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Ukraine war, day 880. Front-line Ukrainian troops have supply problems, says Zelensky / Russia’s Tuapse refinery damaged by drone attack
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian troops on the front line lack essential supplies, especially ammunition and drones.
- The main refinery of oil giant Rosneft in southern Russia caught fire following a drone attack on Monday morning, regional authorities said.
UPDATE Latvia sends 500 more drones to Ukraine
Riga has prepared a batch of more than 500 drones to be sent to Ukraine, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds said on July 22. At the beginning of this month, Riga announced that it will send Ukraine in July more than 2,500 combat drones of various types, worth 4 million euros.
UPDATE Johnson acted in the interest of Ukraine during the meeting with Trump, says the deputy prime minister
“He has the right to his opinion. He acts in the interest of Ukraine and can afford to do so, because he knows the position of our president and the position of Ukrainians,” said Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna.
UPDATE A Russian bombing injured 5 people in Nikopol, in the Dnipropetrovsk region
The governor of Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhii Lysak, said that a 37-year-old man was hospitalized in moderate condition as a result of the attack and that four other people were treated in outpatients.
UPDATE Russia begins dismantling the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in occupied Crimea
Former Deputy Prosecutor General Gyunduz Mamedov stated, quoting Metropolitan Klyment of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) Diocese of Crimea, that this was the last OCU church left on the occupied peninsula.
UPDATE Czech initiative secures funds to supply Ukraine with 500,000 shells by 2024
There are enough funds to supply Ukraine with 500,000 shells by the end of the year, although that number could rise to 800,000 “if additional funding is secured,” Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said.
UPDATE Ukraine reaches a preliminary agreement with bondholders on debt restructuring
Based on the agreement, Ukraine will save 11.4 billion dollars in the next three years and 22.75 billion dollars by 2033, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal explained.
UPDATE The illegal flow of chips from China to Russia is declining, Reuters reports
Shipments of semiconductors and other dual-use goods to Russia fell by a fifth in 2024, Reuters reported on July 22, citing data from the US Commerce Department.
Russian troops put pressure on the Ukrainian logistics center in Pokrovsk
Ukraine’s supreme commander said on Monday that Russian forces were mounting unrelenting attacks to try to advance on the city of Pokrovsk, a logistics hub in the east, and that active fighting was taking place along the entire front.
“The enemy pays no attention to the rather high level of casualties and continues to advance towards Pokrovsk,” General Oleksandr Sirski said in a statement from the eastern front.
Pokrovsk is less than 25 km from Russian-occupied territory and is at a crossroads of roads and a railway that makes it an important logistics point for the military and civilians in the east.
Occupied Donetsk has problems with its water supply due to a power cut in Russia
The water supply from the Don River to Russian-occupied Donetsk has been interrupted due to a power outage in Russia.
Several Russian regions and part of the occupied Crimea remained without electricity. In total, about one million people lost power almost simultaneously.
Major power system disruptions and widespread blackouts occurred in southern Russia and the peninsula after a power outage at a unit of the Rostov nuclear power plant on July 20.
“Due to the blackout in Russia, the pumping stations of the recently built Don-Donbas canal are down, and the water supply has stopped completely. The repair will take months, and the situation in the occupied territories has deteriorated,” he declared the Center for National Resistance of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister goes to China for the first time since the beginning of the war
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not provide many details, other than an announcement from spokesman Mao Ning, who said Dmitro Kuleba would be in China from Tuesday to Friday. Kuleba’s visit takes place at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, reported the Chinese agency Xinhua.
Ukraine has also confirmed that the meeting will take place. The main topic of discussion will be “the search for solutions for Russian aggression and the possible role of China in obtaining a stable and just peace”, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kiev.
Russia is massing its forces in the Kharkiv region for new attacks
Russia has deployed additional assault units near the village of Hliboke in the Kharkiv region to prepare for new offensive operations, Nazar Volosin, spokesman for the Khortytsia force group, told Interfax Ukraine.
The village of Hliboke is located in the north of the Kharkiv region, 7 kilometers from the Russian border and 39 kilometers from the second largest city in Ukraine, the city of Kharkiv.
Russia launched an offensive in the Kharkiv region in May, but the assault quickly stalled. According to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, around 20,000 Russian soldiers were killed during the failed attack in the northeastern region.
Russia is currently massing new troops near the village of Hliboke and in the central and eastern parts of the city of Vovceansk, which has become the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the Kharkiv region.
A Ukrainian drone strike set Russia’s Tuapse refinery on fire
The main refinery of oil giant Rosneft in southern Russia caught fire following a drone attack on Monday morning, regional authorities said.
“The infrastructure of the oil refinery in Tuapse was damaged as a result of the fall of some drone debris,” the authorities said on Telegram. The fire, which broke out on a territory of 50 square meters, was extinguished by 8:01 local time.
Air defense shot down eight drones around the city of Tuapse, Interfax reported. In total, 75 Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed over Russian territory on Monday morning, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.
This is the first successful Ukrainian attack on a major Russian refinery since mid-May and comes as Russia’s oil refining industry is poised to increase production to a six-month high to meet domestic demand in growth.
Kiev claims that Russia lost 567,760 soldiers in Ukraine
Russia has lost 567,760 soldiers in Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Monday.
This number includes 1,050 losses suffered by Russian forces in the last day alone.
According to the report, Russia also lost 8,284 tanks, 15,980 armored fighting vehicles, 21,138 vehicles and fuel tanks, 15,637 artillery systems, 1,123 multiple launch missile systems, 900 of air defense systems, 362 planes, 326 helicopters, 12,475 drones, 28 ships and boats and a submarine.
Ukrainian frontline troops are having problems with supplies, especially ammunition and drones
Ammunition shortages have long been a constant problem in Ukraine, especially in the first half of 2024. During the winter months, Ukraine’s armed forces suffered a critical shortage of shells, largely due to delays in military aid from US.
“What is missing… Ammunition distribution and a sufficient number of drones, first of all,” Zelenskiy said.
Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Sîrski visited the front-line brigades and reported on the lack of military supplies, Zelensky said.
The report comes days after the Ministry of Defense announced it would return “a significant amount” of ammunition previously designated as expired on the front lines.
“It is very important to ensure that, in all key directions, we have the necessary means to inflict maximum losses on the enemy,” Zelenskiy said.
Zelenski also commented on the recent arrival of a German Patriot air defense system.
“I would like to thank Germany and the United States for this step. We will be able to do more in the sky,” he said.
Source: www.mediafax.ro
