Prepared by Sofia Oliynyk, Maryana Zaviyska, Anna Dovha
Photo: Kostiantyn Liberov and Vlada Liberova
Foreign policy.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a one-hour-and-a-half telephone conversation with the President of France Emmanuel Macron. The Presidents of Ukraine and France agreed to coordinate further actions on the provision of security assistance to Ukraine by partners.The important issue of macro-financial support of Ukraine and the important role of the French Republic in this process were discussed.
President Zelenskyy also held a telephone conversation with the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg. The President of Ukraine called for the transfer of a larger number of heavy weapons from the Alliance countries to Ukraine to repel attacks by the Russian Federation and transition to a counteroffensive.
UN Secretary General António Guterres stated that the world is facing a nuclear threat not seen since the height of the Cold War. The threats posed by war in Ukraine, as well as in Asia and the Middle East, separate the world from nuclear annihilation by “just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation,” the UN secretary-general said.
The Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs of Latvia approved the draft resolution on recognizing the actions of Russian against Ukraine as terrorism, and the Russian Federation itself as a state sponsor of terrorism. The Commission will ask the Seimas to adopt a resolution at the extraordinary meeting on August 11th.
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the Ukrainian Azov Regiment as a terrorist organization and banned its activities in Russia. Most of the court session took place behind closed doors, only the questioning of witnesses was broadcast for journalists. “Any decisions in Russian jurisdictions regarding Ukraine or its military personnel will have no legal value for the world and will not affect the negotiation process regarding the exchange of prisoners,” adviser to the head of the Office of the President Mykhailo Podolyak stated.
Human rights.
Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets announced that the Russian side agreed to hand over the bodies of prisoners of war who died as a result of the explosion in Olenivka, but “after the end of the investigation.” “I can report that we received a signal that the Russians are ready to return the bodies of our heroes, but the wording is that after the end of the investigation. We have not yet received an answer to clarify how much time is needed for the investigation. But we are waiting,” Dmytro Lubinets said.
Minister of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk reported that Mandatory evacuation from the Donetsk region has started. The first 136 civilians left the region by train, more than four dozen of them with limited mobility.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the prosecutor’s office has opened 1,451 criminal proceedings for crimes against children. “We have 668 proceedings on the facts of death, injury and sexual violence against children. 777 – on the facts of attacks on institutions that concern children. Others are, in particular, the forced transfer of children,” Deputy Prosecutor General Ihor Mustets noted.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to Prime Minister Denys Shmygal with a request to consider the issue of allowing LGBT people to register civil partnerships. A petition calling for the legalization of same-sex marriages in Ukraine has garnered 28,000 signatures. “According to the Constitution of Ukraine, marriage is based on the free consent of a woman and a man. The Constitution of Ukraine cannot be changed during a state of war or state of emergency. At the same time, the Government worked out options for legalizing a civil partnership registered in Ukraine as part of the work on establishing and ensuring human rights and freedoms,” Zelenskyi said.
Cities under attack.
The head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration Valentyn Reznichenko reported that the Russian military shelled two districts of the Dnipropetrovsk region — Synelnykivsky and Kryvorizky. There is destruction of houses, broken power lines. According to the State Emergency Service of Donetsk region, the Russian occupiers shelled a boarding school in Mykolaivka. As a result of the shelling, there was a fire on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building. The Russian occupying forces fired eight cruise missiles over Ukraine. Seven of them were shot down by the Ukrainian air defense forces, one more hit an anti-aircraft missile complex in the Lviv region. Air defense forces shot down two Russian missiles over the Vinnytsia region, the head of Vinnytsia regional military administration Serhiy Borzov reported. At night and early morning powerful explosions rang out in several districts of Mykolaiv. One person was contused, a student dormitory was destroyed, two high-rise buildings were damaged (windows and roof), windows were broken in the family outpatient clinic and the school. In the morning Mykolaiv was again shelled. A supermarket was destroyed and high-rise buildings were damaged. During yesterday’s shelling the wharf was also damaged, an industrial enterprise and residential buildings were damaged.
Cities under occupation.
The adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andryushchenko, reported that the Russian occupiers had announced a rock concert on the destroyed “Azovstal” plant.
