Ukraine Latest: Weekly Digest for July 22-28
VIDEO
July 22/ Kovalenko: The occupied on the frontline
July 22/ Snihiriov: What makes Russia hide its planes?
July 23/ Snihiriov: How the Eastern Front is being held
July 23/ Ivanenko: A second chance for a deserter
July 24/ Ivanenko: To return from the frontline and remain sane
July 25/ Yusov: "I want back to my own": special services offer exchanging collaborators for civilian Ukrainians in captivity
July 25/ Dekhtyarenko: SBU has launched over 7,400 criminal proceedings against collaborators
July 25/ Musienko: Key highlights from Syrsky’s interview to Western media
July 26/ Trokhymenko: Every trouble can be overcome
PHOTO
July 22/ Photo and video exhibition "The Will to Win. Sporting Warriors" was opened in Kyiv.
July 22/ Soldiers with the Spartan 3rd Operational Forces Brigade undergoing tactical training
July 23/ Reconstruction works are ongoing on the site of Odesa’s Transfiguration Cathedral destructed by a Russian Kh-22 missile strike
July 23/ A high-rise building destroyed by a Russian missile strike is being restored in Zaporizhzhia
July 24/ Shelling attack on Kharkiv region: a Russian missile hit the office of the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD)
July 24/ A five-story apartment building damaged by a Russian missile strike is being rebuilt In Zaporizhzhia
July 24/ Russians dropped a glide bomb on downtown Kharkiv
July 25/ Mothers of defenders in captivity staged a protest action in Kyiv
July 26/ Soldiers with the Shkval Battalion comprised of former prisoners stood up to defend Ukraine
July 26/ Municipal Guard cadets underwent a training course in Kyiv region
July 27/ Kyiv hosted the inaugural edition of the International Congress on Military Medicine and Mental Health
HOSTILITIES
The General Staff has reported 971 frontline combat engagements over the week from July 22 through 28.
July 27: three military airfields in Russia came under attack as part of an operation staged by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR); an oil refinery was hit, and at the Olenya airbase, which is distanced 1,800 km away from Ukraine’s border, a TU-22M3 long-range strategic missile carrier bomber was damaged.
July 21: at the National Helicopter Center Mil&Kamov located in Tomilino outside of Moscow, a Mi-28 and a Ka-226 helicopters sustained damage in the aftermath of a subversive operation staged by Ukraine’s HUR.
July 24: a Mi-8 helicopter stationed at the Kryazh airbase in Russia’s Samara region was destroyed in a sabotage attack.
July 23: drones attacked the rail/vehicles ferry Slavyanin in Port Kavkaz, Crimea. One dead and several injured casualties among the crew have been reported.
In the currently Russian-held city of Sevastopol, a military base was hit in an overnight drone attack.
The attack on Slavyanin ferry, staged by the Ukrainian Navy with support from other elements of the Defense Forces, has severely undermined Russia’s logistics support for its forces deployed in Ukraine’s southern front and will deteriorate the aggressor state’s ability to export liquefied gas, Ukrainian Navy’s spokesman said in a press statement.
Slavyanin was the last Russian rail ferry left in the region. It was used for military purposes to transport railway cars, vehicles, and containers.
The Ukraine Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrsky granted an interview to The Guardian. Following are the key highlights:
the Russian army has failed to achieve any significant progress on the battlefield;
intensive hostilities stretch for 977 km of the 3,700 km long frontline, which is "twice the length of the borderline between Germany and France;"
the Russians have more of everything: tanks, IFVs, soldiers. Their initial 100,000 invasion force has grown to 520,000, and by the end of 2024 there will be 690,000;
when it comes to equipment, the ratio is 1:2 or 1:3 in their favor. Since 2022, the number of Russian tanks has doubled – from 1,700 to 3,500. Artillery has tripled, and armored personnel carriers went from 4,500 to 8,900;
Russia's successes have been achieved at a staggering human cost. The Kremlin's losses are three times greater than the Ukrainian losses, and even more on some individual axes;
without mobilization, it is impossible to create new reserves and brigades, which are necessary as Russia has been increasing the strength of its ground forces;
Kyiv has a plan to get Crimea back to Ukraine: "It's realistic. Of course, it is a big military secret. We will do everything we can to reach the internationally recognised borders of 1991 [when Ukraine voted for independence from the USSR]. We have to win … to liberate our citizens who are in the occupied territories, who are suffering."
