Thursday, July 18

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Emergency services drink water as they work to extinguish the fire broke out as a result of the Russian airstrike in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on July 16, 2024. (Pablo Miranzo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Fighting in Krynky ongoing, but Ukrainian positions ‘completely destroyed.’ Ukrainian marines first crossed the river and gained a foothold on the Russian-occupied side in October of last year.

95 Ukrainian POWs released from Russian captivity. Another 95 Ukrainian defenders have been brought back home, including service members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the Border Guard, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on July 17.

Ukraine will find battlefield solutions regardless of who wins US election, defense minister says. Ukraine will find a way to combat Russia’s forces even if former President Donald Trump wins a second term and jeopardizes vital U.S. support for its defense, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on July 17.

Russia’s accountability for MH17 tragedy ‘inevitable,’ says Zelensky. Two Russian nationals, Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinsky, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, were found guilty of shooting down MH17 at a Hague District Court in November 2022.

New head of NATO Representation in Ukraine appointed. “Patrick Turner brings years of leadership and experience to the role. As a committed public servant, he has a strong track record of delivering results,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

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Ukraine reveals final number of men who updated mobilization data. From May 18 to July 16, 4,690,496 military-aged men updated their registration data by the July 17 deadline, the country’s Defense Ministry has announced.

Citing security concerns, Russian authorities restrict entry to border areas of Belgorod Oblast. Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that enhanced security measures would be instituted in the areas in question, including the suspension of public transport and the creation of military checkpoints. Only adult men with protective gear, accompanied by soldiers and local officials, will be able to enter, the governor said.

Russian companies increasingly looking to Africa to fill vacancies, media reports. The data analyzed by RBC indicated that seven of the 10 countries with the highest increase in vacancies posted by Russian companies were in Africa.

Ukraine’s sanctions on Russia’s Lukoil halting oil deliveries to Hungary, Budapest says. Ukraine’s hardened sanctions against Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, has stopped the company’s deliveries to Hungary, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto claimed on July 16.

Read our exclusives

Hard work underway to reopen damaged Kyiv children’s hospital

The attack on Ukraine’s leading hospital for children, which killed 2 people and injured 32 more while likely traumatizing scores of children, damaged most of the hospital compound’s buildings but to various degrees.

Photo: Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images

Ukraine war latest: Kyiv brings back 95 POWs from Russian captivity

Another 95 Ukrainian defenders have been brought back home, including service members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the Border Guard, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on July 17.

Photo: Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram

Dutch ambassador to Kyiv on F-16s, MH17, and Scythian gold

A career diplomat, De Mol was the Dutch Consul General in Saint Petersburg in 2014, when he came to Kyiv to assist the Dutch embassy in the aftermath of Russia’s downing of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17, 2014, over the Russian-occupied part of eastern Ukraine.

Photo: Oleh Tymoshenko / The Kyiv Independent

The downing of MH17, and Russia’s responsibility

At 12:31 on July 17, 2014, flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, set to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport around 12 hours later. Three hours into the flight, Russian proxy forces used a Buk surface-to-air missile to down the Boeing-777 above Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.

Photo: Bulent Kilic / AFP via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian attacks kill 1, injure 14 in Donetsk, Kherson oblasts over past day. In Donetsk Oblast, one person was killed and seven injured in Russian attacks over the past day, Governor Vadym Filashkin said.

Opinions and insights

Opinion: We can’t lose sight of nuclear nonproliferation

“If the horrors associated with nuclear weapons are one reason why there have been no wars between great powers since 1945, some theorists argue, perhaps the same effect can be replicated at the regional level. India and Pakistan developed a nuclear balance in the 1990s,” Joseph S. Nye, Jr., former U.S. assistant defense secretary, writes in his op-ed.

Photo: Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images

Opinion: Could Ukraine survive a JD Vance vice presidency?

“Vance has been strident in his message that Europe has, for too long, free-ridden on the coattails of the U.S. security umbrella. He has also questioned whether supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia is in U.S. interests, viewing it as a distraction from the greater battle with China for global hegemony,” Timothy Ash, associate fellow at Chatham House writes in his op-ed.

Photo: Brendan Smialowski /AFP via Getty Images

International response

Germany to halve Ukraine military aid, Reuters reports. The move comes amid increasing concern that a Donald Trump victory in the upcoming U.S. presidential election will see a dramatic cut in Washington’s support for Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression.

Japan to reportedly cover $3.3 billion of G7 loan to Ukraine. The sum, which Ukraine hopes to receive by the end of the year before a potential return of Donald Trump to the White House, includes a $20-billion pledge by the U.S. and the EU each, Kyodo News wrote.

‘We’re forcing everyone away,’ Trump says on Russia sanctions. “So what we’re doing with sanctions is we’re forcing everyone away from us. So I don’t love sanctions,” Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said.

In other news

Lavrov claims Russia has ‘irrefutable evidence’ that US journalist Gershkovich is a spy. Russia’s foreign minister said on July 17 that there is “irrefutable evidence” that imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is guilty of espionage, one day before the journalist is scheduled to appear in court.

Controversial MP who lambasted military to leave Zelensky’s parliamentary group. Lawmaker Mariana Bezuhla has submitted an application to leave President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People parliamentary faction, she said on social media on July 17.

Ukrainian parliament votes to cancel daylight saving time. This means that Ukrainians will set their clocks back one hour for the last time on Oct. 27, 2024, and will not revert back to summer time next spring.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Martin Fornusek, Nate Ostiller, Elsa Court, Lili Bivings, Chris York, Sonya Bandouil, and Olena Goncharova.

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