1 July One person was killed by Russian shelling in
Mala Tokmachka, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Ukraine announced sanctions on 189 Russian nationals, including Pavel Shatskikh, the director of
Elektropribor, a leading aircraft enterprise, in
Kazan. Sanctions were also imposed on nearly 300 companies linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including its largest space industry company
Energia. Two Belarusians, including Aleksei Shkadarevich, the director of LEMT Scientific and Technical Center in
Minsk, and
Georgian businessman
Tamaz Gaiashvili, the founder of
Georgian Airways, were also sanctioned, the latter for opening direct flights to Russia and offering transit flights to circumvent airspace bans by Western countries on Russian aircraft.
2 July Russia launched an overnight drone attack on Kyiv for the first time in 12 days, wounding one person. The Ukrainian military said it had shot down all drones. Two people were killed by Russian shelling in Donetsk Oblast. Fighting broke out in Kherson Oblast, as the Institute for the Study of War assessed that 70 Ukrainian soldiers had landed under the Russian-controlled end of the
Antonivskyi Bridge on the left bank of the
Dnipro river, in the first incident of its kind since the alteration of the river's course in the area following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in June. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry said its forces were advancing towards Berdyansk and Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia front, but acknowledged Russian advances in
Lyman, Avdiivka and Marinka in the Donetsk front. Russia also launched an offensive around
Svatove,
Luhansk Oblast, attacking the towns of
Bilohorivka and
Serebryanka. The mayor of Enerhodar said that 100 employees of the Russian state nuclear firm
Rosatom had left the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. In Russia, a missile attack was reported at the
Primorsko-Akhtarsk air base in
Krasnodar Krai. Organizers announced the cancellation of the biannual
MAKS Air Show outside Moscow scheduled for later in July, that served as a showcase for Russian aerospace technology. British intelligence believed that the cancellation was due to fears of low attendance from international delegations and threats of Ukrainian drone attacks. The Wagner Group suspended the operations of its physical recruitment centers for a month, while keeping its call centers open for applications. Poland announced it was sending 500 police and counterterrorist forces to reinforce its border with Belarus following the Wagner Group's redeployment there and to prevent migrants from illegally crossing the border.
3 July A drone attack on
Sumy killed three people and injured nineteen. Two private properties and an government building were also damaged. The Ukrainian military claimed to have shot down thirteen out of seventeen Shahed drones launched at the country. Three others died in shelling across Sumy Oblast, while another was killed in Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister
Hanna Maliar said that Ukrainian forces had recaptured 9 square kilometers of territory in the east and 28.4 square kilometers in the south during the previous week. She also claimed Ukrainian forces had sunk two Russian military vessels carrying 66 soldiers in Mykolaiv Oblast. In contrast, the Russian-installed governor of Kherson Oblast, Vladimir Saldo, claimed that Ukrainian forces had been dislodged from their bridgehead at the Antonivskyi Bridge, which was disputed by Western defense and intelligence analysts. The IAEA announced that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant had been reconnected to its only available backup power line after a section of it on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River was damaged on 1 March. The Russian news agency
Interfax reported that the FSB foiled an assassination attempt on
Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of Crimea, adding that it had detained a Russian national who had reportedly been recruited by the SBU to kill Aksyonov using a car bomb. Ukraine's
National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) placed
Unilever to its list of sponsors of Russia's war on the country for continuing investments in Russia despite promises to pull out. The
International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, a body tasked with investigating Russian war crimes in the country, opened at the headquarters of the European Union's judicial cooperation agency,
Eurojust, in
The Hague,
Netherlands. Yevgeny Pisarenko, a commander of the Chechen
Akhmat Unit, was reportedly killed in action in the Donbas.
4 July Two people were killed by Russian shelling in Kherson, while another was killed in
Dalnie, Donetsk Oblast. At least 43 people, including 12 children, were injured in an attack on a residential area in
Pervomaiskyi, Kharkiv Oblast, with a former commander of the Azov Brigade claiming that the attack targeted a military funeral. In occupied Donetsk Oblast, Russia claimed one person was killed and 36 others were injured in a Ukrainian attack in
Makiivka. The Ukrainian military said it had destroyed a Russian military formation there. Russia claimed to have shot down four drones outside Moscow while jamming a fifth with
electronic warfare, forcing it to crash into the
Odintsovo district of
Moscow Oblast, some 30 kilometers southwest of the capital. No casualties were reported. Flights from
Vnukovo International Airport were temporarily suspended. Ukrainian officials accused the Russian military of having used the chemical weapon
Lewisite at the front around Bakhmut. Russian media claimed that a Ukrainian artillery strike caused a fire at an oil depot in Makiivka, Donetsk Oblast, citing the town's mayor. Ukraine imposed sanctions on 18 holding companies linked to Russia and its war effort.
