Bob Homans July 26
20220726
Ukraine – 7/26 Sitrep
Compiled by: Robert Homans
Twitter: @rhomansjr
July 26, 2022
Larysa Homans
Larysa Homans, my wife, a Ukrainian citizen, and a U.S. permanent resident, is an executive coach. Larysa has extensive coaching experience working with both individual clients, and Ukrainian branches of several multinational companies and their employees, including manufacturers of food and beverage products, restaurant chains, international financial institutions, international professional service firms, and major IT firms. She conducts coaching sessions in English in which she is fluent, Ukrainian, and Russian. She works both remotely and in person.
All of Larysa’s executive coaching clients were based in Ukraine. Since last February 24th, because of Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine, her coaching practice in Ukraine has evaporated. She is now in the process of re-establishing her coaching practice in the United States and Canada.
If any of you who receive these emails can pass along Larysa’s name to acquaintances who might be looking for a coach, corporate H.R. directors who are in the position to recommend coaching services, or others who may have a need for Larysa’s services, she would be grateful.
Larysa is the past President of the Ukraine Chapter of the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She was also the leader of the Masters Degree in Leadership Program for senior executives at Kyiv Mohilya Business School, one of Ukraine’s premier business schools and, previously, Director of Communications for the Kyiv Office of the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank Group).
In addition to coaching, Larysa helps people prepare for speeches, presentations, public appearances, and job interviews. In this capacity I have used Larysa’s services twice, once for a job interview, and the second time to help me prepare to give a eulogy for my mother. If you’ve never given a eulogy, it is a difficult task. I was very happy when someone came up to me after my mother’s memorial service, an 80-something family friend, author, and public speaker with great experience, and he told me, “that was the best eulogy I’ve ever heard.” At the time I had almost no public speaking experience.
Larysa recently arranged a collaboration between the Ukraine Chapter of ICF and ICF’s Metro Washington, DC Chapter, whereby members of the Washington, DC Chapter provided pro bono coaching services to members of the Ukraine Chapter, who have also lost their practices.
You can reach Larysa directly at either her email, lara.homans@gmail.com , or by mobile phone at +1-207-409-0351. She would appreciate any guidance or referrals that you might provide. Thank you!
The Latest Denys
There is quite a lot of news in Denys’ latest report, including:
· Ukrainian counterattacks around Izyum (Donbas, southwest of Kharkiv) – The pundits continue to report a continued Russian “grinding offensive” in Donbas. Maybe some of them should make a habit of watching Denys’ reports.
· Ukrainian Defense Lines – Denys mentions Ukraine’s defense lines around Slovyansk and Kramatorsk. As far as I’m aware, Russia has been unsuccessful in breaching 3 rings of Ukrainian defense lines around Donetsk, that have largely been in place since early 2014. These defense lines will almost certainly make Russia’s efforts to take the rest of Donetsk Oblast exceedingly difficult, if not impossible.
· Russians Burning Wheat Fields – Denys shows the thermal imaging maps, and he said that some of the fires that come up are normal for this time of year. What is not normal is Russia’s burning of fields full of ripened wheat.
· Kharkiv Bunkers – The bunker’s shown in Denys’ video may be the bunkers that the City of Kharkiv is building near bus stations. The latest Russian target of choice are Kharkiv bus stations. So much for military targets.
· “Belt & Road” – According to Denys, China is terminating that portion of its “Belt & Road” initiative that transits Russian territory. I guess that shows that China has concluded that Russian credit is less reliable than, perhaps, Tanzania’s.
· Israel – Denys reported that Mossad has sent the Head of Iran’s drone program on a one-way ticket to Paradise.
Times Radio and Foreign Policy Magazine on Sanctions
Some of the pundits are reporting that Russia’s economy continues to perform well, despite the sanctions. Both the Times Radio interview with Sam Greene, Professor of Russian Politics, and an article in “Foreign Policy,” (FP) based on analysis by members of the Faculty of the Yale School of Management, suggest otherwise. The FP article states that the Russian Government is now cherry-picking economic data, to try to show that the Russian economy is doing better than it really is, that Russia may well be losing money on oil sales to China and India, because the cost of production may be close to, or greater than, the price these two countries are paying for Russian oil, and departure of international companies are having a devastating effect on the Russian economy.
