The pro-Russian, so-called Donetsk People’s Republic has claimed that it has carried out artillery strikes on Ukrainian forces near the city of Avdiivka.
The images allegedly show the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR ) firing a salvo of missiles from a mobile multiple rocket launcher vehicle at unseen Ukrainian positions. Other footage shows a mobile multiple rocket launcher vehicle with a white ‘Z’ daubed on the side.
The ‘Z’ is one of the symbols, as well as the letters ‘V’ and ‘O’ that can be seen painted on Russian military vehicles taking part in the invasion of Ukraine.
Avdiivka is located in the Donetsk Oblast region in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces are understood to be making a push into Donetsk after taking control of all of the Luhansk region.
The People’s Militia of the so-called DPR claimed that their “artillerymen of the 9th regiment destroyed the accumulation of equipment of Ukrainian Nazis in the Avdiivka direction.”
The Russian and pro-Russian forces, and at times the Ukrainian forces, regularly label the other side as “Nazis”.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 132nd day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 5th July, Russia had lost about 36,350 personnel, 1,594 tanks, 3,772 armoured combat vehicles, 806 artillery units, 247 multiple launch rocket systems, 105 air defence systems, 217 warplanes, 187 helicopters, 660 drones, 144 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 2,634 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 65 units of special equipment.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is pushing his advantage after his forces captured the Ukrainian city of Lysychansk, in the eastern Luhansk Oblast region, ordering Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to continue the offensive.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukrainian forces would retake the city “thanks to the increase in the supply of modern weapons.”
Luhansk’s regional governor Serhiy Haidai said that Ukraine’s troops have now moved to new fortified positions. He pleaded for more weapons from Ukraine’s allies to help fight Russia’s current advantage.
The Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast region in central-eastern Ukraine, Valentyn Reznichenko, has said that Russian forces targeted the region with seven missiles during the night of 4th to 5th July, with Ukrainian forces downing six of them. The seventh missile hit a residential area and damaged homes, with no reports of casualties so far.
The strategically situated Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, which has Dnipro as its capital, borders the Kharkiv Oblast to the north, the Donetsk Oblast to the east, the Kherson Oblast to the south and the Mykolaiv Oblast to the west.
President Zelensky is negotiating with Turkey and the UN in a bid to secure guarantees for his country’s grain exports. The move comes after Turkish authorities detained a Russian cargo ship carrying grain allegedly stolen from Ukraine. The ship is said to contain over 7,000 tonnes of grain that Russian officials said would be sent to “friendly” countries.
He has said that third parties other than Russia are needed to guarantee that grain can be safely exported. It is believed that 22 million tonnes of grain are stuck in Ukraine due to Russia’s naval blockade of the country’s Black Sea ports.
NATO has said that Finland and Sweden completed accession talks at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on Monday, 4th July. NATO said: “Both countries formally confirmed their willingness and ability to meet the political, legal and military obligations and commitments of NATO membership.”
NATO has appointed US Army General Christopher Cavoli as its new Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. He speaks Russian and has a master’s degree from Yale in Russian studies.
The leaders of dozens of countries, as well as international organisations and companies gathered in Lugano, in Switzerland, for a Ukraine Recovery Conference to elaborate a “Marshall Plan” roadmap to rebuild the country after the war. President Zelensky said in a virtual address that Russia’s war “is not just an attempt to seize our land and destroy our state, but also a worldview confrontation.”
He also said that rebuilding Ukraine provides the opportunity “to show why freedom is mightier than tyranny.”
