Bob Homans July 15
20220716
Ukraine – 7/15 Sitrep
Compiled by: Robert Homans
Twitter: @rhomansjr
July 15, 2022
My Interview With the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative
Yesterday, I had the honor of being interviewed by 2 Senior Fellows of the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI). The subject of the interview was “Leadership – Lessons From Ukraine.” I spoke about how during 2013 & 2014 Ukrainians organized Euromaidan and forced Viktor Yanukovich from office, why Ukraine was able to build up its Army from almost nothing in the 8 years between Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, and today, and why leadership at the small unit level is a critical factor in the performance of the Ukrainian Army during the latest Russian invasion, coming as it does from both Ukrainian traditions, combined with training from Western countries. Weapons from the West are a necessary condition for Ukraine’s ability to win, but by no means a sufficient condition. Modern weapons in the hands of a badly led Army usually accomplishes nothing.
I’ll share the interview transcript early next week. This is the first interview of this nature that I have ever done. ALI seemed happy with the interview. I’d like to do more – I’m open to ideas and invitations.
“In HIMERS We Trust”
HIMERS is the multiple-launch rocket system that Ukraine is now using so effectively, by hitting Russian ammunition dumps, command centers and troop concentrations. So far, Ukraine has destroyed over 20 Russian ammunition dumps. “In HIMERS we trust” is a quote from a Tweet by Daria Kaleniuk, one of Ukraine’s most respected anti-corruption activists. Daria was part of a Ukrainian delegation that came to Washington early last April, asking for more weapons, including HIMERS. It took the Biden Administration 2 months to agree to supply the HIMERS, but then only 4 batteries. Ukraine now has 12, plus additional units supplied by Great Britain and other countries.
This thermal imaging map from satellite data, showing fires started by artillery strikes, likely illustrates the effectiveness of HIMERS, as well as the long-range howitzers supplied by the U.S., France, Great Britain, Poland and others. A picture really is worth 1,000 words – without ammunition, artillery is worthless.
Latest Denys
There are two interesting aspects to Denys’ latest video. The first is his emphasis on taking back Kherson, as opposed to Donbas. This is the first time Denys has spent so much time on Kherson.
The second is Denys’ implication that, after the start of the war Russia was able to take Kherson so quickly, partly because of alleged betrayal by 5th columnists likely operating within Ukraine’s military and political structures. Essentially, Denys repeats one of the allegations made by Rep. Victoria Spartz, likely contained in the redacted portion of Rep. Spartz’s letter to Pres. Biden.
My problem with Spartz was not what she alleged in her letter to Biden. It was the allegations she made in the Ukrainska Pravda interview, about the commitment of the Ukrainian people to the war and their lack of support for the Ukrainian Army that had no basis in fact. Rep. Spartz’s interview shows her ignorance of developments in the country where she was born and reached adulthood.
Times Radio
This is a short interview with Lord Dannatt, former Chief of the British General Staff. He describes the Russian Army as “rotten to the core,” because of corruption, lack of training and lack of discipline.
7/15 Sitrep (my comments in bold face)
Yesterday the Russian Ministry of Defense took responsibility for rocket attacks on civilian infrastructure in Vinnytsia claiming that the buildings that were hit were "temporary accommodation for nationalists.” As usual, Russia keeps changing the story, also saying that there was a meeting of senior Ukrainian military commanders taking place in the building at the time it was hit, and that the participants had all been killed. Ukraine denied that any such meeting took place in that building.
Vinnytsia is an oblast capital located southwest of Kyiv. With the recent arrival of express train service to/from Kyiv, Vinnytsia has become a place where professional people are moving, those who are able to work in Kyiv for 3 days/week and spend the rest of the time in Vinnystia. As was the case in Bucha and Irpin, by attacking Vinnytsia Russia is attacking a successful city that has become a magnet for successful Ukrainians. Volodymyr Groysman, former Ukrainian Prime Minister, was the former Mayor of Vinnytsia. Adolf Hitler maintained a command post near Vinnytsia when the area was occupied by the Nazis. It was the easternmost of his “Wolf’s Lairs.”
The Ukrainian Air Force indicated that the Russians hit the center of Vinnytsia with "Caliber" cruise missiles. The missiles were launched from a submarine and a small rocket ship in the area of Cape Fiolent in occupied Crimea. A total of five missiles were launched and two were intercepted and destroyed. It is also known that three Russian missile ships with 24 missiles are now ready to launch missile strikes from the area near Crimea.