More on Sanctions – Edward Fishman Podcast
Last night I listened to a podcast produced by the Modern War Institute at West Point, with Edward Fishman, who has worked on sanctions policy at the U.S. Treasury and State Departments. Fishman believes that at the start of Russia’s latest invasion Putin believed that the U.S. threat of sanctions wasn’t credible, largely for the following reason:
· The 2018 U.S. Blocking Sanctions on Rusal – Rusal is one of the largest aluminum producers in the World. In 2018 the Trump Administration placed blocking sanctions on Rusal, nearly forcing Rusal into bankruptcy. Shortly after sanctioning Rusal, the Trump Administration lifted the sanctions because of concern over how loss of Rusal’s production would hurt US businesses. Fishman believes that Putin saw the decision of the U.S. to lift blocking sanctions on Rusal, so soon after they were put in place, as a signal that U.S. sanction threats weren’t credible.
· Russian Central Bank Reserves – According to Fishman, an indication that Putin believed that the threat of U.S. sanctions wasn’t credible, was the decision of the Russian Central Bank to maintain much of its $600 billion in reserves in hard currencies, and to hold 50% of those reserves outside Russia. Fishman said that if Putin was really concerned about a U.S. Sanction threat, he would not have kept Russian Central Bank reserves outside of Russia. The U.S. sanctions on the Russian Central Bank is the biggest single sanctions in history, resulting in Russia’s loss of control of 50% of its reserves.
Fishman also believes that the sanctions on Russia will stay in place at least until Putin passes from the scene, and likely longer.
7/26 Sitrep
Russian Invasion of Ukraine 12:00 noon July 25 to 12:00 noon July 26, 2022
INTERNATIONAL
July 26
11:14 AM Bloomberg: The European Commission has developed a project to regulate restrictions on Russian gas supplies to the European Union. Thus, on July 26, EU Energy Ministers will meet to discuss the European Commission’s proposals on this issue.
10:33 AM Deputy Chancellor of Germany: Russia is waging a trade war, announcing the reduction of gas supplies through the "North Stream" pipeline. According to him, Russia violates treaties and accuses others.
● “They didn’t even have the guts to say that we are in a trade war with you guys. Instead, farcical stories are being told about these turbines that are simply not true” he says.
9:08 AM: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goals in Ukraine have failed. Moscow will be defeated if it continues the war, - says the co-chairman of the Ukrainian caucus in the US Congress, Mike Quigley.
12:59 AM ": In Poland, the eyesight of a family that suffered from a Russian missile strike in Severodonetsk was restored, BBC reports.
● In March, the children and their mother were under the rubble. When they were taken out, it turned out that all three were seriously injured and completely blind.
● The family was treated in Lublin. Nazar was implanted a prosthesis instead of the injured eye, and now he has perfect vision. His brother Timur sees only 10% with his right eye, and 60% with his left. Their mother was taken out a piece of glass, and her vision was completely restored.
12:54 AM : The municipality of Luxembourg announced that the new street N3 will be named after the city of Kyiv "Kyiv Boulevard".
● "On Friday, the Municipality of Luxembourg City adopted a new decision, according to which the N3 overpass will have the full name: Boulevard de Kyiv, Capitale de l'Ukraine," the report says.
12:36 AM TRT: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in an interview with the Turkish TV channel, said that after the shelling of the port in Odessa by Russian troops, he continues to expect all participants in the "grain agreement" to comply with their obligations.
● "We see how sensitive the process is still in connection with the attack on the port of Odesa on Saturday. We didn't want it to happen, but it did. We expect everyone to fulfill their part of the agreement. Its failure will turn against us all ", - the President of Turkey believes.
12:31 AM: Israeli Foreign Ministry urged its citizens not to come to Uman.
● The Israeli embassy cannot be permanently present on the territory of Ukraine, so diplomats cannot provide consular services.
"Because of the war of war and hostilities between Russian and Ukrainian troops, the Foreign Ministry calls on Israeli citizens to avoid traveling to the territory of Ukraine, including the city of Uman and its environs," Israeli diplomats said.
July 25
9:54 PM Associated Press: EU countries have not yet been able to reach an agreement on the proposal of the European Commission to reduce gas demand by 15% in the coming months, but work in this direction continues.
● The idea of limiting the powers of the European Commission is also being considered, which, if the plan is implemented in its current form, will be able to impose restrictions on gas without asking the consent of the member states.
9:45 PM Reuters: Siemens Energy said they do not see a connection between the situation with the turbine and the reduction in gas supplies via Nord Stream.
