News and information from Ukraine

Reports from Ukraine. Day 870.

Russian bombardment Three people were killed and ten others injured in an attack on civilian areas in Donetsk province on July 11. In the Dnipropetrovsk province, Russian artillery killed a person on July 10, damaging homes, transportation and community facilities, gas pipelines and power lines.

“The future of Ukraine lies in NATO,” says the Washington Summit Declarationthe final document of the historic 75th Summit of the Alliance. The member states thus confirmed their intention to admit Kyiv into the bloc as soon as “the allies agree and the conditions are met”. In his speech to the Opening ceremony of the summitUS President Joe Biden announced that the US, Germany, Romania, the Netherlands and Italy are preparing to send more air defense systems to Ukraine in the coming months. In addition, the first American F16 fighter jets, American officials say, will arrive in Ukraine by the end of the summer.

NATO allies praised Ukraine for making “concrete progress” in its democratic, economic and security reforms since the last NATO summit. To build on these improvements, NATO has decided to set up a coordination platform to oversee the provision of military equipment and training to Ukrainian troops. NATO also pledged to provide Kyiv with at least $43.5 billion in pro rata funding over the next 12 months.

Meanwhile, following the NATO Roundtable on Women, Peace and Security, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated: announced a commitment of $7 million to empower Ukraine’s female soldiers. NATO member states will contribute the funds to purchase more than 10,000 uniforms, as well as shoes and other essential equipment. “This step ensures that Ukrainian female soldiers have the resources they need,” Blinken said, stressing that this initiative underscores NATO and Kyiv’s support for the role of women in the military and Ukraine’s ongoing defense efforts.

Accordingly British Secret Service and the Ukrainian military EstimatesRussia has recently been losing around 1,000 soldiers every day. The Russian death toll reached 1,030 on July 11, bringing the total since the invasion began to over 550,000. Ukrainian losses were also high, although they were not quantified. In February, American experts estimated Ukrainian war losses at 70,000 killed and 120,000 wounded.

Denmark’s new Aid package to Ukraine are 28.5 million dollars, which are reserved for the purchase of weapons from Ukrainian arms manufacturers. Ukraine’s military-industrial capacity is estimated at $20 billion, while the government’s potential for purchasing weapons is only $6 billion. “Roughly speaking, we operate only a third of all the machines in the country,” said Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine’s minister of strategic industries. “Ukrainian gunsmiths can produce much more weapons, and exactly the weapons our military needs.” The Danish donation is the first pledge by a foreign government to use its national currency to buy weapons produced in Ukraine.

By Daria Dzysiuk, Alan Sacks