Jul 24: E-Stories
Day 515: Odesa ChasivYar UASitRep RUSitRep NATO ZNPP LongRangeMissiles Grain Maldives Arctic Unilever VakulenkoDiaries Italy A&P Avdeeva UKDef ISW Lukashenka Davis Noel
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…
On July 23, Russian missile strikes on Odesa kills 1, injures 18, reports Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper on Telegram. Russian forces also attack Sumy Oblast, killing 1, injuring 6, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported via Telegram, as well as shelling Kharkiv Oblast, killing 1, injuring 1, the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office reported, and shelling kills 1, injures 1 in Kharkiv Oblast, the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office reported. Russian forces fired 332 shells on settlements in Kharkiv Oblast alone.
Russian missile attack destroys Odesa's Transfiguration Cathedral. Russian missile strikes on Odesa the night of July 22-23 caused significant damage to the city's historic Transfiguration Cathedral, the Odesa city administration reported via Telegram. Ukraine air defense downed 9 out of 19 missiles fired at Odesa Oblast overnight. It was founded in 1794; destroyed on Stalin’s order in 1936; rebuilt under independent Ukraine in 1999; hit by a Russian missile on Putin’s order in 2023.
UNESCO condemns Russian attack on Odesa's historic center. UNESCO issued a statement on July 21 condemning the recent Russian missile attacks that damaged Odesa's historic city center, a designated world heritage site. A total of 29 architectural monuments in the historic centre of Odesa, which is under UNESCO protection, were damaged by Russian occupation forces on the night of 22-23 July.
In Odesa , 5 kindergartens, 4 schools and 2 after-school educational institutions were also damaged as a result of the Russian missile strike. Head of the Department of Education of the Odesa City Council, Olena Buinevich reports.
Zelensky official statement on the missile attacks on Odesa and other cities:
Missiles against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, a cathedral... There can be no excuse for Russian evil. As always, this evil will lose. And there will definitely be a retaliation to Russian terrorists for Odesa. They will feel this retaliation.
All those who suffered from this latest terrorist attack are being provided with assistance. I am grateful to everyone who is helping people and to everyone who is with Odesa in their thoughts and emotions. We will get through this. We will restore peace. And for this, we must defeat the Russian evil.
Governor: Aid center in Donetsk Oblast hit by Russian cluster munitions. Russian forces hit the front-line town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast overnight with cluster munitions, Governor Pavlo Kyryenko reported on July 23.
"The occupiers started their attack on the city at dawn; [they fired – ed.] cluster munitions. A fire broke out. Workers from the State Emergency Service rushed to the scene but were forced to stop their work because the Ruscists did not stop attacking. The Palace of Culture burned down."
Russia is preparing attacks on energy facilities, Ukrainian intelligence says. Deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Vadym Skibitskyi, said that the Russians are carrying out recon to identify the state of the energy system and identify objects.
Explosion reported at Russian proxy’s house in occupied Kherson Oblast. An explosion was reported on July 22 in the house belonging to Heorhii Zhuravko, the Russia-installed mayor of occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, the exiled mayor Yevhen Ryshchuk told Suspline on July 23.
Zelensky asks Stoltenberg to convene NATO-Ukraine Council over grain deal crisis. President Volodymyr Zelensky said he asked NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg during a phone call on June 22 to convene the NATO-Ukraine Council to discuss the terminated Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Russian TV discussing if they should destroy everything in Odesa and leave the Opera House or not.
Russia has intensified repressions against Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) employees in the temporarily occupied city of Enerhodar in Zaporizhzhia Oblast for refusing to cooperate and sign contracts with the Russian occupying administration, the Ukrainian General Staff reports. "But Ukrainians keep resisting: they are not going to work, they are sabotaging the implementation of the decisions of the occupying administration, etc." The Rosgravdia and the Russian FSB are using intimidation, threats, and blackmail, as well as physically assaulting Ukrainian specialists, confiscating their cash and bank card funds, and confiscating mobile phones.
Operational Situation: The Defense Forces continue their offensive operations in the Bakhmut, Melitopol, and Berdyansk directions. The Russian forces concentrate their main efforts on the directions of Kupyansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Mariupol. Over 40 combat clashes occurred on various fronts.
Russian forces are attempting to seize the operational initiative on the Kupyansk direction and continue their efforts to encircle Avdiivka. They are deploying reinforcements. Russian forces have launched a counterattack to the south of Orikhove, making further advances in that direction.
In the area of Bakhmut and southwards, the enemy's military command continues to intensify efforts to prevent the advancement of Defense Forces units towards the T-0513 road. The Ukrainian forces have gained control of Klishchiivka, cutting off the enemy's supply routes in this area.
