Prepared by Sofia Oliynyk and Maryana Zaviyska
Photo: Zelenskiy Official Telegram channel
Food security.
Military delegations from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey will meet UN officials in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss a possible deal to resume safe exports of Ukraine grain from the major Black Sea port of Odesa as a global food crisis worsens, Reuters reports. The preliminary plan, according to the invited diplomats, could envisage a role for each party – Ukrainian vessels guiding grain ships in and out through mined port waters, Russia agreeing to a truce while shipments move and Turkey – supported by the United Nations – inspecting ships to allay Russian fears of weapons smuggling.
The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine reports that the 16 vessels are now waiting to be loaded with Ukrainian grain for export to foreign markets, while more than 90 more vessels await their turn in Romania’s Sulina canal.
Germany and Japan will help organize grain exports from Ukraine. ’The foreign ministers of Japan and Germany have pledged to work together to support a rules-based international order, which is threatened by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while maintaining economic sanctions against Moscow,’ reads the article. According to Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Germany and Japan will also help organize grain exports from Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Russian invaders continue to steal the harvest of Ukrainian agricultural businesses in Mariupol, says an Adviser to the Mayor Petro Andriushchenko. Farmers are allowed to collect grain only under the conditions of transferring 100% of the harvest for sale to the ‘trading house’ of the so-called DPR.
In the occupied territories of the Ukrainian South and Luhansk region, local farmers are forced to ‘surrender’ grain at a fixed price, which is many times lower than the market price. In case of refusal, the grain is ‘nationalized’. This is monitored by FSB employees. The export of grain is carried out by pseudo-firms related to FSB. Self-proclaimed authorities of the occupied territories have built up the structure of the grain collection. In each occupied region there is a person responsible for the implementation of the norm.
Cities under attack.
Mykolaiv was subjected to a massive rocket fire. The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, said that during the day of July 12, the Russian occupiers fired at least 24 rockets into the city. The Russian military hit two medical facilities and residential buildings. The Sumy region undergoes regular attacks by Russian forces at the border territories. On Tuesday, the enemy shelled the territories of four communities of the Sumy region 58 times with various types of weapons. In the Donetsk region, within a day, the Russians killed 4 civilians: 2 in Avdiivka, 1 in Bakhmut and 1 in Chasiv Yar. Another 8 people were injured. Previously, the Russian missile strike hit a five-story apartment building in the city of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, on July 9. Now, the death toll of Chasiv Yar missile strike rises to 46. Rescue workers have pulled 46 bodies out of the rubble, including a child – Tetiana Ihnatchenko, a spokeswoman for Donetsk region administration, said on July 13. Nine people have been rescued.
Recovery.
Ukraine has prepared a plan – The Fast Recovery Plan of Ukraine – which will provide for the rapid reconstruction of social infrastructure facilities destroyed as a result of the full-scale Russian invasion, taking into account the best modern construction standards. ‘Now we are working on a long-term plan for the recovery of Ukraine. It defines the list of national reconstruction programs. We have incorporated the Build Back Better principle into this plan,’ said Deputy Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Tymoshenko. According to him, the total budget of the Fast Recovery plan is almost $17.4 billion, as these funds are needed to restore 5909 destroyed multi-story and 31 034 private houses, 259 schools, 205 kindergartens, 170 medical facilities, and 2070 housing and communal services facilities.
Human rights.
The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday that 5024 civilians had been killed in Ukraine since the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, adding that the real toll was likely much higher. OHCHR, which has dozens of human rights monitors in the country, also indicated that 6520 were injured.
Russia’s proxies in the Donetsk, Luhansk regions have lifted death penalty moratorium. Denis Pushilin, leader of the Kremlin’s proxies in Donetsk region, on July 12 signed a decree lifting a ban on capital punishment. Previously, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia won’t rule out executing foreign prisoners of war.
Ukraine and Russia exchanged 30 bodies of the killed servicemen from each side. Since February 24, more than 400 bodies of defenders, mostly those killed at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, were returned to Ukraine.
Five Ukrainian citizens were released from captivity during the special operation carried out by the forces of the special unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region.
The Russian troops are blocking the possibility of leaving Melitopol to Zaporizhzhia. Previously Ukraine’s government called citizens in occupied territories of Kherson region to leave the territories as Russians may use them as living shields.
Foreign policy.
EU finance ministers on Tuesday approved a European Commission proposal for €1 billion in macro financial assistance to Ukraine, to be provided as a long-term concessional loan. The amount is aimed at providing Ukraine with the necessary funds to cover urgent needs and ensure the operation of critical infrastructure.
The European Union is considering the possibility of providing Ukraine with the fifth tranche of military aid in the amount of 500 million euros. ‘European Pravda’ reports, this was stated by the Secretary General of the European External Action Service Stefano Sannino at the meeting of the defense and foreign policy committees of the European Parliament.
The state budget of Ukraine received a grant from the USA in the amount of $1.7 billion. These funds were provided from the Trust Fund of one donor, created by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Sanctions.
The European Commission froze €13.8 billion worth of Russian assets, says European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders. According to him, more than 12 billion euros have been frozen in just five member states since February 24. ‘We must continue to convince other member states to do the same. I hope that in the coming weeks, we will see an intensification of these processes in all member states,’ Reynders said. Ukraine is calling for using the costs of the frozen assets for the reconstruction, as the financial reconstruction of Ukraine will require huge sums to rebuild the country after the war. Meanwhile, the EU and member states are increasingly looking for ways to potentially use frozen assets for this purpose.
