Wildfires in Siberia covered more than 13.4 million hectares, 78% of which are in Yakutia, a vast northwestern area where dozens of houses are damaged or evacuated. The smoke has reached the North Pole for the first time in recorded history

Some 40 countries could boycott the Olympic Games to be held in Paris next year, nullifying the entire event, after several countries rejected an International Olympic Committee plan to allow Russians and Belarusians to participate in the event

Russian workers have begun the complete demolition of the Azovie neighbourhood of the occupied city of Mariupol, including houses not damaged by the war, in order to build 'elite' housing

Mirjana Spoljaric, the new head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, will fly to Moscow, stating that "urgent humanitarian issues will be raised with government officials and the Russian Red Cross"

President Putin has sent a bill to Parliament to end Moscow's participation in Greco, the Council of Europe's anti-corruption body, and denounce the relevant Convention against Corruption