Another 7 settlements were liberated in the Kherson region by Ukrainian Armed Forces. In total 53 settlements were returned under Ukraine’s control.
Energy security.
Ukraine plans to accumulate 2.5 million tons of coal by winter. The Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Galushchenko and First Deputy Minister Yuriy Vlasenko held a meeting with the management of coal mining enterprises, where they discussed plans for the accumulation of coal reserves necessary for the stable passage of the autumn-winter period of 2022/2023. “The accumulation of coal is one of the priority tasks for the completion of the OZP. There is an approved plan that provides at least 2.5 million tons of coal for the beginning of the heating season,” Herman Galushchenko emphasized.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mykola Tochytsky gave a speech at the UN conference dedicated to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. He called on the UN to make efforts to close the skies over nuclear facilities in Ukraine in view of the growing danger to Ukrainian nuclear power plants as a result of the Russian invasion. “For the first time in history, civilian nuclear facilities were turned into military facilities and bridgeheads of the Russian army – in violation of the provisions of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons regarding the peaceful use of atomic energy,” Mykola Tochytsky said.
Food Security.
The first ship loaded with Ukrainian grain, which left Odesa port the day before, reached the coast of Turkey. The ship is to be inspected by a team consisting of Russian and Ukrainian officials. After that, the ship will go to Tripoli in Lebanon.
Sanctions.
Belgium has frozen 50.5 billion euros of funds belonging to people, companies and other legal entities that fell under sanctions after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The €50.5 billion includes all types of financial assets, such as money and shares, held in Belgium by 1,229 people and 110 other entities such as Russian politicians, oligarchs, banks and companies that have been sanctioned.
Canada introduced sanctions against Russia in connection with its invasion of Ukraine. New sanctions are imposed on 43 military officials and 17 organizations. Russian servicemen involved in mass murders in Bucha were included in the sanctions list.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions against former Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva, who is believed to be Vladimir Putin’s mistress. Kabaeva heads Russia’s National Media Group, which owns shares in almost all major Russian media outlets that spread Kremlin propaganda.
Technologies.
The Security Service of Ukraine liquidated the bot farm, which worked to discredit the top military-political leadership of Ukraine and “destabilize the socio-political situation” on the order of one of the police forces. Law enforcement officers exposed the leader of the group, who turned out to be a citizen of the Russian Federation who lived in Kyiv and positioned himself as a “political expert.” “In order to coordinate actions, he was in ‘contact’ with the current People’s Deputy, who is part of the close circle of the former leadership of our state,” the Security Service stated.
“Air Alarm” application will warn about chemical and radiation danger. Unique notifications are created for each type of alarm. In addition to sound signals, the application also sends text messages with recommendations for actions, depending on the type of threat.
Culture.
The expert council of the Ministry of Culture recommended renaming 10 most common toponyms in honor of Russian figures throughout Ukraine. According to the Ministry of Culture in the toponymic space of Ukraine, a significant number of proper names, denoting such elements of the spatial structure of the city as streets, squares, avenues, etc., are related to Russians, whose life and activity have no relation to Ukraine, its history, science, culture, and in most cases were not born here.
Awards.
Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov reported that the Diya.City project received the Red Dot Award in the categories “brand experience” and “logo design”. The Red Dot Design Award is one of the most prestigious awards in design, he said.
Reading corner.
- Ukrainian care center for disabled deals with the trauma of occupation – The Washington Post – As the nation’s attention shifts to the new front lines in the east and south, people in Borodyanka are struggling to come to terms with what they lived through in the early days of the war, and what they lost. The story of Borodyanka psychoneurological hospital that has gone through the occupation.
Statistics.
- General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the total estimated losses of the Russian military as of 10 a.m., August 02, 2022: personnel – around 41 350, tanks ‒ 1774, APV ‒ 4022, artillery systems – 939, MLRS – 259, anti-aircraft warfare systems – 118, fixed-wing aircraft – 223, helicopters – 191, operational-tactical level UAV – 740, cruise missiles – 180, boats and light speed boats – 15, soft-skinned vehicles and fuel tankers – 2922, special equipment – 83.
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