Date—July 16, 2022

For more information, 

subscribe on Telegram channel

Stories

1. Minister of Social Policy Maryna Lazebna has written a resignation letter. Lazebnaya’s statement was sent to the parliament. The minister herself has not yet commented on her resignation. According to the People’s Deputy from Golos Yaroslav Zheleznyak, his faction is currently talking with “future minister Oksana Zholnovich.” Zholnovich heads the Department of Social Policy and Health Care in the Office of the President. On July 7, LB.ua reported that the Verkhovna Rada will vote on Zholnovich’s appointment as Minister of Social Policy “at one of the nearest meetings.” Maryna Lazebna headed the Ministry of Social Policy on March 4, 2020, replacing Yulia Sokolovska in this position. Since 2000, Lazebna has worked in the Ministry of Economy. In 2003 she started working in the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers, and in 2011 she became an assistant minister in the Department of Organization of the Work of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers. Then she headed the Labor and Employment Department of the Ministry of Social Policy. On May 20, 2013, Maryna Lazebna led the State Employment Service and held this position until March 2014, when the agency was liquidated by a decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Arseniy Yatsenyuk. (Source: NV).

War

1. GUR: Russian special services have intensified their activities in the countries of Eastern Europe and are trying to identify and track the routes through which weapons are supplied to Ukraine. “Agents of the occupying country were tasked with identifying and tracking the routes through which weapons are delivered to Ukraine. In order to determine the delivery schemes and the amount of weapons, which, in order to repel the Russian invasion, are transferred to the defenders of Ukraine by the partner countries, Russian military attachés in the countries of the European Union use closed communication channels “We received an order to intensify the recruitment of police officers and citizens involved in the transportation of weapons.” It is reported that in the border regions with Ukraine, the special services of the Russian Federation are trying to use representatives of local communities and pro-Russian activists. According to intelligence, the Europeans, having received proposals for cooperation from the Russians, immediately turn to the police and security agencies. (Source: Facebook).

2. A spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said that more than 30 Russian army logistics facilities had been destroyed in recent weeks with the help of US-supplied long-range HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems. “Let me recall the famous HIMARS working perfectly on the front lines. Over the past weeks, more than 30 enemy logistics military facilities have been destroyed, which is why the offensive potential of the Russian occupation forces has now significantly decreased,” said Alexander Motuzyanik. According to Motuzyanyk, Ukraine’s primary needs now are air defense systems to shoot down Russian missiles and long-range artillery. He also said that he expects the start of the American lend-lease program for Ukraine from the end of September: “Now Ukraine is receiving modern weapons under the so-called presidential program, the President of the United States. The positive effect is that Ukraine can choose the types of weapons and military equipment that will be needed at one time or another.” (Source: BBC).

3. Dronovka in the Kursk region came under mortar fire from Ukraine, says Governor Roman Starovoit. “More than 25 arrivals were preliminarily counted. Fortunately, there were no casualties! But the enemy damaged residential buildings: glass was broken in many, the roof was damaged in some, and another damage was done,” he wrote. (Source: BBC).

Opinions

1. ISW: The Russian authorities continue to experience a shortage of personnel and labor in the occupied Ukrainian territories. It is with this, in their opinion, that the operational pause taken by the Russian command is connected. The main priority of the Russian army at this stage is the systematic and large-scale shelling of the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine. Rocket attack on Vinnytsia is part of this tactic. At the same time, attempts continue to distribute Russian passports to residents of the occupied southern regions of Ukraine. To stimulate pensioners to acquire Russian citizenship, the occupying troops opened a pension fund in Melitopol, which will serve most of the Zaporizhzhia region. “Political forces” are expected to arrive in Kherson to organize a pro-Russian referendum in the area. (Source: ISW).

