Prepared by Sofia Oliynyk, Maryana Zaviyska, Anna Dovha
Photo: Zelenskiy Official Telegram channel
Food Security.
Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations signed a grain export deal in Istanbul. Russia, Turkey and the UN signed the identical document at the request of Ukraine, which refused to initial any document with Russia. The agreement will be valid for 120 days with a possibility of extension. The agreement will enable to open the Black Sea ports for grain exports. The Ukrainian side will keep the control over the ports of “Odesa,” “Chernomorsk,” and “Yuzhny.” Other ships, other from those designed to guarantee the export of grain and related food items and fertilizers, are not permitted in these ports. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, 3 unblocked ports will be able to transport around 3 million tons of agricultural products every month. The export of Ukrainian grain may resume as early as Saturday, but the exports volume will not correspond to the pre-war levels. Overall, the deal collected wide variety of reactions – from celebration of the finally opening up the ports and allowing to ship the grain further, as well as to concerns about purity of Russia’s intentions and sticking to the agreement in the long run.
About 70 thousand tons of grain of the new harvest were taken out by Russian invaders from the Luhansk region, said Serhiy Gaidai, the head of the Luhansk regional military administration. According to him, because of this, the farmers did not have a crop to sell and, accordingly, funds for settlements with the population on shares. The harvested crop by two of the most important enterprises on the occupied territories of Luhansk region “Nibulon” and “Agroton” was nationalized by the Russian enterprise in Kuban.
Cities under attack.
The head of the Dnipropetrovsk Military Administration Valentyn Reznychenko announced that the Lyceum №1 in Apostolovo was destroyed by Russian invaders. At night Russian troops hit with rockets the Nikopol and Kryvyi Rig districts of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Overall, over the past week, the Russians have fired more than 250 rockets at Nikopol,Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Yesterday for example, Russian troops fired two rounds at residential areas of Nikopol from the BM21 Grad, firing about 100 rockets. A 60-year-old woman died. 11 private houses and farm buildings were damaged, and gas and water pipes were cut off. Ruined railway track. The Lyceum was renovated in 2020. Slovyansk, Donetsk region, is again under attack from the Russian invaders. “The Russians once again shelled the residential quarters of the city. Currently, it is known about at least three injured people […] According to preliminary information, the occupiers shelled the city with cluster munitions,” Pavlo Kyrylenko, Donetsk Military Administration Head, wrote. Explosions were recorded once again in Mykolaiv today in the morning – 6 missile strikes from S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems were recorded, as a result of which a fire broke out in the territory of the warehouse. On the morning of July 23, the Russians fired 13 rockets in the Kirovohrad region, as they hit the Kanatove military airfield and one of the facilities of Ukrzaliznytsia, causing casualties and injuries.
Cities under occupation.
“Google” was banned on the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions by pro-russian authorities. The leaders of self-proclaimed republics accused “Google” of “promoting terrorism and violence against all Russians” and Ukrainian and western propaganda.
In occupied Mariupol, the workers of the steel plant rioted. According to the mayor’s advisor Petro Andryushchenko, people refuse to work on the construction site of the occupiers because of inhumane conditions of work. “Schedule from 8 to 20-00 […] Without water in the sun,” he wrote in Telegram.
Human rights.
5100 Ukrainian children were deported to the Russian Federation by Russian occupiers from occupied territories, said Daria Herasymchuk, the representative of the President of Ukraine for children’s rights and child rehabilitation reported. All children were identified with names and surnames and only 50 of them have been returned back since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Foreign policy.
Europe’s largest port in Rotterdam, Netherlands announced the suspension of container transportation from Russia and the Russian Federation.
Europol stated currently it has no records of any weapons being smuggled out of Ukraine. “Europol is working closely with Ukrainian officials to mitigate the threat of arms trafficking into the European Union. We have full confidence in them as they implement new measures to monitor and track these firearms,” indicated in the Europol statement on the cooperation with Ukraine.
Economic security.
Ukraine is discussing with the International Monetary Fund and other international financial organizations the possibility of revising the debt payment schedule, announced Yuriy Butsa, the government commissioner for national debt issues. According to him, there are two main options for solving the problem: either one of the G7 members is ready to replace these payments, or the IMF increases Ukraine’s financing through a new program.
The Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine Kyrylo Shevchenko stated Ukraine got $12.7 billion from international partners. “Since the beginning of the war, international partners have announced the amount of financial support for the country at the level of more than $27 billion. These funds are being sent to ensure the basic needs of the budget. Currently, Ukraine’s budget has received $12.7 billion,” he said.
Energy security.
President of Energoatom State Enterprise Petro Kotin and Chief Executive Officer of Urenco Borys Shukht, held negotiations. During the meeting the question of additional supplies of enriched uranium to the Westinghouse company for the production of nuclear fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants was discussed.
The President of Moldova Maya Sandu announced Moldova’s intentions to buy more electricity from Ukraine. The President said Moldova is currently looking for ways of diversification on electricity supplies from Transnistria because the contract with unrecognized Transnistria is not long-term.
The mayor of Kharkiv, Igor Terekhov, calls for the nationalization of the private CHP-5, which supplies part of the city with heat and hot water. The mayor noted that one of the owners is abroad and another is connected with a recently blocked pro-russian party. It was stated that TPP-5 once again failed to fulfill its promise and now part of the city will remain without hot water supply for more than 10 days.
Environmental security.
Since the beginning of the war, Ministry of Environmental policy recorded more than 2,000 facts of environmental crimes. Currently the team is underway preparing lawsuits in international courts. The team developed 10 new methods for calculating the damage caused to the environment. Already, the amount of damages from Russian aggression reaches 204 billion hryvnias.
Also, recently, Ukraine joined the European Union LIFE program, which will help finance environmental projects even before joining the European Union. In addition, the Ministry signed Memorandums of Understanding and Cooperation with the Ministry of Climate and Environment of Poland, the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Czech Republic, an implementation agreement to the Paris Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Swiss Confederation, said the Minister.
Culture.
434 cases of Russian war crimes against the cultural heritage of Ukraine were recorded according to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. In total, 129 objects of cultural heritage were destroyed and damaged as a result of the shelling of the occupiers. Among them are 22 sights of national significance, 100 of local significance and 7 newly discovered objects of cultural heritage. 105 valuable historical buildings were also damaged.
Reading corner.
- Ukraine’s Zelensky Says a Cease-Fire With Russia, Without Reclaiming Lost Lands, Will Only Prolong War – WSJ – any cease-fire that allows Russia to keep Ukrainian territories seized since the invasion in February would only encourage an even wider conflict, giving Moscow a badly-needed opportunity to replenish and rearm for the next round, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Statistics.
- General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the total estimated losses of the Russian military as of 10 a.m., July 23, 2022: personnel – around 39 240, tanks ‒ 1708, APV ‒ 3929, artillery systems – 864, MLRS – 253, anti-aircraft warfare systems – 113, fixed-wing aircraft – 221, helicopters – 188, operational-tactical level UAV – 714, cruise missiles – 167, boats and light speed boats – 15, soft-skinned vehicles and fuel tankers – 2820, special equipment – 72.
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