An Unmanned Systems command and control center has been set up within the NGU, according to Ukraine National Guard (NGU) Commander, Oleksandr Pivnenko.
On July 24, a shooting fight occurred at a military base in Kharkiv Oblast, leaving three servicemen dead and four others severely injured.
Over the time from July 18 through 24, an electronic warfare unit organic to the Armed Forces Ground Forces defeated and destroyed 7,916 hostile UAVs and located the position of the adversary’s 43 EW command and control centers.
The situation in near-the-border areas with Belarus has remained unchanged, with no redeployment of Belarusian troops being observed.
There have been no evidence that Russia is preparing to deploy forces and equipment on axes towards the Sumy region.
Frontline situation by days of the week
July 22
Kharkiv axis: The adversary is regrouping forces and capabilities, conducts offensive attacks towards Hlyboke neighborhood, continues fighting in Vovchansk town;
Kupyansk axis: the adversary launched six assaults towards Ukrainian entrenchments defending the neighborhoods of Berestove and Hlushkivka;
Kramatorsk axis: the adversary is intensifying offensive actions, having launched 22 assaults towards the neighborhoods of Bondarne, Bohdanivka, Chasiv Yar, Minkivka, Vasyukivka, Hryhorivka, Kalynivka, Bila Hora, Ivanivka, and Klishchiivka over that day.
Pokrovsk axis: Russian invading forces carried out a wave of offensive attacks in an attempt to advance towards the neighborhoods of Vozdvyzhenka, Novooleksandrivka, Novoselivka Persha, Panteleimonivka, New York, Lozuvatske, Tymofiivka, Progres, Vovche, Yasnobrodivka, and Umanske.
July 23
Pokrovsk axis: Ukrainian air defense soldiers took Russian Su-25 fighter jet out of the sky;
Zaporizhzhia axis: Russia has 90,000 troops deployed in the region, with two thirds of these brought in over the past three weeks.
Kharkiv axis: the adversary carried out 11 offensive attacks aimed to advance further towards Hlyboke, Tykhe, and Vovchansk, but never succeeded.
Kupyansk axis: the invading forces were unsuccessfully attempting to advance further towards the neighborhoods of Petropavlivka, Hlushkivka, Andriivka, and Stelmakhivka.
Siversk axis: Ukrainian soldiers fended off eight assaults on their entrenchments defending Vyimka, Pereizne, Verkhnyokamyanske, and Spirne.
July 24
Vovchansk axis: Ukrainian forces continue fighting off the enemy's attempted assaults, attriting its offensive capabilities;
Luhansk axis: the adversary forces tried and break though Ukrainian defenses near Nevske and Makiivka neighborhoods in an attempt to breach out towards the administrative boundary line of Luhansk Oblast;
Kupyansk axis: the Russian troops four times attempted to aggressively advance towards Ukrainian entrenchments defending the approaches to Synkivka, Petropavlivka, and Stelmakhivka neighborhoods. Ukrainian soldiers continued holding their defenses.
Lyman axis: the opposing forces launched six offensive attacks on Ukrainian entrenchments defending approaches to the villages of Makiivka and Nevske, as well as Serebryansky Forest area.
Kramatorsk axis: the invading forces carried out five offensive attacks on Ukrainian defensive lines near Novomarkove and Chasiv Yar.