6 July Ten people were killed and 42 others were injured in a Russian missile attack on an apartment in
Lviv. 35 buildings and 50 cars were also damaged, while the Governor of
Lviv Oblast also confirmed that a "critical infrastructure facility" was struck, while a house was damaged by missile debris in
Zolochiv. The Ukrainian Culture Ministry said the attack led to damage in the buffer zone around the city's historic center, which was listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Mayor of Lviv called it the "largest attack on civilian infrastructure“ in the city since the start of the invasion. The Ukrainian military said it had shot down seven out of ten Kalibr missiles launched at the city from the Black Sea. Two people were killed in separate attacks in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk Oblasts respectively. The
Odnorobivka train station in
Bohodukhiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast, was destroyed by Russian shelling. The
Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War announced the return of 45 POWs and four civilian deportees, including two children, from Russia. The
High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine ordered the seizure of an
An-140-100 aircraft belonging to the sanctioned Russian state defense conglomerate
Rostec following a lawsuit by the
Justice Ministry. The plane had been sent to the
Antonov workshop in Ukraine for repairs at the time of the invasion in 2022 and was valued at Hr 150 million ($4 million). Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said that Yevgeny Prigozhin had returned from Belarus to St. Petersburg and that his Wagner forces were still in their bases in Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine. However, he denied that it signaled the collapse of the deal he had reached to end the Wagner Group's rebellion. The
Finnish Defence Ministry announced a 105 million euros ($114 million) defence package to Ukraine that would include anti-aircraft weapons and ammunition. The British Defence Ministry assessed that Russia was redeploying troops from as far as the
Caucasus region and its border with
China to reinforce its positions in Ukraine, while a Ukrainian military official said that Russia was looking to recruit 500,000 personnel to replenish its armed forces.
7 July Two people were killed in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast after their car was hit by debris during an overnight Russian drone attack. Another drone hit a business in
Kryvyi Rih Raion, causing a fire but no casualties. The Ukrainian military said 18 Shahed drones were launched at targets in eastern and southern Ukraine, of which 12 were shot down. Later in the day, a Russian missile caused a fire at an infrastructure facility in
Zaporizhzhia. The
Biden administration approved the deployment of
DPICM cluster munitions to Ukraine fired from 155mm shells as part of its 42nd aid package to Ukraine as "a bridge of supplies" until US domestic production can catch up. This also included more
M2 Bradley and
Stryker armored vehicles along with ammunition for the
HIMARS rocket system. The total package was estimated to be worth more than $800 million. Czech Prime Minister
Petr Fiala said that he would send additional attack helicopters and "hundreds of thousands" of rounds of large-caliber ammunition "in the coming months" to Ukraine following President Zelenskyy's visit to
Prague. Germany delivered a new military aid package to Ukraine which included
Beaver bridge-laying vehicles,
Dachs armored engineering vehicles, three radio jammers, two anti-drone sensors and jammers, six
HX81 truck tractor trains, and three semi-trailers. The IAEA said that it had not found evidence of explosives being planted inside the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in recent inspections as claimed by Ukraine. However, it demanded access to more areas of the facility, including the rooftops of the reactors, which had been closed off by Russian occupation authorities purportedly for security reasons.
8 July Nine people were killed and 12 others injured in a Russian rocket attack on residential areas of
Lyman, Donetsk Oblast. Another person was killed in a separate attack in Avdiivka. In Russia, the Governor of
Belgorod Oblast claimed that missiles hit part of the central market of
Shebekino. After a visit to
Turkey to secure President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s support for Ukraine's NATO membership, President Zelenskyy announced that he had secured the return of five commanders of the Ukrainian garrison at the
Azovstal Metallurgical Plant who were taken prisoner after the
Siege of Mariupol and were living in Turkey as part of an agreement with Russia. The Kremlin later complained that it was a violation of that said agreement and criticized Turkey for allowing it. He later visited
Snake Island to commemorate the 500th day of the invasion.
9 July Two people were injured in separate Russian attacks in Kherson Oblast. The Russian-installed head of Crimea claimed that a cruise missile was shot down near
Kerch, while the
Crimean Bridge was temporarily closed to traffic. The exiled mayor of Melitopol claimed an explosion occurred at a Russian military base near the city. Russian forces also claimed to have shot down three missiles over Bryansk and Rostov Oblasts, destroying a sawmill in the process. The
Wall Street Journal reported that Poland had recently sent Ukraine about a dozen Soviet-era
Mi-24 attack helicopters in an undisclosed transfer, citing anonymous sources.
