Day 518 of the Invasion of Ukraine: VSU achieves Tactically Significant Successes near Bakhmut

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Day 518 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

• VSU achieves tactically significant successes near Bakhmut
• British intelligence: Russia prepares to block Ukrainian ports, there danger of violence in the Black Sea
• IOC: Russia and Belarus will not participate as teams in the Olympics
• Moldova to expel dozens of Russian diplomats for "hostile acts"
• Zelensky: I will not tolerate corruption or betrayal within the state
• The US has announced new military aid to Ukraine, including reconnaissance drones
• Russia has declared the independent Russian TV station Dozhd as an undesirable organization
• The Ukrainian Minister of Education: The Russians completely destroyed 180 schools in Ukraine

VSU achieves tactically significant successes near Bakhmut

The Ukrainian armed forces have achieved tactically significant successes near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in its regular briefing.

This happened near the village of Klishchiivka, 7 kilometers southwest of the destroyed city in the Donbas, which was the scene of the bloodiest fighting in the war last year.

Ukrainian troops have captured heights around the village and fierce fighting is now taking place in its vicinity. Russian military bloggers even write that the Ukrainians have reached the southern and southwestern outskirts of the settlement.

The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed that on July 25 Ukrainian forces conducted offensive operations north and south of Bakhmut and that Russian troops withdrew from Andriivka (20 km southwest of Bakhmut and immediately south of Klishchiivka).

On at least three sections of the front, the Ukrainian troops have moved forward, the ISW also wrote in its report.

Apart from near Bakhmut, the offensive actions of the Ukrainians were in the western part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, towards Melitopol, and Berdiansk on the Sea of Azov, which is on the border between Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk Oblasts.

Russian troops have suffered eight times greater losses than Ukrainian ones near Bakhmut and more than five times greater in the Melitopol-Berdiansk direction, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said.

ISW wrote earlier that Ukraine's counteroffensive actions are aimed at exhausting the enemy and preserving the lives of the Ukrainian military at the cost of slower territorial gains.

At their meeting in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, discussed the private military company (PMC) "Wagner", the union state and "external threats" on the borders of Russia and Belarus, ISW reports, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

According to the institute, Putin extended the meeting by two days because he is still worried about the thousands of Wagner mercenaries who are in camps in Belarus after the failed uprising in late June.

Lukashenko is using his control over the Wagnerites to blackmail Putin for more Russian economic aid, institute experts believe. Putin, on the other hand, is trying to pressure Lukashenko for a deeper involvement of his country in the war in Ukraine. So far, Belarus serves only as a springboard for Russian military operations, but its troops are not directly involved in them.

ISW draws attention to a material in the "Washington Post", based on conversations with insiders in the Kremlin, according to which during the rebellion of PMC "Wagner" Putin was "paralyzed" in a political sense and was unable to quickly react, leaving local leaders to decide what to do with the march of mercenaries to Moscow.

Analysts write that this lack of response may mean that the Russian security apparatus was probably not ready for a direct challenge to the Russian military leadership and may not have been able to quickly end the insurgency. The Kremlin is likely aware that such "paralysis" has highlighted a degree of regime instability and appears to be consolidating Russia's domestic security apparatus into the National Guard to prepare for further domestic threats and show resolve.

Putin's inability to react quickly also shows that he is unsure of his own ability to rally the Russian elite around him and may further indicate how fragmented the Kremlin's domestic politics have become. The Kremlin is now likely trying to identify Russian elites who may have been willing to side with Prigozhin and may see regional officials' decision not to stop Wagner as a sign of disloyalty.

The governor of Tula Oblast and former head of Russian special operations forces, Alexei Dyumin, is likely to have drawn further suspicion because of his past ties to Prigozhin and his likely role in the negotiations that ended the rebellion.

Russian authorities appear to be trying to compensate for the security vacuum created by the withdrawal of PMC Wagner from Russia by creating formalized but decentralized military "enterprises" by region. On July 25, the State Duma adopted the relevant amendments to the legislation.

Russian opposition media said some subtleties in the amendments allowed regional leaders to create regional militarized state-owned enterprises similar to private military companies for the period of martial law mobilization. In particular, it is about financing from the regional and local budgets of "special enterprises", which will be equipped with small arms by the Ministry of Defense of Russia and will help the Federal Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other authorities in providing of the public protection of order and borders.

Thus, Putin gets the opportunity to temporarily create "military enterprises" and then liquidate them. Such "companies" will have to return all their small arms and other armaments back to the Russian Ministry of Defense within a month.

British intelligence: Russia prepares to block Ukrainian ports, there danger of violence in the Black Sea

Russia is preparing to blockade Ukrainian ports after Moscow stopped the implementation of the "grain deal", the British Ministry of Defense claimed in its daily intelligence bulletin, DPA and BTA reported.

