World
Ukraine's navy chief says Russian warships are leaving Crimean hub in Black Sea
- The Russian navy’s Black Sea Fleet has been forced to rebase almost all of its combat-ready warships from occupied Crimea to other locations.
- Ukraine has dealt heavy blows to Russian forces in the Black Sea even as Russia has the upper hand on land.
- Vice-Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, Ukraine’s navy chief, said the expected delivery of U.S.-made F-16 fighter aircraft would allow Ukraine to challenge Russia’s “full dominance” of the skies over the Black Sea.
The Russian navy’s Black Sea Fleet has been forced to rebase nearly all its combat-ready warships from occupied Crimea to other locations, and its main naval hub is becoming ineffectual because of attacks by Kyiv, Ukraine’s navy chief said.
Vice-Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa said Ukrainian missile and naval drone strikes had caused heavy damage to the Sevastopol base, a logistics hub for repairs, maintenance, training and ammunition storage among other important functions for Russia.
“They were established over many decades, possibly centuries. And clearly they are now losing this hub,” Neizhpapa told Reuters in a rare interview in the port city of Odesa ahead of Ukraine Navy Day on Sunday.
UKRAINE’S ARMY RETREATS FROM POSITIONS IN STRATEGIC TOWN AS RUSSIAN TROOPS CLOSE IN
More than 28 months since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Kyiv has dealt a series of stinging blows to Moscow in the Black Sea although Ukrainian ground troops are on the back foot across a sprawling front.
Ukraine, which has no major warships at its disposal, has used uncrewed naval boats packed with explosives to target Russian vessels, and pounded the fleet’s facilities and other military targets on Crimea with Storm Shadow and ATACM missiles.
“Almost all the main combat-ready ships have been moved by the enemy from the main base of the Black Sea Fleet, and the ships are kept in Novorossiisk, and some of them are kept in the Sea of Azov,” he said.
Commander of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa poses for a picture during an interview amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine, on June 25, 2024. (Reuters/Tom Balmforth)
Russia’s Novorossiisk naval base on its eastern Black Sea coast lacks the extensive facilities of Crimea’s Sevastopol, which served as the storage and loading site for cruise missiles used by its warships to launch air strikes on Ukraine, he said.
“I understand that they are now trying to solve this problem in Novorossiisk,” he said, describing this as a “main issue” for the fleet.
Russia’s defense ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on Neizhpapa’s remarks.
President Vladimir Putin told navy chiefs last month that Russia’s fleet had been replenished over recent years and that a major modernization was under way, including steps to “increase the combat stability of the fleet” and strengthen it.
Alongside strategic bombers and ground-based launchers, missile-carrying warships and submarines play an important role in Russia’s regular long-range missile attacks.
Neizhpapa said Ukraine had destroyed or damaged 27 naval vessels, including five that he said were destroyed by sea mines laid by Ukrainian naval drones near the Bay of Sevastopol.
Moscow seized and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Before February 2022, Russia used its Black Sea Fleet, which consists of dozens of warships, to project power into the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
Throughout the Ukraine war, Turkey, which controls the straits in and out of the Black Sea, has not allowed warships to enter or exit.
DEFENSIVE POSTURE
In a sign of their more defensive posture, some Russian warships that seldom entered the Sea of Azov to the east of Crimea are now stationed there regularly, Neizhpapa said.
Monitoring data compiled by the Ukrainian Navy and provided to Reuters showed that as of June 27, 10 Russian warships were stationed in the Sea of Azov compared with none in 2023.
The Black Sea Fleet is primarily used now for logistics, a small amount of coastal territorial control and for firing Kalibr cruise missiles at Ukraine, he said.
He declined to say what Ukraine’s future plans in the Black Sea would involve.
Ukraine’s operations in the Black Sea have allowed it to establish and secure its own shipping corridor without Russia’s blessing after Moscow pulled out of the wartime food export deal brokered by the United Nations last year.
The pushback began with Ukrainian coastal defenses that allowed it to force naval vessels away. In April 2022, Ukrainian anti-ship missiles sank the Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, in a humiliating blow for the Kremlin.
With the addition of naval drone attacks and strikes, Russian warships do not enter the northwestern part of the Black Sea over an area of almost 9,650 square miles, Neizhpapa said.
He said the delivery of U.S.-made F-16 fighter aircraft, expected to happen soon, would be a boost allowing it to challenge what he called Russia’s “full dominance” of the skies over the Black Sea.
“F-16s with the right armaments will be able to push away Russian warplanes. The northwestern part of the Black Sea, particularly the corridor for civilian ships, will be almost 100% secure,” he said.
He added that Ukraine would like to expand its shipping corridor, which currently only involves maritime traffic from three of the main Odesa ports, to include the ports of Mykolaiv and Kherson, but that it was not possible.
He cited Russia’s control over the Kinburn Spit, which juts out along that route.
Civilian vessels are accompanied by patrol boats in some areas to help with protection against mines, and air defenses provided cover both to the ports and the corridors, he said.
The volume of cargo through the corridor has stabilized over the last six months, with Ukraine operating two daily convoys of vessels in comparison with one in 2023.
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal lawsuit seeks to halt the upcoming UFC fight card on the White House South Lawn in a mixed martial arts show timed for President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and part of the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The filing Saturday by the Public Integrity Project on behalf of two Virginia residents contends the Trump administration’s authorization of the June 14 event was unlawful. The lawsuit says such approval violated National Park Service regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands, Congress did not consent to the towering arch overlooking the event space and no environmental review was conducted before the construction.
