Jul 25: E-Stories
Day 516: Odesa Kharkiv Dnipro Izmail BSGI Reni Melitopol Bakhmut Moscow Dzhankoi WangYi China Georgia Zkuravlev ATACMs Ger Lith Pol Spain A&P Trukhanov Kuleba ISW UKDef Rosenberg Yermak Davis
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.
A message from the Mayor of Odesa, Gennadiy Trukhanov. Due to Russia’s war in Donbas and the annexation of Crimea in 2014, once wavering political and business stakeholders in Odesa turned firmly in support of Ukraine.
Stories we’re following…
Air Force: Ukraine downs 9 out of 19 missiles fired at Odesa Oblast overnight on July 24. As per usual, the Air Force didn't specify where the other 10 missiles hit.
Russian attack on Kharkiv Oblast injures 4, including child. Russian forces shelled the village of Pishchane in Kharkiv Oblast on July 24, injuring four people. Аccording to the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, a 12-year-old boy is among the wounded.
Ukraine’s FM Kuleba: “Russia hit another Ukrainian grain storage overnight. It tries to extract concessions by holding 400 million people hostage. I urge all nations, particularly those in Africa and Asia who are most affected by rising food prices, to mount a united global response to food terrorism.”
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, is reporting that there are “local emergency power outages” in Odesa. The region has been repeatedly targets by Russian missile and drone attacks in recent days. Odesa was hit with Russian missiles strikes for the fifth night in a row and air raid warnings were triggered again on July 24.
Ukrhydroenergo: Water at Dnipro hydroelectric plant drops to critical level. Water at the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant has dropped to a critical level, threatening the station's full operational capacity, the state-owned hydro energy company Ukrhydroenergo reported on July 24.
Almost 30 ships dropped anchor near Ukraine’s crucial Izmail port terminal after Russia attacked grain warehouses on the Danube River on Monday, data showed, although it is unclear why.
Julia Davis: “Here is another glimpse at the way the Kremlin uses Putin's pet propagandists to prepare public opinion for the actions they are about to take. Less than two weeks ago, Vladimir Solovyov started arguing that Odesa must be destroyed.”
Monique: Russia destroys Ukraine’s cities to depopulate them: to eradicate any trace of Ukraine’s culture and society. Ukraine must be annihilated according to Girkin and other ethno-fascists. Mariupol and Bakhmut give you an idea of what Russia is capable of, and there are so many other Ukrainian cities being destroyed. It would be an illusion to think they will spare a city: remember they are kidnapping Ukrainian children to deprive Ukraine future generations.
UN chief Guterres called on Russia on Monday to return to a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain in line with a proposal he made to Putin. Guterres added:
I call on the Russian Federation to return to the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative, in line with my latest proposal. I urge the global community to stand united for effective solutions in this essential effort.
I remain committed to facilitating the unimpeded access to global markets for food products and fertilisers from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and to deliver the food security that every person deserves.
A Geran drone strike at the port of Reni on the border with Romania. Why Reni? Russia has attacked the port of Reni because it seeks to destroy Ukraine's shipping capacity by sea. The goal is to obstruct the redirection of shipments through Romanian ports via Ukrainian ports on the Danube. This port infrastructure system is very close to the Moldovan and Romanian territory. Therefore, Russia has been using Shahed drones (not missiles) against the Reni port.
Mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov reports four explosions in Tokmak, occupied Zaporizhzia region. In relation to this, there are multiple reports of RU sources that an increased amount of HIMARS launches were noted along the Zaporizhzia front.
Ukraine claims to have recaptured a small amount of territory in the Bakhmut region, according to the latest operational briefing by the deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar.
The enemy continues to focus its main efforts on Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mariinka axes, severe hostilities continue. The enemy assaults simultaneously on several axes, tries to oust our troops from their positions, but faces a decent resistance.
Military: Ukraine advances up to 1.4 km in Berdiansk direction. Ukrainian forces advanced from 350 to 1,400 meters in the Berdiansk direction, the Tavria operational-strategic group's press center reported on July 24.
