WAR IN UKRAINE: July 18, 2022
The funeral for four-year-old Liza, who was killed last week during a Russian missile strike in Vynitsia. Her hospitalized mom is unaware of the tragic loss.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 145
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired the head of the country's security service and its prosecutor general on Sunday, citing hundreds of criminal proceedings into treason and collaboration by people within their departments. "In particular, more than 60 employees of the prosecutor's office and the [Security Service of Ukraine] have remained in the occupied territory and work against our state," Zelenskyy said. "Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the state's national security, and the links recorded between Ukrainian security forces and Russian special services raise very serious questions about their respective leaders," he said - AP
Ukraine accuses US and European banks over Russia links. The Financial Times reports that the Ukrainian government has told US and European bank bosses to sever ties with groups that trade Russian oil.
The FT reported Sunday that the head of one of America’s largest defense companies has called on Western governments to send a “clear demand signal” if the industry will be able to supply the weapons needed for a prolonged conflict in Ukraine. Kathy Warden, chief executive of Northrop Grumman, one of the top five “prime” contractors in the US, warned that weapons stocks had not been built up to carry out a protracted war.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed on Saturday with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron the creation of a coordination center in Istanbul to control the supply of agricultural products from Ukraine via the Black Sea. Meanwhile, the Turkish foreign ministry is reportedly saying the country will not assume the obligations of other states to receive refugees, calling on other countries to take equal responsibility for the flow of migrants. “Türkiye will not become an international refugee camp.”
The Cabinet of Ministers had updated the list of occupied territories to provide funds for internally displaced persons. It includes 313 cities and villages from nine regions that are either currently occupied or are close to the front line - Kyiv Independent
Ukraine wins 5 more medals at 2022 World Games. On July 16, Ukrainian athletes took three gold medals, one silver, and one bronze at the World Games, an international event for sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games - Kyiv Independent
Ukrainians have been finding strength in the words of their national poet, Taras Shevchenko, for nearly two hundred years - and now even more because of the war. Listen to this BBC radio report here
Required reading…
From CNN OPINION
As grocery shoppers know, food prices have spiked, partly because Russia's war on Ukraine is blocking grain and other exports.
Tim Benton of Chatham House noted that Ukraine is the fifth largest exporter of wheat and the biggest exporter of sunflower oil. "By impeding the flow of grain from this breadbasket region, food becomes a powerful weapon in Russian President Vladimir Putin's arsenal. This is nothing new for warmongers. For centuries, siege tactics have been deployed to starve populations."
"What is new is that this tactic is not being deployed to subjugate the country under attack, but to hurt the world's most vulnerable to create political leverage for Russia," Benton wrote. "Exporting stolen grain as 'Russian' to Russia's allies adds further insult to injury."