9:12 PM US State Department: The United States of America will donate about 500,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine to Ukraine
9:09 PM WSJ: Kazakhstan is preparing the army to defend against the Russian Federation, sharply increases the military budget by $918 million and expands cooperation with China and NATO, fearing becoming the next in the list of the Kremlin's geopolitical ambitions
● Kazakhstan is also preparing to support some Western sanctions: in early July, the Ministry of Finance published for public discussion a draft order prohibiting the supply of goods included in the sanctions lists to Russia and Belarus.
7:50 PM: New HIMARS MLRS, Phoenix Ghost drones and ammunition are already being sent to Ukraine, the Pentagon said. This includes the latest $175 million US military aid package, as well as $95 million worth of equipment from the USAI initiative.
7:30 PM: In Poland, citizens were recommended to use the expression "in Ukraine" (w Ukrainie) instead of the well-established Polish language "in Ukraine" (na Ukrainie). The recommendation was published by the Polish Language Council. The preposition "in" is also recommended to be used in relation to Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia and Hungary.
7:26 PM Reuters: There are no technical reasons for reducing gas supplies via the Nord Stream gas pipeline. This was stated by the representative of the Ministry of Economy of Germany after the Russian "Gazprom" said that the flow of gas will be reduced even more.
5:54 PM: The UN Security Council will hold a meeting on the situation in Ukraine on July 29, according to the organization's website.
5:11 PM Polske Radio: - Deputy Foreign Minister - Poland will no longer participate in events where Russians and Belarusians are present. "We made this decision because it is a fundamental element of our policy on Russian aggression. We believe that the Russian Federation and Belarus supporting it should be isolated from all international formats,"- he explained.
5:43 PM European Commission: The European Investment Bank has allocated almost €1.6 billion to Ukraine to restore critically damaged infrastructure. €1 billion will be available for use immediately, with another €590 million to be transferred at a later date.
5:43 PM Sky News: - Minister of Defense Slovakia can transfer its 11 MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine by the end of August. The issue is still being discussed.
4:18 PM CNN: The United States is working with Ukraine on a "Plan B" to get grain exports out of the country following Russia's attack on Odesa,-Samantha Power, administrator for the United States Agency for International Development. Plan B" includes road, rail and river transport, sending barges and adjusting rail systems to better align with European ones so that exports can move faster," -Power said.
2:57 PM Kurir: - NATO Secretary General - NATO will provide Ukraine with hundreds of portable complexes to counter drones.
● "In the long term, we will help Ukraine move from Soviet-era technology to modern NATO technology, improve interoperability and strengthen its defense and security institutions", – he says.
12:55 PM Japanese Ministry of Finance: The ban on the import of gold from Russia to Japan will come into force on August 1.
● The joint intentions of the United States, Canada, Britain and Japan to ban gold imports from Russia were announced at the G7 summit at the end of June.
12:20 PM Spiegel and Aljazeera: German Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser and Minister of Social Affairs Hubertus Heil arrived in Ukraine on their first visit. They plan to visit Irpin and Kyiv. The resumption of Ukraine is a key issue in negotiations with government officials.
NATIONAL
July 26
12:01 PM: Ukraine returned the bodies of another 25 of its defenders: another operation was carried out in the Zaporizhzhia region to transfer the bodies of dead soldiers. The process of returning the bodies takes place in accordance with the norms of the Geneva Convention. This was reported in the Ministry of Reintegration.
11:13 AM The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine: “Putin’s gas war against Europe is a direct continuation of his war on Ukraine. Wherever he can bring harm, he will. He will use every dependence Europe has on Russia to ruin the normal life of every European family. The only way is to hit back hard and get rid of any dependence,” he writes
11:07 AM Major General Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, will head the Committee on Intelligence under the President of Ukraine, - says Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
10:23 AM British intelligence:
● A new report about the strike on the Odesa seaport on July 24.
○ On 24 July 2022, Russian cruise missiles hit the dock-side in Ukraine’s Odesa Port. The Russian MoD claimed to have hit a Ukrainian warship and a stockpile of anti-ship missiles. There is no indication that such targets were at the location the missiles hit.
● Russia almost certainly perceives anti-ship missiles as a key threat which is limiting the effectiveness of their Black Sea Fleet. This has significantly undermined the overall invasion plan, as Russia cannot realistically attempt an amphibious assault to seize Odesa.
● Russia will continue to prioritize efforts to degrade and destroy Ukraine’s anti-ship capability. However, Russia’s targeting processes are highly likely routinely undermined by dated intelligence, poor planning, and a top-down approach to operations.
9:51 AM Ministry of Digital Development: There are more than 12 thousand Starlink terminals in Ukraine.
