Ukraine Daily

Monday, July 25

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Russia’s war against Ukraine

Ukraine’s Black Sea port in Odesa on March 17, 2022. Russian forces attacked Odesa’s ports with Kalibr cruise missiles on July 23, one day after Russia and Ukraine signed UN-backed agreements to resume exports of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. (Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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UK Intelligence: Latest Lavrov comment on Russia expanding scope of war in Ukraine ‘almost certainly not true.’ On July 20, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed Russia had expanded the scope of its war in Ukraine beyond Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts to Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts as a result of Western countries’ longer-range weapons deliveries to Ukraine. According to the U.K. Defense Ministry’s latest intelligence update, this is not true, but maintaining control over these areas was “almost certainly an original goal of the invasion.” Lavrov may have made these comments to pave the way for referenda to take place beyond Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, the update said.

Institute for the Study of War: Kremlin continues to create regional volunteer battalions, face some mounting dissatisfaction from domestic enclaves. The Institute for the Study of War reported on July 24 that Russia is “leveraging private military companies’ recruitment drives to generate combat power,” noting that Russia’s Wagner Group is actively recruiting for deployment to Ukraine. The ISW also reported that Russian forces conducted limited ground assaults northwest of Sloviansk, east of Siverk, south of Bakhmut, and in Kherson Oblast.

General Staff: Russian army fails to advance in Kherson Oblast, retreats ‘chaotically.’ Ukrainian troops repelled Russian attacks near the villages of Sukhyi Stavok and Bilohirka near the border between Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported. On July 24, the Russian military also shelled dozens of settlements in Mykolaiv Oblast, trying to prevent the advance of Ukrainian troops, according to the General Staff.

Minister: Moscow may resume talks with Ukraine on ‘wider range of issues.’ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to Egypt that Ukraine is reluctant to resume talks. On July 23, Russia attacked the port of Odesa with two cruise missiles, a day after Russia and Ukraine signed agreements to reopen Black Sea ports and export Ukrainian grain.

Governor: Russia fires at Mykolaiv with cruise missiles, wounds at least 5. The southern port city came under fire on July 23 and on the morning of July 24, Mykolaiv Oblast Governor Vitaliy Kim reported. Casualties are still being determined.

Governor: Ukrainian forces kill 12 Russian soldiers from elite Sakhalin unit. According to Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai, Ukrainian artillery shelled positions of Russia’s OMON, a special police unit within the National Guard of Russia, near the Russia-occupied town of Lysychansk, and killed 12 of them. The unit came to Ukraine from Sakhalin Island, some 7,000 kilometers away from Luhansk Oblast.

Ministry of Defense: 7,000 women joined the ranks of Armed Forces since Feb. 24. There are more than 50,000 women in the Ukrainian army, 38,000 of which are service people, according to Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Malyar.

Governor: Russian forces pressure Ukrainian businesses in occupied Kherson to pay taxes to Russia. According to Kherson Oblast Acting Governor Dmytro Butrii, Russia is trying to force local businesses to re-register and operate as Russian companies. To register a business, locals have to obtain a Russian passport.

Ukraine’s Air Force destroys 3 Russian strongholds. Air Force Spokesman Yuriy Ignat reported in a televised address on July 24 that Ukrainian forces destroyed equipment and personnel at three Russian strongholds. Earlier today, Ukraine’s air defense shot down four Russian Kalibr cruise missiles targeting Khmelnytskyi Oblast.

Russia’s war has fully or partly ruined 183 religious sites in Ukraine. According to the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Affairs and Freedom of Conscience, 183 churches, mosques, synagogues, educational and administrative buildings of Ukraine’s religious communities were fully or partly ruined by Russian shelling and strikes. Five of the 183 sites damaged by the Russian attacks are Muslim, five are Judaic, and the other 173 are Christian.

Russia claims 2.8 million Ukrainians have entered Russia since start of invasion; Ukraine calls it forced deportation. According to Russia’s state news agency, the number includes almost 500,000 Ukrainian children. Russia claims half of the people came from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. The report doesn’t reveal the number of Ukrainians who left Russia. On July 13, President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of deporting over 2 million Ukrainians.

Exclusive op-eds

Gyunduz Mamedov: From victory to peace through legal means. Read the op-ed here.

The human cost of Russia’s war

Politico: 4 foreign fighters, including 2 Americans, a Canadian and Swede killed in eastern Ukraine. U.S. citizens Luke Lucyszyn and Bryan Young, alongside Canadian Emile-Antoine Roy-Sirois and Swedish Edvard Selander, were ambushed by a Russian tank in eastern Ukraine on July 18, Ruslan Miroshnichenko, the foreign fighters’ commander told Politico. They were part of a special operations force within the Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Tractor hits explosive in field near Kharkiv; farmer killed. Farmers have been suffering from hostilities regularly. On July 23, Russia’s shelling killed a farmer in the northern Sumy Oblast. In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, a combine harvester hit a landmine during fieldwork on July 20. The driver survived.

Polish fighter killed in eastern Ukraine. Tomasz Walentek, who fought in the International Legion of Defense of Ukraine (ILDU), has been killed earlier this week in Donbas, according to Polish media and the MMA Poland organization.

Ukrainian brigade commander killed on southern front. Vitaliy Guliayev, the commander of the 28th mechanized brigade, has died defending Ukraine, Dumskaya, an Odesa-based news site, reported on July 24. Under his leadership, Gulyaev’s brigade has liberated settlements in Kherson Oblast and repelled attempts by Russia to advance towards Mykolaiv and land marines in Odesa Oblast.

Ministry: Russia’s war has killed at least 18 medical workers in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Since Russia’s all-out invasion began, 123 medical buildings have been destroyed and more than 50 healthcare workers have been injured, Ukraine’s Health Ministry said. Almost 3,700 medics have been forced to leave war-torn regions and found jobs in safer regions of Ukraine.

General Staff: Russia has lost about 39,520 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on July 24 that Russia had also lost 1,722 tanks, 3,942 armored fighting vehicles, 2,823 vehicles and fuel tanks, 869 artillery systems, 255 multiple launch rocket systems, 113 air defense systems, 188 helicopters, 221 airplanes, 714 drones, and 15 boats.

International response

Ambassador Brink: US ‘seriously considering’ declaring Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said on July 24 that Washington was looking into the decision, but it has to be “carefully analyzed in accordance with American law.” A resolution calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism was registered in the US Senate on May 10. On June 23, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee supported the resolution.

EU: Nearly 500,000 Ukrainian children go to schools in EU. According to the EU Migration and Home Affairs, 492,647 Ukrainian kids have been integrated into the national school systems of EU countries. As of July 19, 3.9 million Ukrainian refugees registered for the temporary protection status in EU.

Washington Post: Ukraine wants more HIMARS but US says it’s complicated. The Americans have said they want to see how the Ukrainians use and absorb particular capabilities into their arsenal before they send more advanced weaponry, even if potential delays cost lives.

Poland crowdfunds Bayraktar drone for Ukraine. The campaign, started by a Polish journalist, raised over 22.5 million PLN (almost $5 million) to buy a drone for Ukraine’s military in a little under one month.

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