Jul 26: E-Stories
Day 517: Donetsk Kharkiv Kyiv Andriivka Bakhmut Grain IAEA Holodomor showtrials Prigo RUoil Unilever UniStream NorKor RUbots EENato EUmunitions UAstamps Azaryonok A&P Vadym UKDef ISW WaPo DW
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.
Our friend Vadym Vietrov, who is working with the Corriere della Sera and state media, runs into a friend of his on the front lines. Vadym reminds us that “Ukrainians had all sorts of different jobs: lawyers, singers, teachers, workers, architects and, today they are all difenders of Ukraine.”
Stories we’re following…
Russian cluster munitions kill child, injure 6 civilians in Donetsk Oblast. Russian forces attacked Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast on July 24 with cluster munitions, killing a child and injuring at least six people, including three other children, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported.
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.
Russian drones attack Zhytomyr Oblast, damage infrastructure. Russia attacked Zhytomyr Oblast overnight with with Iranian-made Shahed drones, Governor Vitalii Bunechko wrote on Telegram on July 25.
Russia launched a nighttime drone attack on Kyiv, local authorities said on Tuesday, adding all incoming drones had been shot down and early information indicated no damage or casualties, AFP reports.
ISW: The West risks handing the Kremlin another opportunity to prolong its war in Ukraine if it fails to resource Ukraine’s sustained counteroffensive.
Delays and fragmented aid are exactly what allowed Russia to regroup prior to the Ukrainian counteroffensive. The West must not wait on the results of the current phase of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, and, instead, help #Ukraine maintain its momentum to prevent Russia from rebuilding its military strength and prolonging the war.
The Western discussion of the prospects and timeline of Ukraine’s counteroffensive is skewed by a Western desire to see quick wins and Russia’s efforts to portray Ukraine’s counteroffensive as a failing undertaking. The discussion of Ukraine’s counteroffensive should recognize the following realities, however.
General Staff: Russia retreats from Andriivka as Ukraine makes gains near Bakhmut. Russian forces have retreated from their positions in Andriivka to the south of Bakhmut following a Ukrainian offensive operation, General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces spokesperson Andrii Kovalov said during a briefing on July 25. AFU also controls the entire overlooking ridge of Klishchiivka and by doing so has established effective fire control over the village.
Andriy Kovaliov, spokesperson for the armed forces general staff, said Ukrainian troops had moved forward in the direction of the southeastern village of Staromayorske, near settlements recaptured by Ukraine last month in the Donetsk region.
AFU destroys eight more Russian ammunition depots near Bakhmut. Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Defense Forces destroyed 95 Russian invaders near Bakhmut and injured 187 others.
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that Ukraine is claiming a territorial gain near Bakhmut. It writes:
The defence forces knocked out the Russian military from positions near Andriivka in the Bakhmut direction, and continue to advance north and south of Bakhmut, said the spokesperson of the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine.
Russians move military equipment from Melitopol to Crimea - partisans. The occupiers are transferring trucks, tractors and other military equipment from the temporarily occupied Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia to the temporarily occupied Crimea
Defense minister: Attacks on Russian military targets in Crimea to continue. In a recent interview with CNN, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that Ukraine will continue to attack targets in Russian-occupied Crimea to reduce Russia's fighting capacity and "help save the lives of Ukrainians."
Last week the IAEA said its experts had carried out inspections at the plant, without “observing” the presence of any mines, although they had not been given access to the rooftops of the reactor buildings. The IAEA had still not been given access to the roofs of the reactor buildings and their turbine halls, its latest statement said.
On 23 July International Atomic Energy Agency experts “saw some mines located in a buffer zone between the site’s internal and external perimeter barriers,” agency chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement on Monday.
Zelensky call with PM Sunak: “Ukraine urgently needs to strengthen its air defense to protect our people, its historical heritage and continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative.”
“I said this during a conversation with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and spoke about Russia's daily attempts to destroy the historic center of Odesa and port infrastructure. We must defend Odesa.”
The EU is looking at helping fund the costly transportation of grain out of Ukraine after Russia withdrew from the UN-backed Black Sea grain deal, the bloc’s agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said earlier on Tuesday. Wojciechowsk, speaking to reporters, said the EU is ready to export almost all of Ukraine’s farm produce via “solidarity lanes” and help cover costs. Solidarity lanes are rail and road transport connections through EU member states that border Ukraine, such as Poland and Hungary. The most significant lane is through Romania, according to Reuters.
F-16 fighters to help Ukraine with grain export by sea - Kuleba If Western F-16 fighter jets are handed over to Ukraine, the country will not depend on Russian blackmail in terms of the export of Ukrainian grain.
The Russian Embassy in Rome is influencing the vote in the Senate on the Holodomor. The Russians are warning the Senators to remember that they should not give into ‘propaganda’.
