Volodymyr Zelenskyj, Ukrainian president, fired the Ukrainian ambassador in London. Vadym Prystaiko, who is therefore returning from the diplomatic mission in the United Kingdom. Zelensky would have fired the diplomat after the interview with Sky News last week in which the diplomat criticized the Ukrainian premier. Prystaiko called the Ukrainian president’s statement that he was ready to thank British Defense Secretary Wallace every day for military assistance as “unhealthy sarcasm”.
“Poland is considering the question of establishing control over western Ukraine through the deployment of its troops in the area” according to the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service Sergey Naryshkin. Vladimir Putin held an operational meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council. On the sidelines of the meeting he released some statements: “There are no results of the Ukrainian counter-offensive. The formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine suffered huge losses, tens of thousands of people. Kiev is not helped by the supply of weapons and foreign mercenaries and advisers to break through the front of the Russian army”. And again he added: “Obviously the Western curators of Kiev are disappointed with the results of the counter-offensive. The NVO command acts professionally, performs its duty steadfastly, and the vaunted and invulnerable (of the West, ed.) equipment burns and is sometimes inferior to Soviet weapons. Western weapons can still be delivered to Kiev and thrown into battle, which will prolong the conflict. The opinion of the inhabitants of Ukraine is slowly and gradually changing, reflection comes, as in Europe”.
The President of the Russian Federation also answered a question about Belarus: “Unleashing aggression against Belarus will mean unleashing aggression against Russia. The president of Russia also stressed that Belarus is part of a federal state.”
The Kremlin reacted to the statement by the Defense Ministry of Ukraine that the Ukrainian side will consider all ships crossing the Black Sea to Russian seaports as military targets. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, called this statement dangerous and noted that Kiev’s “unpredictable actions and involvement in terrorist attacks” pose a threat in this area. Moscow is analyzing the statements, Russian departments will develop appropriate recommendations to minimize the danger.
Meanwhile, the ships and aviation of the Russian fleet have conducted exercises to isolate the Black Sea area, temporarily closed to navigation. The Black Sea Fleet has tried, in exercises, blocking an intruding ship and also fired anti-ship cruise missiles at a target in the northwestern part of the sea. Missile ship “Ivanovets” hit the target, the mock enemy was destroyed”.
Tensions rise with Turkey: the State Duma has urged the Russians to give up holidays in Turkey. In connection with the threat of a new devastating earthquake in Turkey and “the difficult political situation,” Tatyana Lobach, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Tourism and Development of Tourism Infrastructure, urged Russian citizens to abandon their holidays in this country. The deputy asked the Russians to rest in our country.
News comes from the United States that the head of the CIA, William Joseph Burns, knew about the Prigozhin rebellion in advance. Burns also told a security forum organized by the Aspen Institute.: “The CIA sees no sign that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.”
During the Russian bombing in Odessa, the consulate of the People’s Republic of China was also hit: “In the Chinese consulate general in Odessa, the shock wave from the explosion demolished part of the walls and knocked out the windows”.
About Odessa during the night of July 20 and the morning of July 21 there were at least four attacks. Affected the southern area of Odessa. The Ukrainian defense was unable to intervene and the alarms, witnesses say, came after the explosions. At 06:25 Italian more explosions that were going to close the fourth consecutive night of Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.
The Chairman of the Operational Command “South” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Natalya Gumenyuk: stated in the morning press conference that: “The Russian Armed Forces strikes with Kalibr missiles the grain terminals in the Odessa region. With a strike in the grain terminals of one of the agricultural enterprises of the Odessa region, the enemy destroyed 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley,” the Kiev authorities reported.
At 12:00 Italian time the social sphere announces a new raid, most likely the fifth day of attacks in Odessa, targeting the Zatoka bridge. An air alert had previously been announced in the region. Sirens are also sounding in Kiev and the region. The operational command “South” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the hit of a Russian missile on an “important infrastructure facility” in the Odessa region. Also speaking to a report, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said that a total of seven missiles of various classes were fired at “an object in the Belgorod-Dniester region”.
By “important object”, presumably, the bridge across the Dniester estuary in Zatoka was meant. In the previous “wave” at least the port of Ilyichevsk was hit. Naval infrastructure in Odessa and nearby satellite cities was severely damaged. In addition, a base of foreign mercenaries and a military airfield were destroyed in Nikolaev.
