Here is how things stand on Wednesday, July 23:
Fighting
- A Ukrainian drone strike on a private bus killed three people in the Russian-occupied region of Kherson, Russian-appointed local official Vladimir Saldo said. “Three more civilians were injured and are in serious condition,” Saldo added in a Telegram post.
- A Ukrainian attack killed a man in Russia’s Belgorod border region, the local governor said.
- A Russian glide bomb attack killed a 10-year-old boy in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the head of the city’s military administration, Oleksandr Honcharenko, said. The bomb, which caused a fire in an apartment building, also wounded five others, Honcharenko added.
- Russia launched multiple waves of attacks on Ukraine’s Sumy region, including two separate drone attacks on a petrol station in the town of Putyvl, which injured 11 people, local officials said.
- The Russian army claimed that it captured the village of Novotoretske in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
- Ukraine’s military said that a French-supplied Mirage 2000 fighter jet crashed after experiencing equipment failure during an assignment, with the pilot ejecting safely.
- A “massive” Russian drone attack damaged Ukrainian gas production infrastructure, said Sergii Koretski, the CEO of Ukraine’s state energy firm Naftogaz. “Such attacks occur regularly. These objects are of no military significance,” Koretski wrote on Facebook.
Ceasefire
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that there is “no reason to expect” any “miracles” in ceasefire negotiations, as Moscow has yet to confirm if it will participate in peace talks in Istanbul on Wednesday, which were proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week.
- The Kremlin said it hoped talks could be held “this week”, with Peskov adding: “As soon as we are ready, we will make an announcement regarding the dates.”
- Outlining potential topics for discussion with Moscow in Istanbul, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv was ready to “secure the release of our people from captivity and return abducted children, to stop the killings, and to prepare a leaders’ meeting”.
- Ukraine said its ex-defence minister and current secretary of the security council, Rustem Umerov, will head Kyiv’s delegation to the proposed talks.
- Two Russian soldiers in need of medical care were handed over by Ukrainian authorities to be returned home, the Russian Ministry of Defence said. In a statement, the ministry said the release was undertaken on the basis of agreements reached in Istanbul last month.
Politics
- Zelenskyy signed a bill revoking the autonomy of two anticorruption agencies, after it was approved by a vote of 263 to 13 in Ukraine’s parliament.
- The European Union’s Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos called the decision a “serious step back” for Kyiv and added that independent bodies were “essential for Ukraine’s EU path”.
- Thousands of people gathered in Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine to protest against the bill, marking the first major protest against the government in more than three years of war against invading Russian troops.
- The bill came a day after Ukraine’s domestic security agency detained two National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine officials on suspicion of links to Russia.
