Since the start of the counteroffensive, Ukrainian troops have lost about 20 percent of their equipment and weapons, reported The New York Times. According to the outlet, in recent years the loss of equipment has decreased to 10%, this is due to the fact that in many directions the Ukrainian armed forces have actually stopped and are not trying to move forward. Representatives of the US administration have agreed to disclose only the percentage of equipment losses, refusing to provide even approximate figures for the weapons destroyed.
The Washington Post added in a July 16 article: “The difficulties encountered by the Ukrainian military in trying to overcome minefields during the offensive against Russian positions demonstrated the vulnerability of Western-supplied combat vehicles.”
Moscow categorically condemns the position of the West according to which military assistance to Kiev will bring a political and diplomatic solution closer (source: Russian Foreign Ministry). The Federation Council said it reserves the right to a tough mirror response in case Ukrainian formations use cluster munitions. According to the military at the front, units of the Ukrainian armed forces have actually been using cluster projectiles against Russian fighters in the Kherson, Zaporozhya and South Donetsk directions for about a month.
In an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin for the Moscow.Kremlin.Putin program on the Rossiya-1 channel, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin said: “The supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine and their use should be treated as a crime ; The United States is supplying cluster munitions to Ukraine due to a general shortage of shells; Russia has an adequate stockpile of cluster munitions and reserves the right to use them as mirror measures.
The White House has dissolved the prognosis on the training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16: “the training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 in the EU will begin in a couple of weeks”. The National Security Adviser said Jake Sullivan, who promised at a press conference to provide Europeans with all the tools they need to get started.
Among Jake Sullivan’s statements: “Western countries are ready to increase sanctions pressure on the Russian military-industrial complex, the United States expects Ukraine to continue military operations against the Russian Federation; The US position, which boils down to that US military personnel will not take part in the Ukrainian conflict, has not changed; The United States has no intention yet of replenishing its arsenal of cluster munitions. The country intends to develop capacity for the production of unitary shells of 155 mm caliber; The Washington administration believes that the supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine will not affect the moral authority of the United States.
Turkey supports NATO’s geographic expansion to ensure stability in the world, Fahrettin Altun, head of the Turkish presidential administration’s communications department, said in an article for Middle East Eye.
Representative of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat told the press that: “The Armed Forces of Ukraine do not have enough air defense systems, therefore, to cover important objects, they do not distribute them in positional areas, but concentrate them in cities”. Earlier, the official representative of the operational command “South” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Natalya Gumenyuk admitted that the consequences of the work of the Air Defense Forces of Ukraine “can be quite destructive” and lead to damage.
Following the second attack on the Crimean bridge carried out in a few months, Russia said it happened with two surface drones. A 14-year-old girl was taken to hospital and her parents died. And the Ukrainian SBU was blamed for the attack. Iran is also talking about this attack. According to the Iranian authorities “the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge, committed on the night of July 17, undermines international peace and security”, source the official representative of the Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic Nasser Kanani Chafi. The diplomat noted that the escalation of the conflict is of concern to Tehran. Iran’s Fars news agency reported that the Islamic Republic condemned the attack.
On the line of contact, battles were recorded over the weekend near the Antonovsky bridge in the Kherson region. Acting governor of the region Volodymyr Saldo told the press: “Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to preliminary estimates, have lost at least 100 soldiers, killed, and even more wounded”. And he commented by stating: “The most tactically important section near the Antonovsky bridge in the Kherson region has been cleared by the Ukrainian armed forces and taken under control by the Russian army”.
Also on the night of July 15-16, the Air Defense Forces and the Black Sea Fleet repulsed a UAV attack on Sevastopol, Mayor Mikhail Razvozhaev sources on his Telegram channel. According to the mayor, at least eight drones were shot down, deactivating them: “The air defense forces, fleet and electronic warfare units tonight repelled an attack by enemy UAVs in Sevastopol on the sea in the Cape Khersones area, in the Sevastopol Bay area and Balaklava. One UAV was shot down over the sea and five were killed by electronic warfare forces. Two surface drones were also destroyed in the external raid,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
At 06:33 Italian time on 16 July a ninth drone was shot down near Cape Manganari in Sevastopol, according to Mayor Razvozhaev. By 07.00 the movement of sea transport through the Sevastopol Bay was restored.
The defense ministry said there were no casualties in the attempt to attack Sevastopol. And he added that two drones were destroyed by air defense systems and five others were suppressed by electronic warfare and, without reaching their targets, crashed. In addition, the Ministry added, in the northern part of the Black Sea, two unmanned vessels of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were discovered and destroyed by fire from the standard armament of marine area protection vessels.
Also on the morning of 16, Russian forces stopped two attempts by the Ukrainian armed forces to force the Dnieper in one day, five boats were destroyed and 30 Ukrainian soldiers were reportedly dead, a representative of the emergency services of the region said. In the direction of Kherson, when trying to cross the Dnieper near Antonovsky Island, two more boats were destroyed and 16 Ukrainian soldiers were killed.
