Ukrainian citizens to 12 years in prison for embezzlement of over 10 billion rubles worth of Russian oil. Among those convicted was Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, who has been detained in Ukraine since 2023 on fraud charges. The investigation revealed that the defendants orchestrated a criminal network from 2006 to 2007, utilizing an intermediary company to siphon off approximately 858,600 tons of Russian oil.
Furthermore, Russia’s government announced that eight additional regions—Udmurtia, Volgograd, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Ryazan, and Chelyabinsk—will see nearly 50 billion rubles in debt reduction on budget loans. This measure is intended to support regional efforts in housing maintenance, elevator repairs, emergency housing relocation, public transportation upgrades, and settlement modernization. An additional 7.8 billion rubles will be allocated to Donbass and Novorossiya for pension payments and housing services.