10 July Seven people were killed and 13 others were injured in a Russian bombing raid on a school hosting aid distribution operations in
Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Two people were killed in separate artillery attacks in Donetsk Oblast. A Russian
S-300 missile struck Mykolaiv, no casualties were reported. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed that it had retaken 10 square kilometers of territory in the southern front and 4 square kilometers in the eastern front over the past week. It also claimed to have advanced more than one kilometer towards Melitopol and Berdiansk. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry claimed its forces had recaptured key heights around Bakhmut and subjected all access points to the city under its line of fire. In an interview with CNN,
Rheinmetall CEO
Armin Papperger announced that the firm would open an armored vehicle plant in western Ukraine within the next 12 weeks and hire and train Ukrainian staff to maintain its products. Australia said it would deploy a
Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft to Germany along with up to as 100 crew and personnel to monitor vital humanitarian and military supply lines to Ukraine for the next six months. However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the aircraft would not conduct missions over Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian airspace.
11 July Russia launched another drone strike overnight on Kyiv and Odesa. Ukrainian authorities reported no casualties and that 26 out of 28 drones launched were shot down. A woman was killed by shelling in
Sofiivka, Kherson Oblast, while another was killed in
Huliaipole, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. A hotel used to house senior Russian military officials and the headquarters of the
58th Combined Arms Army was reportedly destroyed by a missile strike in Berdiansk. Among those reportedly killed was Lieutenant-General
Oleg Tsokov, the deputy commander of the Russian
Southern Military District, making him the highest ranking Russian officer killed during the invasion. Explosions reported at
Novooleksiivka, Kherson Oblast, were believed to have come from a Russian ammunition dump. Russian forces claimed to have advanced by 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) near Lyman. In Russia, Navy Captain Stanislav Rzhitsky, deputy head of military mobilization efforts in Krasnodar, was shot and killed while jogging. As commander of the submarine
Krasnodar based in the Black Sea, he was accused of having launched missiles that struck
Vinnytsia in
July 2022 and killed 23 civilians, although his father claimed he had left active service prior to the invasion in 2021.
NATO Summit On the opening day of NATO's
2023 Vilnius summit, member states affirmed their support for Ukraine becoming part of the alliance, pending certain conditions, and confirmed that they had decided to drop the Membership Action Plan required for previous applicants in the case of Ukraine. However, NATO leaders offered no clear timetable or formal invitation as to when Ukraine could actually join. President
Emmanuel Macron said that France would supply
MBDA-made SCALP missiles, its own version of the British
Storm Shadow missile, on condition that its usage is limited to Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian Defence Minister
Oleksii Reznikov signed a memorandum that formally created a coalition of 11 states (Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) that had agreed to procure F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine and train Ukrainian pilots in their use, as well a deal with French Defence Minister
Sebastien Lecornu that formalized a $187 million military aid agreement.
12 July Russia launched another overnight drone attack on Kyiv. The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 11 out of 15 drones launched. Two people were killed by Russian shelling in Kherson Oblast, while 21 people were injured in an airstrike on Zaporizhzhia. The
Russian Black Sea Fleet deployed a new camouflage scheme designed to hide its ships and their size from satellites to reduce the risk of detection and attack from Ukraine, which is only detectable through
artificial intelligence. Major General
Ivan Popov, commander of the Russian
58th Combined Arms Army deployed in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, was removed from his post. In a Telegram message posted by a Russian MP, he claimed to have been fired by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu after complaining about inadequacies in logistics that led to high casualties among his men and accusing his superiors of treason. The Ukrainian General Staff claimed to have retaken 162 square kilometers (63 square miles) of territory since the start of its counteroffensive in June, while the
Institute for the Study of War's (ISW) estimate was 253 square kilometers (98 square miles). The latter also estimated Russian gains since the start of the year at 282 square kilometers.
NATO Summit On the closing day of the NATO Summit in Lithuania, President Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine would receive new Patriot systems and missiles from Germany and armored vehicles from Canada. Australia pledged 30 more
Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles for Ukraine, while Norwegian Defence Minister
Bjørn Arild Gram said it would send 1,000
Black Hornet drones and two NASAMS units. The United Kingdom also pledged a new military aid package that included more than 1,000 rounds for Challenger 2 tanks, more than 70 combat and logistics vehicles, and a $65 million contract for equipment maintenance, as well as the establishment of a military rehabilitation center. Germany also presented a $770 million aid package that included additional Patriot air defense units, while members of the
G7 also agreed to provide long-term military and financial support to Ukraine. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an additional CA$541 million ($410 million) aid package to Ukraine, which included drone cameras. He also announced that Canada would host Ukrainian cadets at the
Royal Military College Saint-Jean for training and expand that of Ukrainian soldiers in Latvia. Canada also pledged to provide Ukraine with an additional $37 million in its Comprehensive Assistance Package, including fuel, logistics equipment, and medical supplies, as well as $2 million for cyber security assistance. Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov confirmed that Ukrainian pilots would begin training on how to use F-16 fighter jets in
Romania in August. He also signed two agreements with Sweden over defense procurements and the intelligence-sharing.
