Ukraine has recaptured Snake Island. According to Ukrainian authorities, 40 tons of grain were destroyed in an attack. 17 people were killed in a Russian rocket attack on a residential building in Odessa. All news about the war in Ukraine can be found here in the ticker.
11.04 a.m .: According to British assessments, Russia is increasingly using inaccurate missiles in its attacks in Ukraine. The reason is probably that stocks of modern, accurate weapons are dwindling, the Ministry of Defense said in London on Saturday. Analysis of surveillance footage showed that the shopping center in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk was very likely hit by a Ch-32 missile, the agency said, citing intelligence.
This is a further development of the Soviet rocket Ch-22 (NATO code: AS-4 Kitchen), which is still not optimized for hitting ground targets accurately, especially in cities. “This greatly increases the likelihood of collateral damage when targeting built-up areas,” the ministry said.
Ch-22 missiles are believed to have been used in attacks on the southwestern Ukrainian region of Odessa on June 30. “These weapons are even less accurate and unsuitable for targeted attacks and have almost certainly resulted in repeated civilian casualties in recent weeks,” it said.
10.17 a.m .: According to information from Kyiv, Russia is continuing its attacks on a broad front in eastern Ukraine. In the Kharkiv area, the Russian army is trying to recapture lost positions with the support of artillery, the Ukrainian general staff announced on Saturday. Numerous places would be shelled in order to tie down the Ukrainian army there. A Russian attack was repelled in the Donetsk region, it said. Russian air raids were reported from the Avdiivka area. In the Black Sea, on the other hand, Russia continues to block Ukraine’s sea connections.
The information from the combat zones can hardly be checked independently. The Russian war of aggression on the neighboring country has now lasted more than four months.
10.12 a.m .: Russia is said to have used banned cluster munitions in rocket attacks on the city of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, which killed at least four, according to Ukrainian information. During the night of Saturday, civilian areas where there are no military installations were hit, Mayor Wadym Lyach reported on Saturday in the online messenger service Telegram. Four people were killed and seven people were injured.
Cluster munitions are rockets and bombs that burst in mid-air over the target, releasing many small explosive devices. Their use is outlawed under international law. Explosions were also reported from the Kharkiv and Mykolaiv areas on Saturday morning. Details were initially unclear. The information from combat zones can hardly be verified by an independent party. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has now lasted more than four months.
Saturday, July 2, 6:54 a.m.: Ukrainian forces have apparently inflicted another heavy loss on Russia. According to the Ukrainian Operational Command “South”, Ukrainian soldiers have attacked two ammunition dumps in the Kherson region, destroying a Russian-controlled “Forpost” drone worth seven million dollars in the Mykolaiv region.
11:24 a.m .: NATO does not expect the Ukraine war to end anytime soon. That emerges from an internal situation report of the military alliance on Monday, which is available to Business Insider.
Accordingly, the analysts of NATO are of the opinion that “in the Donbass both sides probably need a ceasefire in order to re-equip, regenerate and redefine their mission objectives”. However, the report recognizes that Russia has the military superiority in the fighting in the east of the country – largely because of its artillery. Most recently, Russia had conquered or destroyed many areas in the Donbass; However, a complete capture of eastern Ukraine fails due to the resistance of the Ukrainian armed forces.
According to the situation report, NATO expects this resistance to continue. “The likelihood of the conflict escalating into a less intense war of attrition is increasing,” the letter reads. “Either side, without significant reinforcements, has an advantage large enough to decide the conflict militarily in the near future.”
10.40 a.m .: According to information from Kyiv, the situation in eastern Ukraine around the city of Lysychansk besieged by Russian troops is coming to a head. “The enemy is concentrating its main efforts on encircling the Ukrainian soldiers in Lysychansk from the south and west and establishing complete control over the Luhansk region,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in its situation report on Friday. Information from the combat zones can hardly be verified independently.
