Ukraine Daily

Sunday, July 3

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Russia’s war against Ukraine

Ukrainian traditional beetroot soup, borshch, is now on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage. (Depositphotos)

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Lukashenko accuses Ukraine of shelling Belarus, orders to ‘take aim’ at Minsk’s opponents. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said that Ukraine allegedly tried to target military facilities in Belarus three days ago, but the rockets were intercepted. He added that Belarus will enter Russia’s war if the Ukrainian military crosses the country’s border or starts to kill the Belarusian people. Russia has been using Belarus’ territory to launch missiles at Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Mayor: Lviv defenses to be strengthened due to threat of attack from Belarus. According to Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, defense headquarters to be established in each city district, and additional training will be conducted for the local Territorial Defense units. “The situation is changing, so our defense strategies need to be changed and updated as well,” Sadovyi said.

General Staff: Russian forces on defensive near Sloviansk, continue to shell towards Kramatorsk. In an update on July 2, Ukraine’s General Staff reported that Russian forces are trying to fend off Ukrainian advances near Kharkiv. Belarus has also reportedly extended mobilization training near its border with Ukraine until June 9.

UK Defense Ministry: Russian forces continue to make ‘minor advances’ around Lysychansk. The U.K. Defense Ministry said in its intelligence update that Ukrainian forces are likely continuing to block Russian forces from advancing further in the southeastern outskirts of Lysychansk, the last Ukrainian-held large city in Luhansk Oblast. The British intelligence also suggested that due to low supplies of more accurate modern weapons, Russian forces continue to use anti-ship missiles in ground attacks which are known to be highly inaccurate and can cause severe collateral damage and casualties.

Ukraine denies reports on encirclement of Lysychansk, Ukraine’s last stronghold in Luhansk Oblast. According to Ruslan Muzychuk, the spokesperson of the National Guard, Lysychansk is under Ukrainian control, although there are fierce battles in the city. Earlier on June 2, Russian state-controlled media TASS reported that Lysychansk was encircled.

Official: Russia steps up missile attacks across Ukraine to push Kyiv into making territorial concessions. Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the Ukrainian president’s office, told the Ukrainian Channel 24 that Russia had to change its war tactics because its military “doesn’t know how to fight well on the battlefield,” so it began firing even more powerful missiles on Ukrainian cities to frighten civilians, hoping that Ukraine’s government will make territorial concessions.

BBC: Ukraine loses $135 million as Russia steals water from Dnipro River to supply occupied Crimea. According to BBC, the Russian military seized the Kakhovka reservoir in Kherson Oblast during the first days of the all-out invasion and let the water go down the 400-kilometer-long North Crimean Canal, blocked by Ukraine in 2014 when Russia illegally annexed the peninsula. Every second, 50 cubic meters of water flow through the canal, which costs Ukraine around $1.1 million per day.

Official: Only 5% of Mariupol residents have access to water. Petro Andriushchenko, the advisor to Mariupol’s mayor, said that access to a water supply is currently the “number one problem” in the city.

CNN: US believes Russia does not have sufficient forces to control Kherson Oblast. U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said the Kremlin “faces rising partisan activity in southern Ukraine,” which may serve as a growing challenge to Russia’s attempts to control temporarily occupied regions. Another U.S. official said Russia likely does not have sufficient forces in Kherson Oblast, especially considering its dedication of troops to Donbas.

Zelensky: Over 2,600 Ukrainian settlements under Russian occupation. In a video address to the nation, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian military has liberated 1,027 settlements so far. He also reported that since Feb. 24, 10 of Ukraine’s 24 oblasts have been affected by Russia’s hostilities, with hundreds of enterprises destroyed, including dangerous chemical and metallurgical plants.

Association of Ukrainian Cities: 8 Ukrainian mayors currently in Russian captivity. According to the association, six of the officials captured by Russia are mayors of settlements in occupied Kherson Oblast, including Kherson Mayor Ihor Kolykhaiev.

Zaluzhnyi: Russians try to destroy equipment, weapons left on Snake Island. According to Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi, after leaving Snake Island the Russian military tried to destroy equipment and weapons left behind.

Ukrainian border guards find hard drive containing over 100 gigabytes of Russian military’s data. State Border Service reported that the disk found in Chernihiv Oblast contains a staff list and biographical data of Russian military personnel from a specific air defense artillery division, data about Russian weapons and military equipment, as well as documents, such as information regarding Mocow’s military exercises. Some of them were labeled “classified,” according to the report.

