Ukraine Daily

Wednesday, July 20

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Russia’s war against Ukraine

A woman lays flowers and a toy at a monument near an office building that was heavily damaged in a Russian attack on Vinnytsia on July 14, 2022. (Alexey Furman/Getty Images)

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White House: Russia preparing to annex new Ukrainian territories. John Kirby, chief U.S. National Security Council spokesperson, said on July 19 that Russia is “laying the groundwork” to annex Ukrainian territories it fully or partially controls, including Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts. Kirby said Russia has started to appoint illegitimate proxies and plans to hold “sham referenda,” transition the currency to the ruble, and force residents to apply for Russian citizenship. The Kremlin is “dusting off the playbook from 2014,” Kirby said, referring to Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea.

Oleksandr Klymenko, a detective at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, was announced the winner of the selection of the new Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor on July 19. Read more here.

Biden meets Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska. U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden met Olena Zelenska in the White House. Zelenska will address the U.S. Congress on July 20.

UK Intelligence: Russia struggles to sustain effective offensive combat power, problem becoming increasingly acute. According to UK’s Defense Intelligence, Russia faces a dilemma over whether to send reserves to the Donbas or to southern Kherson Oblast, where Ukraine may conduct a counter-offensive. Russia’s advance rate in the Donbas is likely to be very slow due to the lack of soldiers.

Minister: Ukraine may block grain exports to Syria. Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky said that the grain exports may be blocked due to Syria purchasing Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia in the occupied territories. According to official estimates, Russia has stolen 500,000 tons of grain from Ukraine.

WSJ: ‘Ukraine faces difficulties getting western weapons to frontlines.’ According to the Wall Street Journal, Ukraine’s military is having trouble getting western weapons operational at the frontlines, citing a lack of commonalities across weapons. The provision of different weapons has reportedly turned into a “logistical nightmare,” as ammunition, training, maintenance, and logistics differ across weapon type.

Ombudsman: Russia forcibly deports 108 Ukrainian orphans from Donetsk Oblast, places them for adoption. According to Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, children between the ages of 5 and 16 are being set up with foster parents across the country upon arrival in Russia. The children have reportedly been fast-tracked Russian citizenship to speed up the process, says Lubinets.

Reuters: Russia to restart Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline on July 21. Russian gas flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will resume after routine maintenance is completed, Reuters reported, citing its sources. The pipeline, which accounts for more than a third of Russian natural gas exports to the European Union, was shut down for ten days on July 11 for repairs. The move was interpreted by critics as part of Russia’s efforts to blackmail and intimidate the EU.

Foreign Minister: Grain negotiations ‘advanced’ but fragile. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a televised address on July 19 that negotiations on the export of grain blocked at Ukrainian ports due to Russian hostilities are at an “advanced” stage. However, Kuleba noted that “everything can fall apart at any moment.” Earlier on July 19, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran. Putin reportedly said Russia will aid in the export of Ukrainian grain should restrictions on the supply of Russian grain be removed.

Prosecutor General, Security Service chief fired by parliament. According to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak from the Voice Party, 264 and 265 lawmakers supported President Volodymyr Zelensky’s motion to dismiss Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova and Security Service Head Ivan Bakanov, respectively. Zelensky cited the presence of traitors among prosecutors as the reason for their dismissal.

Defense Ministry: Ukraine preparing to ‘destroy’ Russia’s Black Sea fleet, de-occupy Crimea. In an interview with The Times, Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Havrylov said that Ukraine is preparing to “destroy” Russia’s Black Sea fleet. With the help of longer-range weapons from the West, Havrylov is convinced that Ukraine will be able to repel Russia’s attacks in the Black Sea and take back the illegally annexed Crimea.

The human cost of Russia’s war

Russian shelling kills 2 people in Sloviansk. Russian shelling partially destroyed a residential building in Sloviansk, Donetsk Oblast, on July 19, the State Emergency Service said.

Governor: Russian missile strike on Kramatorsk kills 1, injures 6. According to Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, on July 19, the Russian military attacked the central part of Kramatorsk with an R-37 missile.

Swedish volunteer killed in Donetsk Oblast. According to Swedish television broadcaster SVT, a 28-year-old volunteer from Sweden was killed after being hit in the chest by a grenade. The man had previously served in the Swedish Air Force as a lieutenant and arrived in Ukraine as part of the International Legion.

Death toll of Russian attack on Vinnytsia grows to 25. According to Vinnytsia Oblast Governor Serhiy Borzov, a woman died in the hospital from sustained injuries. 54 people injured by the attack remain hospitalized, eight of them in critical condition. A Russian missile strike hit downtown Vinnytsia on July 14. “What is this, if not an open act of terrorism?” said President Volodymyr Zelensky after the attack.

Ministry: Ukraine returns bodies of 45 fallen soldiers. According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, Ukraine returned 45 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in combat. The Ministry didn’t provide more details.

General Staff: Russia has lost 38,550 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on July 14 that Russia had also lost 1,691 tanks, 3,892 armored fighting vehicles, 851 artillery systems, 248 multiple launch rocket systems, 113 defense systems, 188 helicopters, 220 airplanes, 693 drones, and 15 boats.

International response

Reuters: EU to amend sanctions on Russian banks to allow food, fertilizer exports The EU will announce the unfreezing of some funds of top Russian banks to ease global food and fertilizer trade on July 20, reports Reuters, citing a draft document. Affected banks include VTB Bank, Sovcombank, Novikombank, Otkritie FC Bank, VEB, Promsvyazbank, and Bank Rossiya. New, separate sanctions to be announced on July 20 will freeze the assets of Sberbank, except for its resources required for food trade, an EU official told Reuters. The decision was made amid growing criticism from African leaders on the negative effects of sanctions on global trade, exacerbated by Russia’s war on Ukraine and its blockade of Ukrainian ports.

US adds Russia to human trafficking, child soldier lists. On July 19, the U.S. added Russia to its “Trafficking in Persons Report,” which lists countries involved in a “policy or pattern” of human trafficking and forced labor or whose forces or sponsored forces recruit or use child soldiers. “Millions of Ukrainians have had to flee their homes,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “That makes them highly vulnerable to exploitation.”

US creates $100 million Ukraine Agriculture Resilience Initiative. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced on July 19 that the fund is intended to “bolster Ukrainian agricultural exports” and protect against the global food security crisis. The fund will support Ukrainian farmers through increased access to critical agricultural inputs and strengthen infrastructure to export, store, and process agricultural goods. USAID intends to raise an additional $150 million for the initiative.

Minister: 6 French Caesar howitzers on their way to Ukraine. The statement was made by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, as cited by French publication 20 Minutes. France has previously supplied 12 Caesar howitzers to Ukraine.

US to give Ukraine more HIMARS rocket systems. The White House is expected to announce a new package of military aid to Ukraine this week, John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the U.S. National Security Council, said, as cited by online newspaper Yevropeiska Pravda. Kirby clarified that the new aid package will include additional HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, as well as additional ammunition for rocket launchers and artillery.

Program launched in US to provide prosthetics for injured Ukrainian children. Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska announced that Ukrainian children who have lost limbs due to Russian aggression will be able to go to the U.S. to receive prosthetics. The program was initiated by the Ukrainian House in Washington D.C. and the Embassy of Ukraine in the U.S.

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