July 25
Kharkiv axis: the Russian troops launched four assaults, all unsuccessful, towards the Ukrainian defenses outside of Hlyboke neighborhood, and two assaults towards Vovchansk;
Kupyansk axis: the adversary carried out five offensive attacks towards Stelmakhivka, Petropavlivka, and Stepova Novoselivka villages;
Siversk axis: the Russian forces launched five offensive attacks towards Verkhnyokamyanske, Spirne, and Mykolaivka. Ukrainian defenders rebuffed all the attacks.
Kramatorsk axis: the invading forces eight times tried to attack and advance towards the neighborhoods of Ivanivske, Chasiv Yar, Kalynivka, Maiske, and Hryhorivka.
Pokrovsk axis: the Russian forces were trying to advance towards the neighborhoods of Vozdvyzhenka, Novooleksandrivka, Vesele, Ivanivka, Novoselivka Persha, Paraskoviivka, Novozhelanne, and Yasnobrodivka. Ukrainian soldiers continued containing enemy assaults, having repelled 18 attacks.
July 26
Zaporizhzhia axis: the adversary intensified offensive actions in Orikhiv area, but wasn’t observed mustering offensive capabilities for a further advance into the Zaporizhzhia region;
Kharkiv axis: the invading forces launched seven offensive attacks towards the areas of Slobozhansk, Hlyboke, and Vovchansk. All had been effectively rebuffed.
Kupyansk axis: the adversary carried out three offensives on Ukrainian entrenchments defending Stelmakhivka, Tabaivka, and Pishchane neighborhoods, launched a bombing attack on Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi, fired unguided air launched rockets on Synkivka area;
Lyman axis: the invading army launched five offensive attacks on Ukrainian entrenchments defending the neighborhoods of Nevske, Novoserhiiivka, and Novoyehorivka; focused offensive effort on the approaches to Nevske neighborhood.
Siversk axis: the invading forces launched three offensive attacks, all unsuccessful, towards the neighborhoods of Verkhnokamyanske and Ivanodaryivka. The situation is under control of Ukrainian forces.
Kramatorsk axis: Ukrainian forces successfully repelled four air fire supported attacks targeting their defensive lines outside of Hryhorivka and Chasiv Yar neighborhoods.
Pokrovsk axis: the invading forces carried out 23 assaults in an attempt to push Ukrainian soldiers out of their entrenchments defending the approaches to Novooleksandrivka, Vozdvyzhenka, Vesele, Novoselivka Persha, Yasnobrodivka, and Tymofiivka neighborhoods.
July 27
Kharkiv axis: Ukrainian forces fended off three offensive attacks towards Hlyboke neighborhood and two attacks towards Vovchansk and Tykhe.
Lyman axis: the adversary was attacking towards Makiivka, Nevske, and Novoserhiivka neighborhoods.
Siversk axis: the Russian troops launched five assaults towards Ukrainian entrenchments outside of the villages of Verkhnyokamyanske and Spirne. All had been successfully fought off.
July 28
Kharkiv axis: the invading forces carried out three offensive attacks towards Hlyboke and Vovchansk.
Lyman axis: the adversary 12 times attempted to take over Ukrainian entrenchments near Makiivka, Novoserhiivka, Nevske, Terny, Novosadove, and Torske neighborhoods.
Siversk axis: the enemy was seeking to advance towards Spirne and Ivano-Daryivka neighborhoods. All the five attempts proved futile.
Kramatorsk axis: the Russians troops launched six offensive attacks towards Vasyukivka, Hryhorivka, Chasiv Yar, Ivanivske, and Klishchiivka neighborhoods;
On July 27, a first-year student of Kharkiv National Air Force University died while piloting a K-10 Swift aircraft during a training mission. The causes of the air crash are being investigated.