This is the first reported use of Caliber missiles in the last week. Over the last week Russians were using inaccurate missiles with a probability of landing within 500 meters of their target. The Caliber has a probability of landing within 25 meters of its target.
The Vinnytsia City Council reports:
● 183 people received immediate treatment at the site
● currently in city hospitals there are 82 wounded, including 4 children
● 23 people are known to have died, including three children
● bodies of two dead children and 11 adults not yet identified
● 34 people are in serious condition
● 5 people in critical condition
● the search for 22 people still missing is ongoing
● A clinic, concert hall and an administrative building were damaged
● 23 vehicles were completely destroyed and others suffered varying degrees of damage.
Use of highly accurate missiles targeted primarily at a city center concert hall, where within a couple of hours a pop concert was scheduled to begin, is simply terrorism. Russians failing to destroy Ukrainian resistance have resorted to large scale terrorism.
The concert was to be a performance by Roksolana, the winner of the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest and a fixture during the 2013/14 Revolution of Dignity. Roksolana reported that her sound engineer was among the dead. Russia may well have known about the performance and the likelihood of many people gathering in one place, including well-known Ukrainian entertainers. This appears to be nothing more than a “hit” against Roksolana and other entertainers, ending up costing several innocent people their lives.
INTERNATIONAL
FRIDAY, July 15
The United States adopted a bill on the defense budget for fiscal year 2023 in the amount of $840 billion. $1 billion is allocated there in support of Ukraine (in 2022 it was $300 million) and training of Ukrainian pilots on F-15 and F-16 fighter jets.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia recognized the work of Bellingcat and The Insider, and the Institute for Legal Initiatives of Central and Eastern Europe (CEELI Institute) as “undesirable.” This is not surprising, given that it was Bellingcat that documented the fact that 8 years ago this coming Sunday, July 15, 2014, a Russian BUK missile shot down Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17, killing 298 innocent people. The evidence collected by Bellingcat, all from open-sources, is now being used by Dutch prosecutors in the trial of 4 Russian defendants whom they allege were responsible for the shoot-down. I once asked someone from Bellingcat what the one thing was he wanted to know about the loss of MH-17, that he didn’t already know. He answered, “who pushed the button.” He went on to say that he believes that they will eventually find out the identity of the button pusher.
The Washington Post: Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, may be Putin’s successor.
● The publication, citing its sources, reports - «the historic meeting of the Security Council, which decided to start a war, was completely directed by Patrushev, he also defined the whole invasion». When everything went wrong, Putin almost disappeared, and Patrushev often «glowed» on camera and talked about the invasion.
● Patrushev is a hard-drinking, hard-talking “silovik”. He is super Soviet KGB, He understands everything as if the Soviet Union still existed, and continues to live in the American-Russian confrontation» - note the interlocutors of the publication.
● Russian experts confirm Patrushev’s solid standing, but some believe that Putin’s successor will be a junior politician among them, the son of the secretary of the Security Council, the minister of agriculture Dmitry Patrushev.
Deutsche Welle: The German Foreign Ministry has rejected lifting Russia sanctions.
● According to the head of German diplomacy, Annalena Berbock, lifting sanctions against those who "cruelly" violate international law would be tantamount to "inviting [repeat actions of the Russian Federation] to all those who despise human rights, freedom and democracy".
US Secretary of the Treasury: Russian officials have no place at the G20 financial summit.
● US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen condemned Russia’s "brutal and unjust war" in Ukraine and said that Russian Finance Ministry officials attending the meeting of G20 Finance Ministers in Indonesia share responsibility for the consequences of the war.
Canada has imposed additional sanctions against Russia.
● The Government of Canada has prohibited its citizens and companies from providing a range of manufacturing services to the Russian oil, gas, chemical, and manufacturing industries.
● It is prohibited to provide services to the Russian side related to the production of base metals, metal products, cars, trailers, and semi-trailers.
● This also applies to computers, electronic and optical products, electrical equipment, ground transportation, and pipelines.
A Russian sociological company «Chronicles» conducted a new study on the attitude of Russians to the invasion of Ukraine. The results showed a fall in support for Special military operations by nine percentage points - from 64 to 55%. The growth of anxiety is recorded.
A bill that would enable recovered Russian blood money to be given to Ukraine for defense and reconstruction has passed the House," - Paul Massaro, U. S. senior policy advisor.
The governor of Russia’s Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomoz, reported about morning explosions.
