Ukraine Invasion: Part 43

[MagicFox]

With thanks as usual to everyone!

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UNITED24 Media Telegram

❗️ Ukraine has liberated more territory in the last month than the Russian Federation captured in a year, — the head of the British foreign intelligence service MI6.

⚡️The Russians are preparing an "assault" on the ZNPP under a foreign flag, the Main Intelligence Directorate reports
Probably, in the near future, the occupiers are planning another provocation on the territory of the ZNPP.

As a result of a night attack by Russians, the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China building in Odesa was damaged. [wonder if China will brush this under the carpet]

Russia established a naval blockade of Ukraine immediately after the end of the "grain agreement", — Bild military analyst Julian Röpke
"12 cargo ships are stuck in the Ukrainian ports of Odesa and Mykolaiv. Not a single dry cargo has entered Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian bombings."

❗️From July 20, all ships that will go through the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be considered by Moscow as potential carriers of military cargo. Russia will consider the flag countries of such ships that participate in the war on the side of Ukraine, — Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. [but they aren't escalating the war, oh no, not them]

The European Union will strengthen military support for Ukraine in response to Russia's decision regarding vessels in the Black Sea, — the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
According to him, the resources of the European Peace Fund will also be significantly expanded to increase military supplies to Kyiv.

From 00:00 on July 21, 2023, all vessels heading in the waters of the Black Sea in the direction of seaports of the Russian Federation and Ukrainian seaports located on the territory of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia may be considered by Ukraine to be transporting military personnel and cargo with all relevant risks, — Ministry of Defense of Ukraine [seems that Ukraine is answering the raised stakes with its own defiance]

The Russian Federation will consider returning to the grain agreement "if all the principles of its participation in it are taken into account and implemented without exception," said President Vladimir Putin.

⚡️Ukraine is considering a new grain corridor route through the territorial waters of NATO member states, the ambassador of Ukraine to Türkiye said.

Three nights in a row, Odesa is suffering from night attacks by the Russian Federation. Remember that the target is critical infrastructure, such as ports, administrative buildings, and other premises.

A JDAM aerial bomb destroyed the headquarters building of the Russians [location not stated]

Liberation of the territories occupied by Russia will be complicated and long
In an interview with the AFP agency, the adviser to the head of the President's Office, Podolyak, expressed this opinion.
"This operation will be quite difficult, long and lasting," said Podolyak.
He added that now the progress on the battlefield is plodding, but the number of offensive actions of the Ukrainian army is gradually increasing, and not all brigades prepared for the offensive are still deployed on the battlefield.
Podolyak noted that the difficulties are related to the dense mining of the occupied territories and the lack of armored vehicles.

The head of Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence, Richard Moore, called on Russians unhappy with the war in Ukraine to share their secrets with British intelligence services, — Reuters.

The Planet Labs satellite recorded the effects of explosions at the Starokrymsk military training ground in occupied Crimea, the Russian occupiers report that something still detonates there occasionally.

Due to very heavy losses, in recent months, Russia has removed many BMP-1s from the 227 base for storage and repair of military equipment.

In grim news for Ukraine

Tim White
AT TWMCLtd
·
Jul 19

#Russia claims it destroyed #Ukraine's "largest warehouse of fuels and lubricants near #Berislav" They say it stops refuelling vehicles on the right bank of the river Dnpro in #Kherson region.

Live: Ukraine Telegram

Russia further mines approaches to Ukrainian ports - White House
According to Adam Hodge, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, Russia may also attack civilian vessels in the Black Sea and blame Ukraine for it after the Kremlin's decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
"We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks on civilian vessels in the Black Sea and to blame Ukraine for those attacks," Hodge said.

🔧 The focus of Western partners has significantly shifted to repairing and maintaining the weapons handed over to Ukraine. They realize that the war could last for months and years. Pentagon spokesman William LaPlante told https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/19/allies-main-effort-for-ukraine-shifting-from-donating-weapons-to-fixing-them-00107181 Politico.

🌾 Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia will ask the European Union to extend the ban on Ukrainian grain imports until December 31. The current ban expires on September 15. [countries now named]

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine: "We have openly and repeatedly expressed our position. We stand for the defense of sovereignty and territorial integrity" - Chinese Ambassador to the United States.
He added that this is the number one priority for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. [yeah, just as long as it doesn't come to actually condemning the invasion, right?]

"All conditions have been created for us to regain Bakhmut, but with ten times fewer losses," Syrsky said (https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-66235752) in an interview with the BBC Ukrainian service.
"Literally three kilometers beyond Bakhmut, the next town of Chasiv Yar begins. And here it is very important for us to stop the enemy in Bakhmut, which is located in the lowlands," explained Syrsky.

The head of the Belarusian Red Cross Society, Dmitry Shevtsov, admitted in a report by Belarus 1 TV channel that his organization was involved in the deportation of children from Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Shevtsov. [fucking hell, Red Cross. Just how fucking morally bankrupt are you?]

