United 24 Media:
🔷 Czech defense giant CSG has transferred licenses and helped expand artillery ammunition production in Ukraine. Through its subsidiary, MSM North America, the company has also laid the foundation for a new U.S. shell production facility, according to Defense Express.
The project, known as the Future Artillery Complex (FAC), is being built at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (IAAAP). It will replace a production line that has supplied the U.S. Army for more than 50 years.
Once completed, the new facility will be capable of producing up to 36,000 large-caliber shells. CSG says it will be the most advanced facility for filling 155 mm artillery shells with explosives.
MSM North America was awarded the U.S. Army contract to design, build, and commission the facility in 2025. The plant will remain government-owned but will be operated by private contractors.
Construction is expected to be completed within 40 months, with commissioning and initial acceptance testing scheduled within 48 months of the contract signing. The Future Artillery Complex is expected to become fully operational in 2029.
🔶 “The largest ballistic attack on Kyiv”: Zelenskyy appeals to partners
On the night of July 19, Russia launched one of the largest ballistic attacks on Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. According to him, Russia fired more than 40 missiles of various types, with most of them targeting the capital.
“Interceptor missiles are needed every day, and I am grateful to everyone who honors our agreements and ensures the delivery of anti-ballistic systems. These packages are literally saving lives during every massive Russian attack. It is equally important that pressure on Russia continues alongside efforts to strengthen our air defenses,” Zelenskyy said.
🔷 Russian forces destroyed a branch of the Sumy Regional Center for Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Children and People with Disabilities, according to the center’s director, Olena Sushchenko.
“Russia has once again demonstrated that there are no moral boundaries for it. When places where children and people with disabilities receive rehabilitation become targets, the world has no right to grow accustomed to such evil or seek to justify it.
We will do everything to ensure Russia pays for every one of its crimes. And we will help the center recover so that life can return here once again,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.
🔶 Russian forces attacked Izium with drones, striking a residential high-rise in the city center and injuring 20 people, including a child.
According to the regional military administration, 10 people sustained blast injuries, while another 10—including a one-year-old boy—suffered acute stress reactions.
Five apartment buildings and about 20 vehicles were damaged. The strike also caused significant destruction at the impact site.
🔷 Russian forces attacked Zaporizhzhia with guided aerial bombs, according to the head of the regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov.
A five-story residential building sustained significant damage, and another strike landed next to a nine-story apartment building.
Three people were injured.
🔶 In Zaporizhzhia, rescuers recovered the body of a woman from the rubble. Search efforts for a child are still underway.
A Radio Liberty correspondent reported from the scene that the death toll from the guided aerial bomb strike has risen to three.
At the site of the rescue operation, a mother is waiting for news about her child, whose fate remains unknown.
❗️Poland’s defense minister says the latest Russian attack underscores the need to continue supporting Ukraine.
Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said that Russia’s large-scale overnight attack on July 19 highlights the importance of maintaining support for Ukraine while strengthening Poland’s own defenses.
He described the ballistic strike as “the most powerful since the beginning of the invasion” and warned that it could signal Russia’s preparations for further mobilization.
“This demonstrates how disconnected from reality are the calls to reduce support for Ukraine or slow down the modernization of the Polish Armed Forces,” he said.
According to the minister, Poland is doing “everything possible to ensure that Russian missiles never reach the country’s territory.”
🔷 Six sailors were killed in a Russian strike on a civilian vessel near Odesa, and four more remain missing, according to the Ukrainian Navy.
Russia reportedly launched three Kh-59/Kh-69 cruise missiles at the Guinea-Bissau-flagged, Turkish-owned bulk carrier GOLDEN LEO as it was leaving the combat zone with a cargo of grain.
The strike sparked a fire on board. Eight crew members were evacuated and taken to a hospital in Odesa. Search and rescue operations are ongoing.
🔶 The number of people injured in Russian airstrikes on Zaporizhzhia has risen to 42, including eight children, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
Emergency response and rescue operations at the strike sites are ongoing.
🔷 Estonia’s foreign minister calls for Russia’s complete isolation following the attack on Kyiv.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that Russia must face “strict and continuous isolation” after the massive missile strike on Kyiv on the night of July 19.
He described the attack as one of the most powerful since the start of the full-scale invasion and said the Kremlin resorts to terror because it is failing to achieve its objectives on the battlefield.
“Moscow resorts to terror when it realizes that strategic gains by other means are becoming unattainable. That is why we have no right to stop isolating Russia even for a moment. The pressure must increase. Sanctions must be strengthened,” he said.
According to Tsahkna, only Russia’s complete isolation can stop its aggression.
