Russia says it rejected drone strike in Crimea

Russia claimed to have neutralized at least ten Ukrainian drones launched in annexed Crimea near Sevastopol, the headquarters of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea. This area is regularly targeted for this type of attack. Follow hour by hour the latest developments in the war in Ukraine.

 

12:33: The Ukrainian counter-offensive is not “successful”, says Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Ukrainian army’s counteroffensive launched in June had not been successful in the face of resistance from Russian defenses in eastern and southern Ukraine.

“All the enemy’s attempts to break through our defenses (…) were unsuccessful during the entire offensive period. The enemy did not succeed,” Vladimir Putin said in an interview. on the television channel Rossia-1.

10:49 am: Russia says it has rejected a drone strike in Crimea

Russia claimed to have neutralized at least ten Ukrainian drones launched in annexed Crimea near Sevastopol, the headquarters of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, a regular target of this type of attack.

In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said it shot down two drones with its anti-aircraft defenses and disabled five others with jamming systems.

The ministry also claims to have destroyed two Ukrainian naval drones, vessels that operate on the surface of the water without a crew. “No casualty or damage after this aborted terrorist attack,” he said.

The Russian governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvojayev, told him on Telegram that a tenth aerial drone had been neutralized over the Black Sea with electronic jamming systems.

10:23: Moscow has a “good reserve” of cluster bombs, Putin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that his army has a “good reserve” of cluster munitions and is threatening to use them on the front in Ukraine if Kiev uses this type of weapon supplied by the United States.

Washington has announced the upcoming delivery to the Ukrainian army of these weapons, which are used very controversially, because the charges they spread can cause many civilian civilian casualties.

“In Russia there is a good reserve of cluster munitions of various types,” Vladimir Putin said in an interview with public television channel Rossia-1.

“Until now we have not used them, we did not need to, although at one point we had a well-known ammunition shortage,” the Russian president continued. “However, if they are used against us, we reserve the right to retaliate.”

9:51 AM: Ukraine reports Russian shelling in Kharkiv and Zaporizhia

One civilian was killed and another wounded in Russian shelling of the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said.

Russian forces fired overnight at residential buildings in the village of Kolodiazne, killing a 33-year-old man and wounding another, Kharkiv Governor Oleh Sinehoubov said on Telegram messages.

He added that the Russians also fired four S-400 surface-to-air missiles into the city of Kharkiv overnight, slightly damaging a residential building.

Zaporizhia Governor Yuriy Malachko said three women and four men were wounded and several houses damaged in heavy Russian shelling on the village of Stepnohirske on Saturday afternoon.

7:52 AM: Helping Ukraine is the “best” thing for the global economy, says US Treasury Secretary

Redoubling efforts to support Ukraine in the face of Russian invasion is “the best thing” to do to help the global economy, in addition to supporting developing countries, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

The latter will attend a meeting of the major financiers of the G7 countries in Gandhinagar, in western India, before attending a meeting of the G20 financers in the same city on Monday and Tuesday.

A “key priority” is to “double our support to Ukraine,” she insisted during a press conference.

She said she realized for herself during her visit to Kiev in February the “massive” impact of foreign aid to Ukraine, both civilian and military. “Ending this war is first and foremost a moral imperative. But it’s also the best thing we can do for the global economy,” she said.

July 15 Essentials

A Ukrainian border guard spokesman said on Saturday that he saw Wagner Group mercenaries entering Belarus from Russia, and the Belarusian Defense Ministry has previously said it planned for the group’s mercenaries to conduct joint military exercises with the armed forces in Minsk.

During a surprise visit to Kiev, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol promised to increase the “scale of support” to Ukraine.

AFP and Reuters