● "They help rescuers, firefighters, doctors and volunteers to get quality Internet in difficult conditions. War is a time of challenges and non-standard decisions. Our team checked whether the terminal will be able to work on the way at 130 km/h. Results are transmitted to SpaceX.
9:30 AM The Acting Head of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Antje Grawe, condemned the persecution of local members of the Mission, in particular those deprived of their liberty in the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
8:34 AM Institute for the Study of War:
● Russian forces are continuing to fortify and strengthen positions in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson region in anticipation of Ukrainian counter-offensives
● Russian forces made marginal gains south of Bakhmut but are unlikely to be able to effectively leverage these advances to take full control of Bakhmut itself.
● Russian forces continued to withdraw military equipment from storage in Omsk and face challenges with repairing damaged combat vehicles.
8:20 AM Operational report of the General Staff of the AFU
● In the Donetsk direction, the enemy is concentrating its main efforts on trying to improve the tactical position and creating conditions for an offensive on the cities of Siversk and Soledar.
● In the Kramatorsk direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine successfully repelled enemy assaults in the areas of Spirne and the National Nature Park "Svyati Hory" and pushed the enemy back.
● In the Bakhmut direction, assault actions in the areas of the settlements of Berestove and Semyhiria ended with losses and retreat for the Russians. But enemy units are trying to advance in the direction of Pokrovske. The fighting continues.
● The Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus held a training session on the communication of command posts. From the territory of this country, the conduct of aerial reconnaissance by UAVs of the operational-tactical level in the directions of the cities of Lutsk and Kovel of the Volyn region was noted.
7:38 AM Operational Command “Pivden” (South):
● The Armed Forces of Ukraine struck 7 places of deployment of Russians.
● Ukrainian military carried out 7 air strikes on the locations and deployment of Russian units: 6 strongholds, accumulations of weapons and military equipment, and a command and observation post in the Beryslav and Kherson districts of the region.
● Ukrainian military destroyed:
○ 48 Russian soldiers,
○ 4 T-72 tanks,
○ 152 mm howitzer gun,
○ self-propelled artillery installation,
○ 3 armored vehicles and 3 cars
○ The command post of the 11th Separate Assault Brigade of the Russian Federation and its ammunition depot in the area of Piatykhatky were destroyed.
12:15 AM President’s Office: Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the war completely destroyed 5 combined arms armies of Russia out of 10 existing.
● According to him, 35 motorized rifle and 10 tank regiments have been completely eliminated. Also, 14 MLRS divisions and 70 cannon artillery divisions were destroyed.
July 25
11:34 PM: In the Kyiv region, they continue to install modular camps for temporary residence of people who have lost their own housing. The project is being implemented with the assistance of the Polish government.
● The houses are located and ready for occupancy in the villages of Vorzel - for 30 modules and Gostomel - for 88 modules. Installation is also planned in the cities of Vasilkov (Obukhov district - ed.) and Fastov.
11:28 PM Country: - Minister of Agrarian Policy - By mid-autumn, Ukraine may reach the pre-war monthly level of grain exports.
● "5 million tons of grain - this was our minimum figure, which we previously exported from Ukrainian ports. This is the number you need to reach. If known factors do not interfere with us, then this can be done before plus or minus mid-autumn," the minister said.
11:06 PM: Dispatchers of the Gas Transportation System Operator of Ukraine on Monday recorded a sharp increase in pressure on the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod main gas pipeline at the state border of the Russian Federation - Ukraine without warning from Gazprom.
9:10 PM National Police of Ukraine: The court seized part of the shopping center in Kyiv, the actual owners of which are officials of the Russian Federation and the heads of OJSC, more than 50% of whose shares are owned by Russia
● According to Economic Pravda, the founders and owners of offshore companies are the head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, the main shareholder of Rossiya Bank and Putin's "personal banker," Yuri Kovalchuk, and a member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from "United Russia" Alexander Fokin.
7:49 PM Reuters: The outflow of Ukrainian male workers has hit the economies of European countries. Construction sites, factory assembly lines, and warehouses across Central Europe are scrambling to fill vacancies after tens of thousands of Ukrainian men returned to Ukraine to defend it from Russian aggression, writes. According to industry trade groups, about 600,000 Ukrainians worked in Poland and over 200,000 in the Czech Republic.
7:49 PM Air Assault Troops: Secheslav paratroopers shot down another Russian Su-25 attack aircraft.
7:38 PM Prosecutor General: As a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, 358 children have died, more than 686 have been injured
● Children suffered the most in the Donetsk region - 362, Kharkiv - 194, Kyiv - 116, Chernihiv - 68, Luhansk - 61, Mykolaiv - 55, Kherson - 54, Zaporizhzhia -40.
