[Korrespondent] 23:03 Zelensky, in an evening video message, urged Ukrainians to be very careful and prudent in the information field: "How many people were scared today by a fake about a massive Russian missile attack on Ukraine?.. How many nerves are spoiled daily by the circulation of horror stories from Russian propagandists and officials... How many problems Ukrainians create for themselves, trusting any anonymous source... This sometimes takes on simply unhealthy forms when deliberate stuffing from Russia spreads through social networks and websites, the purpose of which is to supplement rocket and artillery terror against our state with informational terror."
21:59 The SBU and the SBI detained the former head of the Crimean SBU Oleg Kulinich. He headed the department of the ARC until March 2022. Zelensky removed him from office after a full-scale Russian invasion.
21:21 The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to advance in the Kherson direction, the head of the press center of the security and defense forces of the Pivden operational command, Natalia Gumenyuk, said on Espresso air: “We are moving, maybe not as fast as those who feed positive news would like, but, Believe me, these steps are very confident."
21:15 Ukrainian defenders repelled the attempts of the Russians to cut the Lisichansk-Bakhmut highway. The occupiers wanted to seize the "road of life" so that after the regrouping they could begin to storm Bakhmut, said the head of the Luhansk OVA Serhiy Gaidai.
20:38 From the territory of the Svyatogorsk Lavra, a group of civilians was evacuated - this is a family that was hiding in the walls of the Lavra from constant artillery shelling by the Russians: a father, mother and three children. At the same time, the youngest child was born on the territory of the Lavra a few days ago. A couple of elderly people, a man and a woman, were also able to leave, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported. Up to 600 civilians remain on the territory of the Lavra, of which more than 50 are children, including four babies.
On June 1, the territory of the Svyatogorsk Lavra came under artillery fire from Russian troops, as a result of which Archimandrite Galaktion, the monk Aristokliy and the nun Varvara were killed, and several priests were seriously injured.
20:33 The International Court of Justice in The Hague may start considering the case of accusing Russia of the genocide of Ukrainians in the fall, said Ukraine's agent at the International Court of Justice, Ambassador-at-Large of the Foreign Ministry Anton Korynevych. According to him, Kyiv can bring to justice not only the Russian Federation as a state, but also specific individuals guilty of the genocide.
20:22 The Russians attacked Pokrovsk with an Iskander missile. The shelling hit the private sector, 27 houses were damaged, there are dead and wounded, the National Police said.
20:01 The head of the Vinnitsa OVA, Sergei Borzov, said that there are no more missing Russians after the strike in the center of Vinnitsa, the death toll is 24 people. 68 victims are still in hospitals, 14 of them are in serious condition, four are in critical condition.
19:30 In the Slavic and Bakhmut directions, the Russians tried to improve the tactical situation and establish control over the Uglegorsk thermal power plant, but the Ukrainian military forced the enemy to withdraw, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in an evening report .
19:04 The command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that today at about 15:20 Russian strategic Tu-95MS bombers launched a missile attack on Ukraine from the Caspian Sea region. Six X-101 (X-555) type missiles were fired, four of them were destroyed over the territory of Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk regions around 16:30. Two more missiles hit an agricultural enterprise in the Cherkasy region.
18:26 The head of the Cherkassy OVA, Igor Taburets, announced two explosions in one of the villages of the Chigirin territorial community. The blow fell on the agricultural enterprise. According to preliminary information, there are no victims. Agricultural machinery was destroyed and a few livestock were damaged.
17:51 The mayor of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ruslan Trebushkin, announced explosions in the city - residential buildings were damaged, there are casualties among the civilian population.
17:47 Ukraine can use HIMARS against Russian facilities in Crimea, Vadim Skibitsky, a spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, said on the air of the telethon. According to him, the Crimean peninsula has become a hub for the movement of all equipment and weapons that come from the Russian Federation to the southern regions of Ukraine.
In addition, Skibitsky recalled the ships in the Black Sea, from which Ukrainian territory is being shelled: "This is also one of the targets that must be hit in order to ensure the safety of citizens, our facilities and Ukraine in general."
