The Wagner group has moved into Belarus and are "now acting as military instructors for the country's territorial defence forces."

Wagner mercenaries have arrived in Belarus, Ukraine confirms

Meanwhile, it's about time to renegotiate or extend the Black Sea grain deal (brokered by the UN, and largely administered by Turkey).

The Ukraine grain deal is about to expire — here’s what it means for supply chains

The United Nations-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative that has allowed Ukraine to safely export 32 million metric tons of food is set to expire on July 18, and serious doubts have been raised as to whether Russia will allow it to continue.

The deal, to date, has facilitated the export of enough food to feed nearly 150 million people for a year, and its expiration would likely exacerbate an already severe global food crisis. While the international community should continue to exert pressure on Russia to extend the agreement, it should also use this as an opportunity to reinvigorate efforts to increase the resilience of food supply chains.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered a global food security crisis. Ukraine had historically been one of the world’s largest grain exporters, but the country’s grain production and exports plummeted following the Russian invasion. This contributed to a spike in global food prices and heightened levels of food insecurity in much of the world.

The UN-brokered grain deal — agreed to by Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the UN in July 2022 — was an important step in addressing the crisis. The deal sought to mitigate the war’s impact on global food security by establishing a maritime humanitarian corridor as well as a registration and inspection scheme to facilitate the export of grain, related foodstuffs and fertilizers from three key Ukrainian ports. Despite the global humanitarian impact, Russia has declared in recent weeks that there are “no grounds” to extend the agreement past July 18.

In the Tit-for-Tat of war, Putin says Russia also has cluster bombs and will deploy them if Ukraine does. Some sources say Russia has already used them. Putin says Russia has ‘sufficient’ cluster munitions and may retaliate if Ukraine uses them

Landmines remain the biggest hurdle to moving forward for Ukraine in the summer Counteroffensive: Small, Hidden and Deadly: Mines Stymie Ukraine’s Counteroffensive
To gain ground, Ukrainian forces have to make their way through a variety and density of Russian land mines they never imagined.

It was a grisly scene of bloody limbs and crumpled vehicles as a series of Russian mines exploded across a field in southern Ukraine.

One Ukrainian soldier stepped on a mine and tumbled onto the grass in the buffer zone between the two armies. Nearby lay other Ukrainian troops, their legs in tourniquets, waiting for medical evacuation, according to videos posted online and the accounts of several soldiers involved.

Soon, an armored vehicle arrived to rescue them. A medic jumped out to treat the wounded and knelt on ground he deemed safe — only to trigger another mine with his knee.

Five weeks into a counteroffensive that even Ukrainian officials say is off to a halting start, interviews with commanders and soldiers fighting along the front indicate the slow progress comes down to one major problem: land mines.

The nasty stuff is there, but this thread does not need side trips into stuff that just starts arguments on threads. One war at a time.