Ukraine Daily

Friday, July 22

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Russia’s war against Ukraine

A volunteer stands on the rubble of a building destroyed by a Russian attack in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, on July 8, 2022. (Anastasiia Lapatina)

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Bloomberg: Russia plans to annex fifth of Ukraine by Sept. The Kremlin is moving to hold the so-called “referendums” in Russian-occupied territories in order to annex territories by September, Bloomberg reported citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. According to the sources, the attention is focused on the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and the southern territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

Canadian Armed Forces: ‘Russia likely no longer has the military capability to achieve its ambitions in Ukraine.’ The Canadian Armed Forces cited considerable personnel and equipment losses as reasons for waning Russian military capability in a series of tweets on July 21. They also noted that the Kremlin is now forced to “scale down its strategic objectives” while justifying its limited territorial gains with new rationale.

Turkey says agreement on grain exports from Ukraine to be signed on July 22. The Office of the President of Turkey said on July 21 that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will be present during the signing, Turkish Yeni Safak reported. Representatives from Ukraine and Russia are also expected at the signing, although it was not specified who will be attending.

Institute for the Study of War: Russian ‘operational tempo’ in Ukraine resembles pre-operational pause offensive. The U.S. think tank reported on July 21 that Russian forces conducted limited ground attacks in Kherson Oblast, east of Siversk, and south of Bakhmut. They also conducted unsuccessful ground attack north of Kharkiv. The ISW also suggests that Russia’s current operational tempo is “not markedly different” from its operations prior to its official pause and that Russian forces will likely not succeed in seizing significant ground in coming weeks.

Intelligence: Russia has used up to 60% of its missile stock since Feb. 24. Vadym Skibitsky, representative of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry Intelligence Directorate, said Russia most often used Kalibr, Kh-101, and Kh-555 cruise missiles, and also the Iskander short-range ballistic missile systems. “Due to international sanctions, Russia faces problems regarding producing new missiles. However, it still has enough of old Soviet stocks,” he added.

Reuters: Nord Stream turbine stuck in transit as Russia holds up delivery. The turbine was transported to Germany on July 17, but has since been stuck in transit because Russia has not given the green light to transport it back, two people familiar with the matter who spoke with Reuters said. Earlier, Moscow cut the capacity of the Nord Stream gas pipeline by 60%, citing the delayed return of the turbine that was being serviced in Canada.

Belarus de facto recognizes Russia’s proxies in occupied Donetsk, Luhansk Oblast. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko told AFP in an interview that he de facto recognizes Russia’s proxies in occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts as well as Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and, if necessary, will issue a corresponding decree, European Pravda reported.

Russia has attacked Sumy, Chernihiv oblasts 900 times since retreat from north of Ukraine. According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Russian forces have conducted 900 attacks on the northern Sumy and Chernihiv oblasts, including more than 50 airstrikes, since early April. Most of these attacks were performed with mortars and artillery.

General Staff: Russian proxies in Donbas confiscate documents from forcibly mobilized troops. Russian proxies are taking personal documents from people in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and forcing them to fight against Ukraine, reported the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. The General Staff said Russia’s proxies want to make it impossible for forcibly mobilized troops to desert and to render impossible the identification of those killed.

Regulator revokes oligarch Akhmetov’s media empire broadcasting licenses. The National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine revoked the licenses of eight TV channels and two TV providers of the Media Group Ukraine, owned by the country’s richest man Rinat Akhmetov. These include Ukraina and Ukraina 24 channels, which were among the most-watched channels in Ukraine before Russia’s full-scale invasion. Akhmetov earlier announced he decided to give up the licenses. By doing so, he seeks to avoid being officially classified as an oligarch in Ukraine. According to law, one of the criteria to be labeled as an oligarch is having considerable influence over media.

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The National Bank of Ukraine has devalued the hryvnia against the dollar by 25% on July 21. The new official rate is Hr 36.57 per dollar. Read more here.

Hackers attacked one of Ukraine’s largest radio networks, TavrMedia, on July 21, broadcasting fake news about President Volodymyr Zelensky’s alleged health problems, according to Ukraine’s security officials. Read more here.

The human cost of Russia’s war

Death toll of Russian attack on Kharkiv grows to 3, another 23 injured. Russian forces shelled a residential district in Kharkiv early morning on July 21 using the Uragan rocket launchers.

Governor: Grain field on fire after Russian shelling in Mykolaiv Oblast. According to Myrolaiv Oblast Governor Vitaliy Kim, the Russian shelling over the past 24 hours also hit residential buildings across the southern region, killing one civilian in the village of Shyroke.