ISW: Russian milbloggers claimed that Russian forces have abandoned their positions in the dacha area on the east (left) bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast.
Explosions reported in Moscow, mayor claims drone attack. Russia's Defense Ministry reported on its Telegram channel that two drones hit central Moscow at 4 a.m., Komomolsky prospect 17, the National Defence Management Centre which is just across from the HQs of the GRU cyber offense (including Unit 26165) and other military units. Unit 26165’s employees were indicted by the U.S. back in 2018 for their cyber activity. Russia placed a Pantsir-S1 air defense system on top of National Defense Management Center earlier this year. Russian media reported a third drone crashed into a cemetery in the Moscow region.
CNN: Ukrainian defense intelligence official says Kyiv behind Moscow drone attack. A Ukrainian Defense Intelligence official, speaking anonymously, told CNN that Kyiv is responsible for the drone attack on Moscow in the early morning of July 24. According to CNN, the official has not received permission to speak publicly about the incident.
Andriy Yusov, GUR spokesman on the drone attacks on Moscow:
"This is a process that will continue and will gain momentum. The fact that "cotton" is taking place in Moscow, directly in the square where the key institutions of the security and defense sector of the terrorist state, the aggressor state are located, means that even such objects and the sky above them are no longer controlled by Putin's regime".
An ammunition depot was struck during a Ukrainian drone attack on Dzhankoi in Crimea early on Monday, with Russian air defence forces intercepting or suppressing 11 drones over the area, a Russian-installed official has said. This is the third airfield along the main railroad, and a transport hub for Russian troops and supplies entering Ukraine territory.
Russian sec council secretary, Nikolai Patrushev, and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi discussed how to bolster their two countries’ security at a meeting in South Africa, Russia’s RIA news agency reports.
Politico: China secretly sends enough gear to Russia to equip an army. According to customs records obtained by POLITICO, Russian buyers have declared orders for hundreds of thousands of bulletproof vests and helmets made by Shanghai H Win — the items listed in the documents match those in the company’s online catalog. The protective gear would be sufficient to equip many of the men mobilized by Russia since the invasion. Then there are drones that can be used to direct artillery fire or drop grenades, and thermal optical sights to target the enemy at night. These shipments point to a China-sized loophole in the West’s attempts to hobble Putin’s war machine. The sale of so-called dual-use technology that can have both civilian and military uses leaves just enough deniability for Western authorities looking for reasons not to confront a huge economic power like Beijing. [continue]
Putin signed a law on the introduction of the digital ruble, and the creation of an appropritate electronic platform. It is an additional form of currency, which will be issued along with the existing ones as Russia wrestles with international isolation over its war in Ukraine. . Russia now accepts cash, non-cash, and digital. Russian citizens will not be forced to use the digital ruble, and use of the CBDC will be a voluntary choice for people to make, the governor of the Bank of Russia Nebiullina said. It is set to be released on August 1. (Monique: This could be a new vehicle to skirt sanctions.)
Head of the Primakov Center in Georgia, Dimitri Lortkipanidze, said that a Georgian-Russian University will be opened in Tbilisi. The study will be free and the expenses will be covered by Russia, Lortkipanidze said. Flights between Tbilisi and St Petersburg will also be opened for the influx of students from Russia.
Zelensky: Ukraine expects to get more air defense, long-range weapons from partners. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on July 23 that Ukraine and its partners are preparing new Western military aid packages, including air defense equipment, artillery and long-range weapons.
Moscow falsely claims attack that hit Odesa cathedral targeted sites where Ukraine was making 'unmanned boats' to be used against Russia. Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that "there will be a response" to Russia's attack on Odesa.
The Kremlin on Monday accused Kyiv of carrying out a “deliberate attack on journalists” in Ukraine’s south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region after a reporter for the Russian state news agency RIA was killed. The war correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev was killed in a Ukrainian cluster munition strike, according to RIA. Zhuravlev was not a journalist but a soldier, as captured here in a recent photograph at the front, who began fighting for the Russian forces in Donbas in 2014.
