Ukrainian soldiers bombed Russian targets with howitzers, as these images show.
The 40th Artillery Brigade, named after Grand Duke Vytautas, an artillery formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, said their “creative team” used “self-propelled howitzers” to create “thunder and flames”.
We contacted the 40th Artillery Brigade for further comment, as well as the Russian Ministry of Defense, but haven’t received a reply at the time of writing.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin is calling a “special military operation”. July 11 marks the 138th day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between February 24 and July 11, Russia had lost about 37,400 personnel, 1,645 tanks, 3,828 armored combat vehicles, 838 artillery units, 247 multiple launch rocket systems, 109 air defense systems, 217 warplanes, 188 helicopters, 676 drones, 155 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 2,696 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 66 units of special equipment.
On July 11, the Ukrainian military said defending troops had successfully fended off an enemy assault on Krasnopillia while also preventing the Russians from carrying out an offensive on Marinka in Donetsk Oblast.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office claimed that Russia has committed over 22,500 war crimes and crimes of aggression against Ukraine.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia has only just begun its campaign in Ukraine and 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.”
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.
Ukraine has summoned the ambassador of Turkey, claiming that Turkey has allowed a Russian ship carrying thousands of tonnes of grain allegedly stolen from Ukraine to leave exports to 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 UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been met with sadness in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, most notably by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called him a “true friend of Ukraine”.
However, Moscow reacted with delight at the demise of the British Prime Minister, with a Kremlin spokesperson saying: “He doesn’t like us. We don’t like him either.”