“This is fundamentally a private, commercial, corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain,” said Brendan Ballou, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “And that is what is motivating this lawsuit.”
The White House said in a statement that the legal challenge was “an obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory” attempt to prevent Trump from hosting the fight and that the event was “no different than the various other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mall throughout the year.”
UFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Crews are erecting an octagon-shaped cage on the South Lawn. Trump has said the finished UFC project will feature “a 5,000-seat arena right outside the front door of the White House.” Additional large screens broadcasting the fights will be set up in a park at the nearby Ellipse, and the UFC has said it plans to issue as many as 85,000 free tickets to accommodate spectators at both locations.
The octagon and surrounding structures are the latest project in the White House building boom Trump is leading.
World
Suspected Hamas terrorist arrested in Greece for allegedly plotting attack on Israeli cruise ship
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A suspected Hamas terrorist, reportedly granted asylum a year from the Gaza war, was arrested by Greek police for allegedly plotting an attack on an Israeli cruise line.
The Gaza man, 37, was arrested on the Greek island of Crete on Sunday for his alleged ties to one of four suspected Hamas terrorists previously arrested in Cyprus, having traveled with him to Malaysia, where they allegedly received training in making explosives from commercially available chemical agents.
The Israeli cruise ship MS Crown Iris was the believed target of the attack before it was scheduled to arrive in Crete on Tuesday. Police did not publicly identify the man or name a target in their initial statement.
Searches in homes in both Crete and the Greek capital, Athens, turned up a number of mobile phones, a laptop, external hard drives and bank cards, The Associated Press reported.
3 ALLEGED HAMAS MEMBERS ACCUSED OF PLOTTING AGAINST JEWISH INSTITUTIONS IN GERMANY
A Wednesday protest at the port of Piraeus near Athens, Greece, opposing the arrival of the Crown Iris cruise ship was a prelude to the arrest of a suspected Hamas terrorist who is alleged to have plotted an attack. (Costas Baltas/Anadolu)
The suspect, an electrician who has been reportedly living in Crete for the past year and working at a hotel there after being granted asylum, will appear before a magistrate later Sunday.
The suspected terrorist had placed an online order for what police said were “chemical agents” that could be used in the manufacture of explosives, according to the report.
State broadcaster ERT, cited by Israeli and Greek media, reported that police also found laboratory equipment.
TWO CONVICTED OF TERRORISM IN DENMARK FOR GRENADE ATTACK NEAR ISRAELI EMBASSY
The case appears to be part of a broader regional counterterrorism probe. Cypriot authorities arrested two Palestinians on May 22 after intelligence led investigators to materials in two residences that police said could be used to manufacture explosives. Two more Palestinian men were detained May 29 as part of the same investigation, according to Greek police.
The Crown Iris has become a recurring flashpoint at Greek ports amid anger over the war in Gaza. Protesters gathered near the ship when it docked in Piraeus on Wednesday, June 3, and demonstrations against the vessel have followed it at Greek ports since last year.
Protesters allege that Mano Maritime, the owner of the MS Crown Iris, is profiting from the Hamas-Israel war by selling tourist services to Israel Defense Forces soldiers during breaks from active duty.
In July 2025, Greek police used tear gas and made arrests as demonstrators tried to block the ship at Agios Nikolaos on Crete.
Greek security forces were forced to protect Israeli tourists traveling on buses to board the Israeli-owned cruise ship MS Crown Iris at the port of Piraeus in Athens on June 3, 2026. (Aggelos Nakkas/AFP)
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The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have not announced formal charges against the suspect.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on
Two cups of ice cream, costing 44 euros. That is what happened to an American tourist couple on 3 June during a visit to the centre of Rome, just a few metres away from Piazza Navona.
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The episode, recounted on social media by Nicole Ann from Florida, quickly drew users’ attention, sparking a heated online debate about the relationship between tourism and price transparency in one of Rome’s most visited areas.
The woman explained that she and her husband had stopped at the “Don Nino” ice cream parlour in Via di Tor Millina to order two cups, each with three flavours. While the ice creams were being prepared, staff are said to have added other products, including macarons and pistachio cannoli, without it being immediately clear that these were chargeable extras. When it was time to pay, a surprise was awaiting.
“I thought they had said 14 euros,” Nicole wrote in a Facebook group offering travel tips for people visiting Rome, explaining that she only realised the actual amount after checking the receipt.
The receipt posted online shows that the two portions, listed as maxi, cost twelve euros each. On top of this came supplements for whipped cream, macarons and pistachio cannoli, bringing the total to 44 euros for an order consumed without table service.
In her post, the tourist described the experience as a “tourist trap”. Responding to the many comments she received, she nevertheless made it clear that she does not intend to contest the payment, admitting that she should have checked the price more carefully before buying. She also said she had travelled to other parts of Italy without ever encountering similar prices for an ice cream.
The post quickly went viral, attracting hundreds of reactions. Hundreds of people commented on the episode, which was shared across the web and picked up by several online newspapers.
Many users expressed solidarity with the American couple, while others pointed out that in areas with the highest concentration of tourists, prices can be significantly higher than in other parts of the city.
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