ISW: Putin reveals concern over potential threats Wagner Group, Prigozhin may pose to him. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin made several significant symbolic gestures during his July 23 meeting with Alexander Lukashenko, the Institute for the Study of War said in their latest report.
Steve Rosenberg: “A month after his mutiny, one Russian paper suggests Prigozhin isn’t displaying “the behaviour of someone who suffered a political defeat & regrets his actions.” It predicts “the Prigozhin situation will develop in the most fast-moving & possibly dramatic way.”
Andriy Yermak has posted a satellite image of the Kakhovka reservoir: Russia’s ecocide of Ukrainian territory.
The SSU detained a FSS resident who created his own network of informants in Kherson. He kept "in touch" with up to 10 informants in the region. According to the case materials, all of them were local residents who supported the armed aggression of the Russian federation against Ukraine. The task of this intelligence network was to transmit to the russian federation up-to-date information about the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the front-line areas of the Kherson region. In particular, the informants tried to identify the possible combat positions of the "Grad" salvo rocket systems and foreign M777 howitzers.
UNESCO condemns Russian attacks against cultural heritage sites in Ukraine. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on July 23 condemned Russia’s overnight missile strike targeting the Ukrainian city of Odesa.
Washington Post: US sticking to decision not to give ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. The Joe Biden Administration is holding firm on its refusal to send ATACMS long-range missiles to Ukraine, the Washington Post reported on July 22, citing unnamed U.S. officials.
Lithuania’s foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has called on Nato to “double-down” on efforts to support Ukraine, after what he described as the Russian president being “emboldened to escalate” attacks on the country. Landsbergis posted to social media to say:
Since Vilnius Nato summit Putin feels emboldened to escalate, pulling out of the grain deal, attacking Odesa and now a Danube port. We must make sure our determination to help Ukraine to victory, and Nato membership, is better understood. Time to double-down on our efforts.
Germany has reached an agreement with Poland regarding the repair of Leopard 2A4 tanks, damaged in Ukraine. "We welcome the fact that now also Leopard 2A4 tanks can be repaired in Poland," Mitko Müller, spokesman of the German Ministry of Defense confirmed today.
Reuters: Protesters chained themselves outside Israel's parliament, as the country's president led a last-minute bid for a compromise on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious judicial overhaul ahead of a crucial vote in the Knesset.
The Times: Memorial to Polish victims of Stalin is purged from St Petersburg.
A monument commemorating the thousands of Poles purged in Soviet-era repression has been removed from a St Petersburg cemetery in an apparent attempt to punish Poland for supporting Ukraine.
The monument was erected in 2001 at a St Petersburg cemetary to commemorate more than 100,000 Poles who were executed when Stalin’s secret police, the NKVD, targeted “espionage groups” in 1937 and 1938. Memorials at the cemetery also honour Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians and Jews killed in the Stalinist purges. It is believed that the memorial was removed in retaliation to Poland’s support of Ukraine.
A plaque dedicated to Ukrainians disappeared from the cemetery in February, allegedly to be renovated. The plaque had said: “Eternal memory to the innocently killed Ukrainians.” The new one reads: “Eternal memory to the Ukrainians.”
Spain's conservatives miss out on all-out victory as left celebrates. Sunday's snap election failed to produce a decisive winner. The conservative People's Party (PP) won the most seats but fell short of a parliamentary majority, even with the support of the far-right Vox party.
As the leader of the party that won the most votes, Mr Feijóo will be invited by King Felipe VI to try to form a government. If Mr Feijóo declines on the grounds that he cannot muster enough support - as former PP leader Mariano Rajoy did in a similar situation in 2015 - the king may turn to Mr Sánchez. In order to form the government Feijóo must find seven seats.
While PP leader Mr Feijóo declared victory after the results were announced, one of the few leaders who showed no sign of celebrating was far-right Vox leader Santiago Abascal. "It's a day of concern," he said on Sunday night.
