Russia-Ukraine War, Live Coverage – Moscow: “Finland and Sweden in NATO? There will be a political backlash.” Electricity outage in Helsinki

Zelensky: The Russians are breathing their helplessness away from civilization

According to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russians are “trying to vent their impotence: they cannot defeat Ukraine, but at the moment they can still burn children’s attractions in Gorky Park in Kharkiv, destroy a bridge, a granary or a house.” Zelensky, posting on Telegram a series of photos of the damage caused by Russian attacks, notes: “The more such strikes are, the farther Russia is from civilization.”

Kharkiv Governor: “People are going home”

The governor of the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, Oleh Sinihopov, said that the armed forces repelled the Russians, and people began to return home. The BBC wrote, noting that Sinihopov also warned that the situation remained dangerous and people should think about their safety before returning. According to the governor, Russian forces severely undermined the area and did not attack the city, but targeted other gatherings in the area. “This suggests that it is too early to relax,” he said. I urge everyone to respond appropriately to the warnings and not to drive unnecessarily on the road.”

Moscow: “There is no hostility against Sweden and Finland”

On the Russian side, there is no hostile intent against Sweden and Finland, and therefore there is no “real” reason for these two countries to join NATO. This is what the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Grushko, told the state news agency RIA, according to the Guardian newspaper.
Grushko said Russia would act if NATO deployed forces and nuclear infrastructure near the border. Russia’s Interfax agency, relaunched by the BBC, reported that Grushko warned against the “militarization” of the region being carried out by NATO, warning that Moscow would respond if nuclear weapons were deployed on its borders. He said that NATO “wants to militarize everything within its reach.” On RIA, Grushko also said that NATO’s expansion in Finland and Sweden would provoke a “political reaction” from Moscow.

Schulz: “The world is paying a heavy price for Putin’s crazy idea of ​​expanding the Russian Empire”

German Chancellor Olaf Schulz said that he did not notice any change in the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he spoke yesterday for more than an hour. In an interview with the news portal t-online, Schulze stressed that Putin had not achieved any goal with his “crazy” invasion of Ukraine, one of whose aims was to use Ukraine as a buffer against NATO. He said the Kremlin leader should “understand that the only way out is an agreement with Ukraine,” but not on the terms dictated by Moscow.

He stressed that NATO “not only withdrew, but strengthened in the eastern flank and the alliance will become stronger with the entry of Finland and Sweden.” Schulz then noted that Russia had already incurred greater military losses in Ukraine than the ten-year war in Afghanistan. “Because of Putin’s crazy idea of ​​expanding the Russian Empire, both Russia and the world at large are paying a heavy price,” Schultz emphasized, noting the consequences of the conflict on the grain market, especially in developing countries. “This is where there is a real hunger problem, not where sunflower oil is scarce in supermarkets,” he noted. Finally, the chancellor confirmed that Germany will continue to impose sanctions on Russia and support arms shipments to Kyiv.

Moscow cuts off power to Finland

Russia cut off electricity supplies to Finland. The Finnish operator announces it.

Kyiv intelligence: “The war will end in a year”

The war in Ukraine will end in a year. This is what Kirillo Budanov, head of military intelligence in Kyiv, said in an interview with the BBC. The defining moment will be “the second part of August”. Budanov said he was convinced that Ukraine would recover all the territories under Russian control, “including Donbass and Crimea”. Regarding the health conditions of Vladimir Putin, according to the Kyiv army, the Kremlin leader is “very sick.”

“The Russians attacked 14 settlements in Donetsk”

Tonight the Russians shot 14 settlements in the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry announced this on Telegram, adding that the attacks destroyed “61 civilian buildings: residential buildings, industrial and agricultural enterprises, and a railway.” The settlements affected in the last 24 hours are Mariupol, Avdiivka, Zalzin, Lyman, Slovyansk, Svyatogorsk, Seversk, Voglidar, Marinka, Ilinka, Novologansky, Yarov, Bakhmut, Bogorodishin. The ministry added that “the enemy fired on the civilian population with aircraft, tanks, heavy artillery and multiple hurricane rocket launchers,” stressing that “Russian war crimes have been documented” and that “the police launched a preliminary investigation into human rights violations.” Law of War”.

Kyiv: 27,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the start of the war

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, the Ukrainian army had killed “about 27,200 Russian soldiers, and the enemy also lost 1,218 tanks and 2,934 armored fighting vehicles.” According to Kyiv, “551 artillery systems, 195 multiple missile systems, 88 anti-aircraft defense systems, 200 aircraft, 163 helicopters, 2059 vehicles and carriers, 13 ships / boats, 411 UAVs, 42 units Of the special units, and 95 cruise missiles.” Ukrinform writes it. According to the Ukrainians, the largest losses were incurred by the Russians in the direction of Sloviansk and Bakhmut.

007 GB: “The Russians visit the referendum in Kherson”

“If Russia holds a sham referendum in the “temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine”, as in Kherson, it will almost certainly manipulate the results, but the residents of the Kherson region will continue to show their opposition to the Russian occupation.” This was stated by the British Ministry of Defense in the latest intelligence update for Ukraine published on Twitter. According to the ministry, “the military-civilian administration imposed by Russia in Kherson announced that it will ask Russia to annex the Kherson region to the Russian Federation.”

Moscow: “Finland and Svenzia in NATO? There will be a political reaction “

“Russia has no hostile intentions in relation to Finland and Sweden,” the two countries intend to join NATO. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said, according to the Interfax agency, explaining that this step “will not remain without a political reaction.” “It is premature to talk about the deployment of Russian nuclear forces in the Baltic region if Finland and Sweden join NATO,” he added.