Yesterday, Russia accused Ukraine of terrorism in the Sea of Azov, after a halt on all shipping in the waters. Now, the Kremlin’s troops are maintaining attacks on a key city of Ukraine. Meanwhile, a 10 member coalition of European countries have expressed solidarity for Zelensky.
Russia Ukraine War Latest News: What’s Happening in Odesa?
According to reports, the Kremlin troops have extended attacks on Odesa for a fifth consecutive day. While some believe that they want to damage Odesa’s seaport infrastructure, others believe that Russia wants to annex and administer it.
According to the Ukrainian media, the Kremlin’s attacks have damaged at least 3 ships traveling through the Black Sea, killing 3 and also injuring 3. All 3 attacks were separate but happened within a short span.
Russia Ukraine War Latest News: Russia’s Shocking Allegation Against Ukraine
Earlier this week, Russia decided to temporarily suspend all shipping in the Sea of Azov with the Russian Border Guard Service (RBGS) declaring that no commercial navigation will happen through the Kerch Strait and Don Azav canal.
Now, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Azarov has accused Ukraine of terrorism in the waters, over which both countries share jurisdiction. It is important to note that the Sea of Azov is close to the Crimean Peninsula, a key area of conflict between Moscow and Kyiv. Crimea has been under Russian administration since 2014 but historically belonged to Ukraine.
“What the Ukrainian regime is doing goes beyond even piracy. Pirates, at least, plunder and keep the spoils for themselves”, Lavrov said. He then added that “But here, it benefits neither them nor anyone else – the goal is simply to cause damage and intimidate. It is terrorism, pure and simple”.
According to Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, the Ukrainian military struck 105 vessels of Russian origin from July 6 to July 13, in addition to the 35 ships that were targeted and set on fire the week before. Kyiv has claimed that the vessels and tankers were allegedly ‘shadow fleet tankers’ of Russia.
Russia Ukraine War Latest News: European Coalition Issues Joint Statement in Favour of Ukraine
France recently celebrated Bastille Day (its national festival) and multiple European leaders, including Zelensky joined in to witness. The coalition which includes Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom included a joint statement after convening which acknowledged the ‘growing threat posed by ballistic missiles’.
It also mentioned that “Our goal is to build a shared ballistic missile defense capability for Europe.We believe that protecting Europe requires a comprehensive solution, in the form of an integrated missile defense architecture, to deter and neutralise future missile threats”. The statement didn’t specify a timeline for setting up the integrated missile defence system.
Russia Ukraine War Latest News: Polish PM Says Peace in Region ‘Unlikely’
Tensions between Ukraine and Poland have intensified recently. The release of the Volhynia Massacre files from World War II by Russia as well as Zelensky’s decision to name a special-forces military unit to honor the “Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army” (UPA) have caused bad blood between the once close neighbours.
Poland has repeatedly held Ukraine’s UPA responsible for the devastating massacre, in which over 100,000 ethnic Poles died. And Zelensky was publicly stripped off the Order of White Eagle (Poland’s highest state order) after which multiple Ukrainian leaders returned their badges & awards conferred from Poland.
But Poland has always supported Ukraine in the ongoing war. While speaking to reporters today, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk gave a grim forecast of the war, stating that peace is ‘unlikely’ anytime soon.
“At this point, it seems unlikely that a ceasefire or peace agreement will be reached in the near future, given the rigid stance of Russia and Putin.Everyone expects an escalation of actions from Russia at this time, and it’s quite likely that Russia will want to prolong this war at least until the winter”, he explained.
Russia Ukraine War Latest News: What Lies Ahead
It seems like the war will mostly escalate as Vladimir Putin has threatened to retaliate with ‘several times more powerful’ strikes.
Ukraine is currently facing a weapons shortage, and will urgently get to work to start production of the Patriot missiles, for which Donald Trump granted a licence to Zelensky.
Belarus is likely to stay away from the war and strengthen its defence, after the devastating bus attack from last month. However, tensions between Ukraine and former ally Poland will most likely linger.
