“Trump’s 50-day deadline for concluding an agreement on Ukraine is not fixed,” the State Department stated. According to State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce, it is a “window” that can open at any time: “You can set a time window, and in two days everything will be different due to the progress of the negotiations. This is not static planning, like most of us: we schedule a meeting for a specific date, and that’s it. Here, everything is different.”
Germany is ready to transfer two more Patriot systems to Ukraine, but on the condition that they be replaced within six to eight months, says Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. The minister explained that “there are funds for Patriots for Ukraine, we just need to find the systems themselves,” Pistorius said. He noted that several meetings are currently underway at various levels, including online, to determine which countries have Patriot systems, how many, and which of these countries are ready to transfer them. Pistorius emphasized that Germany is ready to finance such systems in Norway and Sweden. Furthermore, the Netherlands is also participating partially, he specified.
Amid the internal storm raging over the new law limiting the powers of NABU and SAP, anti-corruption agencies, which has sparked widespread anger among Ukrainian citizens taking part in demonstrations across the country, Volodymyr Zelensky approved the composition of the delegation for talks with the Russian Federation in Istanbul.
Ruslan Umerov – Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, head of the delegation; Oleksandr Bevz – Advisor to the Head of the Presidential Office; Oleksandr Dyakov – Deputy Chief of Staff of the Naval Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Serhiy Kyslytsya – First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Yuriy Kovbasa – Representative of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the system of security and defense sector bodies (subject to agreement); Georgy Kuzmichev – Protocol Officer of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Oleg Lugovskiy – First Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine; Yevhen Ostryansky – Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Oleksandr Poklad – Deputy Chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine; Vadim Skibitsky – Deputy Head of the General Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine; Andriy Fomin – Head of the Department of International Law; Deputy Head of the Department of International and Operational Law of the Central Legal Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Oleksiy Shevchenko – Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Oleksandr Sherikhov – Senior Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff; Yevhen Shinkarev – Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
It should be noted that the power to decide on peace negotiations in Ukraine rests with Volodymyr Zelensky by law. In the early afternoon, Ukrainian sources reported that Ukraine will hold another meeting in Turkey, without the Russians. “As an informed source told RBC-Ukraine, the negotiations could initially take place in Ankara, with the Turks alone, without the Russians. Subsequently, a meeting with the Russians will be held in Istanbul.
Ekaterina Chernogorenko has resigned from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Chernogorenko served as Deputy Minister of Defense. She led the “Drone Army” project and two international coalitions (drones and IT). Under her leadership, key digital services were introduced: the “Army+” and “Reserve+” mobile apps.
Yesterday morning around 12:00 PM Italian time, the Russian delegation departed for Istanbul. There were no changes in the Russian delegation. The Kremlin confirmed full-scale talks in Istanbul with Ukraine at 7:00 PM Moscow time. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “A meeting between Russia and Ukraine at the highest level is possible only after agreement on the memoranda; otherwise, it is inappropriate.” Governors and journalists from BAZA and URA.RU are being arrested in Russia. The politicians are charged with corruption; the charges against the journalists are unknown.
On July 23, another exchange of captured servicemen took place between Russia and Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported the return from Ukraine of two soldiers in need of urgent medical care, in accordance with the Istanbul Agreements.
And now a look at the front line updated at 3:30 PM on July 23. At night, the Russian military attacked gas production facilities – dozens of drone strikes were carried out. Destruction is reported, according to Naftogaz of Ukraine. Explosions in Kryvyi Rih, Cherkasy, Mykolayiv, and the frontline regions.
From 11:40 PM (Moscow time) on July 22 to 7:00 AM on July 23, Russian air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 12 Ukrainian aerial drones in the Tula region, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. According to the ministry, 11 drones were shot down in the Rostov region, six in the Nizhny Novgorod region, and two in the Bryansk region. One drone was destroyed in the Kursk and Kaluga regions. Three people were injured in the attack in Novocherkassk, Rostov Region.
In the Kursk Region, drones and explosives, a total of five attacks, targeted several localities, wounding three people. To support the assault groups, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have deployed additional artillery units to this section of the front, according to the Russian military group GrV Sever.
In the direction of Sumy, Russian troops raised their flag in the settlement of Varachyne, where Ukrainians and Russians have been fighting for some time; the village has been captured. Russian troops are breaking through in Yunakivka. Fighting is ongoing, house-to-house. The fighting in the Kondratovka area continues. The Ukrainian Armed Forces Command continues to send assault groups. Social media sources report that the Russians—the Northern Group—defeated several units of the 71st Elite Hunter Brigade, the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade, the 78th Airborne Assault Regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as redeployed reserves of the 15th Border Detachment and the 156th Mechanized Brigade. There is currently insufficient evidence to confirm or deny this report.
In the Kharkiv region, in the area currently under Russian control, a new wedge in the direction of Velykyi Burluk, Russian assault troops advanced into the forests along the state border between the villages of Chuhunivka and Milove. Counterattacks are underway in the direction of Vovchansk.
In the Belgorod region, six attacks in six different villages have injured at least five people.
In the direction of Kostyantynivka, after the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the liberation of the village of Bila Hora, Russian forces raised a flag in the village. According to Ukrainian estimates, this direction from Dyliivka will provide the Russian military with operational space. The control zone near Yablunivka is expanding. North of Myrnohrad, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the liberation of Novotroitsk.
In the direction of Pokrovsk, Russian forces are consolidating in Zvirove.
Southbound Donetsk, the Eastern Group of Forces is establishing a continuous control zone south and east of Zelenyi Hai. They are advancing toward Maliivka. Ukrainian positions have been captured near Temyrivka.
In the Kherson region, mutual shelling is occurring. At least 12 different locations have been hit, with at least three injured.
Graziella Giangiulio
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