○ Note that these figures are not final, since the number of victims and wounded is still being established in the places of active hostilities, in the temporarily occupied and liberated territories.
6:38 PM Operational summary of the General Staff of the Armed Forces:
● In the Sieversk direction, to demonstrate the presence and constrain the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the enemy continues to hold separate units of the RF Armed Forces in the border areas of the Bryansk and Kursk regions.
● The Russians fired cannon and rocket artillery at several settlements in the Chernihiv and Sumy regions.
● As a result of hostilities in the direction of Tsupovka - Dementievka, Ukrainian soldiers inflicted significant losses on the Russians in the Kharkiv direction.
● In the Kramatorsk direction, the Russians made an attempt to advance near Disputed and Ivano-Daryevka. They were rebuffed and left.
● In the Bakhmut direction, the Russians carried out assault operations in the directions of Klynove - Pokrovsk and Volodymyrivka - Pokrovsk, but suffered losses and retreated. In the area of the Uglegorsk TPP, individual enemy units have a partial success.
● No active actions by the enemy were noted in the Avdiivka, Novopavlivsk and Zaporizhzhia directions. In the Yuzhnobuzhsk direction, shelling from cannon, rocket artillery and tanks continues along the line of collision.
● The personnel of the enemy is demoralized. The Russian command in certain areas throws manpower into attacks without armored vehicles.Thus, officers protect serviceable equipment and try to take revenge on their subordinates for deliberately disabling weapons.
6:36 PM: Zelensky said that he and the President of Guatemala agreed to continue to join forces on international platforms to further isolate Russia.
● "Also, during the visit, an intergovernmental agreement on the mutual abolition of visa requirements was signed and a trade and economic dialogue was launched to implement specific projects without intermediaries.
6:33 PM : In Bucha, Kyiv region, three boys organized a car wash to raise funds for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to the" Diya" application page on social networks.
● In just 2 days of their work, the mother of one of the guys transferred 1,000 hryvnias to the UNITED24 platform through "Diyu". In total, the guys collected 2,500 hryvnias, washing car headlights.
6:16 PM: The Verkhovna Rada began to collect signatures for the appointment of the People's Deputy from the Servant of the People and the head of the Committee on Legal Policy Andriyi Kostin as Prosecutor General
● The deputy head of the "Servant of the People" faction, Yevgenia Kravchuk, in a comment to "Suspilnyi" confirmed that the faction discussed Kostin's candidacy at today's meeting and will support him.
6:00 PM Interfax-Ukraine: The dismissal of the first deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Ruslan Demchenko relates to the state of his health.
● "We're all working on the edge of our capabilities right now. Great physical and moral stress. Unfortunately, the state of health of Mr. Demchenko does not allow him to work with such a load now.” Demchenko has also come under criticism for supporting the 2010 Kharkiv Accords, giving Russia a 25-year extension of the lease of their naval base at Sevastopol in exchange for discounts from Gazprom on imported gas.
5:18 PM Deputy Minister of Infrastructure: The first batch of grain is planned to be sent from Ukraine by sea tomorrow, July 27th.
● According to him, the export of agricultural products will start from the port in Chornomorsk, southwest of Odesa. Then, within two weeks, the ports in Odesa and Yuzhne will be opened for the transportation of grain.
4:56 PM Defense Minister: Ukraine will receive anti-radar missiles, which were not previously in the arsenal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
● "They are part of a $270 million US military aid package and will effectively destroy the enemy's radar system, blinding him. This will give an advantage to the counter-offensive,"- he said.
● Ukraine will be able to receive American F-16 fighters, but first the airfields need to be equipped. Consultations with specialists have already been held on this issue
● “We have a chance that our pilots will begin to master the already modern generation of aircraft. And what kind of aircraft they will be. Everyone dreams of the F-16, I would also dream of them, but something will have to be done with airfields”
● Ukraine is working with one of the European countries to receive the main German battle tanks 'Leopard'
● "Most likely, we will start with one of the friendly countries that have 'Leopard' tanks. They are ready to hand them over to us
● Germany has begun supplying 'Gepard' anti-aircraft self-propelled artillery mounts to Ukraine
● “Today, the first three 'Gepards' officially entered. These are anti-aircraft systems, to which tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition have been transferred to us. We are waiting for the first 15 'Gepards'.