The modern Russian corvette "Sergey Kotov" already patrols the route between the Bosphorus and the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, the bulletin also said.

"There is a realistic possibility that it will become part of a task force to intercept commercial cargo ships that Russia believes are headed for Ukraine," the British Ministry of Defense said in the bulletin.

According to the bulletin of the British Ministry of Defense, the termination of the grain deal now also increases the potential for the intensity and growth of the armed conflict in the Black Sea region.

Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Secretary James Cleverly warned yesterday that the UK believes Russia may escalate its campaign to destroy Ukrainian food exports by targeting merchant ships in the Black Sea.

Ukrinform also confirmed that Russia's Black Sea Fleet had changed its positions following Moscow's withdrawal from the grain deal in preparation to impose a blockade on Ukraine.

IOC: Russia and Belarus will not participate as teams in the Olympics

The President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, has sent an official invitation for participation in the Olympic Games in Paris to 203 countries, but Russia and Belarus are not among them. Bach confirmed that Russia and Belarus will not be allowed to participate as teams in Paris because of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine. However, the IOC is leaving the door open for athletes from both countries to participate in the Games under a neutral flag.

Bach is on a three-day visit to the French capital to mark the one-year anniversary of the Olympics, which will be held from July 26 to August 11, 2024.

"In accordance with the Olympic Charter, I have the great honor and pleasure to invite athletes from all over the world to gather in Paris, France for the 33rd edition of the Games," said Bach, who added that he had received "excellent information about the preparations for Paris 2024 ". He inspected the construction of the Olympic village and said that the athletes will be very happy with the village.

In addition to Russia and Belarus, Guatemala, which has been temporarily suspended by the IOC due to accusations of state interference in the independent local Olympic committee, did not receive an invitation.

Moldova to expel dozens of Russian diplomats for "hostile acts"

Moldova is reducing the number of diplomats Russia can have in Chisinau, its foreign minister said, complaining of years of "hostile actions" by Moscow and highlighting a media report about alleged spying equipment installed on the embassy's roof.

According to the local publication Agora, only 10 diplomats and 15 technical associates will remain in Chisinau. There are currently 70 diplomatic and technical staff working in the country, which means that 45 people are leaving.

Relations between ex-Soviet Moldova and Russia have hit a new low, with pro-European President Maia Sandu keen to remove the tiny country from Russia's sphere of influence and strongly condemning Moscow's incursion into neighboring Ukraine.

"We agreed on the need to limit the number of accredited diplomats from Russia so that there are fewer people trying to destabilize the Republic of Moldova," Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu told a cabinet meeting.

He clarified that the Russian embassy has already been informed of the decision. "For many years we have been subject to hostile Russian actions and policies. Many of them have been carried out through the embassy," the minister said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing that Moldova's decision "will not go unanswered" and called it "another step in the destruction of bilateral relations" between the countries.

Commenting on the information about the spy equipment, Zakharova said: "The accusation of espionage by employees of the Russian embassy in Chisinau is unfounded. It is a fantasy that has nothing to do with reality."

In his comments, Popescu referred to a media report by "The Insider" and "Jurnal TV" about equipment installed on the roof of the Russian embassy that could be used for spying.

According to the information, 28 satellite dishes, antennas and transmitting and receiving devices were installed at the embassy and an adjacent residential building used by diplomats and technical staff.

At the beginning of the month, Nicu Popescu commented to the TV channel "Vocea Basarabiei" that his ministry has questions about the number of Russian diplomats because they "are not involved in solving and reducing the problems in relations with Russia".

President Maia Sandu said a month earlier that when she came to power she wanted a "pragmatic and mutually respectful relationship with Russia, but we have to admit that there never was one, no matter how hard we tried here in Moldova".

Maria Zakharova replied then that "there is no mutual respect from the current president of Moldova, who has a Romanian passport, and from similar pseudo-politicians sent to the people of this remarkable country, from which they took away even the language".

Zelensky: I will not tolerate corruption or betrayal within the state

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has stated that he will not tolerate corruption or betrayal within the state.

In his evening video address, he called for a fight against corruption after two shocking cases became public knowledge. These are the arrests of an employee of a recruitment center accused of large-scale embezzlement and of an MP accused of collaborating with Russia.

Addressing the members of parliament, Zelensky said that he will no longer tolerate those who "for some personal benefit" hinder Ukraine on its way to membership in the European Union.

"I want to warn all members of parliament, officials and anyone working as a public servant. When you spend days looking for weapons for the country, when everyone's attention is focused on whether there are artillery, missiles and drones, you feel the morale that our soldiers give to Ukraine. No one will forgive the deputies, judges, military and all other officials for standing in opposition to the state," Zelensky said.