● “This morning at 5 am artillery shelling was carried out from the territory of Ukraine in the border village of Nekislitsa, Sevsk district. Shelling damaged the power line. There are no casualties», - he writes.
Yesterday, France celebrated Bastille Day. Paris’s Eiffel Tower lit up in the colors of the Ukrainian flag during Bastille Day celebrations, while the Ukrainian song “Stefania” by Kalush Orchestra provided the soundtrack for the lights show.
EU officials commented on the missile attack on Vinnitsa
● “This atrocity in Vinnytsia is the latest in a long line of brutal attacks targeting civilian and civilian infrastructure. This barbaric behavior by Russia, in total disdain for international humanitarian law, must stop immediately,” said EU High Representative for External Affairs Josep Borrell and European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janusz Lenarcic.
The United States lifted part of the sanctions against Russia. Now American companies are allowed to
● transfer telecommunication technologies to Russian companies (except for six companies);
● trade in agricultural products (there is a ban on the import of fish and seafood from Russia);
● trade in fertilizers, medicines and medical equipment
● excluded the Kazakhstani "daughter" of Alfa-Bank from the sanctions lists
Reuters: The French President, speaking on television, said that an "energy containment plan" would soon be presented. “We need to prepare for a scenario in which we will have to do without Russian gas. Russia is using energy as a weapon of war,” Macron said.
THURSDAY, July 14
Reuters: The European Commission proposed that EU countries conclude agreements with Azerbaijan to increase natural gas imports. Now the EU countries must agree on a draft memorandum that will help them get rid of their dependence on Russian gas.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General: The Ukraine Accountability Conference in The Hague created a Responsibility Dialogue Group for Ukraine.
● The Independent - UK to allocate another £2.5m to Ukraine to investigate Russian war crimes. The assistance package will include the deployment of mobile teams on the ground, training of judges, collection of forensic evidence, and support from British experts on conflict sexual violence.
IAEA Director General: Ukraine has received a large amount of radiation protection and radiation monitoring equipment from Australia and France through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Bild: Greek Tourism Minister - Greece offered the Germans to wait out the winter in the Mediterranean against the background of the gas crisis.
Bloomberg: Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi offered his resignation to the President due to "a split in his coalition". The President did not accept it.
Russian President Volodymyr Putin signed a law according to which special measures are being introduced in the Russian economy.
● In particular, the weekend will be canceled for a number of Russians.
● The government of the Russian Federation, in the case of so-called "special operations", gets the right to introduce overtime work, as well as forcibly attract companies to fulfill the state order for the needs of the Russian army.
Putin exempted residents of the so-called "DPR" and "LPR" from paying a fee for admission to Russian citizenship.
Hungary is not ready to discuss possible EU sanctions against Russian gas supplies. Also, the country will not support the inclusion of Russian "Gazprom" or "Gazprombank" on sanctions lists, says Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó at a press conference in Vienna.
Brent’s oil price fell below $96 per barrel, as was before February 24.
Walla: Biden will ask Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid to supply arms to Ukraine.
● According to journalists, the United States and Israel cannot reach an agreement on the supply of defense weapons to Ukraine. Washington had previously appealed to Jerusalem several times but was refused.
BFMTV: French President Emmanuel Macron said that the Russian war against Ukraine will continue for a long time, and the summer and the beginning of autumn "will certainly be challenging. This war will continue, but France will always be able to help Ukraine".
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on Ukraine to recognize the "existing territorial realities".
Delfi: Latvia’s Parliament approved a ban on the supply of Russian gas from 2023.
Bloomberg: The EU is considering the lifting of sanctions imposed on several Russian citizens, as EU lawyers believe that measures against them were imposed on "weak grounds". A total of about 40 people had asked to have their sanctions lifted, and lawyers had found that some of the petitions deserve attention.
Interfax-Ukraine: NATO is confident that Ukraine will duly guarantee the safety of the weapons supplied by the allies to protect them from Russian aggression. This follows from the comment of the official representative of the Alliance on the article previously posted by the Financial Times.
Hungarian Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky instructed to strengthen the combat readiness of the armed forces and to conduct intensive exercises in different parts of the country.
Moldovan President said that Moldova signed a contract with Russian Gazprom on the terms on which it was then possible to do so, taking into account Moscow’s speculative position. “I’m not going to sell part of the country just so that we have cheaper gas for half a year,” - the President said.
The United States, in fact, become a direct participant in the conflict with all the ensuing consequences, – the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says.
