Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv launches major Crimea drone attack as Zelensky’s foreign minister arrives in China
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Ukraine has launched a major aerial attack on Putin’s forces for the second night in a row, targeting occupied Crimea in an overnight assault that local officials said involved at least 21 drones.
A day earlier Kyiv launched as many as 75 drones towards several Russian regions, with the attack triggering a fire at an oil refinery in the Russian town of Tuapse. Russia claimed the fire was caused by debris from a downed drone, though this could not be verified.
Monday night’s assault on the Crimean port of Sevastopol came as Volodymyr Zelensky’s foreign minister began a rare four-day visit to China, during which he will meet Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
Dmytro Kuleba’s task will be to put Ukraine’s case to Russia’s most important ally. He said he would be discussing “the restoration of peace, deepening our bilateral dialogue, expanding trade and economic cooperation” during the visit.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has announced a deal with creditors to restructure about $20bn of debt, bolstering Kyiv’s efforts to leverage private capital in financing its war against Russia.
Putin’s forces set up new military base 200km from Ukraine frontline – report
Russian forces have built a military base just 200km from the Ukraine war frontline in Rostov city, a new investigation has found.
The new military base is being used to conduct strikes into Ukraine and has been set up near to a penal colony and two secondary schools, reported Skhemy, a Ukrainian investigative media outlet.
“According to Planet Labs satellite images, the Russian army set up a new military base in May 2024 between a penal colony and two half-built secondary schools, on the site of another abandoned military facility – cooks’ school No 195 of the Civil Defence Forces, which closed in 2011,” it said.
Work on the base likely began last summer as, after 12 years of inactivity, changes began to take place at the abandoned premises of the former military school, the outlet said.
Arpan Rai24 July 2024 04:11
EU takes away Hungary’s right to host ministerial meet over its stance on Ukraine
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Pentagon reaffirms support for Ukraine in defence heads call
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin and Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov dialled each other to discuss Washington’s unwavering support for Ukraine, the Pentagon said late yesterday.
This is the first call between the defence heads since US president Joe Biden’s announcement of bowing out of his reelection bid and endorsing vice president Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination to take on Republican former president Donald Trump.
“During the call, the secretary reaffirmed the unwavering support of the United States for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression,” the Pentagon’s press secretary, Major General Pat Ryder, told journalists at a news briefing.
In Kyiv, Mr Umerov said he and Mr Austin also discussed the recent developments on the frontline and Ukraine‘s urgent battlefield needs.
“I once again highlighted the importance and urgency of lifting the bans on long-range fires,” the Ukrainian defence minister said in a statement on X.
The calls comes as a steadfast move to assure Kyiv of Washington’s unrelenting support in the wake of turbulent political atmosphere in the US. On Tuesday Ms Harris national security adviser and his chief of staff spoke with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said it was important that “the dynamics of our joint work for a just peace do not diminish.”
Arpan Rai24 July 2024 03:50
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Tom Watling24 July 2024 03:00
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Tom Watling24 July 2024 02:00
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Belarus’ foreign minister arrives in North Korea for talks expected to focus on Russia cooperation
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Zelensky holds briefing with top military chiefs
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has held a briefing with his top military chiefs, including army commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.
“A lot of attention was paid to the ability to strike behind the front line. We analysed the effectiveness of our drones of various types, as well as the tactics of the Russian army regarding drones,” Mr Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messenger app. The effectiveness of EW (electronic warfare) and other methods of combating UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) was evaluated.
“Rocket program. We are actively working to reduce dependence on the supply of missiles by partners, in particular for air defence.”
Tom Watling23 July 2024 20:00