New York Times: References to Nazism in articles about Ukraine on Russian websites at ‘unprecedented levels’ after Russia’s invasion. Data by Semantic Visions collected from over 8,000 Russian websites since 2014 show that references to Nazism in articles about Ukraine surged on Feb. 24 and have remained high ever since. Russian disinformation falsely claiming that Ukraine is “overrun by far-right extremists” is reportedly intended to justify its war against Ukraine and garner domestic support.

Institute for the Study of War: Ukrainian forces likely deliberately withdrew from Lysychansk. The U.S. think tank reported on July 2 that geolocated footage may suggest Russian forces did not encounter much resistance when entering Lysychansk, resulting in Russian seizure of the city on July 2. The ISW added that Russian forces will likely take complete control of Luhansk Oblast in coming days, afterwards prioritizing advances on Ukrainian positions in Siversk then in Sloviansk and Bakhmut.

Governor reports explosions in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast. Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported early on July 3 that a series of explosions were heard in the region. According to Gladkov, a residential building is on fire and three civilians are hospitalized. The cause of the explosions has yet to be confirmed.

Read our exclusive, on the ground stories

The Kyiv Independent joined forces with journalists Frédéric Ploquin and Maria Poblete to publish “The Kyiv Independent: Diary of Ukrainian Resistance” (“Carnet de bord de la résistance ukrainienne”), a first-hand account of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. Read about our new book here.

Ukrainian traditional beetroot soup, borshch, is now inscribed on UNESCO’s list of endangered intangible cultural heritage. Read our story here.

The human cost of Russia’s war

Russian mine kills one civilian, injures another one in Odesa Oblast. According to Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military in the south, the mine exploded in the Black Sea near the resort town of Karolino-Buhaz, 60 kilometers southwest of Odesa. Visiting beaches is banned in the area.

Governor: 4 civilians killed, 12 injured in one day in Sloviansk, Donetsk Oblast. While reporting the casualties from July 1, Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko also said that a civilian who was injured in an attack in the neighboring Luhansk Oblast had later died in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast.

Prosecutors: Russia’s war has killed at least 344 children in Ukraine since Feb. 24, wounded 640. The figures are expected to be higher since they do not include child casualties in the areas where hostilities are ongoing and in the occupied areas.

General Staff: Russia has lost 35,870 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on July 2 that Russia also lost 1,582 tanks, 3,737 armored fighting vehicles, 2,614 vehicles and fuel tanks, 800 artillery systems, 246 multiple launch rocket systems, 105 anti-aircraft systems, 186 helicopters, 217 airplanes, 653 drones, and 15 boats.

Governor: Russian shelling kills 2, injures 3 civilians, including children, in Donetsk Oblast. Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported on July 3 that Russian forces attacked the community of Dobropillia. Among those injured are two children, aged four and seven.

International response

Der Spiegel: European Commission set to allow Moscow limited transit to Kaliningrad region. According to Der Spiegel, the European Commission plans to issue a clarification that will allow Russia to resume sending goods to the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave via Lithuania. Berlin supports this decision, as the sanctions limiting transit to Kaliningrad created additional tension between the European Union and Russia, the German magazine reports.

British Foreign Ministry condemns Russia’s exploitation of captives for political purposes. British citizens Dylan Healy, 22, and Andrew Hill, 35, were both reported to have been captured in April. They have been charged with “mercenary activities” by Russian-controlled proxies in Donetsk Oblast. “We condemn the exploitation of prisoners of war and civilians for political purposes and have raised this with Russia,” the Foreign Office reported.

Poland’s Gdansk names city square near Russian consulate ‘Plaza of Heroic Mariupol.’ The naming decision was made in April, and the plaza opening ceremony took place on July 1. In this way, the city honored the resistance put up by Mariupol defenders against the Russian forces. Gdansk Mayor Aleksandra Dulkiewicz stressed during the ceremony that the fact that the square was located 200 meters from the Russian consulate influenced the naming decision. Mariupol is currently under Russian occupation, with hundreds of soldiers who defended Ukraine’s last stronghold in the city until mid-May still in Russian captivity.

35 countries demand to suspend Russia’s, Belarus’ membership in international sports organizations. A joint statement demanding it has been signed by 25 EU countries and 10 non-European nations, including he U.S., Canada and Japan. In addition, Polish Minister of Sports and Tourism Kamil Bortniczuk on July 1 called to remove Russian, Belarusian representatives from the govering bodies of sports organizations, as well as to stop broadcasting international sports events in Russia.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Asami Terajima, Olga Rudenko, Toma Istomina, Natalia Datskevych, Teah Pelechaty, Sergiy Slipchenko, and Alisa Soboleva.

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