Jul 15 Buonasera Mag
Day 142 of War: Vinnytsia, Mariupol, RU missile attacks, Kherson, grain, Kovalov, Pivovarov, Azot chem plant, Biden-Saudis, Latvia, Paul Urey, Draghi resignation, China, Johnson
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
Stories we’re following…
Vinnyts'ya regional administration announced that today is a day of mourning for the victims of Putin regime’s terrorist missile strikes— 23 victims (3 children) and 66 wounded.
Most of the missing military 7,200 Ukrainian servicemen are in captivity and held by Russian forces, a top official has said.
Russian missile strike hits Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast. Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko reported on July 15 that rescuers and explosives specialists were working at the scene. No casualties were reported.
Reznikov: up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers were killed per day on frontlines in May. Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told BBC Ukraine that Ukraine suffered the biggest combat losses in May, adding that between 300 to 400 soldiers were wounded at the time each day.
New satellite images show an expanding mass grave site in the Russian-occupied Mariupol, according to a report published by the UK-based Centre for Information Resilience (CIR).
44 localities in the Kherson region of Ukraine have been liberated, according to regional officials. “There are territories, populated localities that have been liberated. I rely exclusively on official data agreed with the General Staff. These are 44 localities,” Dmytro Butriy.
Ukraine's grain export reduced by 40%. As of July, grain exports amounted to 556,000 tons in 2022 against 926,000 tons as of July 2021, the Ports of Ukraine online publication reported, citing the State Customs Service.
Court seizes assets of Ukrainian MP Kovalov, suspected of treason, cooperation with Russia. Oleksiy Kovalov, a wanted lawmaker from the Servant of the People party, spoke in favor of the integration of Kherson Oblast into Russia and openly admitted cooperating with Russia.
A Russian court has sentenced opposition activist, Andrei Pivovarov, to four years in prison for leading a banned pro-democracy group. Pivovarov, 40, is a former director of the now-defunct opposition group Open Russia established by the exiled former oil tycoon and longtime Kremlin critic, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Russian occupiers restarting the Azot chemical plant can lead to a “catastrophe,” said Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai. According to Haidai, Russian occupiers have announced plans to resume operations at the Azot chemical plant in the Russian-occupied city of Sievierodonetsk.
Biden administration intends to work with Congress to provide Ukraine with an additional $4.5 billion in direct budget support over the next five months as it continues to fight the Russian invasion, according to senior DoS officials.
Russia's General Prosecutor designated Bellingcat an 'undesirable organisation'.
The EU Commission has proposed a new package of sanctions against Russia, including an embargo on the export of gold. The EU Commission also proposed to extend all existing anti-Russian sanctions until the end of January 2023.
Latvian parliament: Russian gas supply to be suspended in 2023. On July 14, the Parliament of Latvia introduced new amendments to the Energy Law, stipulating a ban on Russian natural gas beginning on January 1, 2023.
British aid worker, Paul Urey, has died while being held hostage in the Russian proxy forces in the Donbas. The UK government has summoned the Russian ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, to express their indignation, and ask for immediate clarification.
On Thursday, 45 countries at the conference in The Hague - headquarters of the International Criminal Court (ICC) - signed a political declaration to work together on investigations into war crimes in Ukraine.
Meduza, Changes to Russian ‘gay propaganda’ legislation expected
Moscow court has fined popular YouTuber Yury Dud 120,000 rubles (currently about $2,050) for disseminating illegal “gay propaganda in the presence of minors,” reportedly as punishment for an interview published in April 2021 with artist Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich. Human rights lawyers defending Dud in Russia say they plan to appeal the ruling.
The maximum penalty for violating Russia’s ban on “gay propaganda” is 15 days in jail. In the past week, federal lawmakers have proposed a total ban on all speech advocating LGBT rights (whatever the age of the message’s intended audience).
Applebaum, Russia’s War Against Ukraine Has Turned Into Terrorism
Red Cross packages are lined up along the sidewalk in Serhiivka, a small town in the southwestern corner of Ukraine. A man is unloading plastic bags stamped world central kitchen from a truck whose front windshield has been completely shattered. On the other side of the plaza, people are sifting through used clothes provided by a Ukrainian charity. Someone points out a mother standing beside two young boys who, miraculously, were not at home the night that their apartment was destroyed. They are alive, but they have lost everything. She is holding up a pair of children’s jeans; perhaps they will fit one of her sons.
McKernan, Fist bumps as Joe Biden arrives to reset ties with ‘pariah’ Saudi Arabia
Three years after Joe Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia a pariah state over the assassination of a prominent dissident, the US president greeted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a fist bump as his administration attempts to reset relations and stabilise global oil markets.
Should I stay or should I go now?
On Thursday Jul 21st on EuroFile@6, we’ll be talking about the results of Draghi’s resignation on Spaces: will the political forces in the government ask Draghi to stay as prime minister? Will they decide to go to election? My money is on the first scenario.
Conte’s 5 Star Movement (reduced after MFA Di Maio left the party last week) has been a thorn in Draghi and his governing coalition’s side for some time. In terms of domestic policy, they don’t see eye-to-eye with anything Draghi is doing, especially his new path to Italy’s energy independence from Russia, and security issues in general. When it comes to foreign policy, Conte has demanded a cut to Italian arms deliveries to Ukraine, and that sanctions on Russia be lifted, mirroring much of the Russian talking points coming from Kremlin proxies and agents. He’s not alone: Matteo Salvini, head of the League, has said the same.
Voices in Italian civil society and Matteo Renzi’s Italia Viva are appealing to ‘a sense of responsibility’. Now is not the time for a change in leadership: Italy must make good on its promise to enact reforms on the judicial system and economy, and continue its support for Ukraine’s defence. It seems he’s directed these comments to Conte and Salvini who have actively or indirectly attacked Draghi’s work and positions since the beginning of his leadership.
Who will replace Boris Johnson?
Check out The Guardian’s live feed about the leadership race:
It’s been yet another busy day in Westminster as the Tory leadership candidates took part in the Conservative Home blog’s Zoom-based hustings. The five hopefuls go again tonight live on Channel 4 at 7.30pm.
But, for now, here is a round-up of all the day’s top headlines:
MPs on the Commons privileges committee will carry out a site visit in Downing Street, and are demanding No 10 hand over evidence, including WhatsApps, photos and diary entries, as they investigate whether Boris Johnson misled parliament over Partygate.
CSET report: China’s Advanced AI Research
China is following a national strategy to lead the world in artificial intelligence by 2030, including by pursuing “general AI” that can act autonomously in novel circumstances. Open-source research identifies 30 Chinese institutions engaged in one or more of this project‘s aspects, including machine learning, brain-inspired AI, and brain-computer interfaces. This report previews a CSET pilot program that will track China’s progress and provide timely alerts.
The Ukrainian Tractor Corps is back!
Signing off…thanks for reading…
Mo