● 50 Russian ammunition depots were destroyed by HIMARS missiles
4:44 PM Minister of Infrastructure: After the liberation of the Serpentine, the mouth of Bystryi was opened to the Danube. In almost two weeks, about 70 ships passed through this channel.
● The head of the Ministry of Infrastructure stressed that without the liberation of the island, the resumption of navigation through this channel would not be possible.
● Ukraine can stop the export of grain by the Black Sea. Such a decision will be made if there are any threats from Russia in the water area
● The grain export agreement was signed by Ukraine, Türkiye, the UN and Russia and should start working this week
4:40 PM : The Sicheslav paratroopers shot down a Russian Ka-52 helicopter with a shot from the Igla MANPADS. The cost of the Russian helicopter is $16 million, the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade of Sicheslav says.
3:59 PM : The President of the Republic of Guatemala, Alejando Giammattei, arrived in Ukraine and visited the de-occupied settlements of the Kyiv region, namely, Bucha, Irpin and Borodianka.
● Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Guatemala Dmytro Kuleba and Mario Adolfo Bucaro Flores signed an agreement on a visa-free regime and a memorandum on cooperation between diplomatic academies.
3:25 PM: In the Volyn region today, air defense shot down 2 UAVs that were flying from Belarus, – the head of the Volyn Regional Military Administration
● Unfortunately, there are casualties. One person died because of falling debris and several were injured.
3:18 PM: "Handing the summons does not mean being sent straight to the front", – Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov says.
● According to Reznikov, mobilization is now carried out in certain specialties. Summons are handed to men of military age to verify the documentation and put on record at the place of residence.
3:12 PM: The Office of the Prosecutor General confirmed the report of suspicion of treason to the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kostiantyn Hryshchenko and ex-Minister of Justice Oleksandr Lavrynovych in the case of the "Kharkiv agreements".
2:10 PM Cabinet of Ministers: In the context of the war, there is no talk of increasing the level of salaries of civil servants, now the government is talking about optimization
● "We cannot talk about any increase in wages. We can talk about optimizing the functionality in the central executive authorities and their departments", – the official explains.
1:07 PM: The SBU (Ukrainian Intelligence - ed.) detained another agent of the Russian special services in Kyiv: he was collecting data on the military and territorial defense, – the press service of the SBU reports.
According to the investigation, a 41-year-old resident of the capital turned out to be a Russian informant. He received tasks from a Russian citizen who is in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine as a war correspondent for one of the federal TV channels.
12:49 PM Minister of Digital Transformation: The Meta company and the 'Diia.Business' project are launching a training center for small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine
● "Entrepreneurs have free access to trainings and courses from the company on the Meta Blueprint and Meta Boost platforms. Everyone will be able to receive training in marketing, SMM, and content creation", – the minister says.
12:24 PM: Zelenskyi dismissed Ruslan Demchenko from the post of First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the decree was published on the website of the President's Office.
MORDOR (Russia)
July 26
9:57 AM Russia removes howitzers 2C7 «Pion» from the storage base at the 94th Arsenal in Omsk. At the beginning of April 2022, 170 units of 2S7 Pion in storage were documented on satellite images.
● There are already 135 units of the 2S7 Pion captured by the Planet satellite on June 2. As of July 18, when the latest satellite images were made, there were 110 units of 203-mm guns remaining.
9:52 AM New reports indicate that Kyrgyzstan residents are being recruited to participate in the war in Ukraine, they are promised pay of 240,000 rubles per month and obtain Russian citizenship.
● The admission conditions are minimal: military training is not required, and having a criminal record is irrelevant. All they have to do is delete their social media accounts and use a push-button phone without a camera.
July 25
11:46 PM : For 5 months of the war, Russia spent $17 billion on military equipment. This is stated in the study UA War Infographics.
11:28 PM Suspilne: The Russian authorities plan to restore high-voltage power lines between the Kherson region and Crimea, which were blown up in 2015 during the energy blockade of the peninsula in connection with its occupation by Russia.*
8:19 PM Forbes Russia: Journalist Oleksii Venediktov, a close friend of the first and only President of the USSR Mykhailo Gorbachev, said that he was upset because Putin destroyed his life's work.
● "I can tell you that he is upset, of course, he understands (the situation with the war - ed.). It was his life's work. Freedom is Gorbachev's business,"- recalling the policy of perestroika and glasnost, which included freedom of speech and religion.
8:09 PM: Former FSB RF officer and ex-Minister of Defense of the so-called "DPR" Igor Strelkov-Girkin predicts a "revolutionary situation" by autumn after a serious defeat of the Russian army.