The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, calls the new Russian legislation on a simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for Ukrainians a violation of sovereignty and says that the EU does not recognize such passports.
NATIONAL
FRIDAY, July 15
The State Security Service arrested Russian agents whose information about the deployment of Ukrainian Armed Forces units and the location of infrastructure facilities was used by Russian troops for recent missile attacks on Mykolaiv and Bashtanka.
ForPost: A Crimean colonel, Oleksii Avramchenko, who changed his allegiance during the occupation in 2014, was killed.
● «Simferopol resident, deputy commander of the 20th Guards Motorized Rifle Division for military and political work, Colonel Oleksii Avramchenko died during a special military operation in Ukraine. Probably, Oleksii Avramchenko was hit by shelling near Kherson and bled to death, » - the edition writes.
President's Office: Russia has deported 1.6 million Ukrainians, including 260,000 children.
The Institute for the Study of War 9:15 AM:
● The Russians will likely launch a larger-scale and more determined offensive along the Slovyansk-Siversk-Bakhmut line after an "operational pause"
● Russians reported that they had established "operational control" over Siversk, but analysts could not find confirmation of this statement.
● Russian forces resumed offensive operations northeast of Avdiivka, likely to bypass Ukrainian fortifications in the area.
● Ukrainian forces stopped Russian advances in Kamianka, approximately 6 km northeast of Avdiivka.
Operational report of the General Staff of the AFU 7:51 AM
● In the Sloviansk direction, the Russians are trying to improve the tactical situation and carry out offensive actions in Sloviansk.
● In the Donetsk direction, the Russians focus their efforts on the Bakhmut and Novopavlivka directions and try to move in the direction of Soledar and Bakhmut.
● In the Kramatorsk direction, the Russian troops are regrouping to resume the offensive in Siversk.
● In the Bakhmut direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have successfully countered the Russian offensive efforts in Kodema and Bilohorivka and Russian offensive efforts to seize the Spirne and Vershyna villages.
● The Ukrainian military quickly suppressed the attempt of the Russian offensive near Vodiane.
First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Yevheniy Yenin said that since the beginning of the large-scale invasion, the Russians have carried out 17,314 strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine and about 300 on military ones.Only in the last 24 hours, Russia has been hitting the Donetsk region, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv. And in the morning, they attacked Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia.
THURSDAY, July 14
Adviser to the mayor of Mariupol: Three ships left the port of Mariupol towards Rostov with a cargo of rolled metal. Four more ships and a tanker are going from Rostov to Mariupol.
A Ukrainian National Guardsman in service since the beginning of a full-scale invasion has shot down five Russian military aircraft. The name of the fighter has not been disclosed. “This week, servicemen of the National Guard, by the way, conscripts, shot down two enemy Su-25 attack aircraft from MANPADS. The hero-guardsman already has five enemy aircraft on his account," said Major General Oleksiy Nadtochiy, head of the operational department of the headquarters of the Main Directorate of the Novosibirsk State University.
The damage to the infrastructure of Irpin from the war is 25.3 billion hryvnia, or almost 922 million dollars. Conclusion from a study by the Kyiv School of Economics, collected as part of the 'Rebuildua' project.
Operational information from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine 7:16 PM:
● In the Sloviansk direction, the Ukrainian military successfully repulsed assault actions of the Russian Federation in the area of the settlement of Kurulka.
● In the Donetsk direction, the Russians tried to improve the tactical situation in the areas of Verkhniokamianka and Kamianka and establish control over the Vuhlehirsk TPP by offensive and assault actions. Ukrainian soldiers inflicted losses on the Russians with accurate fire and forced them to retreat.
● For a week, Ukraine has not lost any single meter of land. At the same time, according to Hromov, Russia continues to launch missile strikes on Ukraine - in a week, almost 30% of deadly shells hit civilian infrastructure.
● Ukrainian Military continues active preparations for de-occupation of territories occupied by Russian troops
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi: There is no land threat to Kyiv yet, Russia will not be able to abruptly transfer hostilities near the Ukrainian capital.
● Kyiv is reliably guarded by the Ukrainian army. Relevant groupings of troops have been created to protect the city. Therefore, a sharp initiation of hostilities near Kyiv is impossible”, – Zaluzhnyi says.
● Today, the biggest danger for the capital is missile strikes, – the commander-in-chief explains.
● Ukraine will use anti-ship missiles if Russian troops attack from the Black Sea side.
