Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has dismissed Lithuanian intelligence claims that Russia is planning attacks on infrastructure in the Baltic states.

According to the Interfax news agency, Peskov described the allegations as another round of “horror stories.”

“This is just another batch of such ‘horror stories,’ designed to continue brainwashing the public and preparing the population for further militarisation,” the Russian presidential spokesperson said in response to journalists’ requests to comment on the Lithuanian intelligence claims.

“To achieve this, they need to create the image of an enemy somewhere else, in this case on our side, and under that pretext, as they say, continue deploying NATO’s military infrastructure in all its forms across the Baltic states,” Peskov added.

Earlier, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said the country had intelligence indicating that Russia was planning attacks on infrastructure in the Baltic region. He said the intelligence services were aware of preparations and the intended target, but that the exact location and timing of any potential attack remained unknown. As a precaution, Nausėda said Lithuania was strengthening the protection of its energy and transport infrastructure.

Russia launched two Kh-59/69 guided missiles and 122 drones against Ukraine overnight on July 15, the Ukrainian Air Force said.

According to the BBC Russian Service, Ukraine’s Air Force said that as of 8:30 a.m., air defence systems had shot down 101 drones.

Authorities in the Sumy region reported that three people were killed and 20 injured in an air strike.

Officials in the Odesa region said three people were killed and eight injured in an attack on the morning of July 15. The region has been subjected to large-scale strikes for five consecutive days.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, one person was killed in a drone strike.

According to the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, one person was killed and two others were injured in an attack in the Kryvyi Rih district.

Another person was killed in a drone attack in the Chernihiv region.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said a 67-year-old man was killed and another person injured in a Russian air strike in the Mykolaiv region.

In Kharkiv, seven people were injured in a guided aerial bomb attack.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defence systems had intercepted and destroyed 93 Ukrainian drones between 8:00 p.m. on July 14 and 7:00 a.m. on July 15 over six Russian regions, including the Moscow region, Crimea, and the skies over the Azov and Black seas.

The governor of the Voronezh region said one person was injured and three private homes were damaged.

The governor of the Rostov region said debris from a falling drone damaged the roof of a private house, adding that no casualties were reported.

Ukraine was the main recipient of German arms exports in the first half of 2026, with Germany approving a record €13.87 billion in exports of military equipment and defence-related products during the period, according to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs.

“According to preliminary data, export licences for military equipment worth approximately €13.87 billion were granted in the first half of 2026. Ukraine was the main recipient country,” the ministry said in a statement published on its website.

Sam Chatto, the grandson of Princess Margaret, has announced his engagement to his girlfriend, British-Armenian artist Eleanor Ekserdjian.

Sharing the news on Instagram, Chatto wrote:

“I’m really delighted to say that Ellie and I are engaged. And we couldn’t be happier. I proposed with a porcelain ring which I made.”

The couple have been together since 2021. Both are graduates of the University of Edinburgh.

In 2022, Chatto and Ekserdjian visited Armenia. As part of their collaborative project, Imagined Landscapes, the couple spent nearly a month travelling across the country, exploring Armenia’s historical and cultural heritage as well as its unique architectural landmarks.

Chatto, a ceramic artist, and Ekserdjian later presented the works inspired by their journey in an exhibition showcasing the outcome of their month-long project.

Ekserdjian comes from a distinguished family with deep roots in the arts and academia. Her father, David Ekserdjian, is a renowned art historian and Distinguished Professor of the History of Art and Film at the University of Leicester.

Her grandfather, Colonel Noubar Martin Ekserdjian, belonged to one of the prominent Armenian families of the Ottoman Empire. He also served as an executive of the Iraq Petroleum Company, founded by Calouste Gulbenkian.

Ekserdjian’s mother, Susan Moore, is an art critic for the Financial Times.

Armenian Deputy Defense Minister Arman Sargsyan received Satu Koivu, the newly appointed Head of the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA), at the Ministry of Defense headquarters.

According to the Armenian Ministry of Defense, the sides discussed issues related to the activities of the European Union Mission in Armenia.

Sargsyan congratulated Koivu on her appointment as Head of the European Union Mission in Armenia and wished her success in carrying out the mission.

The Armenian government has included on the agenda of its July 16 meeting the ratification of the Framework Agreement on Strategic Cooperation with the United States on the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project.

Under the non-reportable draft decision, the government proposes approving the draft law on the ratification of the agreement.

The framework agreement was signed in Washington on June 1, 2026, and in Yerevan on June 4, 2026.

The draft decision also provides for referring the agreement to the Constitutional Court to determine whether the obligations enshrined in it are in conformity with the Constitution of Armenia.

If the Constitutional Court finds the agreement’s provisions to be consistent with the Constitution, the government’s legislative initiative will be submitted to the National Assembly in accordance with the established procedure.

Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan will be appointed as the government’s representative before the Constitutional Court.

According to the explanatory note accompanying the draft law, its adoption will ensure the completion of the procedures required for the entry into force of the Framework Agreement on Strategic Cooperation between Armenia and the United States on the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project.

The draft law was prepared by the Armenian Foreign Ministry and is in line with the government’s priority of comprehensively advancing relations with the United States.

Konstantin Sokolov, a Russian-born private equity investor based in Chicago, will serve as chairman of the U.S. State Department’s new Tripp+ enterprise fund, which will oversee more than $200 million designated for the Central Asia trade corridor, including investments in transportation, energy infrastructure and critical minerals.

The Guardian reported the news, noting that the State Department has confirmed Sokolov’s appointment.

The Tripp+ enterprise fund, where Sokolov serves as founder and chairman, takes its name from the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project. According to The Guardian, a State Department spokesperson said the $201 million fund is authorized to make equity investments, provide loans and grants promoting strategic private-sector development in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The spokesperson said the fund would comply with applicable statutory requirements, including annual reporting and independent audits to ensure transparency and accountability, as well as applicable grant provisions, including conflict-of-interest requirements.

The Guardian recalls that during his visit to Yerevan in February, U.S. Vice President JD Vance described the Tripp+ fund as part of a “historic transformation” that would “open up a whole new world of trade, transit and energy flows.”

Sokolov is a major shareholder in Viva Armenia, the country’s largest telecommunications company. He also holds positions with the Northern Pillar Energy Consortium, a clean energy and fiber-optic undersea cable initiative connecting Europe and Africa, and serves as chairman of Pelagos Data Centres.

He is also the founder of IJS Investments, a Chicago-based private equity firm specializing in “future-ready” energy and telecommunications, and Gotthard Investment AG, a Zurich-based private equity firm focused on financial services, energy and global real estate.

The Guardian also notes that following the preliminary peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan brokered by the White House in August 2025, the Trump administration has taken unprecedented steps to deepen ties with Armenia by committing $9 billion to boost the country’s nuclear energy sector and selling $11 million worth of U.S.-made reconnaissance drones to the Armenian government, marking the first-ever U.S. sale of military technology to Armenia.