13 July One person was killed and four others were injured in a third consecutive overnight Russian drone attack on Kyiv. Attacks were also reported in Khmelnytskyi, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia. The Ukrainian Air Force said it had intercepted all 20 Shahed drones launched, as well as two Kalibr cruise missiles. Four people were killed by Russian shelling in different parts of the country. Brigadier General
Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, the commander of the Ukrainian
Tavriia military sector deployed in the southern front, told CNN that they had started receiving cluster munitions from the United States. Spain pledged an aid package to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine that would include personnel training in Spain and the donation of a mobile hospital and medical evacuation vehicles. The
US Department of Defense assessed that the Wagner Group was no longer participating significantly in military operations in Ukraine.
14 July Russia launched a series of drone attacks across southern Ukraine, with attacks reported in Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts. One person was injured in Zaporizhzhia city, while another was injured in Kryvyi Rih. Ukrainian forces claimed to have advanced 1.7 kilometers in the direction of Melitopol in the past week and destroyed nine Russian ammunition depots and 33 vehicles and heavy equipment in the southern front. A South Korean presidential adviser said that the country would provide $52 billion to finance reconstruction projects in Ukraine, including in the rebuilding of water infrastructure affected by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. The
Belarusian Defence Ministry said that the Wagner Group had begun training soldiers in the country and released a video showing Wagner fighters instructing Belarusian soldiers at a military range near
Osipovichi, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) southeast of the capital
Minsk. The
State Border Guard Service of Ukraine later confirmed their arrival, saying that they did not believe they posed a serious threat to Ukraine but could be used to destabilize the situation along the border.
15 July One person was killed by Russian shelling in
Kolodiazne, Kharkiv Oblast, while another person was killed in Kherson after a projectile which he was trying to disassemble in his garage exploded. The Ukrainian military claimed to have destroyed the S-400 missile unit responsible for the Kramtorsk restaurant attack on 27 June with a HIMARS missile.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visited Kyiv. He also went to
Bucha and
Irpin and met with President Zelenskyy. He promised “de-mining equipment and ambulances” and announced that South Korea would join NATO's trust fund for Ukraine. Major General
Vladimir Seliverstov, commander of the Russian
106th Guards Airborne Division which saw action during the
Battle of Bakhmut was reportedly removed from his position, with sources speculating that it could have been caused by him complaining about his soldiers' conditions.
16 July One person was killed by a Russian missile strike in
Kharkiv, while another was killed in an airstrike in Zmiivka, Kherson Oblast. Explosions were reported in cities across Russian-occupied Ukraine, including in
Luhansk, Berdiansk and
Mariupol. Officials in
Sevastopol claimed ten drones were shot down over the city. The Ukrainian military claimed to have advanced by more than one kilometer towards Berdiansk while acknowledging Russian advances in
Kupiansk and in Lyman, subsequently assessing that Russia had deployed more than 100,000 personnel, more than 900 tanks, more than 555 artillery systems and 370 self-propelled guns in those areas. In Russia, the FSB claimed to have discovered and thwarted an assassination plot by neo-Nazis working on behalf of Ukraine against
Margarita Simonyan, chief editor of the state-controlled international news channel
RT, and TV presenter
Ksenia Sobchak. Seven people were subsequently arrested. One person was reported to have been killed by Ukrainian shelling in Shebekino, Belgorod Oblast. The last grain ship left Odesa under the extended
Black Sea Grain Initiative set to expire on 17 July.
17 July Traffic was stopped on the Crimean bridge following reports of
two explosions. The bridge partially collapsed along one span with rail services being stopped. Two occupants of a car were killed, while a third passenger was injured. Russia's Anti-Terrorist Committee claimed that Ukraine used
unmanned surface drones to attack the bridge. Russian officials expected repairs to last until November. Nevertheless, the bridge reopened to traffic the next day, albeit with only one lane open. Ukraine formally admitted to launching the attack on 3 August. Six people were killed in separate Russian attacks in Donetsk, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry said it had retaken 18 square kilometers (7 square miles) of territory during its counteroffensive in the past week, raising the total amount of territory it retaken since June to 210 square kilometers (81 square miles). On the last day of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russia said it was not being extended. Global wheat prices subsequently rose by as much as 8.5% in the succeeding days, while corn prices increased by 5.4%. The United Kingdom imposed sanctions on 14 Russians over their involvement in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia and efforts to eradicate Ukrainian culture and identity. Among those sanctioned were
Ksenia Mishonova, Commissioner for Children's Rights in
Moscow Oblast, Education Minister
Sergey Kravtsov, RT presenter
Anton Krasovsky, who publicly called for the murder of Ukrainian children, and Culture Minister
Olga Lyubimova. The SBU later imposed additional charges against Krasovsky, who had already been sentenced in absentia by Ukraine to five years imprisonment, for incitement to genocide.
