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UKRAINE UPDATE: 11 JULY 2022

Multiple deaths in Donetsk apartment bombing; repaired Nord Stream turbines head back to Germany

Multiple deaths in Donetsk apartment bombing; repaired Nord Stream turbines head back to Germany
A handout photo released by the press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on 10 July 2022 shows rescue forces working in the rubble of a destroyed house in Chasiv Yar, Ukraine, early 10 July 2022. Two five-story residential buildings were destroyed by Russian rocket fire on 9 July, the State Emergency Services said, and at least six dead bodies recovered. (Photo: EPA-EFE / State Emergency Services)

Ukraine’s foreign ministry called on Canada to reverse its decision to return repaired Nord Stream 1 turbines to Germany. Russian rockets hit an apartment building in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk, where at least 15 civilians were reported killed and many are still trapped under rubble.

President Volodymyr Zelensky will soon announce a cabinet reshuffle and consolidation of Ukraine’s ministries that aims to weed out waste and corruption.

The US announced additional humanitarian aid focused on providing food, safe drinking water and emergency health care for Ukraine. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Group of 20 countries leaned on Russia to lift its blockade of Ukrainian grain exports. He specifically called on China to put pressure on its ally to relent.

Key developments

On the ground

Kremlin forces have control of most of the Luhansk province and are grinding west into Donetsk. At least 15 people were killed and dozens trapped when a Russian missile struck an apartment building in Chasiv Yar. Russia is looking to hinder Ukraine’s attempts to push its forces away from Kharkiv, according to the Ukrainian general staff. Russian troops hit the city with an “Iskander” cruise missile. Russia is probing Ukrainian defences further west near Slovyansk, according to the military. Ukrainian forces hit a base of Russian troops in the occupied city of Kherson, Interfax reported, citing an adviser to the regional governor Serhiy Khlan.

 

 

Kyiv slams Canadian gas turbine decision

Ukraine’s foreign ministry called on Canada to reverse a “dangerous” decision to return repaired gas turbines to Germany.

Over Kyiv’s objections, Canada announced late on Saturday that it would “grant a time-limited and revocable permit for Siemens Canada to allow the return of repaired Nord Stream 1 turbines to Germany.”

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck had publicly pleaded for the release of the parts, saying they need to return before pipeline maintenance starts on Monday — eliminating an excuse for Moscow to keep the vital gas conduit closed.

Read more: Canada to Return Sanctioned Nord Stream Turbine to Germany

US Himars artillery a ‘game changer’, says Ukraine defence chief

Ukraine’s defence minister said Kyiv had “passed the test” with the successful use of recently delivered US long-range artillery systems, and put in an urgent plea for more armoured vehicles and drones.

The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (Himars) have been a “game changer,” Oleksii Reznikov told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.

Still, the need for longer-range weapons continues to outpace the Ukrainians’ demand for shorter-range systems as the war, now mostly an artillery battle, grinds through its fifth month, he said.

Apartment block hit with Soviet-era rockets, governor says

Kremlin forces used truck-borne Uragan rockets to strike a five-storey apartment block in Chasiv Yar, near Kramatorsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, said regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

At least 15 people were killed and 20 more are believed buried under tons of wreckage. A handful have been pulled out alive. An emergency services official told the BBC that another high-rise block was hit nearby.

Chasiv Yar is one of a string of towns under heavier bombardment as Russian troops press deeper into Donetsk after securing control of Luhansk.

Ukraine plans anti-corruption reforms

President Volodymyr Zelensky will soon announce a cabinet reshuffle and consolidation of Ukraine’s ministries in a bid to weed out waste and corruption, according to people familiar with the plans.

The move comes after Ukraine set out a blueprint in the past week for post-war reconstruction that will rely on hundreds of billions of dollars from the world’s biggest economies.

French minister says Russian gas cutoff most likely outcome

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said Europe must prepare for Russian gas deliveries to be shut off entirely in retaliation for the region’s sanctions on the Kremlin and support for Ukraine.

“Let’s prepare ourselves for a total cut-off of Russian gas,” Le Maire said at an economic conference in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, on Sunday. “That’s the most likely scenario today.”

Russia intends to annex Kharkiv region, US think tank says

Comments by Russian-backed occupation authorities that the Kharkiv region is an “inalienable part of Russian land” suggest Moscow intends to annex part or all of the area, which includes Ukraine’s second-largest city, said analysts at the Institute for the Study of War.

The speed in establishing a civilian administration and introducing martial law in occupied areas of the region this month shows “the Kremlin is aggressively pursuing the legitimization and consolidation” of the occupation administration’s power “to support this broader territorial aim”, the US-based think tank said in a report on Saturday.

Zelensky fires envoys to Germany, India, and seven other countries

President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed his ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, along with ambassadors to Hungary, the Czech Republic, Norway and five Asian countries, including India, according to decrees on the presidential website.

In a nightly speech to the nation, Zelensky said the firings were “a normal part of diplomatic practice” and that new candidates were being prepared by the foreign ministry.

Melnyk has been viewed as controversial in Germany for strongly worded comments and Twitter posts, including what he decried as hesitation by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government to expedite modern weapons to Ukraine. Israel’s embassy in Berlin recently criticised Melnyk, saying he had belittled the Holocaust in an interview, an accusation he called “absurd.”

Blinken announces $368m in humanitarian aid

The US will provide another $368-million in humanitarian aid to those affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

The funding includes nearly $288-million through the State Department and more than $80-million through the US Agency for International Development, he said. The funds will provide food, safe drinking water, cash assistance, protection, accessible shelter, emergency healthcare, logistics and humanitarian coordination.

The new funds take US humanitarian assistance since the war started in February to more than $1.28-billion, said Blinken, who is in Bali for the G-20 foreign ministers meeting. DM

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