Russian invasion: Ukraine receives first delivery of M270 rocket launchers

Thanks for following along. All news related to the war in Ukraine tomorrow morning can be found on the Paris website.

Ukraine said on Friday it had received its first delivery of a sophisticated multiple rocket launcher system, adding to its arsenal of long-range artillery supplied by the West. “The first MLRS M270s have arrived! They will be good company for Himars on the battlefield,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov wrote on social media, referring to US precision rocket systems used in the recent conflict. “The enemy has no mercy,” he added.

Experts say US precision rockets have given Ukraine’s military a boost since they were delivered in June, shifting the balance of power on the battlefield and prompting Moscow to slow its offensive. Since mid-June, Ukraine has hit more than 20 key Russian ammunition depots and command posts with a Himars precision artillery system far from the front line that conventional missiles could reach.

Ukrainian National Police Chief Igor Klymenko announced Friday that police have identified 19 of the 23 people killed in Thursday’s rocket attacks in central Vinnytsia. Igor Klymenko says the number of missing persons drops from 18 to 8.

Major Western financiers condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Friday during a G20 meeting in Indonesia, accusing its economic leaders of sending a “shock wave” through the global economy. The two-day meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors comes a week after a meeting of foreign ministers sent accusations of war to the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov. This week’s meeting has fueled a new conflict between the West, which blames Moscow for its economic woes, and Russia, which blames Western sanctions for all its ills.

Russia announced on Friday that it would ban 384 Japanese delegates from entering its territory in response to Japan’s sanctions on Russian elected officials in the wake of an armed attack against Ukraine. Russian diplomacy, which published a list of elected officials on its website, accused them of “adopting an unfriendly anti-Russian stance by expressing baseless accusations against our country regarding special military operations in Ukraine.”

According to a post Facebook Mayor of Kramatorsk Oleksandr Honcharenko, a new Russian missile hit the city located in the Donetsk region. No death is to be mourned, however.

London has warned that Moscow must “take full responsibility” for Paul Ure’s death. Paul Ure, a British humanitarian captured by pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk republic, died in custody.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said BBC Ukraine In May, Ukrainian troops lost 100 Ukrainian soldiers every day on the front lines, and almost 300 to 400 soldiers were wounded every day.

The European Union will target Russian gold exports in its next round of sanctions, G7 nations decided at the end of June, European Commissioner Maroz Cefcovic told AFP during a ministerial meeting on Friday.

The commissioner said it seeks to “close loopholes” for those who evaded the Europeans’ previous round of sanctions against Russia.

Britain’s Paul Urey, who was captured in April and whose latest death was announced Friday by separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine, was an aid worker for Ukraine’s International Security Assistance Force, which brings together foreign volunteer fighters. “We are saddened by the announcement that Mr. Ure (…) is no longer fighting in Ukraine. He was an employee of a humanitarian organization,” the press service of the Ukrainian Legion said, as quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

German railway operator Deutsche Bahn said on Friday July 15 that it was ready to “significantly” speed up Ukrainian grain exports via its rail network, while millions of tonnes of wheat were still blocked at Ukrainian ports.

The rail alternative currently allows only limited quantities to be transported: “We are now able to get one to two million tons by land from Ukraine every month”, the director of DB Cargo, citing Ukrainian statistics, Deutsche Ban’s division cargo .

After talks this week involving Moscow, Kiev, Ankara and the UN, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday that a “final document” allowing grain exports from Ukraine would soon be ready.

“Russia’s proposals were broadly supported by participants in the consultations. Very soon, work on the final document, Black Sea Initiativewill be completed,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a video released by his office.

Downing Street is treating this Friday as a “warning” announced by separatist authorities after Briton Paul Ure was arrested in Ukraine in April by Russian or pro-Russian forces while on a humanitarian mission. “This is alarming information and our thoughts are obviously with his family and friends,” a Downing Street spokesman said.

Major Western financiers condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this Friday during a G20 meeting in Indonesia and accused its economic leaders of creating a “shock wave” in the global economy.

A two-day meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors has sparked a fresh clash between Westerners who blame Moscow for economic problems and Russia, who blame Western sanctions for all the ills.

Russia confirms this Friday that it attacked a command post of Ukrainian forces in Vinnytsia. Thursday’s deadly blast in this Ukrainian city, far from the front lines, was widely condemned by the international community.

The Russian Defense Ministry explained in a press release that the sea-launched Kalibr missiles hit the “officer’s house” in the city, where “the command of the Ukrainian Air Force met with representatives of foreign arms suppliers”.

Paul Ure, a Briton who was captured in April by pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine while on a humanitarian mission, according to relatives, died in custody on July 10, separatist officials announced Friday.

“(Despite the seriousness of his) crimes, Paul Ure received adequate medical help. Despite this, in view of his diagnosis and stress, he died on July 10,” Daria Morozova, responsible for the rights of separatists of the Donetsk region, assured in Telegram that it was a mercenary. Not a humanitarian worker.

Since the start of a Russian military offensive in Ukraine on February 24, Russian authorities have stepped up their crackdown on voices critical of the regime, blocking independent media and social networks.

Bellingcat, which has devoted several articles to this attack, was already called a “foreign agent” by Russia in 2021.

Paris announced this Friday that it presented yesterday to the General Counsel of Ukraine a new mobile laboratory dedicated to rapid analysis and DNA expertise.

This laboratory, deployed in the field by the French Forensic Support Mission of the IRCGN and funded by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, ensures the news release of a programmable device without equal in the world of forensic genetics. D’Orsay. This allows rapid genetic analysis of a large volume of biological samples, particularly in war zones.

The European Union, along with the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Japan, have announced that they will target Russian gold in the next set of sanctions against Moscow.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister said Ukraine must accept the “regional realities” of the situation in order to resume peace talks with Moscow. According to Andrey Rutenko, kyiv must provide a clear response to Moscow’s plans for Ukraine to accept “non-nuclear” and “non-nuclear” status in order to conclude the peace agreement.

The figure skating Grand Prix circuit will not stop in China and Russia in 2022-23 and will be contested without Russian and Belarusian representatives due to the international environment, the International Skating Union has announced.

For Mykhailo Podolyak, a key adviser to President Zelensky, Russian missile strikes in Vinnytsia are Vladimir Putin’s “authorized military strategy”. He wrote on Twitter that Russian forces were attacking the “peaceful” Ukrainian cities of Vinnytsia, Kremenchuk, Chasiv Yar and Kharkiv to force Ukrainians to make “peace at any cost”.

Analysis of satellite and social media photos reveals a sharp increase in the number of people buried in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, including Mariupol, according to a report released Friday by an NGO.

The Center for Information Resilience (CIR), a non-governmental organization that fights disinformation, examined six regions in Ukraine that were or still are in Russian hands.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday signed into law tougher measures against individuals or entities deemed by Russia to be “foreign agents,” as well as a new law that amounts to treason.

The new bill, which takes effect Dec. 1, would expand the definition of “foreign agents” to include anyone deemed to be “under foreign influence” or receiving support from abroad.