Liveblog: ++ Russian soldiers are advancing on Kupiansk ++

According to the Russian army, it is advancing on Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region. Ukraine describes the situation there as “complicated”. All developments in the live blog.

After the end of the grain agreement, the foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey spoke to each other. This is reported by the Turkish state news agency Anadolu. Details of the conversation between Sergei Lavrov and Hakan Fidan were not given.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Monday that he wanted to mediate in the dispute over a continuation of the agreement. Alongside the United Nations, Turkey was the mediator of the grain agreement, and ships were inspected in the port of Istanbul.

At the top meeting of the EU with Latin American and Caribbean countries, the text of a declaration on the war against Ukraine is still being debated. The dpa news agency relies on information from diplomats, according to which it has not yet been possible to reach an agreement. The reason is the resistance of countries like Nicaragua and Venezuela, which count as allies of Russia. A failure of the negotiations cannot be ruled out.

The aim of the EU is to send a clear message to Russian President Vladimir Putin with the declaration. It should be made clear to him that he is increasingly isolated in the world community and must fear further economic disadvantages if the war continues. The summit is scheduled to end in the early afternoon.

Russian units are said to have advanced up to two kilometers to the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk. The Ministry of Defense reported this in Moscow without giving any further details.

Shortly before, Ukraine had spoken of a “complicated” situation near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region. The city was liberated during a surprise Ukrainian counter-offensive last fall.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the night airstrike on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa targeted maritime drones and facilities where they were being prepared. This was “retaliation” for the attack on the Crimean bridge.

According to Russian authorities, Ukraine used floating drones to attack the Crimean Bridge on Monday night. The Ukrainian secret service does not confirm this, but does not contradict the information either.

Moldova’s Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu has criticized Russia’s withdrawal from the grain agreement. In addition, the night air raid on Odessa shows that Russia is using world hunger as a weapon. The metropolis on the Black Sea is the most important Ukrainian port city.

The Ukrainian army describes the military situation in the east of the country around Kupiansk and Bakhmut as “complicated”. According to General Oleksander Syrskyi, who commands the troops there, Russian units were concentrated at Kupiansk and reserves were brought to Bakhmut. Movements are also reported from the Lyman area.

Yesterday, a Ukrainian military spokesman claimed that Russia had concentrated 100,000 soldiers and more than 900 tanks on the front sections mentioned. This information cannot be independently verified. Military experts have been discussing for some time whether the Russian army is capable of a major offensive at Kupiansk and Lyman.

Rheinmetall has received an order for combat and practice ammunition from the Bundeswehr worth 1.3 billion euros. The contracts include several hundred thousand artillery shells. A first delivery worth 127 million euros is to take place shortly.

The Bundeswehr plans to expand ammunition reserves. In addition, more than 27,000 rounds of standard artillery ammunition were made available to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian General Staff reports progress on the country’s southern fronts. Progress is being made both in the Tokmak area and in Welyka Nowosilka, the Kyiv Independent newspaper writes, citing the army. No details or exact locations are given.

Experts suspect that the focus of the Ukrainian counter-offensive is in the south. The aim could be to interrupt the land route to Crimea. However, there are massive Russian defenses in the area.

The Bundestag member Sevim Dagdelen (Die Linke) has sharply criticized the traffic light government for its arms exports, including to Ukraine. “This federal government is mutating into a real money printing machine for the armaments companies, especially in Lower Saxony,” she told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”.

“While the population continues to have to pay high prices for food and energy as a result of the self-damaging sanctions against Russia, the arms manufacturers can make huge profits with arms exports to war zones and areas of tension thanks to traffic lights,” said Dagdelen.

In Lower Saxony, for example, there are several Rheinmetall Group locations. Among other things, the company builds and maintains the “Marder” armored personnel carriers that are supplied to Ukraine.

The director of the UN World Food Program (WFP) in Berlin, Martin Frick, fears that the end of the grain agreement will worsen the hunger crisis. Russia’s decision will have an immediate impact on prices, Frick said on Deutschlandfunk. This hits those people hardest who already have to spend a “lion’s share” of their income on basic foods.

345 million people worldwide are currently affected by extreme food insecurity, said Frick. He expects that the number of hunger will continue to rise. The UN representative warned that a “main artery of global food exports” would be interrupted.

The US think tank “Institute for the Study of War” reports on an advance by Ukrainian units near Welyka Novosilka in the south of the country. This is proven by geolocalized recordings on the outskirts of the town of Staromayorske on July 17th. However, Russian forces repelled this advance and pushed the Ukrainians back to their old positions.

The area around Welyka Novosilka is one of two Ukrainian attack axes in the south of the country. At the beginning of the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian army had reported gaining ground there.

The Ukrainian army reports that six “Kalibr” cruise missiles and 21 Iranian-made kamikaze drones were shot down in the Odessa region.

Nevertheless, falling debris and pressure waves caused damage to the port of Odessa and private homes. A person was injured.

Four drones were destroyed in the neighboring Mykolaiv region.

The British Ministry of Defense has issued an assessment of the situation at the front. Accordingly, the fighting continued at various sections throughout the week. While the Ukrainian army was concentrating on the Bakhmut area in the north and on two attack corridors in the south, Russian units tried to push west through a forested region near Kremina.

Russian anti-aircraft and electronic counter-attack units shot down 28 Ukrainian drones early Tuesday morning, the Russian news agency Ria reports, citing the Defense Ministry in Moscow. There was no damage or people injured.

Since the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the number of partnerships between German and Ukrainian cities has more than doubled. Before the war began, there were 73 town partnerships or friendships, said Helmut Dedy, the general manager of the German Association of Cities. “Meanwhile, many cities have been added.” The number is currently 167 formalized and non-formalized partnerships nationwide. “Our cities stand firmly with the people of Ukraine. We continue to provide humanitarian aid and want to support the reconstruction of Ukraine,” he said.

The German Association of Cities supports the appeal by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj to establish further German-Ukrainian partnerships between cities, districts and municipalities as well as between municipal companies and thus expand the existing network.

According to Ukrainian sources, Russia is attacking the port city of Odessa from the air. “Odessa: Anti-aircraft combat underway,” spokesman for the Odessa military administration of Ukraine Serhiy Brachuk said on the messaging app Telegram. Odessa is an important Black Sea port for grain exports. The agreement on grain exports from Ukraine was not renewed by Russia on Monday. Ukraine wants to continue exports across the Black Sea even without commitments from Moscow.

According to the Russian government, traffic on the Crimean bridge, which was damaged by explosions, was resumed at night with restrictions. According to Russian agencies, only one of the two lanes will be used, said Deputy Prime Minister Marat Chusnullin.

The strategically important bridge on the peninsula annexed in 2014 was damaged on Monday night. According to Russian information, she was attacked with unmanned remote-controlled boats. Part of the road collapsed as a result of the explosion. Moscow blames Ukraine; President Vladimir Putin threatened military retaliation.

Against the background of the Ukraine war, Great Britain wants to improve the combat readiness of its military. That included spending around €2.9 billion to replenish ammunition and stockpiles depleted by the war in Ukraine, the government in London said. The new strategy also includes plans for a new “Global Response Force” that will enable the armed forces “to be first on the scene” and an improved “Surge Capacity” force made up of former soldiers.

“We must adapt and modernize to meet the threats we face while learning the lessons of President Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said.

Foreign Minister Baerbock condemns Russia’s war against Ukraine as a “primal crime”. Sweden has presented a multi-year reconstruction aid plan for Ukraine. All developments in the live blog to read.