18 July Russia launched a wave of airstrikes on southern Ukraine using drones and missiles. One attack led to a fire in the port of Mykolaiv, while another attack on Odesa injured one person. The Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have shot down 32 out of 37 drones and all 6 missiles launched, most of which were intercepted over Odesa Oblast. The Kremlin said the attacks were in retaliation for the Crimean Bridge attack on 17 July. One person was killed by Russian shelling in
Dvorichna, Kharkiv Oblast. Russia claimed to have shot down 28 drones over Crimea. The defence ministers of the
Low Countries pledged to provide Ukraine with refurbished
M113 armored vehicles.
19 July Russia launched another wave of airstrikes on Odesa, where an apartment and a building of the Chinese consulate was reportedly damaged, as well as on Kyiv using drones and missiles. One person was killed President Zelenskyy and other officials said the strikes in Odesa targeted infrastructure for exporting grain. The Ukrainian Agriculture Ministry said 60,000 tons of grain were destroyed by airstrikes in the port of
Chornomorsk, Odesa Oblast. Four people were killed in separate Russian attacks in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. The Ukrainian military claimed to have pushed out Russian forces from their positions near the village of
Orikhovo-Vasylivka, northwest of Bakhmut. In Crimea, explosions were heard in Sevastopol, while explosions at the
Krynychky military training ground near
Staryi Krym in
Kirovske Raion forced the closure of the nearby
Tavrida Highway. The Russian Defence Ministry announced that it would attack cargo ships servicing Ukrainian ports starting on 20 July. In response, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry threatened to attack cargo ships servicing Russian and occupied ports in the Black Sea. The Russian Foreign Ministry later clarified that all ships sailing in the Black Sea were to be inspected for military cargo. In an interview made in occupied
Lysychansk, Luhansk Oblast aired on state TV channel
Belarus-1, the head of the
Belarus Red Cross,
Dzmitry Shautsou, wearing military clothes with the
Z symbol, openly admitted to the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied areas to Belarus for “health improvement” reasons, saying that it would continue to do so. The
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies dissociated itself from his statements, while expressing "grave concern" and demanding a halt to the practice. It also triggered an investigation by the body's investigative committee. In his first public appearance since the end of the Wagner Rebellion, Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces would no longer fight in Ukraine and focus on training soldiers in Belarus and maintaining its activities in Africa instead. The South African Presidency confirmed that Vladimir Putin had agreed not to attend the
BRICS Summit to be held in
Johannesburg in August and would instead be represented by Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov. President Cyril Ramaphosa had previously warned that any attempt to arrest Putin while he was in the country based on the warrants issued by the International Criminal Court would be equivalent to a "declaration of war." The South African
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development later issued a warrant for Putin's arrest on 21 July. The United States announced a new $1.3 billion military aid package to Ukraine that would include 4 NASAMS systems, Phoenix Ghost and Switchblade Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), precision aerial munitions, 152mm artillery rounds, mine clearing equipment, electronic warfare and drone detection equipment, and port security equipment, 165 tactical vehicles and 150 fuel trucks. During a visit to Odesa shortly after the airstrikes,
USAID chief
Samantha Power pledged $250 million to support Ukraine's agriculture sector through the Agriculture Resilience Initiative-Ukraine (AGRI-Ukraine), while
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar pledged 5 million euros ($5.6 million) in humanitarian aid through the UN Humanitarian Fund and the Red Cross during his state visit to Kyiv and Bucha.
20 July Russia launched another wave of airstrikes on Odesa and Mykolaiv. 18 people were injured and 2 killed in Mykolaiv after an apartment was struck, while two others were injured in Odesa. The Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have shot down five out of 19 missiles launched. Seven people were killed in separate Russian attacks in Donetsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. One person was reportedly killed in a drone attack in northwestern Crimea, The Ukrainian military claimed to have "semi-encircled" Russian forces in Bakhmut. Officers told the
Washington Post that it had used US-made cluster munitions for the first time against Russian trenches in the southeastern front. US officials later confirmed this, saying that the munitions have been used "effectively". The SBU arrested an employee of
Ukrainian Railways in
Dnipro for passing security and military information to Russia in preparation for attacks on transport infrastructure. Australia announced sanctions against 35 firms supplying advanced technology and equipment to the Russian military and firms involved in nuclear energy and Arctic resource extraction. This included
JSC Russian Helicopters and
JSC Concern Kalashnikov. 10 individuals were also sanctioned, including the respective CEOs of the aforementioned firms
Nikolai Kolesov and
Vladimir Lepin, as well as Russian First Deputy Prime Minister
Andrey Belousov, Deputy Prime Minister
Dmitry Chernyshenko, and senior Belarusian officials "who have threatened Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The US announced more sanctions on individuals and firms linked to the Russian war effort in Ukraine. Among those sanctioned were
Alexei Kudrin, a close ally of Putin and corporate development advisor for the technology firm
Yandex, and Russian national
Valery Chekalov and North Korean citizen Yong Hyuk Rim, both of whom supplied the Wagner group with ammunition. Five Russian banks and several companies based in
Kyrgyzstan were also sanctioned, the latter for supplying Russia with
dual-use technology to bypass sanctions. In an interview with
Fox News, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications
John Kirby said that Ukraine would receive F-16 fighter jets by the end of 2023. Germany formally turned over the first 10 Leopard 1A5 tanks it had previously pledged to Ukraine, as well as 20 MG3 machine guns for armored vehicles, over 1,000 155mm artillery rounds, more than 2,000 155mm smoke ammunition, one new bridge system, 12 accompanying trailers, four border protection vehicles, 10 ground surveillance radars, 16
Zetros trucks, 100,000 first aid kits, and 80 reconnaissance drones. Ukrainian Culture Minister
Oleksandr Tkachenko resigned after President Zelenskyy criticized the ministry's overspending in spite of the ongoing conflict.
