News And Information From Ukraine

Dispatches from Ukraine, provided by Forbes Ukraine’s editorial team.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes Ukraine’s reporters gather information and provide updates on the situation.

Monday, July 18. Day 145. By Dmytro Aksyonov

Toretsk. Russian shelling in the city of Toretsk, in the Donetsk region, has resulted in the collapse of a two-story residential building, which led to six civilian deaths and two hospitalizations, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine,

Odesa. Russian forces have conducted a rocket strike on the city of Odesa and the Dnistrovsky Lyman bridge, resulting in the beginning of a large-scale fire at a military object. No casualties have been reported so far, the Odesa city council reports

Kharkiv. Russian forces also launched a missile strike on the town of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv region, damaging two high-rises on July 18.

Speaking with Mark Milley, the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi has claimed that Western weapons, notably the HIMAR
AR
S rocket artillery system, have allowed the Ukrainian forces to “stabilize the situation,” even though it remains “difficult and tense.” He said that in order to turn the tide of the war in its favor, Ukraine requires further weapons from Western countries.

Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday, July 18th as she started a series of high-profile appearances in Washington, which will include a session with Jill Biden.

The Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigations has announced that the former head of the Crimean branch of the Security Service of Ukraine, Oleh Kulynych, has been arrested on charges of treason and collaboration with Russian security services. This announcement comes as the latest in a series of high-profile crackdowns the Ukrainian government has conducted targeting officials suspected of collaborating with Russia.

Didier Reynders, the European Commissioner for Justice, who has previously said that the European Commission is looking into the possibility of confiscating Russian assets and using them to aid Ukraine in its post-war rebuilding, has said that such a procedure is unlikely to be implemented due to the lack of precedent for the confiscation of assets by EU states. He said that the Commission is instead looking into the possibility of implementing an alternative procedure, which would require Russia to actively participate in the restoration of Ukraine in order to have the currently frozen assets be unfrozen.

According to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Turkey is hoping for a second round of talks between Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the U.N. in Istanbul on the issue of Ukrainian grain exports to be held this week. He said the talks could be focused on the “basic issues,” such as security of exports and the creation of an operational center aimed at bolstering coordination between the parties involved.

Reuters reports that the Russian state-owned gas company, Gazprom, has told some European customers in a letter that it cannot guarantee gas supplies because of ‘extraordinary’ circumstances, declaring force majeure on supplies starting from July 14. Germany’s biggest importer of Russian gas, Uniper, was among the companies that received the letter, once again raising fears that Russia could choose not to restart the Nord Stream 1 pipeline following the planned 10-day maintenance period which started on July 11.