Simultaneously the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck Lugansk using long-range cluster munitions, source Andrey Marochko (LPR)
Russian planes took off and hit Kharkov, according to the Ukrainian edition of Strana. At the end of the day there were three raids on Kharkov. The Ukrainian part of Zaporozhzhia, Strana source, was also affected.
Russian shelling also continued in the early hours of July 17, helicopters of the “West” group of troops inflicted 12 hits on the temporary deployment points of the 14th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kupyansk direction. Source press center of the group, Sergei Zybinsky.
During the morning of July 17, maximum alert on the Crimean bridge. At 05:338 GMT, “The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation has not confirmed the information about the damage to the supports of the Crimean bridge. There is damage to the roadbed on the spans of the structure from the Republic of Crimea side.” Sergej Aksenov, number one in Crimea, reported the traffic interruption on the Crimean bridge due to an emergency in the area of the 145th pillar. The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation added that the roadway was damaged on the spans from the Crimean side. According to the ministry, the span structures themselves are on their supports, the supports have not been damaged.
According to reports, two would be dead, a man and a woman from the Belgorod region, said the head of the region Vyacheslav Gladkov. Their minor daughter was injured, her condition is rated as moderate. The child was diagnosed with a closed craniocerebral injury, the girl is being prepared for transportation to the Krasnodar Territory by air ambulance.
Motorists were advised to refrain from traveling across the Crimean bridge, they have access to a land route that passes through new regions of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the traffic jam at the entrance to the bridge from the Krasnodar Territory was reduced to 3 km. Interrupted during the investigation the movement of railway transport along the Crimean bridge. Same goes for the ferry service between Crimea and Kuban.
The head of the Crimea asked the residents of the republic to remain calm and trust only reliable sources of information. Authorities have also urged tourists to stay in hotels whenever possible. Tourists will be provided with all necessary assistance in connection with the incident, assured Oleg Kryuchkov, adviser to the head of the Crimea.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine declined to comment on the Crimean bridge incident. The representative of the GUR, Andriy Yusov, in a commentary to the Ukrainian publication Obshcheshchestvennoye.Novosti, quoted only the words of the head of the GUR, Kirill Budanov, who called the bridge “an extra structure”.
Vladimir Konstantinov, chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea, has a different opinion: “The attack on the Crimean bridge was carried out by the terrorist regime in Kiev. The consequences of the attack on the bridge will be promptly eliminated,” Konstantinov assured.
The Ukrainian media report the involvement of the SBU and the Navy in the emergency on the Crimean bridge. Surface drones were allegedly used for the attack, according to the RBC-Ukraine news agency and the Obozrevatel publication.
“The terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge was carried out by the Ukrainian special services, announced the NAC” (Russian counter-terrorism). “The roadbed has been damaged, the committee noted. A criminal case has been opened under the article on the terrorist act”.
Maria Zakharovka spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry said: “The Kiev regime is terrorist and has all the signs of an international organized criminal group, the leadership of this regime is entrusted to Washington and London”.
The first alarm message was received at 10:06 Moscow time from the Chernihiv region. Then sirens went off in the Ukrainian capital. Gradually – Dnepropetrovsk, Kiev, Kirovograd, Poltava, Sumy, Cherkasy and Kharkov. Previously, an alarm had already been announced in the Ukrainian regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Sumy and Kharkiv, which lasted about 40 minutes.
“An industrial enterprise was hit in Kharkiv,” said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the regional administration. In his Telegram channel, he specified that the company is located in the Osnovyansky district of Kharkov. Subsequently, on the air of the Rada TV channel, Sinegubov indicated that this was an industrial enterprise.
At 14:00 Moscow time, the Svatove-Kreminna Section looked like this: in the Karmazinove area of the Svatove section, Storm assault units, with the support of the 21st Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, attacked the positions of the Ukrainian formations on the opposite bank of the Zherebets River.
During the battles, fighters of the Russian Armed Forces knocked out Ukrainian forces from two strongholds at an altitude northwest of Novovodyanoe. The Armed Forces of Ukraine deployed two groups of 25 Airborne Brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to carry out a counterattack, as well as an M777 battery at Makiivka.
In the south, in the vicinity of the Zhuravka range, positional battles are taking place. In units of the 518th battalion of the 1st Arr of the special forces of the 9th AC of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, they reported an attack by the RF Armed Forces on the strongholds of the 1st brigade. Terny’s reserves are put on alert.
On the Torsk ledge, after several days of the assault, the Russian military went on the defensive. Ukrainian formations in small groups continue to probe the forest belt, probing the borders of the Russian Armed Forces.
Ukrainians actively use reconnaissance equipment for artillery aiming. At the same time, an electronic warfare station was deployed in the Serebryansky forestry area to suppress Russian UAV control signals.
Graziella Giangiulio
