Russia has claimed that it has destroyed two Harpoon coastal missile systems delivered to Ukraine from the United Kingdom, with this footage allegedly showing Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian targets.
The footage, obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) on Friday, July 8, appears to show missiles being launched from a naval vessel at night. It then apparently shows them honing in on targets in Ukraine.
It is currently unclear if this footage shows the alleged Russian attack on Ukrainian weaponry obtained from the U.K. but the Russian MoD released it along with a statement in English in which they claimed: “The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation in Ukraine.
“Up to 290 Ukrainian servicemen and 29 units of armored vehicles and equipment have been destroyed as a result of shelling of positions of 188th Battalion of 123rd Territorial Defense Brigade near Ochakov, Nikolaev Region.
“Russian Aerospace Forces have neutralized temporary deployment point of 241st Territorial Defense Brigade near Nikolaev. The attacks have resulted in the elimination of more than 85 nationalists and up to 15 units of AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] weapons and military equipment.
“High-precision sea-based weapons near Liman, Odessa Region have destroyed 2 Harpoon coastal missile systems delivered from the UK. […]”
We have not been able to independently verify the claims or the footage.
The Harpoon missile system is an anti-ship missile that was developed by the United States. It is used by a large number of countries, including NATO countries. The British Royal Navy is known to deploy Harpoon missiles on a number of its vessels.
Denmark, a founding member of NATO, said it had supplied Ukraine with Harpoon missiles in May. And in June, the United States and the United Kingdom both announced that they were supplying Ukraine with them. Ukraine said on June 17 that it had sunk a Russian vessel making its way to Snake Island with personnel and weaponry onboard using a Harpoon missile.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin continues to call a “special military operation.” July 8 marks the 135th day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between February 24 and July 8, Russia had lost about 36,900 personnel, 1,637 tanks, 3,811 armored combat vehicles, 828 artillery units, 247 multiple launch rocket systems, 107 air defense systems, 217 warplanes, 187 helicopters, 669 drones, 155 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 2,685 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 66 units of special equipment.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia has only just begun its campaign in Ukraine and has dared the West to attempt to defeat it on the battlefield. Putin told parliamentary leaders: “Everyone should know that, by and large, we haven’t started anything yet in earnest.” He added: “The further it goes, the harder it will be for them to negotiate with us.”
Three people have been killed and another five have been injured after Russian forces fired rockets at Kharkiv, according to Ukrainian officials.
Russia’s defense ministry has claimed that it killed Ukrainian servicemen who were trying to raise Ukraine’s flag on the recently retaken Snake Island but Ukraine has denied that any of its servicemen on the island were killed.
The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, has said that Russia may be temporarily easing its offensive in eastern Ukraine in an “operational pause” as its forces rest before they attempt to reassemble for a new offensive.
Russian forces made no territorial gains in Ukraine on Wednesday, July 6, “for the first time in 133 days of war,” according to the Institute.
Ukraine has summoned the ambassador of Turkey, claiming that Turkey has allowed a Russian ship carrying thousands of tons of grain allegedly stolen from Ukraine to leave one of its ports. Kyiv alleges that the vessel is transporting stolen cargo amounting to 7,000 tons of grain.
The United Nations has warned of a “looming hunger catastrophe” due to Russia’s blockade on Ukrainian grain exports.
The resignation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been met with sadness in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, most notably by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said that Johnson has been a “true friend of Ukraine.”
But Moscow reacted with delight at Johnson’s resignation, with a Kremlin spokesperson saying: “He doesn’t like us. We don’t like him either.”
The Russian parliament is rushing through two new bills to impose strict controls on the country’s economy and require that businesses supply the armed forces.
The United Nations has said that nearly 9 million people have now left Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s invasion. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has said that the country is investigating over 21,000 Russian war crimes committed since the beginning of the invasion.
Kazakhstan’s President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has called for a diversification of the country’s oil routes, a day after court in Russia suspended operations on a major export pipeline.
The Russian court ordered the suspension of Kazakh oil exports to the West for a month. Russia controls the Novorossiisk Black Sea oil terminal where tankers are loaded with oil that transits, via a pipeline, from Kazakhstan’s Tengiz oilfield. Western sanctions have restricted Russia’s oil and gas exports, increasing demand for producers like Kazakhstan.
But the President of Kazakhstan has refused to recognize the separatist pro-Russian, so-called People’s Republic of Donetsk and the People’s Republic of Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine, and has also indicated that Kazakhstan could increase its oil exports to the European Union.
