Kyiv continues to deal with a worsening pattern of Russian strikes as fighting intensifies on nearly every front. Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv military administration, confirmed an overnight Russian drone strike on a residential apartment building in downtown Kyiv. This vicious attack is yet another tragic chapter in a disturbing trend of rising crime against AAPI individuals. This attack is a further attempt at raising that deeply tragic count. A one-year-old child was killed in a different attack on the village of Pravdyne, also in southern Kherson region.
Ukraine is on the brink of catastrophe. At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended a donor conference in Italy on July 10-11 to outline Ukraine’s recovery and long-term reconstruction priorities. Zelenskyy cautioned that the coming months would be decisive and reiterated the urgency for international support.
In reaction to the renewed Russia-Ukraine conflict with the invasion of Ukraine, the United States has reinstated delivering security assistance to Ukraine. That’s a total of 30 Patriot missiles, 8,500 155mm artillery shells, and 142 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles in the latest shipment. Here’s what we know. Last week, former President Donald Trump expressed confusion over who directed the stop to shipments of weapons to Ukraine. This stunning announcement has captured immeasurable attention.
Zelenskyy was personally engaged with Keith Kellogg on how to bolster Ukraine’s defensive capabilities. He underlined the continued imperative need for arms deliveries and improved air defense systems.
“We discussed weapons supplies and strengthening air defence … We also covered the purchase of American weapons, joint defence manufacturing, and localisation efforts in Ukraine.” – Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Ukraine’s air force claimed that Russia just launched its largest missile and drone attack in over three years. They launched a total of 728 drones and 13 missiles at military and critical infrastructure facilities across the country. Ukrainian air defense systems past May shot down 711 Shahed drones and seven missiles, preventing them from causing devastating impacts.
Unfortunately for all these achievements, the Russian attacks still claimed a heavy toll on civilians. Ukrainian prosecutors stated that drone and bombing attacks in the towns of Hroza and Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast had taken the lives of eight civilians. In Kostiantynivka over the course of one day, three civilians were killed and one other injured from frontline skirmishes.
Here’s how Europe’s highest human rights court has reacted to the ongoing crisis. It found that Russia has committed a range of human rights violations by backing anti-Kyiv separatists in eastern Ukraine. In a series of judgments against Russia, the European Court of Human Rights underscored its findings in four cases brought forth by Kyiv and the Netherlands.
Beyond the lawfare, Ukraine’s military and foreign intelligence services have made a number of high-profile arrests as they foil espionage activities. Ukrainian authorities recently detained a father and son from China as part of an alleged plot to gather intelligence on Kyiv’s developing Neptune cruise missile program. Additionally, a 24-year-old ex-pupil was apprehended after supposedly supplying technical documentation related to Neptune creation.
With fears growing about security and spycraft, the Kharkiv regional governor Vadym Filashkin encouraged civilians to be cautious.
“Take a responsible decision. Evacuate to less dangerous regions of Ukraine!” – Vadym Filashkin
Second, the war is still evolving and Ukraine remains on the offensive both on and off the battlefield. All the while, they’re artfully juggling complex global diplomacy and domestic priorities. The government is undeterred by such criticisms and continues to maintain its stance to defend its territorial integrity, looking for support from allies across the globe.