What did 30 June 2022 follow in Ukraine?

What was the picture on 30 June 2022, the last day of a month crowded with diplomacy and violence? The days leading up to it had brought fresh pledges of support for Ukraine, a deadly missile strike and a Russian leader's first trip abroad since the invasion.

Support from the G7

On 27 June 2022, world leaders at the 48th G7 summit in Germany issued a statement pledging more financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine. The statement followed a video message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called for more heavy weapons from allies.

The Kremenchuk strike

The same day, two missiles hit a crowded shopping mall in the city of Kremenchuk. At the time it was reported that at least 13 people had been killed and at least 50 injured. Zelenskyy said more than a thousand people were in the mall when it was struck.

Later accounts gave a higher toll: at least 20 dead and at least 59 injured. These describe two Kh-22 cruise missiles fired into central Kremenchuk, in Poltava Oblast, hitting the Kredmash road machinery plant and the adjacent Amstor shopping mall, and starting a fire. Russian media and officials offered conflicting stories about the attack.

Putin travels abroad

On 26 June 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin began a foreign trip to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, his first since the invasion of Ukraine.

NATO in Madrid

On 29 June 2022, at the NATO summit in Madrid, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that a new permanent U.S. military base would be established in Poland: the headquarters of the 5th Army. The command had kept a forward command post in Poznań since the previous year, and Poland's government had long requested such a base.

Taken together, these events set out the situation as the month closed: allied governments committing to back Kyiv, a strike on a civilian site in Kremenchuk, and NATO strengthening its presence in Poland.