Russian mobik's family is starving at home due to lack of payments while he's on the frontline. He reveals this in a call intercepted and published by GUR.

❗️ Russia has struck the center of Mykolaiv. 18 people were injured, 9 hospitalized (including 5 children). Two people were rescued from the rubble.
Vitaliy Kim, the head of the RMA, said that there were deaths, but did not specify the number.

Russia fired on Bilozerka (Kherson region) last night
This is what "fiery rain" literally looks like

Turkiye has apparently said it will not now escort Ukrainian grain ships, as previously promised.

The Red Cross have been involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children? [Shock]

Both the UN and the Red Cross were involved with helping to get families out of Mariopol to Russia. These "ukrainian invasion" threads appear to be monumentally one sided and missing the point here. In relation to most families/children taken, they were culturally Russian ie spoke Russian, followed Russian celebrations and culture etc etc. Families/children who were taken from war zones who had family in Ukraine or wanted to return to Ukraine have been or are being returned. In Ukraine, threats from nationalists against ethnic Russian children are reasonably common. From a human point of view there were many good reasons for families/children to be taken to Russia.

These issues seem to be completely misunderstood by some of the posters here.

It is true that the GC requires that children are taken to a 3rd party, but the problem here has been that most of the world has taken sides, where would be considered neutral here, where you would find Russian speakers? I say this with all seriousness and sincerity - and really this should be reported in the press and talked about by the ICC - these are children many of whose families are or were pro Russian, and for those, going to a western country would have been disastrous for their mental health.

These issues are key as one of the roots of the whole of the current conflict as well. In 1991 when Ukraine became independent, it was something like 40 percent ethnic Russian and many of those were very pro Russian and spoke Russian as their first language day to day is one of the roots of the current conflict; nationalists on the other hand wanted the Russian language and culture to be banned (this has been freely stated by many nationalists). According to many testimonies coming out of Donbass, many people had called upon Russia to help them as day to day life had been very difficult in places where the nationalist National Guard had had control.

It is very complex.

They're Ukrainian children removed from Ukraine by a foreign aggressor, without the consent of Ukraine. It's not complex at all.

It's also not unclear what's happened.

Fresh Details on Russia’s Forcible Transfer of Ukrainian Children

Here are the first few paragraphs for those who don't want to click on the link.

The Russian authorities’ forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children has made headlines, and last week’s meeting between Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova – wanted by the International Criminal Court for her alleged role in these crimes – and a top UN official on children and armed conflict stirred controversy.

Earlier this month, more details on these transfers came to light through the findings of an investigation by the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE).

Human Rights Watch has extensively documented how Russian officials and their proxies used coercive measures to forcibly transfer Ukrainian civilians, including those fleeing hostilities, to Russia or Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. We have also documented the forced transfer of children and the war’s devastating impact on children in residential institutions.

Although the new report, issued under the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism, acknowledges uncertainty regarding exact numbers, its conclusions are certain: Ukrainian children were forcibly deported to Russia or transferred within Russian-controlled territory. This constitutes a war crime. It also concluded that forcibly deported Ukrainian children had been subjected to “numerous and overlapping violations” of their rights.

Yes they are ‘monumentally one sided’ because this war is that way. Russia are 100% the bad guys here and that includes abducting children.

Yes some of these children speak Russian and may have followed traditional Russian customs etc. but that does not give the Russian or Belarusian state the right to take them out of summer camps and transport them without permission to camps within Russia/Belarus.

Think we can safely see why @newnametemporarilyyy has either name changed or pretended to….

Sound the horns…..we have another one. Enjoy your time here @newnametemporarilyyy, as it will be mercifully brief.

I’m relation to this Ukraine the Latest today discussing that it isn’t just children but also the elderly that are being forcibly moved. One poor elderly woman was moved to Russia, stripped of her Ukrainian documentation and forced to give blood that was then to be used on the Russian front line.

Bastards!

I feel another donation brewing

I get paid tomorrow as well 😉

@newnametemporarilyyy

It's clearly is complex as evidenced by your take on it

Ukraine is not Russia. Russia has no business or authority over Ukraine

Russia is a genocidal, terrorist state. Does that make it easier for you?

Bull shit. Russia is abducting children, to what end is unclear. There is no defence for ripping any child from its parent, let alone thousands of them.

So would it have been justified for Zelensky (or his children) to be taken to Russia as he is - or was - Russian speaking?

There may have been many ultra-nationalists wanting the Russian language to be banned - but until the invasion, there were many Russian speaking Ukrainians - like Zelensky. It's the invasion that has accelerated the disinclination to speak Russian - as the Ukrainian contributors on the threads have described.

It's Russia that is banning Ukrainian culture, religion and burning books in the Ukrainian language . It is Russia - and Putin in particular - who says that Ukraine doesn't have the right to exist and even that it has never existed

It's not that complex.

One is an invading country, coercing residents (and especially children ) to give up their passports and/or move to "safety", away from their own country . The other is defending itself.

