Thursday, July 11

Russia’s war against Ukraine

NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg on July 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Ukrainian strikes reduced Russian oil refining by 17%, NATO official tells media. Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian oil refinery sites have caused the volume of Russia’s oil refining to fall by around 17%, a NATO official reportedly told journalists in Washington on July 9.

Kyiv refutes Russia’s claims of capturing village in Donetsk Oblast. Ukraine controls the situation near the village of Yasnobrodivka in Donetsk Oblast, Lieutenant Colonel Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, told the Kyiv Independent on July 11.

More than 23,000 Ukrainians have illegally entered Moldova since beginning of full-scale invasion, RFE/RL reports. According to data seen by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Moldovan service, 7,700 Ukrainian men crossed into Moldova in the first six months of 2024.

Russia faces 6th straight month of price growth, Bloomberg reports. The annual inflation rate for June was 8.59%, up from 8.30% the previous month. The figure is significantly higher than that of the U.S., which is expected to be around 3.1% for the month of June.

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Ukrainians raise nearly $7 million in less than 2 days to restore children’s hospital hit in Russian missile attack. United24 and Monobank, Ukraine’s largest mobile-only bank, launched a fundraising campaign for Hr 100 million (nearly $2.5 million). Within 22 hours, Ukrainians collected Hr 250 million (nearly $6 million).

Updated: Emergency workers end rescue operations in Kyiv after mass missile strike. Russian forces launched a missile attack on the capital on July 8, killing 33 and injuring 121 others. One Russian missile directly struck the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital.

X marks Bellingcat investigation into Russian hospital strike on Kyiv as ‘potentially spammy or unsafe.’ Bellingcat’s July 9 investigation confirmed, using open-source materials and experts, that a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile had struck the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital, Ukraine’s largest children’s medical center.

Italy to reportedly allocate $1.7 billion in military aid for Kyiv as part of NATO support. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has pledged $1.7 billion as part of NATO support for Ukraine in 2025, Italian media reported on July 10.

Ukraine foreign minister meets Hungarian counterpart after Orban’s ‘peace mission’ to Kyiv, Moscow. During a meeting between the foreign ministers, Kuleba said he briefed his counterpart on the situation on the front line and preparations for a second peace summit.

Read our exclusives

Ground zero: How a Ukrainian boy battling cancer and his mother survived Russia’s missile strike on Kyiv’s top children’s hospital

At about 10:30 on the morning of July 8, just minutes before a Russian missile slammed into Kyiv’s main hospital for children, 4-year-old Dima Dorontsov was waiting to receive his final dose of chemotherapy at the oncology department with his mother Viktoria Zavoloka alongside.

Photo: Courtesy

Ukraine war latest: F-16s from Netherlands, Denmark on their way to Ukraine, Blinken announces

The first F-16 fighter jets are on their way from the Netherlands and Denmark to Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on July 10 during the NATO summit in Washington.

Photo: Omar Marques/Getty Images

Opinions and Insights

Opinion: If not membership, NATO should offer Ukraine security guarantees

As foreign leaders and delegates gathered in Washington for the 2024 NATO Summit this week, Ukraine learned that it will not receive a formal membership invitation. This decision comes as a significant blow to Ukraine, writes Mark Temnycky, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, in his recent op-ed.

Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Opinion: How corrupt is public procurement in Ukraine?

Ukraine introduced Prozorro, an electronic procurement system implemented in 2016, as part of broader reforms to increase transparency and combat corruption.

Photo: Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images

Opinion: The global implications of Iran’s election

In Iran’s presidential runoff, voters chose between two candidates on opposite sides of the political spectrum. The anti-Western Axis of Resistance will survive, but reformist Masoud Pezeshkian’s victory could provide an opening to erode its cohesion, writes former Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio in her recent op-ed.

Photo: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

Human cost of war

Boy evacuated from Kyiv hospital hit by Russian missile attack dies. The boy was in critical condition in the intensive care unit of the Okhmadyt hospital at the time of the missile strike, Health Minister Viktor Liashko said. He was later transported to another hospital in Kyiv.

Russian attacks kill 6, injure 16 over past day. Ukrainian air defense shot down 14 out of the 20 Shahed-type attack drones launched by Russia overnight on July 10, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported.

