• Ukrainian troops continue their advance south of Bakhmut.
• Biden: “Putin has already lost.” No real prospect of using nuclear weapons.”
• Putin: “I suggested another leader to the Wagner group. They said no.
• Zelenskyy: “No threat of invasion from Belarus.”
• The Long Night of the Russian Generals: relieved Ivan Popov, who denounced the mismanagement of the conflict.
• Ukrainian citizen charged in Russia over the death of former submarine commander Stanislav Rzhitsky.
16:45 – The military point | What does the Ukrainian army need? “Ammo, Ammo, Ammo”
(by Andrea Marinelli and Guido Olimpio) Stories from officers and soldiers explain what Ukraine needs. What follows is a short “notebook” of testimonies that have appeared on the Internet. Expert Dmitri Alperovitch, returning from a trip to the country, underlined several important points.
• The first is the usual and well-known: Kiev “needs ammunition, ammunition, ammunition”. If we’re still stuck in this “box” after more than 500 days of crisis, it’s because the army uses a lot of it to undermine the Russian bastions (more organized than expected) and the western supplies, continuous as they may be , not suffice.
Read the military point here.
– A Ukrainian post near the Bakhmut Front (Afp)
16:42 – Zelenskyy: The Russian devastation is huge, so is the aid
President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol “was in Bucha and Irpin today and saw with his own eyes the aftermath of the Russian occupation.” But Bucha and Irpin are just two of thousands of Ukrainian cities that have been ravaged by Russian terror. The scale of the suffering and destruction caused by Russia is enormous. Therefore, the scale of global cooperation must be enormous to restore security and ensure a stable peace,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter. “During this visit, the first in the history of our relationship, we discussed everything that is important for people’s normal and safe life” and “the rules-based international order,” he added. Other issues on the agenda include the return of deported adults and children to Ukraine, implementation of the peace formula, preparations for the global peace summit, food and energy security, and economic cooperation. Zelensky then recalled that “millions” of Ukrainians “are currently in the occupied territory or are being forcibly deported to Russia, adults and children,” and reiterated the “importance” of returning them to their homes and “separated by war reuniting families”. “.
16:26 – Flags in the wind for every killed Ukrainian soldier
(by Lorenzo Cremonesi, correspondent in Ukraine) Maidan Square in Kiev is the symbol of the Ukrainian people’s desire for freedom. A flag was erected on the lawn for each soldier who died in combat: on the blue and yellow fields are the soldier’s name and the date of birth and death.
15:49 – Kyiv: Rocket launchers hit in the massacre at Kramatorsk pizzeria
Ukrainian forces have announced that they have destroyed the Russian S-400 Triumf missile system responsible for a massacre at a pizzeria in Kramatorsk on June 27. Ukrinform reports about it. The attack killed 12 people, including a 17-year-old girl and 14-year-old twin girls. On July 1, she succumbed to her injuries in the hospital where Ukrainian writer Viktoria Amelina was lying.
12:47 – Moscow: “Kiev attack on Russian journalists foiled”
Russian security forces prevented preparations for an assassination attempt on journalist Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Russia Today and the Rossiya Segodnya publishing group. Ria Novosti reports about it. “The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, together with the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Interior of Russia, prevented the preparation of the assassination of Margarita Simonyan by the Ukrainian special services,” the statement said.
12:40 – Kremlin: “Putin will meet leaders of African countries in St. Petersburg”
The heads of state and government of the African countries involved in the peacekeeping mission in Ukraine “will certainly have an opportunity to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg at the end of July”. This was reported to TASS by the spokesman for the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov. “The summit program is still in preparation. But there will be opportunities to talk on the sidelines,” he said.
12:38 – vandals at the Ukraine exhibition, pro-Putin writes on the paintings
Unknown persons destroyed some of the paintings that had been on display in Naples for a few days as part of the exhibition “War and Peace in Ukraine”: on the paintings that were on display in the anteroom of the Barons of Maschio Angioino there were writings in which Putin was praised Russia. The organizers of the review, who are hoping for a quick identification of those responsible, make the accusation. Today, on the last day of the exhibition, it is planned to award the works of Italian and Ukrainian children on the theme of peace: the event, as announced by the Arte Reale association, will take place regularly.
12:23 – Kiev: “Wagner moves from Russia to Belarus”
An impressive convoy of the Wagner paramilitary group, consisting of at least 60 vehicles, arrived in Belarus from Russia today: this was announced by the Belarusian surveillance group Gayun, as reported by UNIAN. According to Rbc-Ukraine, the arrival of the Wagner mercenaries was confirmed by the Belarusian authorities. “This morning, July 15, a large convoy of cars and trucks with the number plates of the so-called DPR/LPR (the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, ed.) was sighted – says Gayun’s report –. Some factors indicate that it is a Wagner convoy that entered Belarus from the Russian Federation at night in the Krychau area.
According to Gayun, the convoy drove through Rohachiv in the direction of Bobruysk and then to Osypovych. The group believes the mercenaries moved into a tent city in the village of Tsil. At least 60 vehicles were spotted, including pickups, trucks, vans and at least three buses with passengers. The vehicles were escorted by cars of the Belarusian traffic police. For his part, the spokesman for the Belarusian border guard Andriy Demchenko confirmed that “Belarus has begun to monitor individual groups of representatives of private military campaigns who are leaving the territory of Russia.” He added that border guards are monitoring the situation to determine the whereabouts, number and role of the mercenaries.