● “I got the feeling that the Kremlin somehow decided that the Russian Federation would be able to play its own Vietnam in Ukraine for several years without much damage,” he writes.
● According to him, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation deliberately waits until the Armed Forces of Ukraine defeat the Russian troops to provoke a "revolutionary situation" against their background.
6:07 PM: "Gazprom" announced the stoppage of the operation of another gas turbine engine Siemens at the compressor station "Portova".
● In this regard, deliveries via Nord Stream will be halved from July 27 and will amount to no more than 33 million cubic meters. m of gas per day.
3:29 PM Verstks: The son of the head of 'Roskomnadzor' refused to join the army - for this he was examined for almost two years
● Lipov Jr. sued the military registration and enlistment office, which refused to issue him a military ID. The military enlistment office had reasons: the son of an official avoided military service in various ways, in particular, he underwent examinations for two years until he was 27 years old.
2:38 PM Enerhoatom: Russian invaders have kidnapped up to 100 Zaporizhzhia NPP employees since the seizure of the Zaporizhzhia NPP on March 4.
● “Among the station workers, they abducted up to 100 people, and of these people, only a few then return to work with a broken psyche, making a statement that they love the Russian world because of the torture that the invaders use on them”, – Kotin informs.
12:07 PM Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry: Russian hospitals are not able to cope with the existing number of wounded Russians, medical personnel are being mobilized in the Russian Federation.
● Many wounded in the units of the RF Armed Forces involved in combat operations in Ukraine led to the overflow of military hospitals on the territory of the Russian Federation. It turned out that their throughput is not designed for the flow of patients. This makes it impossible to provide quality medical care.
CHERNIHIV
July 25
7:50 PM Regional Military Administration: Today, at about 19:00, the Russians fired from territory near the village of Mykhalchyna Sloboda
● "We counted 12 explosions / arrivals. Information about casualties among the population and destruction is being specified," -he said.
SUMY
July 26
10:10 AM Sumy Regional Military Administration: There were 6 mortar attacks on Seredyna-Buda territorial community in the morning. No casualties and destruction.
KHARKIV
July 26
9:24 AM Regional Prosecutor’s Office: The Russians launched a missile attack on Kharkiv in the morning. There are no military facilities in these territories. The missile strike occurred in the area around Metallist Stadium. Russians damaged an enterprise, a multi-storey house, and a car dealership. Several shells fell on open ground.
7:56 AM Regional Military Administration:
● At 5 a.m., the Russians struck the civilian infrastructure of the Slobidskyi district.
○ The roof of the car dealership building was burned due to the shelling.
○ Several more shells hit the open areas. Previously, there were no injuries.
● At the same time, the Russians struck Chuhuiv again and hit the critical infrastructure.
● Rescuers continue to clear the debris after yesterday’s destruction of a House of Culture, where there are still people in the basement.
● Within 24 hours, the Russians struck the Tsyrkunivska territorial community and damaged a residential house.
● Russians also damaged civilian infrastructure facilities in the Balakliia territorial community.
Kharkiv military inflicted significant losses on the Russian army in the direction of Tsupivka - Dementiivka.
5:55 AM Mayor: Reports about the night shelling of Kharkiv.
● "It flew to one of the parts of Kharkiv, which is closer to the center. Traditionally, it hit near a building that has nothing to do with military infrastructure," he said.
July 25
6:21 PM Regional Military Administration: Russian troops used S-300 air defense missiles, which are designed to combat tactical aircraft and missiles, to strike at Chuguev; the Russians fired more than 10 such shells at Chuguev.
5:19 PM Mayor Reinforced concrete bomb shelters will appear in Kharkiv next to public transport stops.
● "In the event of a threat of artillery shelling, it will be possible to hide there and wait out the air raid. There are such shelters in Israel, for example. And they show themselves to be effective in terms of protection against projectiles and fragmentation," -he said.
● Installation of such shelters will begin in the near future on the 25 busiest transport lines.
4:35 PM National Police: The Kyivskyi District Court of Kharkiv seized the assets of a Belarusian enterprise worth more than 112 million UAH. The investigation was conducted within the framework of criminal proceedings on the fact of collaboration activities (part 4 of article 111-1 of the Criminal Code).
LUHANSK
July 26
9:13 AM Regional Military Administration: To gain a foothold in the Luhansk region, Russians brutally burn settlements that do not obey.
● 4 rocket attacks, 2 massive artillery and mortar shelling where they managed to approach.
● In the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian army has repelled four assaults from the Russians, in the fifth direction fighting is still going on.
