[Korrespondent] 22:57 Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the Rheinmetall plant, which is planned to be built in Ukraine, will become a "legitimate target" for Russia. The general director of the German arms concern Armin Papperger replied that he would not give up his plans, and plans to protect the future enterprise in Ukraine from attacks using air defense systems of its own production. "For us at Rheinmetall, the key task is to support our Ukrainian partners in the fight for freedom and democracy and to meet their urgent needs as soon as possible," Papperger said.
22:51 White House National Security Council coordinator John Kirby confirmed the use of American cluster munitions by Ukrainian troops: "We received some initial feedback from the Ukrainians, and they are using them quite effectively."
22:48 According to updated data, 31 people died as a result of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station by the Russians in the territory controlled by Ukraine, Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said. In particular, today there are data on 29 dead in the Kherson region and two in the Nikolaev region.
22:42 Zelensky, in an evening video message, called on all representatives of local authorities to spend budget resources "fairly and correctly": "Everyone understands what is at stake. Cobblestones, decoration of cities, fountains will wait - first, victory."
The President also said that he had spoken today with Prime Minister Shmyhal about budget expenditures: "I proposed two steps to the head of government. First: to find extra-budgetary funds for projects that are really needed now. There are people in the world who can help. Second: I asked the Prime Minister to consider replacing the Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine."
22:35 Chechen volunteers are now fighting for Ukraine and are actively conducting raids on the territory of the Russian Federation. Of their latest operations - the liquidation of the Russian military in the Belgorod region. For more details, see How Chechens Fight in Russia .
21:31 For the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the number one goal now is the destruction of Russian electronic warfare stations, spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces Sergei Cherevaty said: "The enemy has a fairly powerful electronic warfare. We need to improve and strengthen it, this war teaches us all. Ukraine has a powerful school of electronic warfare, so we will build up capacities. Russian electronic warfare stations are the number one goal. The day before yesterday another such station was destroyed."
20:48 Zaluzhny said that he had a telephone conversation with the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, and spoke in detail about the operational situation along the entire front line: "The armed forces of Ukraine, despite the enemy's super-complex minefields, anti-tank barriers and the fire destruction system, methodically destroy enemy forces and continue to conduct offensive operations to de-occupy our territory. There are successes in several directions."
20:19 Great Britain has provided Ukraine with 15 times more artillery shells than planned, Defense Minister Ben Wallace said.
19:54 Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said that the Russian Federation is not preparing provocations against civilian ships in the Black Sea.
19:51 The Western press is finding more and more signs of a delay in the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine. According to Politico, one of these signs is the transition of the allies from the supply of new weapons to the repair of those already sent. More details - in the material the West is changing its approach .
19:40 Borrell said that the EU will create a special section in the European Peace Fund and provide through it 20 billion euros for the defense needs of Ukraine. It is planned to allocate 5 billion euros annually over the next four years.
19:22 Zelensky said that he had the first telephone conversation in the history of bilateral relations with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali: "He spoke about Russia's unilateral withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, illegal blocking of shipping, shelling of Ukraine's port and energy infrastructure. We discussed preparations for the Global Peace Summit and invited the Prime Minister to visit Ukraine." The President also stressed the need to create a platform for dialogue with African countries.
19:18 The United States announced new sanctions against Russia - banks, individuals and industrial enterprises fell under the restrictions. In particular, sanctions have been imposed against a number of officials, Tinkoff Bank, Solidarity and Unistream banks, defense industry enterprises, as well as against 14 courts and private companies. In addition, a company from Kyrgyzstan fell under the restrictions.
19:01 The Russians fired artillery at the village of Petrovka, Bogodukhovsky district, Kharkiv region: two people were injured, a two-story apartment building and an office building were damaged. As of now, there is no power supply in the settlement due to the shelling, the IVA said.
18:55 Irish airline Ryanair has announced a commitment to resume flights to and from Ukraine at low fares within eight weeks of the opening of airspace, as well as intentions to deploy up to 30 new Boeing 737 MAX in Kiev, Lvov and Odessa worth more than $ 3 billion.