Death toll of Russian attack on Vinnytsia grows to 26. According to Vinnytsia Oblast Governor Serhiy Borzov, a 20-year-old woman died in a hospital with 98% of her body surface burned. A Russian missile strike hit downtown Vinnytsia on July 14.

Governor: Russian missile strikes on Kramatorsk kill 1, trap 2 under rubble. According to Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, Russian forces attacked Kramatorsk with Iskander missiles on July 21, destroying a school and 86 residential buildings. One person was reportedly killed and two people remain trapped under the ruins of the school. The State Emergency Service is on site.

Prosecutors: Russia’s war has killed at least 358 children, wounded 681 since Feb. 24. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the numbers are expected to be higher since they do not include casualties in the Russian-occupied territories and areas where hostilities are ongoing. The biggest number of child casualties was recorded in Donetsk Oblast, where 361 children were either killed or injured.

General Staff: Russia has lost about 38,850 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on July 21 that Russia had also lost 1,704 tanks, 3,912 armored fighting vehicles, 859 artillery pieces, 251 multiple launch rocket systems, 167 cruise missiles, 113 anti-aircraft warfare systems, 188 helicopters, 221 airplanes, 710 drones, and 15 boats.

International response

Politico: EU agrees on new round of sanctions, targets Sberbank and bans Russian gold imports. The new package of EU sanctions against Russia is expected to be formalized later on July 21, Politico reported, citing diplomatic sources. The measures will target 48 more individuals, nine groups and companies.

WSJ: EU blocks sanctions on Russian titanium company fearing retaliation. The EU blocked a proposal to sanction Russian metals company VSMPO-Avisma PJSC after France and other member states objected over fears of a retaliatory ban on titanium exports from Russia. Such a move would reportedly hurt companies, such as European jet maker Airbus SE, which have called for the bloc not to sanction titanium sales.

International creditors extend debt repayments deadline for Ukraine. The Group of Creditors of Ukraine announced the suspension of debt repayments for Ukraine until the end of 2023 amid Russia’s full-scale war, with a potential one-year extension. The group, consisting of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the U.S., called on private-sector bondholders to follow suit. The debt repayment was originally due on Aug. 1, 2022.

CNN: European countries have expelled over 400 Russian agents since Feb. 24. Richard Moore, head of MI6, the U.K.’s foreign intelligence service, told CNN’s Jim Sciutto at the Aspen Security Forum that Russia’s ability to spy in Europe has been cut in half. A number of Russian spies posing as ordinary citizens were also exposed and detained.

UK to send over 1,600 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the country will also send scores of artillery guns, hundreds of drones, counter-battery radar systems, and more than 50,000 rounds of ammunition to Ukraine in the latest arms supply. “Together with our international partners, we will ensure Ukraine has the tools to defend their country from (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s illegal invasion,” Wallace said in a statement.

Politico: Pelosi asks Blinken to label Russia as terrorist state. According to Politico, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and warned him that otherwise, Congress will do so. Politico cited anonymous officials familiar with the phone call that occurred between Pelosi and Blinken earlier this week.

US senators introduce resolution recognizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine as genocide. According to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee press release, U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Ben Cardin introduced a resolution “recognizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine, which include forced deportations to Russia and the purposeful killing of Ukrainian civilians in mass atrocities, as constituting a genocide against the people of Ukraine.” The senators introduced the resolution shortly after Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, delivered a plea directly to Congress on July 20.

In other news

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigns. Draghi again handed in his resignation to Italian President Sergio Mattarella on July 21. His first attempt to resign a week ago was rejected. Draghi decided to resign after the populist 5-Star Movement, a party in the Italian government coalition, refused to support him in a confidence vote. Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio earlier said that the coalition crisis could leave Italy without the authority to continue to arm Ukraine.

Germany plans to raise gas storage targets to 95% due to Russia’s energy blackmail. Over concerns about the country’s ability to heat homes and keep factories running in the winter, the German government will require storage to be 95% full by November 1, up from the previous level of 90%, Bloomberg reported, citing a statement of German Economy Minister Robert Habeck.

3 men convicted in Estonia for buying drones for Russian military. A man in Estonia posted a public call to support Russia on the Russian social network Vkontakte and organized a fundraiser to purchase three drones for the Russian military, which he later tried to transfer to Russia through the Koidula border crossing where he was detained, reported Estonian ERR news. The court also charged two men who transferred money to purchase the drones.

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_Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Toma Istomina, Alexander Khrebet, Oleg Sukhov, Thaisa Semenova, Teah Pelechaty, Liliane Bivings, Anastasiia Malenko, and Alisa Soboleva. _

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