WAR: LOSSES AND AFTERMATH
ENEMY LOSSES
Russia’s combat losses in the war in Ukraine over the time period from July 22 through 28 had totaled:
7,980 personnel
78 tanks
132 combat armored vehicles
350 artillery gun systems
6 MLRS
10 pieces of air defense equipment
1 warplane
339 tactical-operational UAVs
9 cruise missiles
536 automobiles and fuel tanks
55 pieces of special-purpose equipment.
Ukrainian drones attacked an oil refinery in the city of Tuapse, Russia’s Krasnodar region, resulting in explosions and fire at the facility. The drone attack, reportedly staged and launched by the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) within the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, occurred overnight on July 22. The refinery’s capacity has been undermined to a significant extent in the aftermath of the attack, according to a HUR’s press statement.
July 23: cyber experts with Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence launched a massive cyber attack targeting Russia’s banking system. The aftermath included several of Russia’s major financial institutions halting operations, as well as interruptions in mobile phone and internet networks.
July 28: the Ukrainian forces struck the Polevaya oil storage depot in the Kursk region, resulting in "powerful explosions" and a fire. The oil depot is a supplier of fuel for the needs of the Russian military.
Heavy explosions were also reportedly heard by residents in neighborhoods nearby a power substation in the Kursk region.
Special agents of the Cyber Security Department at of the Security Service of Ukraine have destroyed about 50 units of Russian equipment over the past month.
UKRAINE: LOSSES AND WAR AFTERMATH
The Russian military had dropped 700 guided aerial bombs and launched over 100 strike drones on Ukraine over the week under review.
Since the break-out of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Russia has killed 564 children and injured at least 1,487 others as of July 28, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General.
Russian bombing attacks on the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv had left 11 people dead and 97 others injured.
A total of 1,642 medical facilities and 676 health care centers in Ukraine have sustained damage, and another 214 medical facilities and 99 health care centers have been destroyed beyond repair by Russia’s invading forces over the time of the full-scale invasion.
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July 24 attack on Ukraine
Air defense forces destroyed 17 out of 23 Shakhed UAVs and eight reconnaissance drones launched on Ukraine by the aggressor state. On top of that, the Russian military attacked the Kharkiv region with two missiles, one of them Iskander-M ballistic missile and the other of a yet to be identified type.
Romania scrambled two F-16 aircraft during the invading Russian attack on Ukraine’s Danube ports to “monitor the situation”, the Romanian Defense Ministry reported. The ministry will “investigate” near Plaura, where the debris of a Russian drone had fallen.
Port infrastructure and a five-story apartment building in the city of Izmail, Odesa Oblast, sustained damage in the aftermath of a Russian bombing attack. Three injured casualties have been reported.
A Russian attack on an ecopark outside of Kharkiv left a stable burned down to ashes and two people who were rescuing the animals injured; other damage included the office and vehicles of the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD).
July 24 shelling attack on Kharkiv region
Nine people sustained injuries in the aftermath of a Russian bombing attack on Kholodnohirskyi District of Kharkiv city.
The adversary launched a missile targeting an infrastructure facility in Lozova, Kharkiv Oblast. The attack left three people dead and six others injured.
A Russia-launched glide bomb fell on downtown Kharkiv, injuring three people.
July 25 attack on Ukraine
Air defense forces destroyed 25 out of 38 Shakhed-131/136 strike drones launched by Russia on Ukraine. Tracks of another three drones were lost after they had flew over across the State border towards Romania.
The debris of a self-destroying drone reportedly identified as being of Russian origin were discovered in Romania’s Tulcea County. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said in a July 24 statement there was no sign Russia had launched a deliberate attack on the Alliance’s territory.
Danube port infrastructure and a private household were damaged and two people injured in the aftermath of a Russian drone attack on Vylkove neighborhood in Izmail District, Odesa Oblast.
The debris from a downed drone and the resulting blast wave caused damage to private households and an infrastructure facility In Zhytomyr Oblast.