18:48 The UN Security Council will meet on July 21 to discuss the humanitarian consequences of Russia's withdrawal from the grain agreement, the British mission to the organization said.
18:44 Canada has imposed sanctions against 20 legal entities from Russia, including Tinkoff Bank, Yandex Pay, the Mir card, the big four telecom operators and Readovka. Also on the sanctions list were Joseph Prigozhin, Nikita Mikhalkov, Ivan Okhlobystin, Yulia Chicherina, Philip Kirkorov, Dmitry Kharatyan, Timati, singer Valeria and musician Alexander Sklyar.
18:35 The Foreign Ministry appeals to partners to fully support Ukraine's initiative to create a humanitarian maritime corridor in the Black Sea. The humanitarian corridor will allow the resumption of vital food supply routes to regions that need it most, the ministry said.
The statement also says that Russia's intention to treat foreign vessels as military targets is a flagrant violation of its obligations under international law to all states engaged in peaceful navigation in the Black Sea. "The Russian statement has no legitimate military purpose, but it is aimed at intimidating neutral states. The Russian statement covers the entire Black Sea, and not just the area immediately around Ukrainian ports, and, moreover, does not make exceptions for medical and other humanitarian reasons, as required by the laws of warfare at sea," the Foreign Ministry notes.
17:53 The number of those killed as a result of a nighttime missile attack on Nikolaev has increased to two - the body of another person was removed from under the rubble of the house. Search work continues, said the head of the regional police Sergei Shaikhet.
17:44 In the Ukrainian ports attacked by Russia, there are about a million tons of food, said the permanent representative of Ukraine to international organizations in Vienna Yevhen Tsymbalyuk during a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council. "We call on the international community to join Ukraine's efforts to save grain exports for the world. Together we must protect the most vulnerable segments of the population around the world," Tsymbalyuk stressed.
17:25 The amount of damage caused to the environment of Ukraine due to Russian strikes on military facilities exceeds 305 billion hryvnia, said Ruslan Beregulya, head of the Main Directorate of Mine Action, Civil Protection and Environmental Safety.
16:58 Great Britain imposed sanctions against PMC Wagner for crimes in Africa. In particular, restrictions were imposed against 13 people and companies associated with the activities of the group in Mali, the Central African Republic and Sudan.
16:36 Ukraine will receive a $1.5 billion loan from the World Bank guaranteed by the Japanese government. The corresponding agreement has just been signed by the World Bank and the Ministry of Finance, Shmyhal said. The funds are intended to strengthen social protection and provide assistance to people during the war and economic recovery.
15:53 The United States has allocated 190 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, of which more than half have already been delivered to operational units, and about ten infantry fighting vehicles have been destroyed, writes The Washington Post, citing sources. According to the publication, the Ukrainian military feel a shortage of spare parts for their repair.
15:27 The "head" of the occupied Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said that a Ukrainian drone was allegedly shot down by air defense forces in the central part of the peninsula, there were no casualties or damage. Ukrainian military telegram channels write about a detonating ammo depot in the Stary Krym region. And local publics write that explosions are heard in the area of the military airfield in Novofedorovka. The 43rd Separate Marine Assault Aviation Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet is based there. Planes from this airfield were used, in particular, to attack the southern regions of Ukraine.
15:24 The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that from 00:00 on July 21, all ships sailing in the Black Sea in the direction of the seaports of the Russian Federation and Ukrainian seaports on the territory temporarily occupied by Russia can be considered by Ukraine as carrying military cargo "with all the corresponding risks."
In addition, navigation in the areas of the North-Eastern part of the Black Sea and the Kerch-Yenikal Strait of Ukraine is prohibited as dangerous from 05:00 on July 20, 2023. Relevant navigational information for mariners has already been made public.
The Ministry of Defense recalls that the Russian Federation has once again grossly violated the universal right for the whole world to free navigation and deliberately undermines food security, dooming millions of people to starvation. "The fate of the cruiser Moskva proves that the Ukrainian Defense Forces have the necessary means to repel Russian aggression at sea," the agency said.