US State Department: We have information that suggests that they (the Russian Federation) are apparently preparing a false flag operation. They have threatened vessels operating in international waters, which led to the attack on the Danube today.
Russian state-owned media Tass reports that Russian forces claim to have destroyed two boats and killed nine service personnel while repulsing another Ukrainian attempt to land on the occupied left-bank of the Dniepr River near the Antonovsky bridge in Kherson.
A show "trial" started in Russian Rostov-on-Don over 18 Ukrainian Defenders. They look so thin and exhausted. Russians accuse them under several articles of the criminal code of the "DPR" - so-called "forcible seizure of power and change of the constitutional order of the DPR", as well as "participation in the activities of a terrorist organization."
The Kremlin on Tuesday accused the west, and in particular the US, of trying to sabotage its showcase Russia-Africa summit later this week by pressuring African countries not to take part. The summit, which will take place in St Petersburg on Thursday and Friday, will be attended by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who is expected to hold intensive one-on-one talks with individual African leaders focusing on everything from trade to security, arms deals, and grain supplies, Reuters reports.
Chekists warned Putin at least 3-4 days in advance that Prigozhin might be preparing an uprising, writes The Washington Post, citing sources. As a result, the security of strategic facilities was strengthened, including the Kremlin, where the number of guards was increased and more weapons were issued to them. Steps were taken to boost security at several strategic facilities, including the Kremlin, where staffing in the presidential guard was increased and more weapons were handed out, but otherwise no actions were taken, these officials said.
Belarusian Hajun Project: First armored Wagner vehicles arrive in Belarus. The 11th Wagner convoy has arrived in Belarus, this time including six armored Shchuka vehicles, the monitoring group Belarusian Hajun reported on July 25.
The price of Russia’s flagship Urals oil blend averaged $56 (£43) a barrel in the second quarter and traded almost 30% below the benchmark Brent blend, the Russian central bank said in its review on Tuesday.
Unilever, which has faced criticism for over a year for remaining in Russia, said on Tuesday that it could abandon, sell or retain its operations there but the “least bad” option is to “pursue our business but in a highly constrained manner”, Reuters reports. It continued to supply its everyday essential food and hygiene products made in Russia to people in the country, while saying it would not take any profit from those sales. All earnings made in Russia stay there, the company said.
DW: Six banks in Kyrgyzstan reported that they had suspended work with the Russian Unistream money transfer system, the Kommersant newspaper reported. These are Companion Bank, Finсa Bank, Halyk Bank, Kapital Bank and Bank of Asia. Earlier, a similar decision was made by the Uzbek Xalq Banki (People's Bank) and Ipoteka Bank, several Armenian banks, including Ardshinbank and Converse Bank, the largest Georgian banks TBC and Bank of Georgia, as well as the national postal operator of Kazakhstan Kazpost. On July 20, the US imposed sanctions on five Russian banks, including Unistream, the operator of the payment system of the same name.
Ukraine takes down massive pro-russian bot farm -this time it's about 150,000 SIM cards. The bots were used to push Russian propaganda on social media justifying Russia war in Ukraine. This is also a similar action to the one carried out some time ago by the Ukrainian police called "Botoferma," which I wrote about, and which can be verified, for example, on the official youtube of the Ukrainian police, where there is a full video and more details.
AFP journalist wounded near Bakhmut. Agence France-Presse (AFP) video journalist Dylan Collins was wounded in a drone attack while reporting at a Ukrainian artillery position on July 24, AFP informed.
Russia has laid additional Black Sea sea mines and may attack civilian shipping. The UK’s ambassador to the UN has said that prime minister Rishi Sunak has shared with Ukraine intelligence that Russia has laid additional mines in the Black Sea and may attack civilian shipping in the region. Reuters reports Barbara Woodward said the UK has information indicating “the Russian military may expand their targeting of Ukrainian grain facilities further, to include attacks against civilian shipping in the Black Sea.”
AFP: Lithuania asks EU to use Baltic ports for Ukrainian grain exports. Lithuania has called on the European Union to use Baltic ports to export Ukrainian grain after the Black Sea Grain Initiative's collapse, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported on July 24.
Greece, Bulgaria discuss transit of Ukrainian grain by rail. Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov and his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed transporting Ukrainian grain to Greece via rail, Mediapool reported on July 24, citing Denkov.
The EU has finally adopted and put into effect a plan to increase the production of shells for Ukraine, which provides for the investment of an additional 500 million euros in industrial capacity.
In accordance with Article 173(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Union is to contribute to the achievement of the objective of speeding up the adjustment of the industry to structural changes. Therefore, it appears appropriate to support Union industry to increase its volume of production, reduce its lead production time and address potential bottlenecks or factors that could delay or impede timely availability and supply of relevant defence products.