July 25
1:45 PM Regional Military Administration: It will take about 10 years to restore the Lugansk region, including demining
● In settlements where heavy fighting continued, critical infrastructure was destroyed. 90% of residential buildings have been shelled, 70% of them will have to be demolished.
● The Armed Forces of Ukraine hold the defense and successfully destroy warehouses, barracks, command posts of Russians in the Luhansk region. The enemy has significantly worsened the logistics of bringing ammunition to the front, and mercenaries from private military companies are being thrown into the attack”
DONETSK
July 26
10:49 AM Advisor of Mariupol Mayor: Russians are trying to supply Mariupol residents with water fecal matter. The disappointing results of the study of Mariupol water, which the Russians call drinking. “This water has coliforms. In simple terms, water is collected in open water reservoirs (river, lake). Such water is a threat and causes infectious diseases (particularly dysentery).
July 25
5:00 PM State Emergency Service: As a result of the shelling by the Russians of the territory of the state enterprise "Artemsol" in the city of Soledar, Bakhmut district, Donetsk region, a warehouse building caught fire.
● Rescuers eliminated the fire a few hours after the shelling. There are no dead or injured as a result of the Russian attack.
ZAPORIZHIA
July 26
11:13 AM National Police: Over the past day, Russians shelled civilian infrastructure in the areas of Yulivka, Yurkivka, Kamianske, Novokarlivka, Orikhiv - Zaporizhya region..
July 25
5:01 PM Melitopol Mayor: "Today, on the highway between Melitopol and Berdyansk, a Russian military KAMAZ ran over a car with three people. Two adults and a child died on the spot,
● Another convoy of military vehicles went to Kherson through Melitopol. Already the third column of Russian military equipment is being transferred through Melitopol to Kherson.
● At the Russian checkpoint in Vasylivka, the Zaporizhzhia region, the Russians blocked more than 5,000 people, five of them died in line.
● The regional military administration appealed to both the Red Cross and the UN with a request to resolve this issue. And at the end of last week, together with the Ministry of Reintegration, they, together with the Ministry of Reintegration, appealed to the Russian Defense Ministry with a request to organize an evacuation corridor so that Ukrainians could leave through Vasylivka without restrictions, in one But the Russians cynically replied that they did not find in the city of Melitopol those who wanted to leave for the territory controlled by Ukraine"
● The Russians pass from 20 to 150 cars a day. This is about 500 people, but many more want to leave, and the queue in Vasylivka is growing every day.
1:28 PM Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense: The Russians in Melitopol are trying to restore the runway of the airfield at the former location of the 25th brigade of transport aviation. For this purpose, the capacities of the 'Monolith Plus' concrete plant have been partially restored. However, a full repair and launch of the runway in the near future is unlikely. After all, technologically, such work takes 21-28 days.
KHERSON
July 25
10:48 PM School libraries in the Kupyansky district, which is under the control of the Russian Federation, received an order to dispose of all books published in Ukraine since 1991. This was reported in the TV channel of the Borovsky village council. It is reported that even fairy tales and illustrated children's books, where there is almost no text, are subject to destruction.
8:05 PM Video from social networks: The Russians began to build a pontoon bridge across the Ingulets River a few hundred meters from the bridge damaged by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
2:47 PM Operational command Pivden "South": In the Kherson region, the Ukrainian military took control of several transport arteries under fire control. Thus, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed the logistical intentions of the Russian Federation. "Now we (the Armed Forces of Ukraine - ed.) control those transport routes that are very important for them (the Russians - ed.). In this regard, they cannot move freely, maneuver, create new strike groups"
MYKOLAIV
July 26
8:43 AM Regional Military Administration:
● On the morning of 26 July, Mykolaiv was hit by a massive missile strike. According to preliminary information, a critical infrastructure facility and a road transport enterprise have been hit by munitions and their debris. There are no victims. Detailed information is specified.
● Also, there were attacks of air-launched missiles in the vicinity of the city. In addition, there was an attempt to hit the port infrastructure of the city.
ODESA
July 26
12:22 AM Odesa Regional Military Administration: On July 25, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed: the BC in Donetsk, the BC in the Snegirevsky district of the Mykolaiv region, the Base in Berdyansk, the BC or the base of the Russians in Kherson (to be confirmed).
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.
SOURCES
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/
https://euromaidanpress.com/
https://invite.viber.com/?g2=AQBD3wxTrZ6XUU7IdXeHUfjVCydekezQCCGuwYnT6qPd1r7n1aVbFIewa6ng6Lis