2. In Donbas, Russian troops and formations of the pro-Russian self-proclaimed LPR claim to have entered the suburbs of Seversk. This has not been confirmed, but Russian forces slowly advance westward after shelling and trial attacks on Seversk from Lysychansk. The goal is to open a passage to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Bakhmut is likely to be the Russians’ next target if they manage to take Seversk. After Russian troops were forced to abandon the strategically located Zmeiny Island on June 30, 2022, Russia denied that it was again under Ukrainian control. However, on July 13, 2022, two Russian Su-27 fighters failed to strike the island. It once again proves the inefficiency of Russian aviation in a tactical war. (Source: Twitter).

Economy, Social life, and Culture

1. The mayor of Sumy, Oleksandr Lysenko, advised residents of the city to leave it for the weekend: “Avoid large gatherings of people and do not ignore the air alert. If there is an opportunity to leave the city, it is better to use it… I think today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow should be given a lot of attention to safety. I ask everyone to take my advice.” This weekend, it will be safer outside the city than in Sumy. In addition, the mayor of Bilopil, Yuriy Zarko, also called on residents to move away from the border: “It seems that we are in for a difficult weekend. Therefore, I would advise those who have such an opportunity to go to their relatives in the village for a couple of days, away from the border at least for 40 km”.  (Source: UP).

2. At the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Russian troops are deploying missile systems, from which they fire at Nikopol, said Petr Kotin, president of the NNEGC Energoatom. The Russians continue to import military equipment to the territory of the nuclear power plant, now there are about 500 soldiers of the Russian army. (Source: BBC).

Invasion Damage

1. Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said Western countries should consider setting up a special war crimes tribunal in Ukraine. Hoekstra made a statement following an international conference in The Hague dedicated to prosecuting those responsible for crimes during the current war. “This idea has merit in the form in which I understand it. It is necessary to fill the vacuum. The International Criminal Court does not have the appropriate jurisdiction,” he said. “Therefore, I think we need to consider the idea of ​​such a tribunal. It will most likely not be easy, but we want to help Ukraine in any way we can,” he added. The conference on war crimes in Ukraine began in The Hague the day before. Also, yesterday, Russia launched a missile attack on Vinnytsia, during which 23 civilians were killed. President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a video message after the strike, called for creating an international legal mechanism to compensate for Ukraine’s losses and recognize Russia as a terrorist state. Is a special tribunal in Ukraine possible, and will Putin have immunity? The Ukrainian authorities are also investigating the crimes of the Russian military. According to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Irina Venediktova, 127 war crimes cases are currently being processed. (Source: BBC).

2. New satellite imagery of Russian-occupied Mariupol shows a new mass grave, according to the UK-based Center for Information Resilience (CIR). About 1,400 fresh graves appeared at the city’s Starokrymsky cemetery between May 12 and June 29. Human rights activists believe that the number of graves is growing as the occupation authorities remove the bodies of the dead Mariupol residents from under the rubble, which are very numerous in the city. “The makeshift burials and the growing number of graves across Ukraine, especially in and around the occupied territories, are a stark illustration of how many civilians have died since the Russian invasion,” said Benjamin Strick, CIR’s director of investigations. (Source: BBC).

Refugees

1. The Ukrainian authorities are trying to organize a safe corridor to evacuate 600 civilians from the territory of the Svyatogorsk Lavra in the Donetsk region. Russian troops continue shelling the Svyatogorsk Lavra, even though many civilians remain on its part. “Ukraine is making every effort to organize a safe corridor for the withdrawal of civilian and humanitarian cargo for the monks,” the message says. Among the hundreds of people on the Lavra’s territory are pilgrims, residents who sought shelter from shelling, and monks. “To avoid possible provocations, Ukraine is ready to involve international mediators in organizing a humanitarian corridor,” the statement said. One of the oldest Orthodox shrines, the Svyatogorsk Lavra, has repeatedly come under Russian shelling. People have died there. The buildings of the monastery were damaged. Lavra belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The city of Svyatogorsk is under the control of Russian troops, while Lavra is located outside the town across the Seversky Donets River, in territory controlled by Ukraine. The monastery stands under the mountain, which is actively shelled from the side of the captured Svyatogorsk, says Bishop of the UOC Iona Cherepanov. On his Facebook page, he publishes a video of the aftermath of the shelling. (Source: BBC).