In a post it reads. “Now it will be possible to bypass the Zatoka bridge to the Danube ports only through Moldova.”
With regard to the statements and maps shown by the southern Ukrainian command, it is recalled that a law is in force which prohibits the publication of the results of Russian attacks. But ample evidence of the attacks has been provided from Odessa, many are already saying that the reason behind this display is on the one hand the motivation to ask the West for more weapons, on the other to raise the price of cereals and legumes.
According to the Russians, a plant for the production of boats that were used against the Crimea was destroyed in Odessa. We recall that in Odessa there are 12 foreign ships moored which cannot leave the port.
According to the Russian social sphere, which echoes the words of Sergei Lebedev, coordinator of the Nikolaev metro, the location of Ukrainian servicemen and foreign mercenaries in a hotel near a shipbuilding plant in Nikolaev was hit, and explosions were also recorded in another shipyard associated with the production of military boats and in a seaport.
And now a look at the front line.
The Russian army advanced in separate sections of the Donetsk direction. Russian soldiers, with the support of aviation and artillery, are constantly storming the fortified areas of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Marinka, Krasnogorovka and Nevelsky region – battles are going on. Russian fighters drove Ukrainian fighters from their positions and took advantageous lines during counter-offensive operations in the Vesele and Kamenka area on the northern flank of Avdiivka.
In the Zaporozhzhie direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine made another unsuccessful attempt to advance towards Verbove. Information is coming from the field that Ukrainian militants have begun to actively use cluster munitions against Russian positions. Apparently, this is due to the huge losses of personnel and military equipment in some areas of the directorate.
Another source reports that in the Ternoy, Nevsky and Yampol areas, the crew of the Strela-10 air defense system shot down two Ukrainian reconnaissance UAVs in the Kreminna area. Fighting continues near Kreminna in the Serebryansky forestry area. In the Krasnoliman direction, the Ukrainians made six attempts to regain their lost positions. In the areas of the Torsky ledge and Serebryansky forestry, the shock groups of the 21st and 67th mechanized brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the 5th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, retreated to their previously occupied positions with significant losses in personnel. Russian shelling was carried out on the command and observation post, temporary deployment point and Ukrainian ammunition depot.
Near Vuhledar, fighters of the 155th Russian Separate Guards Marine Brigade repulsed an attack by enemy forces (up to 1 company of motorized infantry with the support of armored vehicles), a high-intensity battle went on for about two hours
At 08:00 Italian time on July 21, the Ukrainians showed preparations for breaking through the defense near Orekhov with the help of the American M58 MICLIC mine clearance system
On the Zaporozhzhie front online there are videos showing the 15th Brigade of the National Guard “Kara-Dag” making passes in the minefields in the Novodanilovka – Rabotino area. Coordinates 47.49137, 35.85339. The Ukrainians have not been conducting active offensive operations for several days, regrouping and pulling assault groups to the advance lines in the Rabotino-Verbove area.
In the Novodanilovka area, the delivery of assault groups and the placement of armored vehicles is recorded: Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, as well as tanks in closed firing positions to support infantry attacks. Demining equipment has also been deployed in the area to make new passages in the minefields. The resumption of offensive operations by the forces of the 65th and 47th brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the 15th brigade of the National Guard is expected shortly.
Ukrainian drones attempted to attack a military airfield in Crimea in the late afternoon of July 20. It was reported that three aircraft-type drones were neutralized near the village’s military airport. Guards in the afternoon of 20 July. Two drones were shot down by the air defense forces, another was planted using electronic warfare.
A Russian missile has hit the Ukrainian armed forces in the Chernihiv region.
Regarding cluster munitions, Ukrainians posted videos from the Zaporozhye, Bachmut and Kherson fronts. In the Kupyansk direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to counterattack near the settlement. In Lyman 10 Ukrainian soldiers were taken prisoner repulsing a Ukrainian offensive.
Fighting continues near the Antonovsky bridge in the Kherson direction, Ukrainian landings are destroyed. Small landing parties of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are stranded as they attempt to land on islands in front of the bare dock.
The Ukrainian shelling of the Kursk and Belgorod regions continues.
Graziella Giangiulio
