2024-07-07 09:32:23
Chinese soldiers want to hold an “anti-terror exercise” in Belarus. A gas pipeline is burning in Crimea. All information in the news blog.
7.34 am: Two launch pads for Patriot surface-to-air missile systems were destroyed in the Ukrainian region of Odessa, Russian news agencies reported, citing the Defense Ministry. Iskander missiles were used. The Patriot systems were set up near the port of Yuzhnes.
2.55 am: A fire has broken out on a gas pipeline in Crimea. According to Russian sources, the cause was an accident. “Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are monitoring the extent of the fire,” the Russian-installed Crimean administration said in its messaging app Telegram late on Saturday (local time). The fire broke out near the village of Vinogradnoye, was preparing to spread to the nearby forest and interrupted the gas supply to the resort town of Alushta and more than a dozen settlements.
“There is no danger to the populated area,” the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said via Telegram early Sunday morning (local time). “After the gas in the pipes has completely burned out, restoration work will begin.” Russian agencies reported, citing officials, that there were no injuries in the accident. It was not immediately clear what kind of accident caused the fire.
1.13 am: Ukraine wants to push back Russian influence in the western part of the Black Sea. His country will develop a new national maritime strategy to this end, announced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his daily video address. “We clearly understand that the war has changed the balance of power in our Black Sea region and the Russian fleet will never again dominate in these waters,” Zelensky said optimistically. Ukraine will pursue its own national interests at sea and those of its partners and protect transport routes, he said.
1.10 am: Russian air defense units shot down seven Ukrainian drones each in the southern regions of Belgorod and Kursk on the Ukrainian border. Seven drones were intercepted over the Belgorod region, which is subjected to Ukrainian attacks almost daily, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Seven more drones were shot down over his region, reported Alexei Smirnov, governor of the Kursk region further north and west. Ukrainian forces shelled about ten villages during the day, he said.
21:16: According to official information, Chinese soldiers have arrived in Belarus (formerly Belarus) for a joint “anti-terror exercise”. The maneuver will be held from July 8 to 19, the Ministry of Defense in Minsk announced on its Telegram channel. “The joint training will help to exchange experiences, improve cooperation between Belarusian and Chinese units and lay the foundation for further development of Belarusian-Chinese relations in the field of joint troop training.”
Initially, there were no details about the planned exercises. The exact number of Chinese soldiers involved is also unknown. The photos published by the Ministry of Defense in Minsk show a Chinese transport aircraft that can transport a three-digit number of soldiers.
14:51: The Ukrainian army has apparently destroyed the latest Russian radar Yastreb-AV. This is reported by the Ukrainian military blog “Operational ZSU”. According to the report, the tracking system was hit in an attack with a rocket launcher. Read more about this here.
13:26: According to Moscow, Russian troops have captured another town in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. Armed forces have “liberated” the village of Sokil, located about 30 kilometers northwest of the city of Donetsk, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The Donetsk region, along with Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, is one of the Ukrainian regions that Moscow declared annexed in September 2022.