21 July Russia launched two separate missile attacks on Odesa. The first attack occurred overnight at a grain terminal, with Ukrainian authorities claiming two people were injured and that 100 tonnes of peas and 20 tonnes of barley had been destroyed. A second attack occurred in the morning. Eight people, including two children were killed in separate Russian attacks in Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk Oblasts. The Ukrainian military claimed to have thwarted attacks by Russian sabotage groups in Sumy and Chernihiv Oblasts. Ukraine's state nuclear company Energoatom accused the Yuri Chernichuk, the Russian-installed general director of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant of pressuring Ukrainian plant workers who have refused to sign contracts with Russia's state nuclear operator to activate reactor number 4 due a lack of skilled Russian specialists.
Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom, was sacked following a decree from President Zelenskyy. No reason was given. He was also dismissed from his role as the Ukrainian representative to the
International Maritime Organization. In the past week, Prystaiko had criticized Zelenskyy's comments regarding Ukraine's alleged lack of gratitude to the UK for military aid. Russian nationalist
Igor Girkin, who commanded separatist fighters during the
War in Donbas and was convicted in absentia by a Dutch court for the
MH-17 shootdown in 2015, was detained by the FSB according to his wife Miroslava, on charges of extremism. He had been an open critic of Putin and his generals’ handling of the war in Ukraine, and called for his overthrow earlier in the week. The
RBC newspaper reported that his arrest was possibly related to a petition from a member of the Wagner Group. The Ukrainian government formally moved to nationalize
Sense Bank, whose owner, Ukrainian-born Russian oligarch
Mikhail Fridman, was previously sanctioned for financially and logistically supporting the invasion of Ukraine. The
Bulgarian Parliament approved the transfer of around 100 Soviet-era
armored personnel carriers to Ukraine.
22 July A drone attack on an ammunition dump in
Krasnohvardiiske Raion, Crimea led to evacuations within a five kilometer radius. Traffic on the Crimean Bridge was also briefly suspended. Seven people were killed by Russian shelling in Donetsk, Sumy and Kharkiv Oblasts. Four Russian journalists were wounded on the Zaporizhzhia front near Piatykhatky by Ukrainian shelling according to the Russian MoD. One of them, Rostislav Zhuravlev of
RIA Novosti, later died of his wounds while being evacuated. Russia claimed cluster munitions were used without providing evidence. Meanwhile, a camera operator for
Deutsche Welle was injured after an apparent Russian cluster bombing of Ukrainian positions near
Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast, also killing one Ukrainian soldier. An explosion was reported at the residence of Heorhii Zhuravko, the Russian-installed mayor of
Oleshky, Kherson Oblast.
Yehor Cherniev, deputy chair of the Verkhovna Rada's defense committee and head of Ukraine's parliamentary delegation to NATO, announced that the country had developed its own medium-range air defense systems that were similar to the
Hawk defense system, describing the results of initial tests as "quite successful." The Ukrainian Economy Ministry said Sweden pledged 522.6 million euros ($581 million) for Ukraine's recovery, with the funds being directed toward the Cooperation Strategy for Reconstruction and Reforms in Ukraine between 2023-2027 and focused on infrastructure reconstruction, green development, entrepreneurship, trade, demining, and media initiatives.
23 July after a missile strike on 23 July Russia launched another overnight missile attack on Odesa, killing two people and injuring 19 others. The Orthodox
Transfiguration Cathedral, the city's largest, was severely damaged. Russia claimed to have struck naval drone production facilities but denied targeting the cathedral. Altogether, 25 architectural monuments were damaged in the
historic Centre of Odesa according to local authorities. The Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have shot down nine out of 19 missiles launched at the city. An aid distribution point housed in a cultural center in
Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, was reportedly destroyed by Russian cluster bombing. No casualties were reported. Six housing facilities and a power line were damaged by Russian shelling in Nikopol.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that Ukraine had recaptured about 50% of territory seized by Russian forces. Yehor Chernev, member of the
Verkhovna Rada and Deputy Chairman of the National Security, Defense and Intelligence Committee, announced a new Ukrainian air defence system was being tested. Called the SD-300, it was described as a medium range system with a limit of 100 kilometers.