AP reports, citing US officials, that the Biden administration is sending up to $400m in additional military aid to Ukraine, including a variety of munitions for advanced air defence systems and a number of small, surveillance Hornet drones, as attacks in the war escalated to include strikes in Moscow and Crimea.
The Norwegian government has donated another €22 million to the EU fund that buys weapons for Ukraine. They will be used to purchase ammunition, as well as spare parts for Leopard 2 tanks.
DW: The Ukrainian postage stamp "Russian warship, go..." received the highest award of the international philatelic prize "Asiago" in Italy. This stamp was issued in the spring of 2022 on the occasion of the sinking of the Moskva cruiser of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation.
Spain says 4 Leopard 2 tanks, 10 armored carriers en route to Ukraine. The Spanish Defense Ministry announced on July 24 that four Leopard 2A4 tanks and other military and humanitarian aid have left for Ukraine.
Confirmed: Chinese FM Qin Gang was sacked on Tuesday, according to state media CCTV. Qin had been missing from public view for more than 3 weeks, fueling speculation about his future. The new foreign minister will be Qin’s predecessor, Wang Yi. The media report didn’t give a reason for the abrupt sacking of Qin, who was close to President Xi Jinping. (Monique: I had seen the news about this a few days ago, now confirmed.)
Meet Azaryonok: Simonyan, step aside
This is Grigoriy Azaryonok, one of main propagandists of Belarus. We see many examples of Russian agiprop, but very few people pay attention to what is happening in Belarus. Azarenok, who is Lukashenka’s favourite, follows the dictator everywhere, who gifted him one of Wagner’s sledgehammer. He is the anchor for the programme: “The Secret Springs of Politics”. The following quotes are commonplace in each nightly episode. They are usually accompanied by dissents with nooses around their necks.
"The European Parliament, a talking bunch of shits, has issued a resolution! They accuse us of stealing children! They want to arrest us!"
"Guys, how I wish I could see Ursula von der Lolly writhing with a piece of a drone in her throat, blood rushing through her, as she twitches her filthy legs, screaming for help."
"But Borrel couldn’t help, drowning in his own vomit and feces, trying to plug his guts, opened by cluster munitions."
"You are not human, you are bastards! You will die in convulsions no matter how many innocent children you slaughter to create your own healing cosmetics, just to prolong your lives with unholy rites."
"Herod, the slayer of the innocent, was eaten alive by worms and helminths. You, in turn, will squeak like pigs, but no one will ever hear you, and the migrants will rape your bodies." (Translation: A Belarusian in Rome)
Rescuers risked lives saving residents in Kakhovka—KI
After Russian forces destroyed the Kakhovka dam on the night of June 6, volunteers from all over the country and the world rushed to the flooded Kherson Oblast to save whoever and whatever they could.
One such group was a team of German volunteers called 4Paws Rescue, which focused on saving animals. They went to Kherson to help those affected by the manufactured flood but ended up facing the dangers of being on the front line of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Their team, along with others at the same evacuation point, came under fire from Russian artillery. Myself among them. One volunteer was severely wounded.
Russian forces had been shelling Kherson since the city at the mouth of the Dnipro River was liberated from their occupation in November, but this incident proved somewhat unique.
The telltale whistle of artillery shells ripped the air, followed by the explosions from their impact. Within the span of a few minutes, roughly five struck nearby.
Putin warned about Prigozhin mutiny—WaPo
“Some supported Prigozhin and the idea that the leadership needs to be cleaned up, that the fish is rotting from the head,” one of these officials said.
The Russian president had been warned by the Russian security services at least two or three days ahead of time that Prigozhin was preparing a possible rebellion, according to intelligence assessments shared with The Washington Post. Steps were taken to boost security at several strategic facilities, including the Kremlin, where staffing in the presidential guard was increased and more weapons were handed out, but otherwise no actions were taken, these officials said.
“Putin had time to take the decision to liquidate [the rebellion] and arrest the organizers” said one of the European security officials, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. “Then when it began to happen, there was paralysis on all levels … There was absolute dismay and confusion. For a long time, they did not know how to react.”
This account of the standoff, corroborated by officials in Western governments, provides the most detailed look at the paralysis and disarray inside the Kremlin during the first hours of the severest challenge to Putin’s 23-year presidency. It is consistent with public comments by CIA Director William J. Burns last week that for much of the 36 hours of the mutiny Russian security services, the military and decision-makers “appeared to be adrift.”
“The local authorities did not receive any commands from the leadership,” said a senior Ukrainian security official. “From our point of view this is the biggest sign of the unhealthy situation inside Russia. The authoritarian system is formed in such a way that without a very clear command from the leadership, people don’t do anything. When the leadership is in turmoil and disarray, it the same situation at the local level and even worse.” [continue]