15:16 The SBU detained a propagandist blogger in Odessa, who was the right hand of the collaborator Stremousov. Before the full-scale invasion, they together organized paid mass actions in favor of the Russian Federation. During the period of the capture of part of the Nikolaev region and Kherson, Stremousov became part of the local occupation administration of the Russian Federation, and his henchman remained in the territory controlled by Ukraine. He ran pages and channels on social networks, justified Russian aggression, discredited Ukrainian defenders and called for evading draft into the Defense Forces. His stories and publications were picked up by the central mouthpieces of the Kremlin and distributed under the guise of the position of "ordinary citizens of Ukraine." The perpetrator faces up to ten years in prison.
15:13 Russian publics write about the liquidation in Ukraine of the famous Moscow volunteer Mikhail Luchin, who ran the telegram channel Misha in Donbass .
15:10 The Washington Post writes, citing sources, that Ukraine has begun using American cluster munitions. According to the publication, they were used against Russian forces in the south-east of Ukraine, trying to break the well-fortified positions of the Russian Federation. In addition, there are plans to use them under Bakhmut.
15:07 The European Union has extended sanctions against the Russian Federation until January 31, 2024. They were first introduced in 2014.
15:02 The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that tonight the RF Armed Forces continued inflicting "retaliatory strikes" with high-precision weapons allegedly on "production workshops and places of storage of unmanned boats" in the regions of Odessa and Ilyichevsk. And in the region of Nikolaev, according to Moscow, "fuel infrastructure facilities and ammunition depots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" were allegedly destroyed. The goal, as usual, "is achieved, all assigned objects are hit."
14:46 Since the beginning of the summer, many volunteers have begun to declare that Ukrainian defenders have a shortage of drones, and the Ministry of Defense does not buy them at all. The military themselves also state that the situation with UAVs at the front for Ukraine is developing badly. Today it became known that the state, represented by the Ministry of Defense, has not ordered a single kamikaze drone from Ukroboronprom since the beginning of a full-scale war. Read more in the material Scandal with drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine .
14:29 Poland is preparing for possible provocations from the Russian Federation and has transferred the military to the eastern part of the country, Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said. "We must be aware that, for example, the transfer of several thousand Wagner soldiers to Belarus also poses a threat to our country," he explained.
Peskov, in turn, said that the Kremlin considers the transfer of military personnel by Poland to the border with Belarus to be the reason for "increased attention" and "notice the aggressiveness of Warsaw."
14:03 The focus of Western partners has shifted significantly to the repair and support of weapons transferred to Ukraine, since the war can last for months and years, Pentagon spokesman William LaPlante told Politico. Keeping the military equipment handed over to the Ukrainians in working order is one of the main functions of a working group of 22 countries led by Laplante.
13:59 More than 10 thousand civilians of Mariupol were arrested by the occupiers, their places of detention or their further fate are unknown, adviser to the mayor of Mariupol Petr Andryushchenko said. According to him, every week dozens of people are detained in Mariupol as part of checks and searches for saboteurs. "Just ordinary people - for correspondence with residents of Mariupol in the evacuation, for reading Ukrainian news publications, simply on suspicion and denunciations," he specified.
The vast majority of detainees end up in the main torture chamber of Mariupol - the former central police department. Here people "confess", sign some papers, then at best - under surveillance, at worst - disappear forever, said Andryushchenko.
13:34 32 million tons of grain got stuck in Ukraine after Russia withdrew from the grain deal, said German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock. According to her, the same amount of grain was exported by sea during the entire period of the grain corridor. The minister noted that alternative options for the export of grain are now being considered, in particular, an increase in deliveries by rail.
13:05 As a result of the night Russian attack on Odessa, the building of the Consulate General of China was damaged, Oleg Kiper, head of the Odessa OVA, said.
12:38 The Russian army has been massively shelling the territory of Ukraine for the third day. At the same time, the Odessa region holds the main blow of the occupiers. For their attacks, the enemy, among other things, began to use Onyx anti-ship missiles. About what is known about them and whether the Ukrainian air defense forces can fight them - in the material, the Russian Federation is attacking Odessa .