“Russian troops are trying to advance towards the Oskil river to create a buffer zone around Luhansk oblast. Heavy battles are fought but we are on the defensive,” Serhiy Cherevaty said, spokesman for the Eastern Group of forces.
The main goal of Russian attacks on Odesa is an attempt to completely isolate Ukraine's access to the Black Sea — Oleksii Danilov, NSDC Secretary said and reported by Svidomi.
US 'holds firm on refusal' to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles - report. There has been no change in US policy on whether to provide long-range missiles to Ukraine despite growing pressure from lawmakers in Congress and Kiev’s government, the Washington post reports. (Monique: this is a huge mistake.)
US defence and administration officials told the paper that there had been no substantive discussion about the issue for months. The US did, however, agree to controversially supply Ukraine with cluster bombs. Ukraine wants missiles worth $1.5m each, weighing two tonnes, that can strike targets up to 190 miles away to hit Russian bases behind the front lines.
The House Foreign Affairs committee has passed a bipartisan resolution urged the US to “immediately” provide the missiles. “There’s no reason to give Ukraine just enough to bleed but not enough to win,” Republican chair Michael McCaul said. “If we’re going to be helping them, either go all in or get out.”
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said Ukraine has taken back about 50% of the territory that Russia seized since the rapid advances it made following the invasion before being pushed back.
“It’s already taken back about 50% of what was initially seized,” Blinken told CNN today. “These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough … It will not play out over the next week or two. We*re still looking I think at several months.”
ISW: Ukraine strikes valuable military targets in Russian-occupied territory. The Ukrainian counteroffensive's success hitting targets in Russian-occupied territory has undermined the Russian military's combat capabilities, the Institute for the Study of War wrote in its July 22 report.
Russia is considering how to supply grain to Africa and cut Ukraine out after Moscow’s withdrawal from the Black Sea initiative, according to reports. According to a draft memo of a previous plan seen by the Financial Times, Russia was to send grain to Turkey, which would distribute supplies to “countries in need”. It would be paid for by Qatar on a humanitarian basis, though it remains unclear whether all parties have ever signed up to any potential deal in principle. However, Qatar declined to comment on the FT story.
Lukashenka arrives in St. Petersburg to meet with Putin. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenka has arrived in St. Petersburg to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, according to Lukashenko's press service. Lukashenka made overt threats against Poland, telling Putin during their staged meeting that Wagner troops would like to go abroad. Lukashenka should be worried about his own power, as the presence of Wagner troops (if true) could spell the end of his security services. Putin commented on the Ukrainian counteroffensive: “There is no counteroffensive,” Russian news agencies quoted Lukashenko as saying. Putin replied: “It exists, but it has failed.
The Maldives came second after China in the supply of semiconductors to Russia, Nikkei Asia reports. A year after the start of the Ukrainian conflict, it has become a major trading partner for Russia. During this time, about 400,000 semiconductors worth $53.6 million were delivered to Russia through the Maldives. This is 19% of the total merchandise exports of the Maldives in 2021, which the UN estimated at $280 million. The US authorities have already drawn attention to the role of the Maldives in circumventing anti-Russian sanctions: in May 2022, the US Department of Commerce accused the Maldivian company Intermodal Maldives of supporting the export of aircraft components to Russia.
Anton Cherepennikov, an entrepreneur and head of ICS Holding, died at the age of 40. The cause of his death is said to be cardiac arrest. Cherepennikov founded the ICS Holding group in 2018. In 2021, the VTimes publication reported that Cherepennikov's structures were also engaged in the test launch of systems to implement the law on isolation of the Runet. The BBC Russian Service and RBC called him a partner of billionaire Alisher Usmanov, but Usmanov's press service denied this information in August 2019. On February 25, 2023, he and ICS Holding were included in the US sanctions list.
Inflation woes: The summer devaluation of the ruble, which brought the Russian currency into the top 3 weakest in the world and made it the world leader in terms of volatility, promises the Russian economy the strongest acceleration in inflation since the beginning of the war. Retailers and distributors of goods ranging from beverages to cars and household appliances are preparing to raise prices at a double-digit pace after the dollar rose to 90 rubles and the euro broke the 100 mark. The situation is exacerbated by the rapid rise in freight prices. Because of the sanctions in Russia, there was a shortage of trucks, and mobilization provoked a shortage of drivers. As a result: transportation of goods in Russia has become more expensive by 38% since the beginning of the year. [continue]
The Federal Tax Service (FTS) of Russia has published a second list of well-known bloggers and artists suspected of tax evasion. This time the list includes more than 100 names of celebrities who actively use social networks to promote their personal brands. Each of the suspects is accused of organizing financial schemes, according to Mash.
