Ukraine’s counterattack to liberate the Russia-controlled Kherson region is “gathering momentum” and has left invading troops “vulnerable,” the UK government said. The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that Ukraine has used its new long-range artillery to damage at least three bridges across the Dnipro River, “which Russia relies upon to supply the areas under its control”. It is “highly likely” that the Antonivsky bridge is now “unusable” and thousands of Russian forces stationed on the river’s west bank are “highly vulnerable,” the MoD said. It adds: “Similarly, Kherson city, the most politically significant population centre occupied by Russia, is now virtually cut off from the other occupied territories. “Its loss would severely undermine Russia’s attempts to paint the occupation as a success.” On Wednesday, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, said Russia is “gathering additional forces” for Kherson, and that a “very large-scale movement of their troops has begun.” Meanwhile, Russian forces have launched massive missile strikes on the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, areas that have not been targeted in weeks. Shelling has also hit Kharkiv and Mykolaiv.
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Joe Biden offers to free Russian arms dealer in prisoner swap
US president Joe Biden has reportedly offered to free notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to secure the release of American basketball player Brittney Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan. John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, told reporters at the daily White House press briefing on Wednesday that the prisoner swap offer was offered to Russian officials “several weeks ago”, but refused to be drawn on whether Moscow had agreed to the idea. He said: “We certainly hope that Russia will favourably engage on it, but I don’t want to get into more detail about that. “We believe that this is a serious proposal, and we want the Russians to take it seriously as well.” Read the full story here by Andrew Buncombe and Andrew Feinberg
Biden ‘offers convicted Russian arms dealer’ in exchange for Brittney Griner
America’s top diplomat also expects to talk with Russian counterpart for first time since Ukraine invasion Lamiat Sabin28 July 2022 12:00 1659004221
‘UK foreign office led world in standing up to Russia’ – Truss
Liz Truss said accusations that the Foreign Office under her leadership lacked expertise on Russia were “completely untrue”. The foreign secretary and Tory leadership hopeful told reporters in Leeds: “We have led the world in standing up to Russia.” Foreign secretary Liz Truss is hoping to succeed Boris Johnson as PM (REUTERS) She went on: “We were the first country to send weapons to Ukraine in Europe, we put the toughest sanctions on Russia of any country, and we’re also making sure that nobody is allowing Ukraine’s sovereign territory to be given up, and we’ve worked with our allies to achieve that. “I’m proud of our record, but we need to do more, and one of the key areas in bringing down the cost of living is dealing with Russia – making sure they can’t hold the world to ransom over their gas supplies – and I will be tough in standing up to Putin.” Lamiat Sabin28 July 2022 11:30 1659002410
Latest Russian troop deaths take toll to 40,230 – Ukraine says
An additional 160 Russian troops have been killed, Ukraine said. Russia has lost 40,230 military personnel in the course of its full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. This is according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Lamiat Sabin28 July 2022 11:00 1659000610
More than 100,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Britain
The number of Ukrainian refugees who have been granted asylum in the UK since the start of the Russian invasion has hit 100,000 for the first time, figures show. As of 25 July, 104,000 people had arrived in Britain under two Ukrainian refugee programmes, government data released today shows. A total of 31,300 people arrived under the family scheme and 72,700 under the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme. More on this developing story here from May Bulman
Number of Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Britain tops 100,000
The number of Ukrainian refugees who have been granted sanctuary in the UK’s since the start of Vladimir Putin’s invasion has topped 100,000 for the first time, figures show. Lamiat Sabin28 July 2022 10:30 1658998856
Separatists accuse Ukraine of killing four civilians by shelling
Four civilians were killed on Wednesday by Ukrainian shelling in the eastern region of Donetsk, Russian-backed separatists said. Another 11 were wounded, according to a message posted on an official separatist Telegram channel. The report could not be verified by the Reuters news agency. Donetsk city has been controlled by Russian-backed separatists since 2014. Ukrainian forces continue to hold positions on the city’s outskirts. Lamiat Sabin28 July 2022 10:00 1658998064
‘Russian troops on Dnipro river’s west bank highly vulnerable’
Russian forces stationed on the west bank of the Dnipro river are “highly vulnerable,” the Ministry of Defence said. It comes after Ukraine used new long-range artillery to damage at least three bridges across the river, “which Russia relies upon to supply the areas under its control”. It comes amid a counterattack on Vladimir Putin’s troops in the Russian-controlled Kherson region of southern Ukraine. It is “highly likely” that the Antonivsky bridge is now “unusable”, the MoD also said. Lamiat Sabin28 July 2022 09:47