Skibitsky also named two factors, under which a turning point in the war with Russia is possible: the ability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to stop the enemy’s offensive pace and the help of Western partners. Skibitsky himself expressed confidence that a turning point in the war would definitely happen.
17:29 The Netherlands will join the training of Ukrainian soldiers in the UK, the country's Ministry of Defense reported. Soldiers from various units of the Royal Netherlands Army and the Marine Corps will be involved in the exercises. Classes will start at the end of August.
17:13 "The head of the administration" of the occupied Zaporozhye region, Yevhen Balitsky, said that 100,000 tons of grain are planned to be exported from Ukraine through the port of Berdyansk. According to him, four large ships are already in the Berdyansk roadstead and are ready for loading. Balitsky added that the export of grain is also carried out by rail - more than 100 wagons have already been sent, a "contract" has been concluded for another 150,000 tons.
17:06 Bulgaria, contrary to Moscow's demands, will continue the repair of Ukrainian military equipment. In response to this, the Russian Federation is going to revoke the licenses of Bulgarian enterprises for the repair of Russian helicopters, AP writes. According to Bulgarian Defense Minister Dragomir Zakov, this decision will not seriously affect Bulgaria and will not interfere with the repair of Ukrainian equipment: "What happened with gas has now happened with helicopter licenses."
17:04 In Odessa, four people were detained who were photographing a warehouse after a missile strike. Pictures of infrastructure facilities and checkpoints were also found on their phones, said Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the UVA. According to the police, one of the detainees behaved inappropriately and did not respond to the lawful demands of the patrolmen. Evidence of active communication with Russian subscribers was found in his phone.
16:56 Yesterday, in Nova Kakhovka, rocket and artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit two command posts of enemy troops and a landing site. Also, over the past 24 hours, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed warehouses with ammunition in the Chernobaevka and Chaplinsky districts, the Kherson Regional Police Department reported.
16:51 In the Lugansk region, which continues to hold the line, the number of attacks by the Russian army has significantly decreased. According to the head of the OVA Serhiy Gaidai, due to the destruction of enemy ammunition depots in the rear by Ukrainian artillerymen, the Russians are now working "on wheels" - that is, they no longer store ammunition in warehouses, but are immediately transported to the front by cars. At the same time, they have difficulties with logistics.
“If earlier the invaders had a significant advantage in firepower, now thanks to Western weapons we have caught up and become stronger. High-precision hits on warehouses confirm this,” Gaidai said.
16:42 In a joint statement following the meeting between Biden and King Abdullah II of Jordan, UN General Assembly resolutions are mentioned calling on the Russian Federation to withdraw troops from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. The parties also reaffirmed their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and unity of Ukraine, condemned "violations of international humanitarian law and violations of human rights in conflict zones, calling for respect for international humanitarian law."
16:28 The White House released a joint statement by the United States and Saudi Arabia following an official visit to Biden's kingdom. In the communiqué, a separate paragraph is dedicated to Ukraine: "The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to providing critical assistance to the Ukrainian people, as well as ensuring the unhindered export of grain and grain products to mitigate the global food crisis, which threatens a sharp blow to a number of Middle Eastern and African states."
15:53 The Chinese are supplying Russia with dual-use goods. Based on data from Chinese customs, The Wall Street Journal found that local companies have increased the supply of microchips, aluminum oxide and other goods that can be used for military purposes to the Russian Federation. For example, the export of aluminum oxide increased 400 times. As the newspaper notes, these deliveries neutralize the efforts of the West to counter Russia's military aggression.
15:37 As a result of yesterday's attack on Kramatorsk, seven residential buildings and two infrastructure facilities were damaged, Pavel Kirilenko, head of the Donetsk OVA, said. According to him, the blow was delivered by a Tornado-S missile with a high-explosive fragmentation charge.
15:30 In Vinnytsia, work has been completed on the removal of rubble after a missile attack. According to the State Emergency Service, as a result of shelling of the Russian Federation, 55 multi-apartment and private residential buildings, 40 cars and two trams were damaged and destroyed.
15:18 Germany to reduce the shortage of energy resources resumes the work of coal and oil-fired power plants, but this measure will be temporary, said Scholz. According to him, the German government remains committed to combating the climate crisis and will not extend the life of the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany.
