Ukraine Daily

Wednesday, July 27

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Russia’s war against Ukraine

World checker champion, Ukrainian Valeriia Yezhova poses for a photograph together with famous comedian, politician and volunteer Serhiy Prytula after she donated Hr 21,000 to his charity on July 11, 2022, to support the Ukrainian military. Yezhova raised the money by playing checkers with random passersby on the streets of Kyiv. (Serhiy Prytula/Facebook)

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Governor: Russia shells Dnipropetrovsk region, 1 civilian wounded. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Valentyn Reznichenko said Russian forces shelled the Nikopolsky and Kryvorizky districts using Grad missile launchers overnight on July 27. In the city of Marhanets, a 54-year-old woman was wounded as a result of attack. At least eight apartment buildings, a hospital, a kindergarten and vehicles were damaged.

Mayor: Russian forces strike Kharkiv on July 27. According to Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, Russian troops attacked an industrial area of the city with S-300 long-range missile systems at around 4:25 a.m. on July 27. Rescuers are working on the scene. No casualties have yet been reported.

Institute for the Study of War: Russian forces conduct limited attacks along the front line, focus on defense in southern Ukraine. The U.S. think tank said in its latest assessment that Russian forces continue conducting limited attacks east and south of Bakhmut, northwest of Izium, southwest of Donetsk city, and in northwestern Kherson Oblast. The experts also noted that Ukrainian forces continue striking Russian positions in Kherson Oblast, “likely complicating Russian logistics in the region.”

Ukrainian Cabinet asks US to supply gas to prepare for heating season. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal described the supplies requested by Ukraine as “gas lend-lease” - a reference to the 2022 U.S. Lend-Lease Act, which enhances the president’s authority to provide military aid to Ukraine. According to Shmyhal, preparations for the most difficult winter in the country’s history are ongoing.

Central bank chief: Ukraine wants to have new $15-20 billion loan program with IMF by end of year. Kyrylo Shevchenko, governor of Ukraine’s central bank, told Reuters that a request aimed at stabilizing the country’s shrinking economy had already been submitted to the International Monetary Fund. “The IMF has always acted as Ukraine’s partner during the war,” said Shevchenko.

Ukraine energy giant Naftogaz defaults on foreign bonds. On July 26, state-owned gas giant Naftogaz missed the deadline to pay off $335 million in principal and interest payments as well as a separate interest installment of 45 million euros on another bond after creditors refused to postpone payments on the bonds for two years. A default on bonds “deprives Naftogaz of access to the international capital market,” according to the company’s statement. As a result, the government will have to take “full responsibility for raising the funds needed to import natural gas for the upcoming heating season.”

Russian families of missing soldiers call on Putin to find their relatives. More than 100 families of Russian soldiers who went missing during the war in Ukraine have appealed to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.

IMF: Russia doing better than expected despite sanctions. International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told AFP in an interview that higher energy prices are keeping Russia afloat despite Western sanctions. And while the IMF has upgraded Russia’s GDP estimate by 2.5 percentage points, its economy is expected to shrink by 6 percent. “That’s still a fairly sizable recession in Russia in 2022,” Gourinchas said.

Governor: 55 explosions reported in Sumy Oblast on July 26. Sumy Oblast Governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky said Russian forces fired mortars on the oblast’s Esmansk, Krasnopil, and Seredino-Budsk communities. Russia also attacked the region with Grad multiple rocket launchers. One woman was injured.

Read our exclusives

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, dozens of children all over the country have been raising money to support Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Some of them play music on the streets, or sell their paintings, crafts or flowers that they grow themselves. Other children donate their own savings to support soldiers. Read our story on how children raise money to support Ukraine’s fight here.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles have been the stars of Ukrainian battlefields since the beginning of the war, detecting and destroying Russian forces. Read our story on how Ukraine builds up its UAV fleet here.

The human cost of Russia’s war

Update: Death toll in Chuhuiv rises to 3. The death toll after a Russian missile strike on Chuhuiv reached three people. Russian forces attacked the city of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv Oblast on July 25. Four people were rescued from the rubble, the State Emergency Service in Kharkiv Oblast reported.

Ukraine’s military defeats 89 Russian troops in southern Ukraine on July 26. Operational Command “South” reports that they also destroyed a Russian T-62 tank, howitzers “Msta-S” and “Msta-B,” mortar complex Sani, an ammunition depot and eight armored and military vehicles. Ukraine’s military also reportedly liberated two settlements in Kherson Oblast.

International response

CNN: US to accept wounded Ukrainian soldiers for treatment at American military hospital in Germany. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has approved to treat injured Ukrainian troops at a Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, CNN reports on July 26 citing a memo confirmed by two U.S. defense officials. At least 18 Ukrainian soldiers may be treated at Landstuhl although it reportedly has yet to treat any Ukrainian soldiers. The directive aims to speed up medical aid in instances where no other nearby medical facility exists or is available.

Boris Johnson awards president Zelensky with Winston Churchill award. Awarding President Zelensky with the Sir Winston Churchill Leadership Award for incredible courage, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “Churchill would have cheered and probably have wept too” if he had heard Zelensky’s phrase that he needed “ammunition, not a ride” out of Kyiv when Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24.

Official: EU may double the import of Ukrainian electricity. EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said on July 26 that the European transmission system operators will meet this week to discuss increasing the import of electricity from Ukraine. Simson added that this step will allow the European Union to partially compensate for the lack of gas due to the energy crisis unleashed by Russia.

Turkey set to open grain corridor coordination center on July 27. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar will attend on July 27 the opening ceremony for the joint coordination center, part of an agreement reached last week to allow grain exports from Ukraine, the Turkish defense ministry said. Russian missile strikes on the port city of Odesa the day after a UN-backed deal for grain exports was signed by Ukraine and Russia on July 22 cast doubt over Moscow’s commitment to the accord.

EU extends sanctions against Russia until Jan. 31, 2023. The sanctions were imposed in 2014 and expanded after Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The EU called on Russia to immediately stop attacks on the civilian population and unconditionally withdraw all its troops and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

UK expands list of sanctioned individuals. The targeted individuals include Russian-installed proxies in occupied parts of Ukraine’s east, Russian Minister of Justice Konstantin Chuychenko, Deputy Minister of Justice Oleg Sviridenko, 29 Russian regional governors, and Sarvar and Sanjar Ismailov, nephews of “major Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov who has close ties to the Kremlin.”

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Alisa Soboleva, Alexander Query, Dariya Akhova, Olga Rudenko, Daria Shulzhenko, Oleg Sukhov, Toma Istomina, Natalia Datskevych, Xenia Cherednychenko, Lili Bivings, Olena Goncharova, Brad LaFoy, and Anastasiya Gordiychuk.

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