On Friday, July 18, 2018, this is how things are going.
Fighting
- Three Ukrainian settlements, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, have been taken by Dehtiarne in the northeastern Kharkiv region, Kamianske in the southeast, and Popiv Yar in the Donetsk region.
- A Kremlin aide claims that Russia and Ukraine have reached an agreement during the second round of peace talks in Istanbul in June that includes the exchange of more bodies of their war dead. In exchange for 19 Russian soldiers’ bodies, 1, 000 of Ukrainian soldiers’ bodies were exchanged for.
military assistance
- According to NATO’s top military commander, Alexus Grynkewich, preparations are being made to quickly transfer additional Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine.
- According to Ales Vytecka, director of the Czech Defence Ministry’s AMOS international cooperation agency, the number of coordinated artillery shipments to Ukraine has increased this year. Total 850, 000 shells have been shipped this year, including 320, 000 NATO 155mm projectiles.
- According to Kyiv’s state-backed arms investment and procurement group Brave1, foreign arms companies will be able to test out their most recent weapons against Russia.
- Zelenskyy told the Ukrainian parliament that within the next six months, he anticipates an increase in the amount of domestically produced weapons on the battlefield of Ukraine from 40% to 50%.
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for greater clarity regarding how the US might replace any weapons Europe might send to Ukraine. During a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, he made the statement.
diplomacy and politics
- According to Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, President Trump’s decision to increase arms shipments to Ukraine sends a message to Kyiv to abandon efforts to bring peace.
- Dmitry Medvedev, the ex-russ president, claimed that Russia lacked any plans to attack NATO or Europe but that it did consider using preemptive strikes if it thought the West was beginning a full-fledged conflict with Russia.
- Yulia Svyrydenko, 39, was chosen as the country’s first new prime minister in five years as part of a major cabinet overhaul designed to revitalize the nation’s reputation for waging war in a region with bleak prospects for peace with Russia. Denys Shmyhal, the former prime minister of Ukraine, has been appointed defense minister.
- Andrii Sybiha will continue as Ukraine’s foreign minister, according to the parliament’s vote, and Olha Stefanishyna will become its new ambassador to the US.
- A bill that would outlaw browsing or viewing content considered to be “extremist” in nature, such as songs that glorify Ukraine and music by the feminist rock band Pussy Riot, has been proposed by Russian lawmakers.
Source: Aljazeera
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