WAR IN UKRAINE: July 21, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 513
In the 4th attack in as many days, Russian missiles struck agricultural warehouses in Odesa overnight, destroying tons of crops, a Ukrainian military official said, adding they were carried out with Kalibr missiles fired from the Black Sea and destroyed 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley. Two people were injured - CNN/wires.
As a result of a rocket attack on Chernihiv Oblast, the building of the local cultural center was damaged in one of the populated areas of the region, OK "Pivnich" reports. According to preliminary information, there are no victims
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian strikes had "deliberately" targeted sites in the Odesa region that are used to export grain after Russia refused to extend the grain deal. “About a million tons of food is stored in the ports that were attacked today. Exactly the volume that should have been delivered to consumer countries in Africa and Asia a long time ago," Zelenskiy said in a video message. “Everyone in the world should be interested in holding Russia accountable for terror," he added - RFE/RL
Ukraine has launched its first cluster bomb attack against Russian forces in southeastern Ukraine, according to reports. The Washington Post reported that the controversial weapons were fired at Russian trenches slowing down Ukraine’s advance, citing Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter. It is the first report of the weapons use since the US started sending them to Kyiv this month. Cluster bombs are also expected to be used near Bakhmut. The weapons spray “bomblets” across an area three times the size of a football pitch.
Zelensky has dismissed Vadym Prystaiko as the his ambassador to the UK. No reason was given for the sacking. Prystaiko was Zelensky’s first foreign minister and has served in the UK since July 2020. He’s also a former Ukraine ambassador to Canada. A week ago on Sky News, he criticised Zelensky’s promise to thank British Defence Minister Ben Wallace for military assistance every morning as “unhealthy sarcasm"
Unverified reports across Ukraine social media and some mainstream media channels suggest that Russian officials at the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant are attempting to start power unit No. 4. Ukraine’s Energoatom reports that the Russians are trying to incite Ukrainian personnel to do the job, but that employees at the station are categorically refusing to comply with the order
Authorities in Russia’s southwestern Belgorod region are recruiting female fighters for defense units along the border with Ukraine. State television broadcast reports this week featuring an all-female unit undergoing military training in the western part of the region, which has been targeted by armed incursions in recent months. Channel One and Rossia showed footage of kindergarten teachers and librarians practicing rifle shooting and administering first aid to soldiers. “Who are we fighting? Scum, if I may say so,” said a female fighter named Anastasia.
The head of the Belarusian Red Cross, Dzmitryi Shautsou, has admitted that the organization is involved in deporting children from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. “When they accused the Republic of Belarus of kidnapping children who come to us for rehabilitation – frankly speaking, the Belarusian Red Cross has been, and is, and will be actively involved in this,” Shautsou said. He made the statement while on a televised visit to Russian-occupied Lysychansk in Luhansk Oblast, which was aired on the state channel Belarus-1. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) stated that they learned about the visit through the media, "nor were we involved in any of the activities, including with children….It is essential that all components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement maintain their independence from governments and weapon bearers” - Kyiv Independent