Zelensky also condemned the "treason" of a lawmaker who was spotted recently on vacation in a luxury hotel in the Maldives.

The Ukrainian leader often reminds that in the midst of Russia's war against Ukraine, people in responsible positions in the country must set a positive example, notes AFP.

According to the information site Slidstvo.info, 48-year-old deputy Yuriy Aristov from the presidential party "Servant of the People" was seen in the middle of the month in a five-star hotel on this archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

Following the media revelations, the chairman of the “Servant of the People” parliamentary group, David Arahamiya, said in a statement yesterday that he had requested the "immediate removal" of Aristov from the parliamentary group.

"I have requested all the documents for the business trips and all the information will be verified," Arahamiya added. Meanwhile, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, announced that he had received a letter of resignation from Aristov, who is also the deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on national security, defense and intelligence, whose role is extremely strategic.

"This will be evaluated during the next parliamentary session," Stefanchuk emphasized, without giving details.

“You must work in Ukraine and for the interests of the Ukrainian people”, Zelensky also told the deputies and civil servants.

Overseas travel conditions for civil servants and MPs have been largely under control since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022 and in particular with the introduction of martial law.

The US has announced new military aid to Ukraine, including reconnaissance drones

Additional aid of 400 million dollars to Ukraine has been announced by the US Department of Defense. It includes anti-aircraft missiles, armored vehicles and small drones.

The new package will include Black Hornet reconnaissance drones for the first time. They were manufactured in Norway and are already in use in Ukraine after being donated by the British and Norwegian governments.

In April, the manufacturing company signed a million contract to supply small reconnaissance drones to the US military.

Russia has declared the independent Russian TV station Dozhd as an undesirable organization

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office declared the independent Russian television station "Dozhd" (TV Rain) an undesirable organization, continuing its large-scale repressive measures against news media and organizations considered a threat to Russia's security, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.

Declaring Dozhd a channel that cannot broadcast on Russian territory puts its journalists, employees and donors at risk of potential criminal charges.

Dozhd TV, often critical of the Kremlin, ceased operations in Russia shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine and moved first to Latvia and then to the Netherlands.

Russia's Prosecutor General's Office said that Dozhd TV had disseminated extremist material and discredited the authorities.

The independent Dozhd TV frequently attacked the Russian authorities, covering the Russian political opposition and criticizing the Kremlin. In 2014, the TV channel was removed from Russian cable television systems after it conducted a poll on whether viewers thought the former Soviet Union should have surrendered during the Second World War siege of Leningrad to save civilian lives. .

After that, Dozhd broadcast its programs on a subscription website and on YouTube.

In recent years, Russia has methodically targeted individuals and organizations critical of the Kremlin, branding many of them "foreign agents" and declaring some "undesirable" under a 2015 law that makes membership of such organizations a crime .

"We have been called 'unwanted in Russia', but we are not: 13 million viewers in Russia in the last month confirm this," Dozhd said in a post on Telegram, Reuters reported.

"But the safety of our viewers is the most important thing for us. That's why we stop collecting donations from Russia, cancel existing subscriptions from Russians and urge you not to share links to our materials if you live in the Russian Federation - this is no longer safe."

The Ukrainian Minister of Education: The Russians completely destroyed 180 schools in Ukraine

Russian troops have completely destroyed 180 schools in Ukraine, and over 1,300 educational institutions have been damaged, Ukrainian Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi announced at a press conference, UKRINFORM reported.

“Today there are 180 schools that have been completely destroyed. Over 300 educational institutions have been destroyed, more than 1,300 have been damaged and are subject to an expert assessment as to whether they can be restored”, Minister Lisovyi said.

The minister announced that the Ukrainian government has allocated 1.5 billion hryvnias for the construction of bomb shelters before the start of the next school year. Three-quarters of schools have bomb shelters of varying levels and quality.

“75 percent of schools have bomb shelters, but that doesn't mean 75 percent of students can continue their studies. It is about 9,000 schools, and we have a total of 13,000 schools. Our priority is to resume face-to-face training where it is permitted for security reasons. In the areas that are close to hostilities, classes will be held online”, Minister Lisovyi said.

In order to improve the quality of education, the ministry recommends that higher education institutions resume face-to-face classes where security considerations allow. Many such educational institutions can set aside bomb shelters, but sometimes they are not spacious enough to accommodate all the students.

Another problem, according to Minister Lisovyi, could be the migration of teachers. This can also create barriers to resuming full-time studies. Therefore, the management of each educational institution will only decide when to start on-site training.

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