WAR IN UKRAINE: July 21, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 143
The head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration said that on the morning of July 21, the Russian side attacked Kharkiv. As of early Thursday there were reports of about 19 wounded and two dead. “The Russian enemy attacks exclusively on city streets, trade pavilions, and residential infrastructure. There is a hit in a residential building where a private dental office was located. There were no people inside the premises."
Russia said Wednesday that its military aims in Ukraine have expanded beyond the industrial Donbas region as its forces launched deadly barrages over the east and the south of the country. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview that Moscow's military was no longer "only" focused on wresting control of the east Ukraine regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, which have been partially controlled by pro-Moscow rebels for years. “The geography is different now. It is not only about the DNR and LNR, but also the Kherson region, the Zaporizhzhia region and a number of other territories" he explained to state media - AFP
Russia plans to annex more Ukrainian territory using a similar "playbook" to its takeover of Crimea, the US says. Citing US intelligence, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Russia is already laying the groundwork for annexation. Occupied regions of Ukraine could hold "sham" referenda on joining Russia as soon as September, he said - BBC
Western weapons are now in action in the battle for Ukraine. But getting them into operation on the front lines is creating serious headaches for Ukraine’s military. Absorbing this new equipment, coming in dribs and drabs from different Western countries, into the Ukrainian army is proving a serious challenge. “The current approach by which each country donates a battery of guns in a piecemeal way is rapidly turning into a logistical nightmare for Ukrainian forces with each battery requiring a separate training, maintenance and logistics pipeline,” said the Royal United Services Institute, a London defense and security think tank, earlier this month - WSJ
Bloomberg: Russia might face first Hague war crime case this year. According to Bloomberg's unnamed sources, the International Criminal Court aims to move forward with a case over Russian war crimes in Ukraine closer to winter. Since Feb. 24, the UN recorded that at least 5,024 civilians have been killed, including over 300 children, but the agency expects the actual figures to be considerably higher - Kyiv Independent
Beirut port rejects Russian ships with stolen Ukrainian grain. According to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry Intelligence Directorate, on July 13, the Russian dry cargo ships Matros Koshka and Matros Pozhynich with 54 tons of Ukrainian grain planned to enter the port of Beirut, but the Lebanese authorities prohibited the ships from unloading there, so the they were redirected to the ports of Latakia and Tartus in Syria. From there, Ukrainian grain will be delivered to Middle East and North Africa, according to the intelligence - KI
Five months after the military attack in Ukraine by the Russian Federation, ODIHR releases the initial findings of its human rights monitoring of the conflict, revealing credible evidence of violations of international law. More here: bit.ly/3yMlc2M