Deputy Chief of the Main Operations Department of the General Staff: He notes that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have reduce the capabilities of the enemy, concentrating their forces on the destruction of the enemy’s fire potential to achieve parity with him. The Russian Federation is forced to move its depots with ammunition and fuel.
Deputy Defense Minister: Ukraine’s losses in the war are a state secret during martial law, so the authorities do not reveal the number of casualties. "The enemy must not know these numbers and use them for their own goals," she says.
A conversation which has been intercepted by the Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: They beat and beat him and then shot him: The wife of a Russian soldier tells her husband how a soldier died at the hands of his officers and was brought to Buryatia dead. The spouse asked her husband to find some opportunities to return home from the war. She advised him to contact a mother to obtain a certificate of unfitness for service.
Russia launched missiles on Vinnytsia during a conference in The Hague, devoted to the responsibility of the Russian Federation for crimes in the territory of Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba reports.
Justice Minister: Billionaire Rinat Akhmetov is no longer an oligarch after his exit from the media business and the resignation of his business partner Vadim Novinsky.
General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces: Women will be registered for military service only with their consent.
KHARKIV
FRIDAY, July 15
Regional Military Administration: The Russians again launched missile strikes against Kharkiv at night. And again, exclusively on civilian infrastructure.
● Two rockets struck near the school building in the Holodnohirskyi district of the city, another one hit the yard near the school in the Industrial district. No one got hurt.
● The Russians were shelling the civilian population of the Kharkiv, Chuhuiv, Izium, and Bohodykhiv districts of the Kharkiv region for 24 hours. Private homes and outbuildings were damaged. Rescuers eliminated fires.
THURSDAY, July 14
National Guard: The Ukrainian military destroyed two Russian self-propelled guns "Nona" and a warehouse with artillery ammunition in the Kharkiv region.
LUHANSK
FRIDAY, July 15
Regional Military Administration: No one knows how many Ukrainians were tortured by Russians in the newly captured cities. The Russian hunt for people with the «wrong» position does not stop.
● At the same time, dissatisfaction with the Russian authorities and the military is growing in Luhansk. For example, a car with Russians blew up in Severodonetsk yesterday. As a result, six people were injured, four of them seriously.
● Russians launched at least one missile strike and air strikes, in particular on Verkhnokamianske.
● The remnants of the civilian infrastructure also were damaged in Bilohorivka. The enemy failed the assault operations in both directions.
● Three artillery attacks, four mortars, one attack from multiple rocket launchers, and five from tanks were also recorded.
● In the temporarily occupied Kadiivka (Stakhanov), Luhansk region, a Russian ammunition depot burned overnight.
THURSDAY, July 14
Regional Military Administration: Russian occupiers want to restart the 'Azot' plant in Severodonetsk, but this threatens with a man-made disaster. "An attempt to start production in violation of basic safety rules can lead to casualties and a man-made disaster for the entire region. Large-scale destruction at the plant is not compatible with its safe operation.
DONETSK
FRIDAY, July 15
Mayor: The consequences of yesterday’s shelling of the «Zeus Ceramics» plant in Sloviansk that one of the two wounded people died yesterday while being transported to the Dnipro Hospital.
Regional Military Administration: Russians hit the private sector of Krasnohorivka in the Marinka territorial community - 1 person dead and 1 was wounded.
● During the night, the Russians shelled the vicinity of Novoluhansk, Kodema, and Semyhirria in the Svitlodarsk territorial community: 1 person was killed, and 1 wounded.
● At 5 am, the Russians launched a missile attack on Konstantinyvka - a five-story residential building was damaged, and a person was wounded.
● The exact amount of losses of human life and the extent of destruction are yet to be determined. Russians hit Cherkasy territorial community three times: the administrative buildings were damaged in Novomykolaivka, and the Russians used cluster bombs in Maidan.
● On July 14, Russians killed three civilians in Donbas: in Bakhmut, Ivanhrad and Avdiivka. Seven others were wounded.
● It is currently impossible to determine the exact amount of losses of human life in Mariupol and Volnovakha.
THURSDAY, July 14
Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense: About 100 monks refuse to leave the territory of the Svyatogorsk Lavra, which is under the control of the Ukrainian army, but is being shelled by the Russian army from the other side of the Seversky Donets. Some of the monks are in a serious condition due to injuries, age and illness, which makes it impossible to evacuate them.
