WAR IN UKRAINE: July 19, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 146
My interview live from Lviv early this morning on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s flagship radio breakfast show. On the sweeping changes made by President Zelensky in his government, Russian President Putin’s visit to Iran, and the humiliating losses on the Russian side in the Ukraine-Russia war. Listen here
In his government’s most high-level shake-up during the war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Ivan Bakanov, head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), the Washington Post reported. Bakanov’s SBU, the domestic intelligence and security agency, had come under criticism since the start of the war after three former officials were charged with treason in late March. Zelensky also fired Iryna Venediktova, the nation’s prosecutor general, who had been investigating war crimes. In his evening address, Zelensky gave some striking figures: more than 60 former employees were now working against Ukraine in Russian-occupied areas, while 651 collaboration and treason cases had been opened against law enforcement officials
50,000 Russian soldiers have either died or been injured in Ukraine — resulting in a significant loss of land combat effectiveness, said Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, chief of the United Kingdom’s Armed Forces.
Deputy PM: New wave of internally displaced peopleexpected in fall. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a televised interview on July 17 that over 500,000 people are anticipated to move westwards before winter. Vereshchuk noted that many Ukrainians will be forced to leave regions cut off from gas due to hostilities.
European societies cannot afford war fatigue. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that European societies cannot afford to be war-weary because this is what Putin is counting on. According to Borrell, the governments of the EU member states should continue to follow the decisions they have taken, bearing in mind the sanctions already in place. "EU member countries decided to introduce restrictive measures against the Russian economy, and they must carry them out. In addition, they must maintain pressure on the Russian economy, realizing that a miraculous settlement will not happen. But we must do it the same way we continue to provide military support for Ukraine," Borrell said after the EU Council meeting - UBN