Any other interpretation is pandering to the terrorist country.

Another donation on its way

I think the fact that children who have been abducted to Russia are returned to their parents in Ukraine makes it fairly clear what was going on. Removing children from their parents against those parents' wishes is abducting them.

The UN and the Red Cross were offered two options: leave the children to be killed or starve in Mariupol, or help take them out along the only safe passage ("corridor") the Russians allowed, that is, into Russia. Had a third option, to take them to Ukraine, been available, it seems likely that the UN and Red Cross would have chosen that third option.

@newnametemporarilyyy If you truly held the abhorrent views that you do to throw off your cloak of anonymity and stand and be counted by your usual posting name. The fact that you are afraid to shows a lack of bona fides and level of fabrication and cowardice not dissimilar to the pro-Russian views that you parrot.

Another slug of cash for Ukaine's cause. The day cannot come sooner for Russia to get out of Ukraine.

There's 2 different things being discussed here.

Of course their are ethnic Russians and their children who chose to travel East or send their children East away from hostilities but that is a completely different situation to children abducted from summer camps, children's homes and elsewhere without the knowledge of parents and guardians who are then left in the dark with no information.

As is then indoctrination of young children with sweet little songs about how they should hate their homeland and wish their president dead.

That some Ukrainians still look to Russia doesn't lesson these deeply disgusting war crimes one little bit.

These issues are key as one of the roots of the whole of the current conflict as well. In 1991 when Ukraine became independent, it was something like 40 percent ethnic Russian and many of those were very pro Russian and spoke Russian as their first language day to day is one of the roots of the current conflict; nationalists on the other hand wanted the Russian language and culture to be banned (this has been freely stated by many nationalists). According to many testimonies coming out of Donbass, many people had called upon Russia to help them as day to day life had been very difficult in places where the nationalist National Guard had had control.

Oh give over, what a load of crap. Testimonies?

The Russian speaking citizens of Ukraine never had an issue with the language until Russia started their propaganda shortly before 2013.

“Nationalists” - please do explain, who are they? Do you mean Ukrainians? This is offensive!

I am one of those 40% Russian speaking Ukrainians from Donbas. Donetsk itself. I remember 1991. I know exactly when this language conflict nonsense started and it was not in 1991. Do you know that you until the 1950’s most population in Donetsk and Luhansk and even in some Russian regions of Rostov have been primarily Ukrainian speaking? Do you know what changed that?

maybe you should go back and do your research before you come here preaching about things you don’t know or understand!

So speaking the same language entitles a foreign state to abduct you and forcibly remove you to their territory (or their mates)? Blimey. So as a native English speaking Swede in Sweden, Westminster have dominium over me not the Riksdag. Who'da thunk it.

@Mb76 👏👏👏👏. You are by far the most qualified to put that poster straight back in their box.

Thank you. I’ve had my fair share of these over the past 10 years. Always the same rhetoric.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-july-20-2023

Key Takeaways:

• Russian forces launched a third night of missile and drone strikes against port and grain infrastructure in southern Ukraine on July 20 following Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17.
• The Russian military announced that it may consider civilian ships in the Black Sea en route to Ukrainian ports legitimate military targets.

• The Russian military’s intensifying strikes against Ukrainian port and grain infrastructure and threats of maritime escalation are likely a part of a Kremlin effort to leverage Russia’s exit from the Black Sea Grain Initiative and exact extensive concessions from the West.

• The Kremlin likely views the Black Sea Grain Initiative as one of its few remaining avenues of leverage against the West and has withdrawn from the deal to secure these concessions.

• Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front and reportedly advanced on July 20.
• The United States and European Union (EU) reiterated their long-term security commitments to Ukraine via security assistance packages and proposals on July 19 and 20.
• Wagner Group personnel are training Belarusian special forces on modern tactics at the Brest Training Ground in Brest, Belarus.
• The Wagner Group may open another base in Belarus in Gomel Oblast near Belarus’ international border with Ukraine.
• The Wagner Group reportedly suffered an 80 percent casualty rate and a 28 percent killed-in-action rate in Ukraine.
• Russian forces continued limited ground attacks on the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, around Bakhmut and along the Avdiivka–Donetsk City line and advanced on the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line as of July 20.
• Ukrainian forces continued limited offensive operations east of Kupyansk, near Kreminna, near Bakhmut, and along the Avdiivka–Donetsk City line and made gains near Bakhmut on July 20.
• Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations near Vuhledar, on the administrative border between western Donetsk and eastern Zaporizhia oblasts, and south of Orikhiv and made limited territorial gains in western Donetsk and eastern Zaporizhia oblasts and western Zaporizhia Oblast on July 20.
• Russian forces continued to unsuccessfully counterattack Ukrainian positions on the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast administrative border on July 20.
• The Russian State Duma approved amendments increasing penalties for draft dodging and for officials and legal entities that fail to assist Russian force generation efforts on July 20.
• Russian authorities continue persecution of non-Russian Orthodox churches in occupied Ukraine.