15:02 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that "shops for the production of components and the repair of Tochka-U ballistic missiles and multiple rocket launchers at the defense enterprise Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant" were destroyed in Dnipro.
14:47 The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirmed the lifting of the ban for those liable for military service to leave the region without the decision of the military registration and enlistment office. According to the decision of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, this procedure is being finalized "taking into account changes to legislative acts," the department said in response to a request from People's Deputy Alexander Fedienko.
14:13 Ukraine will receive two batteries of the Norwegian NASAMS anti-aircraft missile system, and not two installations, as mentioned earlier, Yuri Ignat, a representative of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said. The battery includes three fire platoons armed with 54 missiles. All 54 missiles can be fired within 12 seconds.
13:52 Against the backdrop of ongoing mobilization and the issuance of subpoenas to men in public places , the Armed Forces of Ukraine once again explained the procedure for mobilization . According to the head of the Personnel Department of the Headquarters of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Roman Gorbach, handing a summons to a citizen of Ukraine in any place not prohibited by law does not mean an instant draft into the army. It is necessary first of all in order for a person to register with the military.
13:31 Assistant to the Russian-appointed "deputy head of administration" of the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, was sentenced to five years in prison, SBU spokesman Artem Dekhtyarenko said. According to him, SBU officers detained her in Ivano-Frankivsk. During the searches, she was found to have a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation and computer equipment with evidence of illegal activity. In particular, she promoted slogans in support of Russia via the Internet and spread calls for the restoration of the USSR. For maximum coverage, she started anonymous accounts on several social networks, using different pseudonyms.
13:04 Residents of Sumy and Belopolye are advised to leave the cities for the weekend due to the high threat of Russian shelling. Such advice is given by the mayors of the cities Alexander Lysenko and Yuri Zarko.
12:37 Special services of the Russian Federation have stepped up their activities in the countries of Eastern Europe. As Ukrainian military intelligence found out, Russian agents were ordered to intensify the recruitment of police officers and citizens involved in the transportation of weapons to Ukraine. In the regions bordering Ukraine, Russian special services are trying to use representatives of local communities and pro-Russian activists. However, the Europeans, having received proposals for cooperation from the Russians, immediately turn to the police and security agencies.
12:32 Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said in an interview with Politico that the resignation of Prime Minister Mario Draghi threatens to deprive Ukraine of Italy's military support: "The Russians are right now celebrating the fall of another Western government. Now I doubt that we can send weapons. This is one of many serious problems. He recalled that Draghi was one of the most active Western leaders who opposed Putin.
12:06 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggests that Ukrainian strikes from HIMARS likely killed or wounded four deputy commanders of the Russian 106th airborne division. Russian news agencies reported the deaths of the deputy commanders of the 106th division, Colonel Sergei Kuzminov, Colonel Andrei Vasilyev, and Colonel Maxim Kudrin. This, ISW suggests, corroborates earlier Ukrainian claims that HIMARS strikes on Shakhtyorsk on July 9 killed or wounded several senior Russian military officials.
11:21 A Russian missile was shot down yesterday over Kremenchug, head of the Poltava OVA Dmitry Lunin said. The wreckage of the rocket was found, there were no casualties and no damage.
10:39 The movement of Russian military equipment continues past Mariupol. So, yesterday a large convoy of military equipment in the amount of up to 100 units passed through the city towards the Zaporozhye region. BMD-4s, as well as a large number of armored personnel carriers, were seen in the convoy on tractors, Piotr Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said.
In addition, according to him, a large number of Russian soldiers brought by KamAZ trucks settled in the villages of Nikolsky and Mangushsky districts bordering the Zaporozhye region. They settle mainly in the premises of schools. Locals report that the vast majority of the occupiers are young men, some mention in conversations that they are serving on conscription.
10:36 From under the rubble of a house in Nikopol, after the Russian shelling, rescuers got the bodies of two dead, said the head of the Dnepropetrovsk OVA Valentin Reznichenko. Another wounded remains in the hospital in a moderate condition. The Russians fired 53 rockets into residential areas of the city.