Lysychansk is the last major place in Luhansk Oblast still held by Ukrainian troops. The conquest of the area is one of Moscow’s declared war aims. There is also fighting in the suburbs of the big city. The General Staff reported that the Russian attempt to bring a section of the Bakhmut-Lysychansk supply route under control had failed.
Friday, July 1, 5 a.m.: At least 17 people were killed in a Russian rocket attack on a residential building in the southern Ukrainian region of Odessa, according to Ukrainian sources. The Ukrainian rescue services also spoke of at least 30 injuries. Among them are three children. The rescue work would continue, but they would be complicated by a fire.
The spokesman for the Odessa regional administration, Serhiy Brachuk, had previously said that the rocket hit a nine-story apartment building in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky area, about 80 kilometers south of the port city of Odessa. The rocket was fired from a plane flying over the Black Sea.
According to Ukrainian sources, the residential building was partially destroyed by the attack. The rescue workers had initially spoken of six dead and seven injured. The death toll later rose from 10 to 14 and then to 17.
10.38 a.m .: According to the General Staff, Ukraine has recaptured the famous Snake Island. “There are no more Russians on Snake Island. The Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted a brilliant operation,” said Chief of General Staff Andrei Yermak.
The Russian agency “ria” reports that Russia has withdrawn from the island. “Today, as a show of goodwill, the Russian military completed its duties and withdrew the garrison stationed there,” the report reads. Also to make grain exports possible.
Ukrainian media had already reported in the morning that the Ukrainian military had carried out attacks on the island (see below).
9:11 a.m .: According to the authorities, large quantities of grain were destroyed in an attack in eastern Ukraine. A fire broke out in the affected warehouse in the city of Zelenodolsk, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentyn Resnichenko, wrote on Thursday in the Telegram news service. 40 tons of grain were destroyed. The governor blamed Russia. Information from the war zone is difficult or impossible to independently verify.
Along with Russia, the Ukraine is the most important supplier of grain and fertilizers for a number of poor countries, especially in Africa. However, because Russia is blocking Ukrainian ports, a lot of grain cannot be exported. In some areas of the world there is therefore a risk of the hunger crisis escalating further.
Thursday, June 30, 7:44 a.m.: The “Kiev Indipendent” reports that the Ukrainian military has destroyed Russian military material on Snake Island. A “Panzir-S1” missile defense system was destroyed in the attack and 40 Russian soldiers were killed.
1:27 p.m .: Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin empire, has visited Hostomel in Kyiv Oblast. According to local authorities, the billionaire was interested in the Antonov airfield, where the An-225 Mriya is based. The machine was the largest cargo plane in the world and was destroyed in an attack by Russian troops in the first weeks of the Ukraine war. The British entrepreneur is said to have found ways to repair the aircraft on site.
12.05 p.m .: According to the “Institute for War (ISW)”, the Ukrainian armed forces may withdraw from Lysychansk and Luhansk Oblast in the near future in order to prematurely end the Russian offensive. For example, Rodion Miroshnik, a Russian ambassador from the Luhansk “People’s Republic”, announced that on June 28 Ukrainian troops began a large-scale retreat towards the Ukrainian strongholds of Siversk, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Although the ISW was not able to independently confirm this information, the institute believes that the withdrawal could be continued.
Meanwhile, how quickly and successfully Russian troops can complete the next phase of the ongoing offensive, such as capturing Lysychansk, will depend in part on Russia’s ability to restore the fighting strength of the troops that fought for Sieryerodonetsk.
The remaining forces still in the Ukrainian city must first cross the Severskyi-Donetsk River to get to Lysychansk and take part in the Russian offensive there. This may take time as the Russians have destroyed three important bridges crossing the river near Lysychansk. According to Miroshnik, Russian troops have already crossed the river from Kreminna and are now building bridgeheads to attack Lysychansk from the north.
If the ambassador’s statements turn out to be true and Russia actually encircles the city from the north and south-west, Ukrainian troops are likely to withdraw from Lysychansk. In that case, they will station themselves in more defensible positions along a straight line with towns and villages safely held by Ukraine.
You can read more reports on the Ukraine conflict on the following pages.
