After Putin's order: Russia advances in eastern Ukraine - but Kyiv reports successes in the south

Created: 2022-08-02 04:55

By: Astrid Theil, Andreas Schmid

Experts already see a new Putin offensive as doomed to fail.

News ticker on military events in the Ukraine war.

• Kiev

  reports

  successes in the Ukraine war

  : Ukraine claims to have recaptured more than 40 places in the south.

• Putin order

  ?

  Russia plans new offensive.

• Missiles

  on

  Black Sea region

  : Ukrainians accuse Russia of shelling Odessa.

• This

  news ticker

  on

  military events

  in the

  Ukraine war

  is continuously updated.

Update from August 1, 8:45 p.m .:

The United States wants to support Ukraine with another security package worth $ 550 million.

This was announced by National Security Council coordinator John Kirby at a press conference.

The package will also provide more ammunition for the Himars multiple rocket launchers and 155mm howitzers.

According to Ukrainian sources, both weapons are quite effective against the Russian invasion.

Kyiv reports successes in the Ukraine war - "more than 40 places recaptured"

Update from August 1, 6:55 p.m .:

According to the local governor, the Ukrainian armed forces have recaptured more than 40 places in the Kherson region in the past few weeks.

So far, 46 towns in the region have been "liberated," said Ukrainian governor Dmytro Butriy on state television.

According to him, most of the recaptured places are in the north of the region, others are south near the Black Sea.

Governor Butriy also said that some of the villages that have since been retaken were "90 percent destroyed and are still under constant fire today".

He described the humanitarian situation in the region as "critical".

Ukraine-News: Moscow wants to have destroyed western weapons

Update from August 1, 1:40 p.m

.: According to its own statements, the Russian army has again destroyed Western military technology in Ukraine.

The Ministry of Defense reported that two launch sites for US Himars missiles were hit on a factory site in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Not far from the Black Sea metropolis of Odessa, Russian troops had destroyed a device for Harpoon anti-ship missiles, also supplied by the United States.

The statements could not be independently verified.

Experts point out that the Himar rocket launchers are difficult to locate and destroy.

The Ukrainian authorities reported on Sunday that two Russian missiles had been fired from the annexed Crimea peninsula at the Odessa region.

According to her account, however, the projectiles hit a quarry.

Ukraine News: Putin's troops are advancing in the Donbass

Update from August 1,

12:10 p.m .: Russia is advancing further in eastern Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian data, Russian troops continued their attacks from the Donetsk region in the direction of the city of Bakhmut.

"Fighting continues," the Ukrainian General Staff said on Facebook on Monday.

There had also been advances by the Russians in the neighboring town of Soledar, but these were repelled.

The information could not initially be independently verified.

also read

Lavrov announces plans to overthrow Ukraine – expert sees signs of Russian “insecurity”

Putin's "lie" exposed: how Russia's economy really is

Ukraine War: Fighting around Donetsk

Update from August 1, 11:25 a.m

.: The Ukrainian General Staff reports fighting north-west and west of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk.

However, the Russian attacks on Pisky and Marjinka were unsuccessful, it said.

Artillery shelled Ukrainian positions in dozens of places along the entire front line in the Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.

The Russian Air Force bombed at least three positions.

Update from August 1, 9 a.m

.: End of the grain blockade: For the first time since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, a ship with grain has left the port of Odessa.

Putin order?

Russia plans new offensive

Update from August 1, 7:19 a.m .:

Russia is apparently currently preparing the next offensive in eastern Ukraine.

This emerges from the current situation report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Accordingly, Russian troops undertake local attacks in the north-west and south-west of the city of Izyum.

This is intended to create the conditions for further operations in the direction of Kharkiv.

The ISW assumes that Valdimir Putin ordered the conquest of Ukraine's second largest city and the unoccupied parts of Kharkiv Oblast.

However, the institute expects the attack to fail due to logistical and personnel problems.

Selenskyj after Russian shelling of Mykolaiv: No attack goes unanswered

Update from July 31, 10:55 p.m .:

Volodymyr Zelenskyj condemns the recent Russian shelling of the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv (see update from 12:30 p.m.) and at the same time announces a reaction from his army.

"Today one of the most brutal bombing attacks on Mykolaiv and the region took place," said the Ukrainian President in his video speech on Monday night.

At the same time, he emphasized: "No Russian attack remains unanswered by our military and secret service agents." The President also spoke of a possible transfer of Russian troops to southern Ukraine.

British intelligence did the same.