24 July A drone attack hit two unoccupied buildings, including a high-rise business center, in Moscow, forcing the closure of several thoroughfares in the city center. Two drones were involved and were "suppressed" before crashing. There were no reports of serious casualties or "serious" damage. The attack occurred about two kilometers from the Russian Defense Ministry. after a strike Russia launched drone strikes on the
Danube River port of Reni in Odesa Oblast, along the border with Romania. Authorities said four people were injured, while a grain hangar, storage tanks and three warehouses were bombed. Three out of about 15 drones launched were reportedly shot down. Three people, including two children, were killed by Russian cluster bombing in
Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast. Officials in Crimea said a Ukrainian drone caused an explosion at an ammunition depot in Dzhankoi, leading to evacuations within a five-kilometer radius, while another drone damaged a home in Kirovske raion. 11 drones were reportedly shot down, while rail services in
Dzhankoi Raion and the Dzhankoi-
Simferopol highway were closed. The Ukrainian military claimed to have retaken 12.7 square kilometers of territory in the southern front and 4 square kilometers in the eastern front, increasing the total amount of territory retaken since the start of the counteroffensive to 192.1 square kilometers. It also claimed to have advanced by up to 1.4 kilometers towards Berdiansk.
25 July Russia launched another overnight drone attack on Kyiv. Authorities reported that all drones launched had been shot down. Attacks were also reported in
Zhytomyr and Kharkiv Oblasts. Four people were killed by Russian shelling in Donetsk and Kherson Oblasts. The Ukrainian military claimed to have retaken the village of
Andriivka, south of Bakhmut, and pushed out Russian forces from
Staromaiorske in southern Donetsk Oblast. It also confirmed the use of US-supplied
cluster munitions in Bakhmut. Meanwhile, Russia claimed it had taken the village of
Serhiivka, near Lyman.
Trevor Reed, former US Marine who was released from Russian custody in 2019, was injured while fighting for Ukraine and was transferred to Germany for treatment. The US government denied involvement in his actions. The SBU announced treason charges against pro-Russian politician and leader of the banned political party
Nashi,
Yevhen Murayev, who had left Ukraine in May 2022 and was said to be one of Russia's choices to head a puppet administration in the country. Russia claimed it had thwarted an attack by two naval drones on its patrol ship
Sergei Kotov in the Black Sea. The Russian State Duma passed a law that raised the maximum age of conscription from 27 years to 30. An IAEA inspection of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant found
anti-personnel mines in a buffer zone between the site's internal and external perimeter barriers that was accessible only to the Russian military. The United States pledged another military aid package to Ukraine worth $400 million, which included ammunition for air defense, rocket and artillery systems, while Ukrainian Economy Minister
Yulia Svyrydenko said foreign governments and NGOs pledged $244 million in funds and equipment for de-mining efforts in the country. Norway also donated $24 million to the European Peace Facility (EPF) program of the European Union, despite not being a member of it, to use in obtaining ammunition and spare parts for Leopard 2 tanks.
26 July Russia launched a missile attack on
Starokostiantyniv,
Khmelnytskyi Oblast. The Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have shot down 36 missiles.
The New York Times reported that the Ukrainian military was to begin deploying Western-trained soldiers that had been held in reserve for its counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia front. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal announced that the government was allocating ₴40 billion ($1.08 billion) to develop the domestic drone industry. Pro-Russian politician
Vadym Rabinovych, former co-chair of the banned political party
Opposition Platform — For Life who fled Ukraine after blaming it and the West for Russia's invasion, was charged with treason by the Ukrainian
State Bureau of Investigation. President Zelensky signed a law introducing a state register of sanctions. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that Ukrainian pilots were to receive training on F-16 fighter jets in Denmark and Romania, while U.K. was providing English-language lessons to the pilots.
People's Deputy of Ukraine Yuriy Aristov, from President Zelenskyy's
Servant of the People party, was charged with going on holiday in the
Maldives using false pretenses despite the wartime ban on officials holidaying abroad. He later submitted his resignation to the
Verkhovna Rada. The International Olympic Committee formally excluded Russia and Belarus from the
2024 Olympic Games in Paris as part of its continuing response to the invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian Sports Minister
Vadym Gutzeit announced that the country would end its boycott of sporting events that included Russian and Belarusian athletes as long as they compete as neutrals. The United States said that it would assist in the
International Criminal Court's investigation of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, after reversing its previous stance citing fears of prosecution against US and allied parties.