Yesterday I posted an article about Putin’s visit to the Arctic base. In the evening, “appearing on state TV, retired Colonel Konstantin Sivkov, Deputy President of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, suggested blowing up the North Pole if that's what it takes to teach the West a lesson”—Julia Davis
WaPo: Ukraine is now the most mined country. In a year and a half of conflict, land mines — along with unexploded bombs, artillery shells and other deadly byproducts of war — have contaminated a swath of Ukraine roughly the size of Florida or Uruguay
Ukraine has developed its own air defense systems, official says. Ukraine has developed and is now testing its own medium-range air defense systems, Verkhovna Rada official Yehor Cherniev said during a televised broadcast on July 22.
Zelensky: Former Odesa military enlistment office head suspected of misappropriation of funds. The former head of Odesa's military enlistment office, Yevhen Borysov, is suspected of misappropriating funds for his own personal enrichment and the violation of the order of military service, President Volodymyr Zelensky said via Telegram on July 22. Zelensky said Borysov has been notified.
Unilever, which includes all these famous brands, not only continues to work in Russia by funding crimes against Ukraine with hundreds of millions in tax payments, but also allows its workers in Russia to join the war if called upon.
Irish MEPs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace have been penalised in the European Parliament for undermining its work to promote democracy by travelling to Venezuela and Ecuador as unofficial election observers. Official European Parliament overseas trips have been suspended during the pandemic, but Wallace and Daly have repeatedly travelled abroad including to meet an Iran-backed militia in Iraq in visits that alarmed other MEPs.
Odesa residents clearing up the rubble from the Russian missile attack on the Cathedral of the Transfiguration during the night July 23. The entire Odesa city centre is a UNESCO Heritage sites. Ukrainian defenders have begged their allies for sufficient air defence since February 2022. Russian missiles have destroyed over 300 cultural heritage sites, and over 9,000 Ukrainian civilians, including over 500 children, have been killed. Services were held today outside. This is the resilience of the Ukrainian population but they should not have to wait for the defence weaponry they need at this time.
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni has said that Italy is ready to contribute to the reconstruction of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa, which was damaged by a missile attack by Russian occupation forces.
Noel Reports: NASAMs & Patriots please
Many people are (understandably) clamoring for ATACMS after the attacks on Odesa. But the missiles (Kh-22/P-800 Onyx and Iskander-M) responsible for these attacks have an operational range that is beyond that of ATACMS. Even if you start bombing the harbor of Sevastopol, launches on the southern regions will continue both by air, surface and on sea. ATACMS would leave Crimea exposed, but Russia will simply start launching from Novorossiysk and its surroundings.
NASAMS and Patriots are much more needed in my opinion.
RED: radius Kh-22/P-800 Onyx (600km)
YELLOW: radius Iskander-M (450-500km)
BLUE radius ATACMS (300km)
That said, if you really want to hit Russia, you have to hit the production facilities in Russia itself, but Ukraine does not have the resources for that and western countries will not allow their missiles to be used for that purpose due to their fears of escalation. So the best solution now is air defenses that closes off the southern regions.
A murdered writer, his secret diary of the invasion of Ukraine – and the war crimes investigator determined to find it—The Guardian
Vapytolivka is a village of low, scattered cottages, just beyond the south-eastern tip of the Ukrainian town of Izium. The last house in the village is a simple white building with a corrugated iron roof, a chimney, and a front garden planted with a vine and roses. On 22 March 2022 it would have been a pretty spot, but for the armoured personnel carrier that the Russians had parked right outside. By then, Kapytolivka had been under occupation for a fortnight. Russian soldiers had taken over the houses of those who had fled; they had looted the shop, and stolen any cars they could find.
That day, a military car pulled up at the cottage. Earlier, the Russian occupiers had arrested one of the men who lived here and his autistic son: the 49-year-old writer Volodymyr Vakulenko and 13-year-old Vitaliy, who had not spoken a word for weeks. Now, a couple of hours later, the pair were being returned to the home they shared with the author’s father, also called Volodymyr Vakulenko.
The soldiers who brought them back started searching “from attic to basement, every square centimetre of the house”, as Olena Ihnatenko, the writer’s mother, a warm, auburn-haired woman, tells me a year later. We are speaking in the village house she is borrowing from friends. Unlike her own modern apartment, also in Kapytolivka, the cottage can be heated by firewood when the power cuts out. Which it does now, abruptly silencing the cartoons Vitaliy has been watching in the next room, and making audible the dull boom of distant artillery. [continue]
