Tuesday, July 11

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, July 10, 2023. (Source: NATO)

Zelensky announces bilateral talks with US, other countries at Vilnius summit.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on July 10 bilateral talks with European countries, the U.S., Canada, and Japan during the upcoming Vilnius summit.

Russia shells 8 communities in Sumy Oblast. Russian forces shelled eight communities in Sumy Oblast on July 10, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on Telegram.

NATO chief: Erdogan backs Sweden’s membership bid. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on July 10 that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will forward Sweden’s NATO bit to Turkey’s parliament.

Nobel Laureate Matviichuk asks South Africa for clear position on Putin’s arrest warrant. Oleksandra Matviichuk, a human rights lawyer and a Nobel Prize laureate, asked South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for a clear position on Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s arrest warrant on July 10.

6-year-old child undergoes heart transplant first time in Ukraine. For the first time in Ukraine, a six-year-old child underwent a heart transplant, the Heart Institute under the Ministry of Health informed on July 10.

Kremlin spokesperson: Putin met Prigozhin after rebellion. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin met the founder of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin after the rebellion, the Russian state news agency TASS cited Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on July 10.

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Zelensky to attend Vilnius NATO summit, event program says. Following a bilateral meeting, President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will hold a joint press conference at the Vilnius summit on July 12, according to the latest update on NATO’s website.

Poll: Most Ukrainians not ready to refuse NATO accession in exchange for immediate peace. Seventy-six percent of Ukrainians consider it unacceptable for the country to withhold its NATO membership bid “as a price for peace,” according to recent polls conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

Kuleba: NATO allies agree on simplified procedure for Ukraine’s accession. Following intensive talks,“ NATO allies agreed to remove the Membership Action Plan (MAP) from Ukraine’s path toward accession, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on July 10.

Minister: Factory to produce Bayraktar drones under construction in Ukraine. The Turkish company Baykar has already started constructing a factory in Ukraine to produce Bayraktar drones, Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin said on July 10, as cited by Hromadske news outlet.

General Staff: Ukraine liberates 14 square kilometers over past week. Ukraine has liberated 10 square kilometers in the south and 4 square kilometers in the east over the past week, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on July 10.

Media: Prigozhin in Moscow since July 1. Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose whereabouts have been unclear after his failed rebellion, is allegedly in Moscow since at least July 1, according to the French media outlet Liberation, citing its sources in Western intelligence.

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Ukraine war latest: Stoltenberg says ‘no final decision’ made about Ukraine’s NATO aspirations on the eve of Vilnius summit

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on July 10 that “no final decision has been made” regarding Ukraine’s NATO membership bid, and consultations and meetings are ongoing to prepare a “very clear message” at the Vilnius summit.

Photo: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian shelling kills 2, injures 3 in Donetsk Oblast. Two people were killed and three more wounded in artillery strikes against Avdiivka and Hostre in Donetsk Oblast, the Donetsk Oblast Proseuctor’s Office reported on July 10.

Update: 7 killed in Russian attack on Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The death toll of the Russian airstrike against Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, has risen to seven, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported, adding that three bodies were retrieved from the rubble.

Governor: Russian forces hit village in Kherson Oblast, wounding 2. Russian troops struck an apartment building in the village of Inzhenerne, Kherson Oblast, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on July 10. The attack injured two elderly residents of the building, according to Prokudin.

4 killed, 20 injured in Russian attacks over past day. Russian attacks in three Ukrainian oblasts killed four civilians and wounded 20 more over the past 24 hours, according to the regional authorities.

General Staff: Russia has lost 234,480 troops in Ukraine since Feb 24, 2022. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on July 10 that Russia had also lost 4,085 tanks, 7,966 armored fighting vehicles, 6,937 vehicles and fuel tanks, 4,371 artillery systems, 668 multiple launch rocket systems, 414 air defense systems, 315 airplanes, 309 helicopters, 3,686 drones, and 18 boats.

International response

Ambassador: Ukraine works to extend US Lend-Lease for another year.

Ukrainian diplomats are actively working with U.S. Congress to extend the Lend-Lease Act for another year, Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova said on television on July 10.

Lithuania’s former leaders call for Ukraine membership invite at NATO summit.

Lithuania’s past leaders, including former presidents Valdas Adamkus and Dalia Grybauskaitė, sent a letter asking NATO leaders to invite Ukraine to join the alliance during the Vilnius summit, the LRT public broadcaster reported on July 10.

Kuleba calls on Germany not to delay Ukraine’s accession to NATO. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on the German government not to delay Ukraine’s accession to NATO at the Vilnius summit, the German television news magazine Tagesthemen reported on July 10.

Allies reaffirm support for Ukraine ahead of summit, divisions on membership remain. NATO members including Germany, the U.S., and the U.K. pledged continued support for Ukraine on July 10, on the eve of the NATO summit in Vilnius.

Rheinmetall to build, repair tanks in Ukraine. The German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall will open an armored vehicle plant in Ukraine within the next 12 weeks, the company’s CEO Armin Papperger told CNN in an interview published on July 10.

Opinions and Insights

Editorial: A smart NATO would seek Ukraine’s accession

Ukraine is asking its allies for more weapons and better weapons not because it wants to have it easier in the war against Russia, but because it needs them to survive.

Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

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