The Ukraine War in Pictures - Destruction, Resistance and Hope

View photo gallery

Missiles on the Black Sea region: the Ukrainians accuse Russia of shelling Odessa

Update from July 31, 8:15 p.m .:

Ukraine accuses Russia of attacking the Black Sea region of Odessa with rockets.

The Odessa City Council, citing the Southern Command of the Ukrainian Army, said two Russian Iskander missiles had been shot down from the Crimean peninsula.

According to the Odessa regional administration, the projectiles fell in a quarry.

No information was given about possible victims.

There was initially no official reaction to the allegations from Moscow.

The information could not be independently verified.

Update from July 31, 2 p.m.:

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Navy Day in St. Petersburg that Russia will soon be equipped with new Zircon-type hypersonic missiles.

"Their extradition to the Russian armed forces will begin in the next few months," Putin said on Sunday (July 31).

The Russian Navy is capable of "delivering a devastating counterstrike to anyone who decides to violate our sovereignty and freedom," Putin said.

At the same time, the military material is "constantly perfected".

Zirkon missiles have a maximum range of about 1,000 kilometers and belong to a new type of weapon developed by Russia.

Attack on Mykolaiv: Largest Ukrainian entrepreneur in grain trade killed

Update from July 31, 12:30 p.m .:

In the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, one of the most important Ukrainian entrepreneurs in the grain trade was killed along with his wife in a Russian rocket attack.

As the regional governor Vitaly Kim announced via Telegram, the businessman Oleksiy Vadaturskyj and his wife Rajissa died on Sunday night.

Update from July 31, 10:45 a.m .:

The Ukrainian authorities are again reporting attacks on the southern city of Mykolaiv.

This was on Sunday morning "probably stronger than ever" under fire.

This was announced by Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych in the online service Telegram.

A number of residential buildings were damaged in the attacks.

Black Sea Fleet in the Ukraine War: Russian headquarters under fire

Update from July 31, 10:15 a.m .:

According to reports from Russian state media, the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol was hit by a drone attack.

Five people were injured.

This is reported by the Tass news agency, citing the governor deployed there by the Russian occupation groups.

The attack is symbolic as today marks the day of the Navy in Russia.

President Vladimir Putin will take part in a parade in St. Petersburg with, among other things, 40 warships.

A celebration was also planned in Sevastopol today, but was canceled after the attack.

Ukraine has denied allegations that it attacked the Russian Black Sea Fleet General Staff in Sevastopol.

The Russian allegations are "a deliberate provocation," said a spokesman for Ukraine's Odessa regional administration.

Attack on prison camp: Selenskyj appeals to the UN and the Red Cross

First report from July 31:

Olenivka/Donetsk – After the attack on a prisoner of war in eastern Ukraine that left dozens dead, Ukraine called on the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to conduct an investigation.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to both organizations: "You must protect the lives of hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners of war." Russia is also said to have invited experts from the United Nations and the Red Cross to investigate the circumstances of the attack.

Russia wants an independent investigation, the Reuters news agency said, citing a report from the Russian Defense Ministry.

Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the attack on the Olenivka detention center in eastern Ukraine occupied by pro-Russian separatists.

The information could not be checked independently.

Many fighters from the Ukrainian Azov regiment, which surrendered in May, were in the prison.

According to Selenskyj, more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in the attack on Friday, Moscow spoke of 50 dead and 73 seriously injured on Saturday.

Zelenskyy called the shelling of the detention center a "premeditated mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war" and stressed that Russia shot at the prison to cover up the mistreatment of the prisoners.

Azov regiment interim commander Mykyta Nadtochy said in a video message on Saturday that the regiment viewed the attack as a "public execution with impunity by Russia."

Russia, on the other hand, spoke on Friday of hitting Kyiv with US-supplied missiles to deter Ukrainian soldiers from surrendering to Russia. 

Picture taken on July 29: Zelenskyy with armed forces in Odessa region © Ukrainian Presidential Press Off/ZUMA Wire/Imago

Fighting in Donbass: Zelenskyj calls on residents to leave Donetsk

In addition, in view of the massive attacks by the Russian army in the east of the country, Zelenskyy called on people to leave the Donetsk region.

"In the Donbass there are hundreds of thousands of people, tens of thousands of children, many refuse to leave," he said.

He urged residents of Donbass to make this decision.

The President complained that many citizens are still not insightful.

"Go ahead, we'll help," he said. 

Previously, the Ukrainian government had ordered a mandatory evacuation on the grounds that the citizens had to get to safety in good time before the start of the heating season, as the gas pipelines had been destroyed by the war in the Donetsk region.

Zelenskyj now emphasized that everything is being organized for people to flee from the areas of the region still controlled by Ukraine.