International

Russia-Ukraine war: What happened today (June 28)

By NPR Staff

Published June 28, 2022 at 1:59 PM PDT

This story was published more than 2 years ago.

A photograph taken Tuesday shows charred goods in a grocery store of the destroyed Amstor mall in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine, one day after it was hit by a Russian missile strike.

As Tuesday draws to a close in Kyiv and in Moscow, here are the key developments of the day:

The death toll climbed to at least 20 after Monday's missile attack on a crowded mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, which leaders at a Group of Seven meeting called a "war crime." On Tuesday, emergency responders ended a rescue search for survivors. Russia's government denied hitting the shopping center, claiming it caught fire after Russia struck a nearby weapons depot. But Ukraine's president said it was a "calculated" strike against the mall.

As NATO's Madrid summit got underway, Turkey agreed to support Finland and Sweden in joining the alliance. The foreign ministers of Turkey, Finland and Sweden signed a memorandum of understanding "that addresses Turkey's concerns, including around arms exports and the fight against terrorism," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters. A formal decision to invite Finland and Sweden to join is expected Wednesday, to be followed by NATO's ratification process.

Become a KPBS sponsor

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the United Nations Security Council that Russia is acting like a "terrorist" state, going on a "killing spree" across Ukraine. Speaking via video, he read out names of Ukrainian victims of recent Russian attacks, saying the country has struck schools, a shopping mall and many other civilian targets. He said Russia has no right to remain in the powerful U.N. body.

The U.S. imposed new sanctions to punish Russia for its war in Ukraine. The sanctions include restrictions on 70 Russian defense-related businesses, including Rostec, a state-owned corporation "considered to be the cornerstone of Russia's defense, industrial, technology, and manufacturing sectors," the State Department said. The U.S., along with G-7 countries, is also banning the import of Russian gold.

Prominent Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin was detained in Moscow and sentenced to 15 days in prison on charges of disobeying police orders. As many Russian opposition leaders have fled the country, Yashin stayed and openly opposed the war in Ukraine. His circumstances now parallel the April arrest of a vocal Kremlin critic, Vladimir Kara-Murza, whose 15-day detention has been extended for months.

In-depth

Amid the war, some European countries see prices rise a lot faster than others in the bloc.

Become a KPBS sponsor

NATO summit opens with some of the biggest questions the alliance has faced in years.

Special report

Russia's war in Ukraine is changing the world: See its ripple effects in all corners of the globe.

Earlier developments

You can read more daily recaps here. For context and more in-depth stories, you can find more of NPR's coverage here. Also, listen and subscribe to NPR's State of Ukraine podcast for updates throughout the day.