12:14 According to the international human rights organization Amnesty International, in 2022 alone, more than 21,000 people were punished in Russia for their anti-war position. Most of them received fines, and 2,307 people were arrested. More than 150 people were involved under articles on "fake news about the army" and "repeated discrediting" of the RF Armed Forces. The repressive laws adopted in Russia are called "absurd" by the authors of the report.
In addition, Amnesty has documented cases where Russian citizens were sentenced to camps, and now the organization considers them political prisoners. Human rights activists called on the Russian authorities to release all those detained for their anti-war stance and to repeal repressive laws.
11:55 The head of the Odesa OVA, Oleg Kiper, specified that as a result of a night attack in Odessa, eight people were injured, including three employees of the State Emergency Service. There were no casualties in the area, according to updated data. Three victims were hospitalized in city hospitals, they are in a state of moderate severity, among them one employee of the State Emergency Service.
11:37 Detonation continues for the second day at a military training ground in the Kirovsky district of Crimea. The Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation stated that "the situation is stabilizing, detonation occurs much less frequently."
11:26 As a result of a night attack in Odessa, one person died - his body was found under the rubble, the head of the OVA Oleg Kiper said. Four people were injured, including one child. The Russians attacked the ports of the grain agreement, as a result of which the port infrastructure was damaged. In addition, there were hits on civilian infrastructure facilities, including the destruction of an administrative building in the center of Odessa, several more houses, including residential ones, were damaged by the blast wave. There was also a hit on one of the enterprises in the region, a fire broke out in the warehouse, one person was injured.
11:13 Borrell called the targeted attacks by Russia on the port infrastructure in Odessa barbaric, which have been going on for the third night in a row. According to the European diplomat, Russia's deliberate destruction of grain reserves intended for export will lead to a large-scale food crisis in the world.
10:52 The United States plans to announce another package of military assistance to Ukraine worth about $400 million, CNN reports, citing two US officials. The package will include additional rockets for NASAMS and Patriot air defense systems, HIMARS ammunition, artillery shells, Javelin anti-tank missile systems and TOW anti-tank guided missiles. Officials warned that the package has not yet been finalized and may be subject to change.
10:28 Australia has imposed sanctions against 35 organizations from the Russian Federation, the country's Foreign Ministry said. In particular, these are organizations from the defense, technology and energy sectors. Also, ten individuals fell under the sanctions, including Russian ministers and officials, as well as the military from Belarus.
09:47 Ukraine does not yet have the ability to shoot down Onyx ground-based missiles, with which Russia is attacking the South, Air Force speaker Yuri Ignat said. He explained that these anti-ship missiles fly at speeds of more than 3,000 km per hour and, when approaching a target, can fly at a height of 10-15 meters above the water, which makes them difficult to detect and destroy.
“It is difficult to fight such missiles, so this complicates the work of air defense. But their work can be influenced by the same means of electronic warfare. Not all of these missiles reach the target, but some do,” Ignat added. As for the X-22 missiles, their speed is even higher - over 4000 km per hour, and they enter the target along a ballistic trajectory. Therefore, to defeat them, appropriate means are needed, such as Patriot, Ignat noted.
09:29 The Ministry of Defense of Belarus reported that the Belarusian military, together with the mercenaries of PMC Wagner, will "work out combat training tasks" at a training ground in the south-west of the country within a week.
09:26 In the Donetsk region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was killed (in Konstantinovka), two more were injured. In the Zaporozhye region, as a result of a guided bomb strike on Orekhovo, one person was killed, three were injured. There are three wounded in the Kherson region, according to the IVA.
09:15 Ukrainian troops continue their offensive north and south of the city of Bakhmut, they are fighting near Kurdyumovka, spokesman of the General Staff Andrei Kovalev said. On the southern front, the Russians tried to regain their lost position near Priyutnoye, without success. On the directions of Malaya Tokmachka - Verbovoye, Novodanilovka - Robotino, the Defense Forces were successful, and are gaining a foothold on the achieved lines.
09:12 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of July 20:
- personnel - about 240,010 (+530) people liquidated,
- tanks - 4129 (+6),
- armored combat vehicles - 8065 (+6),
- artillery systems - 4592 (+19),
- MLRS - 692 (+3),
- air defense systems - 433 (+3),
- aircraft - 315 (+0),
- helicopters - 310 (+0),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 3918 (+33),
- cruise missiles - 1293 (+14),
- ships/boats - 18 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 7134 (+29),
- special equipment - 685 (+2).
