Ukraine Daily

Wednesday, July 13

Want to get the news faster? Follow our website: kyivindependent.com.

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A dormitory for internally displaced people in Kryvyi Rih is seen from the outside on June 23 (Andrii Gorb)

Dear readers, we recently launched a new newsletter, Belarus Weekly, and you are the first to see it! To receive the Belarus Weekly newsletter in the future, subscribe via this link.

Zelensky: Russia does not have courage to admit defeat, withdraw from Ukraine. “Russian soldiers, we know this from their intercepted (phone) conversations, are scared of our Armed Forces,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his address to the Ukrainian nation on July 12. “They no longer have strategic power, character, or understanding of what they are doing here, on our land. There is not an iota of courage to admit defeat and withdraw troops from the Ukrainian territory.”

Delegations of Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, UN to meet in Istanbul for grain talks. Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said the talks would be held in Turkey on July 13 to discuss Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported. The official also said that the Turkish delegation earlier visited both Kyiv and Moscow and the meetings went well.

Ukrainian forces destroy 5 Russian ammunition depots, military base on July 12. According to Serhii Bratchuk, the spokesman for the Odesa Oblast Administration, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed a Russian military base in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, as well as five ammunition depots located in Russian-occupied Donetsk, Nova Kakhovka, and Charivne.

Ukrainian aviation has conducted 1,700 airstrikes on Russian forces since Feb. 24. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian Air Force has carried out 1,700 airstrikes targeting the positions, warehouses, equipment, and troops of the Russian forces, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force Command.

16 ships enter Ukrainian ports for grain. According to the Infrastructure Ministry, 16 vessels have entered through the Danube-Black Sea Canal to load Ukrainian grain as of July 12. Other more than 90 ships are currently waiting for their turn. The ministry expects that it will be able to increase the monthly export of grain by 500,000 tons. The use of the canal opened up after Ukraine liberated Snake Island from Russian forces on June 30.

Media: Unpublished poll shows 30% of Russians support immediate end of war against Ukraine. Russian independent media Meduza reported that it had acquired access to an unpublished poll ordered by the Kremlin and conducted in late June. The survey showed that 57% of the polled Russians support the continuation of the war against Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Intelligence: Putin won’t announce mobilization in Russia in near future. According to the representative of the Defense Ministry’s Intelligence Directorate, Vadym Skibitsky, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will not publicly recognize that Russia’s military actions in Ukraine are a full-scale war. On May 28, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported that Russia continues to conduct covert mobilization to replenish its forces.

Read our exclusive stories

Ukrainian-born U.S. Congresswoman Victoria Spartz has recently come out with sweeping accusations against President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak. The Kyiv Independent explains the accusations laid out by Spartz and provides a case-by-case analysis of whether there is evidence backing the congresswoman’s claims.

The human cost of Russia’s war

Update: Death toll of Chasiv Yar missile strike rises to 45. The State Emergency Service said it had pulled 45 bodies out of the rubble, including a child. The Russian missile strike hit a five-story apartment building in the city of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on July 9. Nine people have been rescued. The rescue operation continues.

Bodies of 30 fallen Ukrainian soldiers to be handed over to their relatives for burial. Oleh Kotenko, the official responsible for missing people, told Suspilne television that the bodies had been retrieved in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

International response

US announces additional $1.7 billion worth of economic aid to Ukraine. The U.S. Treasury said the latest contribution of economic assistance for the war-torn country is aimed to help the Ukrainian government provide “essential services” for its people.

Ukrainian World Congress takes Canada’s government to court for releasing Nord Stream 1 turbines. The Ukrainian World Congress announced on July 12 that they took legal action against Canada for breaking sanctions and transferring repaired turbines to Germany for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. “We cannot supply a terrorist state with the tools it needs to finance the killing of tens of thousands of innocent people,” Paul Grod, President and CEO of the Ukrainian World Congress, said. “This is not just about a turbine or possible many turbines to support Russia’s energy exports, this is about continuously succumbing to Russia’s blackmail.”

Lithuania calls on West to cut economic ties with Russia. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that severing economic ties with Russia was the right move for Vilnius considering Russia’s “blackmail,” and urged other Western countries to follow their example. “You can clearly see that the policy, which was without any illusions towards Russia, has worked much better than the so-called realpolitik or realistic policy, which is now causing big headache for some Western countries,” Nauseda told LRT, Lithuanian public broadcaster.

Danish toy producer Lego to exit Russia. Lego has laid off 70 employees and ended its partnership with Inventive Retail Group, which managed the brand’s stores in the country, Yevhen Chikhachev, CEO of the Russian branch of Lego, told Inc, a Russian publication. The Danish company suspended the supplies of its products to Russia soon the Feb. 24 invason.

Spain considers donating Leopard tanks, armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles is open to negotiating a possible donation of 10 German-made Leopard tanks and 20 armored personal carriers to Ukraine, Spanish media outlet Infodefensa reported.

European Space Agency stops cooperation with Russia on exploring Mars. The European Space Agency (ESA) decided to end its cooperation with the Russian space agency Roscosmos on the ExoMars-2022 mission, ESA Director General Josef Ashbacher announced on July 12.

Zelensky: Poland delivers AHS Krab howitzers to Ukraine. During his visit to Kyiv on July 12, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced a transfer of another batch of AHS Krab howitzers. He did not specify how many self-propelled howitzers Poland has delivered. The two also discussed the possibility of training Ukrainian soldiers in Poland.

EU spokesperson: Second tranche of EU macro-financial aid package to amount to 8 billion euros. The first tranche, worth 1 billion euros, was approved by the European Union on July 12.

In other news

Former MP suspected of demanding $10,000 bribe detained in Kyiv. According to Kyiv’s Prosecutors’ Office, the ex-lawmaker demanded the bribe from a representative of an enterprise in order to influence judges in its favor. Law Enforcement Officers have not provided the identity of the detainee but Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing its sources, that it is most likely Artur Bilous.

Want to get the news faster? Follow our website: kyivindependent.com.

Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Alexander Khrebet, Asami Terajima, Alisa Soboleva, Toma Istomina, Oleg Sukhov, Olga Rudenko, Brad LaFoy, Olena Goncharova, and Anastasiya Gordiychuk.

If you’re enjoying this newsletter, consider becoming our patron on Patreon or donating via GoFundMe. Start supporting independent journalism today.