10:31 The Pentagon has no information that Ukraine is reselling weapons received from the United States to anyone, a high-ranking representative of the department said at a special briefing. He noted that the US Department of Defense "does not monitor" the fate of the weapons delivered to Ukraine, but also sees "no signs that these weapons were transferred to anyone other than the Armed Forces of Ukraine." "Not tracking and not knowing where these weapons are going, I think they are two different things," he said.
10:29 A missile attack was carried out on Odessa using Tu-95 strategic aircraft from the direction of Stavropol, OK Pivden reported. As a result of a missile hit, previously X-101, a fire broke out in the warehouse of a production and trading company on an area of about 1000 square meters. m. Rescuers are working on the spot, there is no information about the victims.
10:27 The death toll from a rocket attack on Vinnitsa has risen to 24 , said the head of the OVA, Sergei Borzov. According to him, another woman died in the hospital with 85% burns. Four people are wanted as missing.
10:25 The Armed Forces of Ukraine stopped another attempt by the enemy to seize the road between Lisichansk and Bakhmut, said the head of the Lugansk OVA Serhiy Gaidai. According to him, the attempts of the Russian Federation to seize a section of the road have been going on for more than two months, but the Ukrainian army does not allow them to do so. During July 15, four rocket attacks, three artillery attacks and five more prolonged mortar attacks were carried out by the enemy on the settlements of the Lugansk region and around them.
10:23 On the morning of July 16, Nikolaev was subjected to shelling, information about the victims is being specified, the head of the OVA, Vitaly Kim, said. The day before, there were also shelling in the region, residential buildings, critical infrastructure and agricultural facilities were damaged, one of the villages was left without gas and electricity. There are wounded in the Shirokovskaya community.
10:21 Sumy region was subjected to massive shelling last night and this morning, said the head of the OVA Dmitry Zhivitsky. The Novoslobodskaya, Znob-Novgorodskaya, Belopolsk and Esmanskaya communities were hit. There is damage in the Esman community, more details will come later.
10:18 British military intelligence notes that offensive operations of Russian troops west of Lysichansk remain limited in scope and scale, while they are concentrated on Seversk and Bakhmut. The Russians claim they have reached the outskirts of Seversk, but this has not yet been the case, analysts say.
According to British intelligence, after the retreat from Lysichansk, Ukrainian troops improved their defensive capabilities by shortening and straightening the front line. Such tactics, according to experts, proved to be effective and helped to weaken the Russian offensive.
10:14 Ukraine sent letters to the largest American and European banks demanding not to serve companies trading in Russian oil. Oleg Ustenko, Zelensky's economic adviser, told the Financial Times. In particular, the message was sent to American banks JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, British HSBC and French Credit Agricole.
Ustenko accused the banks of dragging out the hostilities and criticized JPMorgan's forecast that the price of oil would rise to $380 per barrel when a ceiling was set on Russian energy prices: "From my point of view, they are committing war crimes because they are helping Putin's regime."
10:11 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the enemy on the morning of July 16. The enemy suffered the greatest losses in the Bakhmut direction.
- personnel - about 38,140 (+140) people liquidated,
- tanks - 1677 (+5),
- armored combat vehicles - 3874 (+8),
- artillery systems - 846 (+4),
- MLRS - 247 (+0),
- air defense systems - 109 (+0),
- aircraft - 220 (+0),
- helicopters - 188 (+0),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 687 (+6),
- cruise missiles - 162 (+7),
- ships/boats - 15 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 2735 (+4),
- special equipment - 68 (+1).
09:56 Shoigu inspected the Russian groupings of troops South and Center, performing the tasks of a "special military operation" in Ukraine and gave instructions "to increase the actions of the Armed Forces in all directions to prevent Kiev from inflicting massive strikes on civilian infrastructure, residents of Donbass and other regions."
09:08 The head of the Kharkiv OVA, Oleg Sinegubov, specified that as a result of rocket attacks on Chuguev, three people were killed, three more were hospitalized. An apartment building was destroyed, a school, a building materials store were damaged. During the day, the invaders also fired at the Kharkov and Izyum regions.
