Summary
It’s 2am in Kyiv. Here’s where things stand:
- 7 civilians have been evacuated from Sviatohirsk Lavra in Donetsk. Among those evacuated include a family with three children and two elderly people, according to Ukraine’s defense ministry intelligence directorate. The youngest evacuee was born just a few days earlier at a monastery.
- The armed forces of Ukraine are advancing “confidently” towards Kherson, according to a Ukrainian military spokesperson. Natalia Hemeniuk, the head of the press center of Operation Command South, “Speaking about what is happening directly in Kherson direction, we are advancing there. Maybe we are not moving as fast as those who present positive news would like, but believe me, these steps are very confident.”
- The war in Ukraine “concerns the West as a whole” but at the same time must not lead to “forgetting Africa’s security” needs, France’s armed forces minister Sebastien Lecornu said Saturday. “We have a form of myopia in Europe and France, where the Ukraine war mobilises all our energy, and that is natural - it is a conflict that concerns the West as a whole,” said Lecornu in Ivory Coast after a visit to Niger.
- “No Russian missiles or artillery can break our unity,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a statement on Saturday. In an address on the anniversary of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine, Zelenskiy added, “It should be equally obvious that it cannot be broken with lies or intimidation, fakes or conspiracy theories.”
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All bodies have been identified after the Vinnytsia missile strike, the region’s governor announced. According to Vinnytsia oblast governor Serhii Borzov, 68 people are currently hospitalized, 14 of them are in serious condition.
- Rescue operations after Russian missiles struck the west central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia have concluded. 23 people have been killed, 202 have been injured, one person is missing and three others have been rescued, according to Ukraine’s state emergency service.
- Russian forces are preparing for a new offensive, the Kyiv Independent reports. According to Vadym Skibitsky, a representative of the intelligence directorate at Ukraine’s defense ministry, Russian activity signal that “undoubtedly, preparations for the next stage of offensive actions are underway.”
- Around 100 to 150 civilians were killed by Russian military strikes in Ukraine over the past two weeks, according to the Pentagon. In a briefing on Friday, a senior US military official said, “And I think all told over the week...we’re looking at between 100, 150, somewhere in there, civilian casualties, civilian deaths, this week in Ukraine as a result of Russian strikes.”
That’s it from me, Maya Yang, as I hand the blog over to my colleagues in Australia who will bring you the latest updates. I’ll be back tomorrow, thank you.
Updated
7 civilians have been evacuated from Sviatohirsk Lavra in Donetsk, the Kyiv Independent reports.
Among those evacuated include a family with three children and two elderly people, according to Ukraine’s defense ministry intelligence directorate. The youngest evacuee was born just a few days earlier at a monastery.
Ukraine is attempting to facilitate a ceasefire and create a humanitarian corridor to evacuate up to 600 civilians, including over 50 children, sheltering at the monastery.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 16, 2022