July 26 attack with Shakhed UAV’s
The Air Defense Forces shot down 20 out of 22 Shakhed strike UAVs launched by Russia against Ukraine in an overnight attack;
Russian UAV’s struck and damaged NEC Ukrenego’s energy assets in the Zhytomyr and Chernihiv regions, including power substations;
A Shakhed drone targeted and hit an infrastructure facility and a hostel in Nizhyn, Chernihiv Oblast, leaving 15 people injured and the premises unsuitable for living.
July 27 drone attack
Overnight on July 27, air defense soldiers took out a Russian Kh-59/Kh-69 cruise missile and all four Shakhed drones launched by Russia at Ukraine.
Russia had launched three attacks with drones targeting power transmission grids in Chernihiv Oblast; a power substation in the Dnipropetrovsk region was damaged as result of a drone strike.
The debris from downed Russian drones caused damage to power transmission lines in the Kyiv region.
Overnight on July 27, a Russian drone targeted and hit an industrial facility in Poltava Oblast.
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Oleksandr Tsebrii, former Uman city mayor, machine gun platoon leader, fell at war on July 25. Eternal memory to the Hero...
WAR: POLITICAL DECISIONS, TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGHS, ARMAMENTS, ALLIED AID
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky:
July 23: chaired a meeting at the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Headquarters addressing the possibility for Ukraine to strike military targets across the border into Russia, as well as the future of the national missile program;
July 23: at a meeting in Kyiv with the State Secretary of the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, discussed the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression, air terror and the results of the Peace Summit;
July 24: listened to reports on performance of the Air Defense Forces, the frontline situation, as well as Ukraine’s military needs;
July 24: met and talked with members of Ukraine’s national Olympic team;
July 26: met with the Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky to discuss the situation on the Pokrovsk and Donetsk stretches of the frontline;
in an inaugural speech at the First International Congress on Military Medicine and Mental Health "Warrior: Life, Health, Combat Ability" demanded that military medicine should remain in the focus of government activities for the remainder of the year;
visited soldiers undergoing treatment and presented them with state awards;
July 27: accompanied by First Lady Olena Zelenska, toured the National Specialized Children's Hospital Okhmatdyt and talked with the children patients there.
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Visits to Ukraine
July 22: Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk met and talked with the State Secretary of the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and urged the Vatican to influence Russia to agree on creating a mixed medical commission to assess the health status of Ukrainian war prisoners in Russian captivity.
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The Verkhovna Rada endorsed the Presidential decree extending the validity of martial law from August 12 for 90 days, i.e. till November 9;
July 25: Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, while on a trip to the Kherson region, inspected fortification construction sites, and said construction is 97 percent complete;
July 22: The government reached agreements with Ukraine’s Committee of Eurobond Holders regarding the restructuring of external debt payments, Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal announced via Telegram.
“We are restoring debt sustainability. Today we have reached agreements in principle with the Ukrainian Committee of Eurobond Holders,” he wrote.
According to Shmyhal, this marks an important milestone in the debt restructuring process, which will save $11.4 billion in debt payments over the next three years and $22.75 billion throughout 2033.
“In this way, we can free up resources for urgent needs: our defense, social security and reconstruction”;
In the first half of 2024, tax and customs revenues of the State Budget grew 55 percent year-on-year.
As part of preparations for the upcoming cold weather season, the Naftogaz Group injected over 10 million cubic meters of natural gas into underground storage facilities as of July 22, 2024.
Government programs for interest-free lending to citizens, as well as the program "Affordable loans at 5-7-9 Percent" for condominiums to purchase alternative generation and energy storage equipment became operational since July 20.
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Iryna Farion’s suspected assassin found and detained
July 24: a suspect in the assassination of Iryna Farion, a renowned linguist, public figure, and former member of parliament, was tracked down and detained in the city of Dnipro.
July 26: Lviv’s court sentenced Vyacheslav Zinchneko, a suspect in the murder of Iryna Farion, to two months of pre-trial detention without the right to bail.