27 July Western and Ukrainian officials and analysts said that the Ukrainian military had launched a renewed drive in the Zaporizhzhia front, particularly in the direction of Melitopol. The Institute for the Study of War, also citing Russian sources, reported that Ukrainian forces launched “a significant mechanized counteroffensive operation" in the west of the oblast, adding that they appeared "to have broken through certain pre-prepared Russian defensive positions,” which was denied by pro-Russian officials. At the same time, Russian authorities closed off access to the
Arabat Spit linking Crimea with mainland Ukraine. The Ukrainian military claimed to have retaken the village of
Staromaiorske in southern Donetsk Oblast after previously driving out Russian forces there. Pro-Russian officials in Zaporizhzhia Oblast claimed that one person was injured by a Ukrainian rocket attack in
Tokmak. Russia launched another overnight missile strike on a port in Odesa Oblast, killing a civilian guard. One person was killed in an airstrike on a residential building in
Kivsharivka, Kharkiv Oblast. Japan imposed additional sanctions on Russia over the invasion, banning the export of vehicles fitted with 1,900 cc engines or greater, as well as vehicles with hybrid and electric motors to the country.
28 July Russia launched an evening missile attack at Dnipro, striking a building of the SBU and a residential building. Ten people were injured. The headquarters of the Interior Ministry of the
Donetsk People’s Republic in Donetsk city was reportedly damaged by a Ukrainian airstrike, while Ukraine claimed that saboteurs blew up an ammunition warehouse at
Kozacha Bay, the headquarters of the Russian
810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade, in Crimea. Ukraine's state nuclear energy firm Energoatom accused Russia of detaining and torturing Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant engineer Serhii Potynh since June. In Russia, a missile strike was reported near a cafe in
Taganrog, Rostov Oblast, 40 kilometers from the internationally recognized Ukrainian border. Another missile was intercepted near
Azov later in the day. 14 people were injured. An explosive was also reported to have been detonated at the Kuibyshev oil refinery in
Samara Oblast. No injuries or serious damage was reported. A drone was also reported to have been shot down in Moscow Oblast. President Zelenskyy signed a law moving the official celebration of
Christmas in Ukraine from 7 January to 25 December, saying it was part of efforts to "renounce Russian heritage." The Ukrainian Prosecutor-General filed criminal charges against Serhii Yevsiukov, the head of the
Olenivka prison in Russian-occupied Donetsk Oblast, and his deputy Kyrylo Shakurov, for violating international humanitarian law through the inhumane treatment, abuse and torture of at least 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
29 July Two people were killed in a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhzhia. Two others were killed in an attack on an educational institution in
Sumy. Pro-Russian officials in Kherson Oblast said Ukraine launched missile attacks on the railway between
Henichesk and Dzhankoi, Crimea. The Ukrainian military later confirmed that it had struck the Chonhar bridge. Ukraine was reported to have been using
Grad rockets manufactured by North Korea that were supplied to the country after being seized by a “friendly” state. President Zelenskyy met with Ukrainian special forces soldiers in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on the occasion of the Day of the Special Operations Forces in Ukraine.
30 July A Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow damaged two office buildings and led to an hour-long suspension of operations at
Vnukovo International Airport. The Russian military claimed to have intercepted three drones, two of which hit the buildings. One person was injured. Russian forces also claimed Ukraine launched a drone attack on Crimea overnight, saying that 25 drones had been intercepted. Two people were killed by Russian shelling in Donetsk and Kharkiv Oblasts, while a building was damaged by a missile in Kharkiv city. At least six civilian vessels were reported to have broken through the Russian naval blockade in the Black Sea towards Ukraine, subsequently arriving at the mouth of the Danube river, near the Romanian border.
31 July after an attack At least six people, including a child, were killed and 75 others were injured in a Russian missile attack on Kryvyi Rih. Six others were killed separate attacks in Kherson and Donetsk Oblasts. Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister
Hanna Maliar claimed that Ukrainian forces recaptured 15 square kilometres of territory during the last week, putting the total amount of territory retaken since the start of its counteroffensive at 204.7 square kilometres. In Russia, a police station in Bryansk Oblast was reportedly hit by a drone. The Ukrainian Finance Ministry said that it had received a $1.25 billion from the U.S. through the Multi-Donor Trust Fund of the World Bank as part of the Public Expenditures of Administrative Capacity Endurance (PEACE) program meant to support the country's wartime social program, saying that it would partly be spent on social assistance for internally-displaced persons. A Moscow court ordered the seizure of assets of the Russian subsidiary of the metallurgical firm
Metinvest, which is owned by Ukraine's richest person
Rinat Akhmetov, after the country's Investigative Committee accused him of using company funds to support the Azov Brigade.
Rheinmetal said it had started training workers for the factory that it had planned to open in western Ukraine in the autumn of 2023 to repair Leopard tanks. ==August 2023==