🔶 A Russian strike overnight destroyed 250,000 books belonging to the Knygolove publishing house.
“The most important thing is that none of our colleagues were injured. At the same time, we lost nearly 250,000 books. This represents the work of authors, translators, editors, designers, printers, and our entire team, all of whom work every day for Ukrainian readers,” the publisher said in a statement.
🔷 Brent crude oil has climbed above $90 per barrel for the first time since June, according to Reuters.
Brent crude futures rose 2.37% to $90.19 per barrel, their highest level since June 11. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also gained 2.07%, reaching $84.20 per barrel, its highest level since June 12.
ING analysts attributed the price surge to the escalating conflict in the Persian Gulf. They said the continued exchange of strikes between the United States and Iran could lead to further escalation, threatening oil supplies if tensions persist.
Barclays also warned that the market may be underestimating risks to global oil supplies, with inventories now at their lowest level in five years.
According to LSEG data, only four ships transited the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, down from eight the previous day, indicating reduced traffic through one of the world’s most important oil shipping routes.
🔶 President Zelenskyy confirmed damage to logistics facilities and an oil depot in Russia’s Moscow region, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
He also said that two tankers from Russia’s shadow fleet and four dry cargo vessels were struck in the Black Sea.
“We respond fairly to every Russian strike on our cities and communities. This war must be ended, and that is possible only by increasing pressure on the sole cause of this war—Russia,” Zelenskyy said.
🔷 Russian forces attacked Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region, killing two people and injuring 13 others, including a one-year-old girl, according to the regional military administration.
Two men, aged 56 and 38, and two women, aged 87 and 48, were hospitalized in moderate condition. The remaining victims, including the one-year-old girl, are currently undergoing medical examinations, said regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha.
The attack also damaged apartment buildings and vehicles.
🔶 Russians are increasingly switching to cash, adding to the strain on the country’s slowing economy, the BBC reports.
According to Central Bank data analyzed by the BBC, 1.56 trillion rubles (about £14.8 billion or $20 billion) have entered circulation since the start of the year—the largest increase for the same period in any year except during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The shift is being driven by frequent mobile internet shutdowns, which disrupt digital payments, as well as by businesses seeking to avoid taxes amid mounting financial pressure.
“Cash gives a certain sense of control and security. If there is an emergency in the city, I know I can still buy essential goods even if the mobile network goes down,” one Moscow resident told the BBC.
As profits decline due to higher taxes and economic growth slows, pharmacies, restaurants, beauty salons, and small retailers are increasingly encouraging customers to pay in cash to keep more of their income off the books.
According to Interfax, citing data from the Bank of Russia, the amount of cash in circulation increased by 513 billion rubles between July 1 and 16, indicating that Russians continued withdrawing money from the banking system.
On average, banks lost about 250 billion rubles in cash per week during that period. Demand for cash has accelerated sharply compared to June, when the total increase in cash in circulation amounted to 479 billion rubles over the entire month.
Since the beginning of February, cash in circulation has increased by 2.4 trillion rubles. If the current trend continues, July could become a record month for cash withdrawals from the banking system.
🔷 Since the beginning of July, Russia has launched more ballistic missiles at Ukraine than it is believed to produce in a month, suggesting that Moscow is drawing down its stockpiles, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The defense publication Militarnyi, citing unnamed sources in Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR), reports that Russia produces about 60 Iskander-M ballistic missiles and another 40 missiles for the S-400 air defense system each month.
🔶 Ukraine has endured the deadliest month of Russian attacks on civilians since April 2022, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said, citing official data from the latest report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
▫️293 civilians were killed and 1,990 were injured, the highest monthly civilian casualty toll since April 2022.
▫️That is 10% more than in May and 37% more than in June 2025.
▫️Since the beginning of 2026, Russia has killed 1,396 Ukrainian civilians and injured 7,978 others.
“Each new month becomes more deadly. When people die every day in their own homes, falling asleep and never waking up, when Russian missiles kill entire families, this is the clearest proof that Russia does not want—and has never wanted—peace. Its true intentions are written in the blood of civilians, in UN reports, and in the ruins of Ukrainian cities. Russia must not be persuaded—it must be deprived of the ability to kill,” Lubinets said.
🔷 With Russia unable to secure victory in its war against Ukraine, the Kremlin is looking for an alternative win and now regards the Baltic region and Poland as its most likely next target, said Lithuania's Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas.
"Since the war in Ukraine is not unfolding as Russia planned, they are unable to win, and today explosions are echoing within Russia itself, there are fuel shortages [...] Russian society is already questioning the Kremlin regime about why this is happening and where the promised victory is," Kaunas told LRT on Monday.