Monday, July 10

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Zelensky and Duda at the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Lutsk, after commemorating the victims of the Volyn Massacre on July 9. (Photo: Maxym Marusenko/Getty Images)

Zelensky, Duda commemorate victims of Volyn Massacre in Lutsk. On July 9, President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda commemorated the victims of the 1943 Volyn (Volhynia) Massacre during their surprise visit to Lutsk, a regional capital in northwestern Ukraine.

Top Russian official threatens strikes on Ukrainian, European nuclear facilities. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said on July 9 that Russia should attack Ukrainian nuclear power plants and nuclear facilities in Eastern Europe if an alleged Ukrainian attack on a Russian nuclear plant is confirmed.

Wizz Air apologizes for removing Ukrainian veteran from flight. Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air on July 9 apologized for removing a Ukrainian war veteran with a prosthesis from a flight from Tel Aviv to Warsaw.

General Staff: Ukrainian forces advance in two directions in Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian forces have continued their counteroffensive and advanced in the Melitopol and Berdyansk directions in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the General Staff reported on July 9.

ABC News: Zelensky urges US to maintain ‘bipartisan support’ for Ukraine. In an extensive interview with Martha Raddatz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told ABC News that U.S. aid to Ukraine must remain a political priority despite “dangerous signals” from certain politicians.

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ISW: Putin doesn’t know what to do about Wagner. Putin’s decision not to expel the Wagner Group and prosecute rebellion leaders puts the Russian dictator in “an awkward position,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote on July 9.

WSJ: Poland secretly sent about a dozen Mi-24 helicopters to Ukraine. Poland recently sent Ukraine about a dozen Soviet Mi-24 attack helicopters in an undisclosed transfer, according to anonymous sources cited by the Wall Street Journal on July 9.

Military: Ukrainian forces advancing near Bakhmut. Ukrainian forces are “making progress” near Bakhmut, while Russian troops get “trapped” in some areas, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, wrote on Telegram on July 9.

Melitopol mayor says Russians are mining critical infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia. Russian forces have begun to mine critical infrastructure in occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov reported via Telegram on July 9.

Poll: Almost 70% of Russians want Putin re-elected in 2024. According to a recent poll conducted by the Russian Levada Center, 68% of surveyed Russian citizens want Vladimir Putin to be re-elected in the 2024 presidential election.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Azovstal defenders return home as Ukraine marks 500 days of war

The commanding officers who defended the Azovstal plant in Mariupol have finally returned to Ukraine from Turkey, where they had been kept after a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia.

Photo: President’s Office

Human cost of war

Update: 9 killed in Russian attack on Lyman, Donetsk Oblast. The death toll of a Russian attack on the city of Lyman in Donetsk Oblast has risen to nine, with 12 people injured, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported on the morning of July 9.

Mayor: Russian attacks on Kyiv have killed over 170 civilians. Russian attacks have killed over 170 civilians and destroyed more than 400 residential buildings in Kyiv since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a televised interview on July 9.

General Staff: Russia has lost 234,040 troops in Ukraine since Feb 24, 2022. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on July 9 that Russia has lost 234,040 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion, with 600 casualties sustained just over the past day.

International response

Erdogan wants to extend grain deal for another 3 months. The Black Sea Grain Initiative, allowing Ukraine to continue exporting its grain amid Russia’s full-scale war, was prolonged on May 17, and is due to expire on July 18.

Politico: NATO allies hold ‘frantic, last-minute’ talks on Ukraine ahead of summit. A group of Western allies, including the U.S., the U.K., France, and Germany are engaged in “frantic, last-minute” negotiations over a security assurance declaration for Ukraine ahead of the Vilnius NATO summit, Politico reported.

Opinions and Insights

Eugene Czolij: NATO gets another chance

“NATO will have another chance to correct the monumental geopolitical blunder it committed 15 years ago at the 2008 NATO Summit in Bucharest, Romania,” writes Eugene Czolij.

Photo: Sean Gallup

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Daria Shulzhenko, Natalia Datskevych, Oleksiy Sorokin, Teah Pelechaty, Oleg Sukhov, Alexander Query, Abbey Fenbert, and Daria Bevziuk.

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