Adviser to the mayor of Mariupol: Mariupol residents, especially those living in the Prymorskyi district, are asked to choose safer housing and not use the Mariupol-Volnovakha train.
● Local partisans set fire to the 'Satellit' plant to prevent the Russians from taking out equipment.
2 people died and 3 were wounded due to the shelling in Donetsk, - says the so-called "head of the DNR" Denis Pushylin. Russians are shelling the center of Donetsk to blame Ukraine and shift the focus of attention from Vinnytsia. Local media reports that Russians are shooting at the bus station. There are dead and wounded residents.
ZAPORIZHIA
THURSDAY, July 14
Mayor of Melitopol: After the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed the military bases in Melitopol, the invaders began to transfer equipment towards Kyryllivka and Okhrimovka.
DNIPRO
FRIDAY, July 15
Regional Military Administration: Russians attacked three districts of the region.
● In the Nikopol district, fuel caught fire due to shelling. At the site of the shelling, debris from «Grad» and phosphorus munitions were found.
● In the Kryvyi Rih district, the Russians again shelled the parking area of Zelenodolsk with barrel artillery.
● Russians launched a missile on the Synelnykivskyi district, which hit the school. Information on the dead and injured are being clarified.
THURSDAY, July 14
Nikopol Regional Military Administration Yevheniy Yevtushenko announced shelling near the city of Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region.
KHERSON
FRIDAY, July 15
Deputy of the Kherson Regional Council: Russians and collaborators left the building of the Regional State Administration.
● “Two governments (the government of collaborators and the government of Russians) were evacuated from the Regional State Administration building, although recently they were located there, occupied all the offices and carried out vigorous activity. But for the last two days they are no longer there, they are located somewhere in other places,” he said.
THURSDAY, July 14
Regional Military Administration: The Armed Forces of Ukraine had already de-occupied 44 settlements of the region. According to him, all these settlements are under Russian shelling now. Russians are destroying them, shelling infrastructure and homes.
Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: Russians set up an ammunition depot in the Drama Theater in temporarily occupied Kherson and wait for Russian political technologists.
● A group of political technologists are expected to arrive and to organize the preparation and holding of the so-called "referendum".
● The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed another ammunition depot of Russians in the Kherson region
● It is noted that the Russian military dress in civilian clothes and run away in stolen cars.
MYKOLAIV
FRIDAY, July 15
Mayor: At the moment, we known about two wounded people in the Russian missile attack on Mykolaiv. Rescuers and emergency crews are already working on the spots. This time the Rashists hit Mykolaiv around 7:50 am, knowing well that a lot of people were in the streets. The real terrorists!!», - he writes.
Regional Military Administration: Posted the moment of the attack on Mykolaiv. According to preliminary information, the Russians hit the university.
THURSDAY, July 14
Operational command "Pivden" (South): Ukrainian Armed Forces delivered four accurate strikes and destroyed the control station and ammunition depot of the Russian occupiers in the Mykolaiv region.
● One person was wounded, and one person died after the morning shelling of Mykolaiv.
● In total, the Russians fired nine missiles: at two educational institutions, a transport infrastructure facility, and a hotel.
ODESA
FRIDAY, July 15
Operational Command “Pivden” (South): «With a pair of Su-24 tactical bombers, the enemy attempted to finish off the remnants of the equipment they had thrown at Zmiinnyi Island. There were no our casualties», - Operational Command “Pivden” (South) reports.
THURSDAY, July 14
A sea mine broke off its moorings and drifted a few meters from the shore in the Odesa region. Experts are working on its deactivation. Operational command "Pivden" (South) reports.
ZHYTOMYR
THURSDAY, July 14
Regional Military Administration: A transport truck with foresters traveling through a forest hit a land mine in the Narodychi territorial community of the Zhytomyr region. The explosion killed two, and there are wounded.
KYIV
Kyiv Council has approved the decision to create a landscape reserve "Protasiv Yar", says Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klychko. "The creation of the reserve is in honor of the memory of Roman Ratushnyi and evidence that his actions and the actions of many Kyiv people who fought for this green area were not in vain," - says the mayor.
Comparing Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to Russian invasion of Ukraine using Wikipedia and Ukraine Ministry of Defense Daily Bulletins. Soviet and Russian military losses not including captured equipment
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SOURCES
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/
https://euromaidanpress.com/
https://invite.viber.com/?g2=AQBD3wxTrZ6XUU7IdXeHUfjVCydekezQCCGuwYnT6qPd1r7n1aVbFIewa6ng6Lis