‘JDN News’ lays out for you the events of the past day, the 163rd day of the Russia-Ukraine war – as it happened minute by minute.
00:50 – More than two-thirds of the US Senate approved the accession of Finland and Sweden to the NATO alliance. This is the most significant expansion of the alliance since the 1990s.
03:51 – US President Joe Biden said that the Senate’s approval to add Finland and Sweden to NATO shows the commitment of the US to the alliance. Biden noted that “the historic vote ensures that our alliance is ready to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow”, and added: ” I look forward to signing the accession protocols and congratulating Finland and Sweden.”
05:20 – The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that he is interested in talking to the President of China Xi Jinping, so that he will help end the war with Russia. “China is a very strong country with a strong economy, so it can influence Russia politically and economically,” he said.
08:26 – Ukraine: reports from residents in Kherson about dozens if not hundreds of Russian trucks with military equipment arriving in the city.
08:30 – UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres attacks the companies that profited from the war in Ukraine and Russian energy. In Guterres’ opinion, special taxes should be imposed on companies that work “in an immoral way”
12:54 – Eight people were killed and four were injured by artillery shelling by Russian forces in the town of Turtsk in eastern Ukraine. The governor of the area, Pavlo Kirilenko, said that the artillery hit a public transportation station, where people had gathered, and that three children were among the injured.
13:08 – A Syrian ship carrying Ukrainian grain that is suspected of being stolen left the port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon and began its journey to Syria – this was reported by Lebanon’s interim transport minister Ali Hami. The ship docked in Tripoli on July 27 with about 5,000 tons of barley and 5,000 tons of flour that the Ukrainian embassy in Beirut said were looted from Ukrainian stores by the Russian authorities. A 72-hour seizure warrant was issued for the ship last Monday, but it was lifted on Wednesday night.
15:27 – Russia may launch an offensive in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine to try to regain momentum in the war and is building up forces there, Ukrainian General Oleksiy Gramov said at a press conference on Thursday. According to him, Ukraine improved its tactical position around the city of Slovansk in the east of the country and captured two villages, but Russian forces tried to capture the city of Abdiyevka in the east of the country and the village of Pisky. According to him, Ukrainian forces were forced to move to the defense of Fati Abdiyevka.
Photo: Ukrainian army
16:00 – Following the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has been going on for over five months and whose end, according to many, is not yet in sight, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that “the situation now unfolding in Europe is the most dangerous since World War II.” He added: “Russia must not be allowed to win the war in Ukraine, our interest is to prevent a situation in which such an aggressive policy succeeds.” The NATO Secretary General made explicit threats against Russian President Vladimir Putin and said: “If Putin thinks of taking a similar step against any of the NATO countries, all the alliance members will react
19:02 – The President of the United States, Joe Biden, referred to the economic effects of the war in Ukraine, saying that “Putin is still waging his war in Ukraine, putting pressure on the global oil supply, and you can feel it.” However, the American president added: “We managed to release a million barrels of oil daily and the prices are at a record low.”
21:00 – The governor of Kherson informed that Ukraine managed to recapture 53 seats in the southern area of the city, which was mostly occupied by Russia at the beginning of the war in February of this year. He updated on national television: “Currently, 53 seats have been defined as “liberated”.
21:52 – The Turkish Defense Minister said that three ships left the ports in Ukraine today as part of the grain agreement signed between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by Turkey.
22:22 – The member states of the European Union have imposed sanctions on the former pro-Russian President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr, due to their alleged role in the security threat to the country. The countries stated that the two were added to the list of individuals against whom sanctions are imposed “in response to the unjustified Russian military aggression against Ukraine.”
23:00 – The Ukrainian authorities have opened a criminal investigation regarding the large numbers of dolphins that have died in the Black Sea since the beginning of the Russian invasion last February. Ukrainian marine expert Ivan Gusev estimated that since the beginning of the Russian invasion, about 5,000 dolphins of various types have died in the Black Sea. Gusev estimated that the dolphins died due to many bombs that fell in the sea and the work that the use of technological tools by the military vessels disrupts the dolphin’s sense of direction.