12:20 – Moscow: “Kiev attacks Russian facilities, this is nuclear terrorism”
Moscow accuses Kiev of using “terrorist methods” against Russian nuclear power plants, which “could lead to a large-scale nuclear disaster” in Europe. This was stated by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, claiming that yesterday Ukrainian troops used a drone to attack the city of Kurchatov in the Kursk region with the aim of hitting a nuclear power plant. “We ask the IAEA and the UN to be very careful” and “to condemn Kyiv’s irresponsible behavior,” he said, adding that the Ukrainian government “has embarked on the path of using nuclear terrorism methods.”
10:08 am – Naval exercises between Russia and China will begin soon
Russia and China will soon hold joint naval exercises in the Sea of Japan, the Russian news agency TASS reported, citing the Chinese Defense Ministry. “As part of the annual cooperation plan between the Armed Forces of Russia and China, the Russian Armed Forces will soon send their Navy and Air Force to participate in the ‘Interaction/North-2023’ in the Sea of Japan – a report said communicated -. The exercises were organized by the Northern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army of China and will take place in the Sea of Japan in mid-2023.
09:50 – Kiev: “We shoot down the Russians in their southern positions”
Ukrainian troops on the southern front “systematically knock down the enemy in their positions”. This was stated by General Oleksander Tarnavskyi, commander of the Ukrainian armed forces in the south, in a message on Telegram. “In the direction of Tavria, the defensive forces are systematically crushing the enemy in their positions. Defense Force artillery units flew 1,177 fire sorties during the day. In the last day, the enemy lost more than one company in dead and wounded,” said the commander.
– Ukrainian soldiers in Donetsk (Afp)
09:11 – Gb: “The Popov case is a symptom of the subordinates’ dissatisfaction with the military leaders”
The case of Russian General Ivan Popov, who was fired for expressing doubts about the Russian military leadership’s strategy in Ukraine in a leaked audio file, is indicative of a broader official rejection of the decisions of Russia’s upper echelons. The British Ministry of Defense underlines this on Twitter. “Popov’s comments draw attention to the deep dissatisfaction many officers are likely to harbor with the military leadership. The complaints mirror those of Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin before his mutiny in June 2023, London claims. Direct criticism from subordinates is likely to become a growing problem for Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of staff, General Gerasimov».
08:34 – Russian drones over the city of Zaporizhia, one injured
One civilian was injured in the attack by Russian forces on Zaporizhia last night, City Council Secretary Anatoly Kurtev announced on Telegram, as reported by Rbc-Ukraine. The injured man is a 52-year-old man and the city was attacked with drones, the local military administration said. The attack damaged unspecified infrastructure and four blocks of flats, Kurtev added. According to the city’s military administration, the Russian army shelled the Zaporizhia region 45 times yesterday, destroying 27 buildings in 15 villages.
08:10 – Podolyak: “Ukraine’s accession to NATO would be a guarantee against Putin’s nuclear bomb”
(Lorenzo Cremonesi) “The Kremlin’s propaganda could do nothing but portray the NATO summit in Vilnius as a failure for Ukraine.” “Did we expect anything else?” judged by Moscow. President Zelenskyi’s best-known political adviser analyzes the state of relations between his country and NATO.
Here the complete article.
5:03 am – Putin: “Wagner does not exist”
Continue fighting in Ukraine led by Russian commander Andrey Troshev. This was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer to Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and his fighters. A proposal that would have been partially accepted by the militia officers, but would have been blocked by Prigozhin. At that point, Moscow had no other way of keeping the militia active in the country. “We have no law for private military organizations,” stressed Putin, therefore in legal terms: “Wagner does not exist.” The absence can also be felt on the battlefield: the Pentagon noted that the Wagner group “combat missions” in Ukraine ” no significant role”. The militiamen are on duty in Belarus to train the Minsk soldiers, the Belarusian Defense Ministry announced that “the training sessions with the units of the territorial troops are taking place near Osipovichi”. Place where, according to information circulating on Wagner’s social channels, her boss Prigozhin would have stayed, or at least would have been. In a photo published on the Internet, he can be seen in his underwear in a field tent.
05:00 – Sharp drop in the number of Russian soldiers in Belarus
According to the Ukrainian border guard service, the number of Russian soldiers stationed in Belarus has fallen sharply. Until recently, it was estimated that 2,000 Russian troops were in Belarus, but currently “almost all Russian troops have withdrawn from the territory of Belarus,” said Andriy Demchenko, spokesman for the border guard, according to CNN. “However, we cannot rule out that at some point regular units will return to Belarus as part of a rotation,” added the spokesman, stressing that the situation on the border “still remains under full control”. After all, according to Demchenko, no “organized deployment of Russian mercenaries” had been observed in Belarus. His statements come after the Belarusian Defense Ministry announced today that Wagner mercenaries are training Belarusian soldiers near the town of Osipovichi, some ninety kilometers south of Minsk.