09:04 At night, the enemy launched a missile attack on Nikolaev: 19 people were injured , two were hospitalized, among them a child. As a result of the hit, several floors of a three-story building were destroyed and a fire broke out with an area of 450 square meters. m, which has already been liquidated. Debris clearing continues. Damaged neighboring multi-storey buildings, said the head of the OVA Vitaly Kim.
08:59 In the morning, the Russians fired on the city of Volchansk, Chuguevsky district, Kharkiv region, one person died, Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA, said. In addition, over the past day, the enemy fired at the settlements of the Bogodukhovsky, Kharkov, Kupyansky and Chuguevsky districts from mortars, cannon and rocket artillery and other weapons. Residential buildings were damaged, people were not injured.
08:45 At night, the Russians attacked Semyonovka, Chernihiv region, with kamikaze drones, there are hits in residential buildings, the number of victims is being specified, the head of the OVA Vyacheslav Chaus said. The enemy also fired artillery, mortars and helicopters at the Novgorod-Seversk community.
08:41 The Russian army is concentrating its main efforts on the Kupyansky, Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Maryinsky directions - over the past day there have been about 30 clashes, the General Staff said in the morning summary . At the same time, the Defense Forces continue the offensive operation in the Melitopol and Berdyansk directions, and consolidate on the achieved lines.
08:37 At night, Russia again attacked Odessa and Nikolaev, under attack - ports, berths, residential buildings and retail chains, the command of the Air Force reported. In total, the enemy fired 19 missiles and 19 attack drones at Ukraine, five missiles and 13 drones were destroyed. The Russian army used:
- seven Onyx cruise missiles from the Bastion coastal missile system (Crimea);
- four Kh-22 air-launched cruise missiles from eight Tu-22MZ aircraft (Black Sea area);
- three Caliber sea-launched cruise missiles, probably from a submarine from the Black Sea, two of which were destroyed by air defense forces;
- five ground-based cruise missiles Iskander-K (Crimea), of which three were destroyed;
- 19 attack UAVs of the Shahed-136/131 type from two directions - southern (Chauda, Crimea) and northeastern (Kursk), 13 of them were destroyed by air defense forces.
08:04 At night, Sumy was attacked by three enemy Shahed 136 UAVs, the IVA reported. One of them was shot down, the second was shot down by air defense forces, and the third hit the building of an out-of-school health institution. As a result of the hit, the premises of the institution were damaged, a fire broke out. One person was hurt.
07:28 Explosions were heard in the north-west of Crimea at night. The occupying "authorities" said that as a result of the drone attack, four administrative buildings were damaged, and a teenager died. The name of the settlement and the district itself are not named by the "authorities", but telegram channels write that it is about the village of Razdolnoye. Also in social networks they doubt that there was only one drone, as Gauleiter Sergei Aksenov said.
05:35 Russia can strike at civilian ships in the Black Sea and blame Ukraine for this, said Adam Hodge, spokesman for the US National Security Council. According to him, the Russians began to install additional naval mines in the Black Sea, mainly on the approaches to Ukrainian ports.
Hodge recalled Moscow's statement that "any vessel heading for a Ukrainian port will be considered as potentially carrying military cargo." "We believe that this is a coordinated attempt to justify any attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea and put the blame for these attacks on Ukraine," Hodge said.
04:29 The Russians are attacking the Odessa region: as a result of attacks on the center of Odessa, there is destruction, a fire started on an area of 300 square meters. m, it is known about two victims. There is also an “arrival” in the region, Oleg Kiper, head of the OVA, said.
03:47 Putin's refusal to participate in the BRICS summit in South Africa indicates the final loss of his authority, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said: "This indicates the global weakness of the Russian Federation. There is no better example, better illustration of the significant deterioration of Russia's authority in the world than the fact that President Putin is now unlikely to be able to go abroad ... Russia's war has become a strategic defeat for Putin himself."