live blog
According to President Zelenskyj, six other countries have joined the G7 security pact for Ukraine. The US military can activate up to 3,000 reservists for deployment in Europe. All developments in the live blog.
The Russian government announced that the Polish consulate in Smolensk near the Belarusian border had been closed. The Interfax news agency reports that the reason is anti-Russian measures taken by Poland. Among other things, Poland says it has dug up a Russian spy ring and arrested several suspects.
Nocturnal Russian airstrikes have hit President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s birthplace, the city of Kryvyi Rih in the center of the country. A 56-year-old was injured, said regional governor Serhiy Lysak via Telegram.
Several buildings were damaged by falling debris. According to the Ukrainian military, 16 out of 17 Iran-made Shahed drones were shot down over southern and eastern areas of Ukraine.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
After the Russian General Ivan Popov, who has since been deposed, criticized the conduct of the war in Ukraine, Western experts see serious problems in Moscow’s command structures. According to an analysis by the US Institute for War Studies (ISW), Popov’s dismissal in the course of his criticism of abuses and the high loss of Russian soldiers confirms that Moscow’s defense positions in Ukraine are “probably fragile”.
The experts referred to their earlier assessments that the Russian armed forces had no reserves for rotations, for example. In the event of a breakthrough by Ukrainian forces during their counter-offensive, Russian positions would remain unsupported, ISW experts said.
They expect Popov’s departure to have at most “marginal” immediate effects. However, they emphasize: “The increasingly fragile Russian chain of command could lead to a critical command and control crisis in the future, in which the support of the field commanders for the Russian military command could become weaker and weaker.”
According to the US Department of Defense, the mercenaries of the Russian Wagner Group are currently not significantly involved in combat operations in Ukraine. “At this stage, we don’t see Wagner troops engaging in significant combat operations in Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder told reporters. The United States had established that “the majority” of Wagner fighters were still in Russian-held areas of Ukraine.
Shaded: territories occupied by Russia
The Kachowka Dam in Ukraine held 18 billion cubic meters of water – until it was destroyed. Fuel and lubricants spilled into the rivers. Fish inspector Polchovksyi warns of the ecological consequences – also for Europe.
Read the report on the work of the fish inspector here.
The finance ministers of the G7 want to hold talks on July 16 on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in India, among other things, about support for Ukraine. This was announced by Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki. “We do not intend to make a statement, but we will hold debates to solve the problems the world is facing,” Suzuki said. The G7 includes Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
The grain deal between Russia and Ukraine expires on Monday. Kremlin chief Putin is demonstratively hesitating with an extension. He cites compliance with western commitments as a prerequisite for this.
Read more about the topic here.
In the future, the US Department of Defense can activate up to 3,000 reservists for deployment in Europe. According to an executive order signed by President Joe Biden, it is necessary to strengthen the active armed forces to carry out the “Atlantic Resolve” mission.
The US Army launched the mission after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 with the declared aim of strengthening NATO allies by rotating combat-ready units to NATO’s eastern flank. The European Command of the US Armed Forces (EUCOM) said after the President’s order that this would not change the US troop strength in Europe. It is not about additional forces, said Lieutenant General Douglas Sims in an interview with reporters. Rather, reservists could in future take on tasks that were previously performed by soldiers in an active unit. It was not clear whether this meant that the reservists could serve as a kind of relief for active soldiers in Europe.
According to his own statements, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered the Wagner mercenary group the opportunity to continue fighting under his own command in Ukraine after their revolt against the military leadership. “Many nodded when I said that,” Putin described in the daily Kommersant of a meeting in the Kremlin with Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private group. But it was also Prigozhin who rejected the offer. “No, the men do not agree with such a decision,” said Prigozhin, according to Putin.
At the end of June, after an alleged attack by Russian troops on the Wagner camp, Prigozhin had the city of Rostov-on-Don occupied and sent military columns towards Moscow. At the time, Putin spoke of “treason.” In “Kommersant,” Putin now indirectly admitted that the Russian leadership deliberately relied on an illegal organization in the war against Ukraine. “We have no law on private military organizations. The group does exist, but legally it doesn’t exist,” said the Kremlin chief.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sees broad international support for a security pact in favor of his country beyond the G7 countries. Within a short period of time since the NATO summit in Lithuania, “six other countries have already joined the group of seven major Western democracies,” Zelensky said in his evening video address. He named Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Spain and the Czech Republic.
In Vilnius, the major industrial nations of the G7 had pledged protection to Ukraine. Selenskyj was optimistic that other countries would take part. Together with the USA, a list of those willing to help will be drawn up. The G7 Security Pact provides for long-term financial and military assistance to Ukraine, including modern equipment for the air and naval forces.
According to a Ukrainian army commander, the cluster munitions from the USA have arrived in Ukraine. According to British intelligence, Russia is using old military vehicles as bombs in Ukraine. Thursday’s developments to read.