The Minister for Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko said that investigators have enough evidence to believe the young individual who had been detained in Dnipro is the culprit in the assassination of Iryna Farion. The 18-year-old suspect resides in Dnipro city. While preparing for the murder, he rented at least three apartments in Lviv. At this point, investigators are inclined to think that the shooter was contracted to carry out the attack,” Klymenko said, adding that any follow-up information will be made public later.
Following are key highlights from joint press briefing by the Internal Affairs Minister and investigators regarding the detention of a suspect in the murder of Iryna Farion:
The search for the suspect took 139 hours;
Iryna Farion was shot down outside her house while waiting for a taxi. The shot was fired from a distance of 1.5 meters;
Investigators are working on a version that Russian secret services might be involved in the murder of Iryna Farion;
So far, investigators have not yet found the weapon used in the attack. They have questioned 900 eyewitnesses and ordered 22 forensic examinations.
The suspected assassin was probably planning for new murders, as evidenced from a list of politicians and parliament members discovered in his phone history;
The suspect visited Lviv three times - on July 9, 14 and 18 while preparing for the murder.
A total of UAH 888.4 billion was earmarked from the national budget in funding for the defense and security sector over the first half of 2024, including UAH 155.6 billion earmarked in June alone.
The National Specialized Children's Hospital Okhmatdyt invited a tender for construction and renovation of its buildings destroyed and damaged in the aftermath of Russian missile attacks on July 8.
ALLIES AND PARTNERS
The Pentagon has found errors in its accounting calculations, which have allowed it to find an additional US$2 billion for weapons for Ukraine. The Pentagon has faced difficulties in accurately estimating the cost of military equipment sent to Ukraine due to unclear accounting definitions.
July 26: the European Union announced it had transferred the first tranche amounting to €1.5 billion worth of windfall proceed from sanctioned Russian central bank assets. The money will go towards military support for Ukraine.
Ukraine has joined the European Council in its decision to extended until 27 July 2025 the restrictive measures in view of Iran's military support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and for armed groups and entities in the Middle East and the Red Sea region.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken pressed his Chinese counterpart on areas of sharp disagreement between the two nations, including China’s support of Russia’s military industrial sector, the State Department said in a statement.
Mr. Blinken met with the Chinese official, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of an annual international conference of Southeast Asian nations in the Laotian capital of Vientiane.
July 22: Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, addressing an online meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union, urged partners to intensify aid to Ukraine in its efforts to safeguard and rebuild its energy infrastructure.
July 22: the Council of the EU gave the green light to extend for another six months (until January 31, 2025) the validity of restrictive measures it imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden has transferred his authority over the Ukraine Support Act to the US Treasury and State Departments, according to the White House.
Biden delegates to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken his functions and powers under certain sections of the Restoring Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act.
This law, previously adopted in the United States, includes provisions on the potential seizure of immobilized Russian sovereign assets for for the benefit of Ukraine’s restoration.
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Ukraine’s Foreign Minister’s visit to China, July 23-26
Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Guangzhou. The meeting highlighted the following:
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized at the meeting with Kuleba that the "conflict in Ukraine" should be settled at the negotiating table;
The Chinese Foreign Minister announced his country’s intention to increase grain imports from Ukraine and to joint efforts in support of global food security.
At a meeting with the Guangdong Province Governor Wang Weizhong and a delegation of regional government officials Dmytro Kuleba called for regional cooperation, in particular with the Mykolaiv region;
Dmytro Kuleba urged the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region John Lee not to help Russia and its companies evade sanctions.
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The Czech Republic has joined the international drone capability coalition for Ukraine, which is led jointly by Latvia and the United Kingdom.
Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles, in a phone conversation with her Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umyerov, announced her country’s intention to transfer a new MIM-23 Hawk anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine in September.
The 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks the Netherlands purchased jointly with Denmark for the Ukrainian Armed Forces are set for delivery by the end of summer.