Energy security.
As of July 12, about 790 settlements, a total of about 619 800 consumers, remain without electricity in Ukraine due to damages caused by hostilities. In particular, there are about 358.1 thousand consumers in Donetsk region, over 128.2 thousand in Luhansk region, 38.1 thousand in Zaporizhzhia region, about 35.1 thousand in Kharkiv region, and 30.2 thousand in Mykolaiv region. About 244 000 consumers remain without gas supply.
Westinghouse Electric Company has signed a feasibility study contract with Energoatom, Ukraine’s national nuclear power company, according to the Westinghouse press release. Westinghouse will provide technical information in support of Energoatom’s feasibility study update for the construction of two new reactors at the Khmelnytsky Nuclear Power Plant.
Cyber security.
Ukraine becomes an associate member of the Multilateral Interoperability Programme (MIP) which implements technological cooperation between the armies of NATO member states. The corresponding decision was made by voting at the annual meeting of the MIP Steering Group, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reports. From now on, Ukraine as the MIP associate member has the right to jointly develop and amend key NATO standards related to the interaction of combat control systems and related standards, the statement reads. “Ukraine has a powerful IT potential and is a worthy NATO ally. We will certainly contribute our expertise to the development of collective security,” commented Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov. With the support of the C4 Ukraine-NATO Trust Fund and the MIP program, a large contribution has been made to the development of the Ukrainian Delta Situational Awareness System, which has been designed by Ukrainian military IT specialists since 2016. The officers of the Center for Innovation and Development of Defense Technologies at the Ministry of Defense presented Ukraine’s potential at the meeting of the MIP Steering Group citing the example of Delta’s operation. The MIP and the Ukrainian developers of Delta Situational Awareness System have been cooperating since 2019.
Belarus.
Belarus conducts drills near Ukraine’s border. A three-day-long military exercise has begun in the southern Gomel Region, according to the Defense Ministry of Belarus. On July 12-14, the Belarusian territorial forces, a homeland defense unit, will train to defend local sites and serve at the checkpoints during the martial law.
Science.
The European Space Agency is terminating cooperation with Russia on the mission to launch Europe’s first planetary rover, designed to search for signs of life on Mars, the agency’s chief said on Tuesday. The ExoMars Rover, a collaboration between the ESA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, had been on track to leave for Mars in September this year. But the ESA said in February that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had made that ‘very unlikely.’ Then in March, the agency suspended cooperation with Roscosmos over their joint mission on Mars in the wake of the Ukraine invasion and sanctions imposed on Russia.
Recent polls.
Unpublished poll shows 30% of Russians support the immediate end of war against Ukraine. Russian independent media Meduza reported that it had acquired access to an unpublished poll ordered by the Kremlin and conducted in late June. The survey showed that 57% of the polled Russians support the continuation of the war against Ukraine.
Reading corner.
- Address by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba to the Frontline Democracies Forum in Vilnius | Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine – ‘Ukraine is a frontline democracy, a democracy at war for itself and the rest of the free world against one of the most brutal and aggressive dictatorships, Russia. We have a lot of experience to share. I am sure you are all well-aware of Russia’s illegal invasion and horrifying atrocity crimes, the pain and damage that Russia has inflicted on Ukraine. And I guess we all here agree that Russia is the aggressor and its invasion has never been justified by any real cause except for Putin’s will to destroy Ukraine. I will not use my time today to repeat the facts you already know. Instead, I would like to focus on five key takeaways we can share with all other nations confronted by authoritarian regimes today. These can be generally called bravery, solidarity, communications, countering disinfo, and cold-headed approach.’
- Ukrainian Medic’s Months in Russian Cell: Cold, Dirty and Used as a Prop | The New York Times – Ms. Paievska, 53, was already well known in Ukraine as Taira, a nickname she first used in the video game World of Warcraft. Her all-female volunteer medic group, called Taira’s Angels, had become famous in Ukraine during the earlier war in the eastern Donbas region: ‘They tried to squeeze evidence out of me,’ she said, convinced she had secret information about an attack on Russia. ‘They wanted me to admit that I was a Nazi, that I did some nasty things, killed someone. I didn’t incriminate myself. It cost me dearly.’ The Russians dragged her in front of cameras for a propaganda video, released 10 days after her arrest, in which she was compared to Hitler and accused of using children as shields […] The number of Ukrainians still in Russian custody is not clear. Late last month — the day after a transfer of 144 Ukrainian soldiers, the largest prisoner swap since February — a press officer for the Russian Ministry of Defense said it held 6000 Ukrainian prisoners of war, a number that could not be verified independently.
Statistics.
- According to prosecutors, 348 children were killed and more than 650 were injured to varying degrees of severity.
- General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the total estimated losses of the Russian military as of 10 a.m., July 13, 2022: personnel – around 37 570, tanks ‒ 1649, APV ‒ 3832, artillery systems – 839, MLRS – 247, anti-aircraft warfare systems – 109, fixed-wing aircraft – 217, helicopters – 187, operational-tactical level UAV – 678, cruise missiles – 155, boats and light speed boats – 15, soft-skinned vehicles and fuel tankers – 2704, special equipment – 67.
Every action counts, no contribution is too small!
- Support Mykolaiv-based ‘Rebel Volunteers’ who are working with the trauma departments and emergency rooms of the Emergency Hospital, the Children’s Hospital and some other health care facilities in Mykolaiv. The volunteer group also supports the Mykolaiv Zoo and cooperates with animal rights activists.
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