08:44 At night, Russian troops fired on Chuguev, Kharkiv region, a two-story residential building was partially destroyed, two people were injured, and the bodies of two more people were removed from under the rubble. The search for victims continues, the State Emergency Service said.
08:41 The American Institute for the Study of War notes that the operational pause in the fighting in the Donbass is ending, it lasted about ten days. Over the past 24 hours, the Russians carried out several ground attacks northwest of Slovyansk, southeast of Seversk, along the Bakhmut-Lysichansk highway, southeast of Bakhmut and southwest of Donetsk. And although the offensive is not yet of a large-scale nature, they may expand in the next 72 hours, analysts say.
08:29 Russian invaders hit residential areas of Nikopol from Gradov, head of the Dnipropetrovsk OVA Valentin Reznichenko said. According to him, as a result of the morning shelling, 12 five-story houses, a school and a vocational school building were damaged. One person was wounded, two more, preliminary, are under rubble.
The enemy also struck civilian infrastructure in the Zelenodolsk, Apostolovsky and Shirokovskaya communities, no one was injured.
08:25 In Konstantinovka this morning, Russians destroyed houses in the private sector with missiles, attacked industrial facilities, said the head of the Donetsk OVA Pavel Kirilenko. In just one day, seven civilians were killed by Russian shelling in the controlled part of the region: two in Krasnohorivka, one each in Slavyansk, Avdeevka, Zakotny, Gornyak and Ostrovsky. Another 14 people were injured.
08:11 In Odessa, at about 5:00 am, an enemy missile hit a warehouse. The guards were not injured, because they went to the shelter on the air raid signal, said the speaker of the Odesa OVA Serhiy Bratchuk.
07:26 After the regrouping, the enemy resumed the attack on the Uglegorsk TPP, the fighting continues. The Ukrainian defenders repulsed the assault in the direction of Disputed - Ivano-Daryevka in the Donetsk direction, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in the morning report .
In order to export the seized property by sea, the occupiers are trying to resume the activities of ports on the coast of the Sea of Azov. In readiness for missile strikes, three carriers of high-precision weapons are kept.
05:49 The Russian delegation visited the Kashan airfield in Iran at least twice over the past month to study the Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 combat drones, which can carry precision-guided missiles, Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan said. A US official told CNN that the growing partnership between Iran and Russia is an example of why the US needs to maintain its presence and influence in the Middle East.
04:13 The US State Department approved the sale of HIMARS missile systems to Estonia for $500 million. The package will include up to six HIMARS installations, ammunition, support equipment and spare parts. The State Department also approved a possible sale of up to $950 million worth of medium-range air-to-air missiles to Norway and $130 million worth of MK 54 torpedoes to South Korea.
03:37 OSCE confirms that Russians raped and killed children in Ukraine. The second report of the OSCE Moscow Mechanism confirmed mass killings of civilians and cases of sexual violence committed by the Russian military in Ukraine, including against children. The report also documents that Russian troops in Bucha were engaged in systematic robbery, and the loot was sold, for example, in Belarus. The mission participants claim that the events of the period of Russian occupation of Bucha and Irpen are "illustrative examples of violations of international humanitarian law" and "constitute war crimes."
00:55 Canadian Cyber Security Center warns Russia is planning cyber strikes on NATO and EU: "Russia is almost certainly in the process of developing cyber capabilities against targets in the European Union and NATO, including the US and Canada." In addition, according to Canadian experts, Russian-sponsored entities almost certainly stepped up cyber espionage in NATO countries in response to the alliance's support for Ukraine.
00:24 The Air Force Command reports that X-101 missiles from Tu-95 Ms aircraft were fired across the Dnieper today. The launches were carried out over the northern part of the Caspian Sea. Four missiles were shot down by the forces and means of air defense of the Air Command Skhid.
00:12 Representatives of the EU member states on July 18 will discuss the seventh package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, proposed by the European Commission. The adoption of the package is expected on Wednesday, July 20, according to the EC: "Today's package introduces a new ban on the import of Russian gold, while strengthening our control over the export of dual-use and advanced technologies. In doing so, this will strengthen the alignment of EU sanctions with those of our G7 partners. This will also increase reporting requirements to tighten the EU asset freeze."