The Ukrainian government has contracted Germany’s Rheinmetall Group to build an ammunition factory in Ukraine. The contract award was announced in February 2024. Construction is set to begin soon and be complete within a few years.
The UK government has placed a £176 million order for Light Multi-Missile Martlet (LMM) missiles, part of which will be transferred to Ukraine to support its Armed Forces.
July 24: The Committee of Permanent Representatives of EU Member States (COREPER) endorsed the allocation of €4.2 billion worth of macro-financial aid to Ukraine under the €50 billion Ukraine Facility for 2024-2027. The money will support Ukraine's financial stability and the functioning of its public administration.
July 22: In July and August, Ukraine will receive another 100,000 rounds of ammunition procured as part of a Czech-led initiative, according to Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky.
So far, a total of 18 countries have joined the ammunition initiative for Ukraine, meaning there are enough funds to buy and deliver 500,000 rounds of ammunition to Ukraine by the end of the year.
"In July and August we will send another 100,000 rounds of ammunition. We are now looking for money to buy even more ammunition so that the initiative can continue into 2025," Lipavsky said.
The Czech Ammunition Procurement Initiative is looking for artillery ammunition for Ukraine in countries outside the European Union. The first shipment of 50,000 rounds of ammunition has already arrived in Ukraine.
July 23: Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, the top two Democrats in Congress endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination in the 2024 presidential race. This comes after President Biden announced Sunday he was dropping out of the running and endorsed Harris' campaign.
Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 US presidential race has kicked off a six-month race to solidify his administration’s foreign policy achievements, particularly in the two areas most likely to shift dramatically under a Donald Trump presidency: the Middle East and Ukraine.
One crucial priority for Biden will be to ensure that he guarantees as much support as he can for Ukraine in case of a Trump win in November. The former president has vowed to withhold military aid to Ukraine unless it enters negotiations with Russia.
July 25: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during his visit to the USA spoke at a joint session of both houses of the US Congress, calling on American allies to speed up the provision of military aid to his country.
July 26: US President Joe Biden, at a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discussed the situation surrounding Gaza, the status of ceasefire talks and the possibility of reaching an agreement sooner.
July 26: The opening ceremony for 2024 Summer Olympics, officially branded as Paris 2024, was held in Paris. Paris 2024 is an international multi-sport event taking place from 24 July to 11 August 2024 in France. The competitions will feature 329 sets of awards in 32 sports. Ukraine is represented in Paris by 140 athletes in 23 sports.
July 27: At least 12 people (mostly teenagers) were killed and 30 others injured when a rocket fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah hit a soccer field in the north of the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
PUBLICATIONS AND INTERVIEWS
July 22/ Biden dropped out of the race: How will this affect the US elections and support for Ukraine?
July 22/ Yevhen Dyky, military and political analyst, ex leader of a company within the Aidar battalion: the Russian Federation will run out of "iron" within a year or a year and half at the latest.
July 23/ "We are not like Wagners": How former prisoners serve in the Armed Forces.
July 24/ The legal dimension of the Russo-Ukrainian war: Ukraine's wins in international courts.
July 24/ Petr Fiala, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic: Strength in unity, support for Ukraine from the G7 countries, NATO and the EU is projected into long-term.
July 25/ Kuleba's visit to China: What made the Middle Kingdom decide to get back to "mediation".
July 25/ Vasyl Zvarych, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Czech Republic: Warsaw and Prague are at the forefront of helping Ukraine and safeguarding international law.
July 25/ Oleksandr Pivnenko, Brigadier General, Ukraine National Guard Commander: Aside from our law enforcement missions, we also know how to fight.
July 25/ Artem Lysohor, head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration: For more than a year and a half now we have supported every resident of the de-occupied part of Luhansk Oblast, but every time we insist on evacuation.
July 27/ Transcarpathian-style innovations: "Mother of all drones" and an unmanned probe that is fully immune to air defenses.
Compiled by Maryna Dmytriv, Kyiv