Russia attacks city of Voznesensk in Mykolaiv Oblast, killing 1, injuring 8, including mayor. Voznesensk Mayor Yevhenii Velychko is among the victims, according to Kim. All eight people suffered injuries of moderate severity.

International response

Duda hopes Ukraine will receive invitation to alliance at next NATO summit. Polish President Duda Andrzej was doubtful that Ukraine would receive a formal invitation to join NATO at this summit.

Netherlands allocates nearly $325 million to F-16 munitions for Ukraine. “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s aggression knows no bounds, so our support must continue at full speed,” Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said.

Norway to donate 6 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, first to arrive in 2024. Norway will donate six F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, with the deliveries starting this year, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a press release on July 10.

NATO allies to announce $43 billion commitment to Ukraine for next year, White House says. NATO allies will announce their plans to provide Ukraine with a minimum baseline funding of 40 billion euros ($43 billion) for the next year at the Washington summit, the White House confirmed on July 10.

Hungarian opposition leader to visit Kyiv children’s hospital after Russian attack. Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar is heading to Kyiv on July 10 to visit Okhmatdyt, Ukraine’s largest children’s medical center, days after it was struck by a Russian missile, the politician wrote on Facebook.

Japan arrests first Russian for sanctions evasion. A Russian has been arrested in Japan on suspicion of evading sanctions for the first time, Japanese news outlet Nikkei reported on July 10.

Russia aims to undermine support for Ukraine during US election, intelligence warns. When asked whether Moscow seeks to boost a specific candidate, an official of the Office of the Director National Intelligence (ODNI) said that they have “have not observed a shift in Russia’s preferences for the presidential race from past elections, given the role the U.S. is playing with regard to Ukraine and broader policy toward Russia.”

New UK PM signals Ukraine can use Storm Shadow missiles to hit targets inside Russia. The missiles are “obviously to be used in accordance with international humanitarian law” and “for defensive purposes,” but “it is for Ukraine to decide how to deploy (them) for those defensive purposes,” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said during the NATO summit in Washington.

Hundreds want to join new Ukrainian legion in Poland, Polish media reports. Hundreds of Ukrainians in Poland have expressed interest in joining a new legion of Ukraine’s army that will be trained in Poland, just days after President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the plans, Polish news outlet RMF reported on July 10.

NATO may invoke Article 5 over Russian hybrid operations in Europe if requested, official tells VoA. “It is very clear to us, we know that in the sphere of cybernetics, things can go beyond Article 5, the same (applies to) hybrid sabotage operations,” a senior unnamed NATO official told the Voice of America in Washington.

Orban lays out Putin’s views on war in leaked letter to European Council. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban summarized his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow while echoing the Kremlin’s stances on its war against Ukraine in a letter obtained by Politico and published on July 9.

Iranian president-elect assures Putin of continued partnership, Russia reports. Iran is prepared to sign “a comprehensive strategic partnership” agreement with Russia at the BRICS summit in Kazan in October, Masoud Pezeshkian reportedly told Putin.

NGOs file ‘groundbreaking’ complaint to UN human rights body over Russia’s aggression. Representing families of 18 of the Ukrainian victims, the NGOs said that the case could set a precedent applicable to thousands more civilians killed during Russia’s full-scale war.

F-16s from Netherlands, Denmark on their way to Ukraine, Blinken announces. The first F-16 fighter jets are on their way from the Netherlands and Denmark to Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on July 10 during the NATO summit in Washington.

In other news

Russia labels Moscow Times an ‘undesirable organization.’ The prosecutor’s office justified their decision by claiming that the work of the Moscow Times is “is aimed at discrediting the decisions of Russia’s leadership in both foreign and domestic policy.”

Russia to produce own version of Boeing, Airbus spare parts due to sanctions.

Russia will start producing spare air parts for Boeing and Airbus aircraft due to sanctions restricting the import of these components from abroad, Russian news outlet Izvestia reported on July 10.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Martin Fornusek, Katya Denisova, Elsa Court, Lili Bivings, Kateryna Hodunova, Nate Ostiller, and Rachel Amran.

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