Ukraine says it is preparing for a southern counterattack in the coming weeks.
Both sides describe progress in lifting the embargo on Ukraine’s grain exports.
Russia’s invasion dominates G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Indonesia.
A Ukrainian town far from the front lines mourned its dead on Friday, including a four-year-old girl, a day after a Russian missile attack killed at least 23 people and injured dozens. Ukraine said Thursday’s strike on an office building in Vinnytsia, a city of 370,000 people about 200 kilometers southwest of Kiev, was carried out by Kalibr cruise missiles fired from a Russian submarine in the Black Sea. The attack was the latest in a series of Russian long-range missile strikes in recent weeks on crowded buildings in cities far from the frontline, each killing dozens of people. Residents placed teddy bears and flowers at a makeshift memorial. Flowers and toys left by people on Friday are seen at the site where four-year-old Lisa was killed by a Russian rocket attack in Vinnytsia. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters) Among the dead was Lisa, a four-year-old girl with Down syndrome, who was found in the wreckage next to a pram. Images of her pushing the same pram, posted by her mother on a blog less than two hours before the attack, quickly went viral. Her seriously injured mother, Irina Dmitrieva, was being kept under wraps at a hospital for fear that if she found out about her daughter she would kill her, doctors said. “He is suffering from burns, chest injuries, abdominal injuries, liver and spleen injuries. We have sewn the organs together; the bones are crushed as if he has been through a meat grinder,” Oleksandr Fomin, chief doctor at the Vinnytsia Emergency Hospital. he said. If she was told of her daughter’s death, “we would lose her.” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s wife, Olena, tweeted that she recognized the girl, who was once among a group of disabled children painting Christmas decorations with the first lady in a holiday video. “Look at her, alive, please,” wrote Olena Zelenska. Liza is pictured in Vinnytsia in this undated image. (LogoClub Children’s Center/Reuters) The building housed an officers’ club, which the Russian Defense Ministry said was used for meeting between military officials and foreign arms suppliers. It added: “The attack resulted in the elimination of participants.” Ukraine said the club operated as a cultural center. The building also housed shops, commercial offices and a concert hall, where musicians rehearsed for a pop concert scheduled for that evening. A nearby medical center was destroyed. A security camera captured debris flying at the moment of the explosion, with two cyclists diving for cover before a cloud of dust darkened the sky. WATCHES | Zelensky called the attack “Russian terrorism”:
At least 23 dead in a Russian missile attack on a city in central Ukraine
Russian missiles hit the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on Thursday, far from the front lines of the conflict. Ukrainian officials say at least 23 people have been killed. Zelensky called Russia a terrorist state, called for more sanctions and said the death toll could rise. “Unfortunately, this is not the final number,” he said in a video conference at an international conference aimed at prosecuting war crimes in Ukraine. An official from Zelensky’s office said 11 people were missing and 197 people had sought medical treatment. Elsewhere in central Ukraine, Russian missiles hit Dnipro, killing three people and wounding 15 others, the local governor said on Telegram late Friday. Rockets hit an industrial plant and a road next to it, he said. Footage on social media showed thick black smoke billowing from buildings and burning cars.
Ukraine is preparing for a counterattack
Authorities in the southern city of Mykolaiv, closer to the front lines, reported fresh strikes on Friday that wounded at least two people. They released video footage of firefighters battling the blaze in the ruins. “This time, they hit Mykolaiv around 7:50am, knowing very well that at that time there were already a lot of people on the streets. Real terrorists!” The mayor of Mykolayiv, Oleksandr Senkevych, made a post on social media. The stepped-up Russian attacks on cities far from the front come as the momentum appears to be shifting after weeks of Russian gains. Since capturing the eastern industrial cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk in battles that have killed thousands of soldiers on both sides, Russia has halted its advance. A Ukrainian general said Kyiv had not lost “a single meter” of ground in a week. Ukraine, meanwhile, fired new HIMARS missile systems it received from the United States, hitting targets deep in Russian territory. It appears to have blown up ammunition depots that Moscow relies on for massive artillery barrages. The first M270 systems that will give Ukraine additional multiple-missile capability have arrived in the country, Ukraine’s defense minister said on Friday. Russia launched its own multiple-launch missile system in Sloviansk on Friday, the eastern city’s mayor said. Ukraine says it is preparing for a counteroffensive in the coming weeks to retake a swath of southern territory near the Black Sea coast.
Progress in grain exports
Despite the bloodshed, both sides have described progress toward an agreement to lift the embargo limiting Ukrainian grain exports. Mediator Turkey said a deal could be signed next week. Asked if that timeline was realistic, a senior Ukrainian official told Reuters, “We really hope so. We’re rushing as fast as we can.” The source asked not to be named. A farmer harvests wheat near Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine on Friday. (Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images) The Russian Defense Ministry said a deal was close. Russia’s negotiator, however, warned that a grain deal would not lead to a resumption of peace talks. A deal would likely include ship inspections to ensure Ukraine was not carrying weapons and guarantees from Western countries that Russia’s food exports are exempt from sanctions. Moscow welcomed a written clarification from Washington on Thursday that banks, insurers and shippers would not be targeted by sanctions for facilitating shipments of Russian grain and fertilizer.
Diplomatic tensions
War dominated the meeting of G20 finance ministers in Indonesia on Friday. The conflict involving two of the world’s top grain exporters and one of the main oil and gas producers is causing inflation, economic crisis, global food and energy shortages and, potentially, famine. “By starting this war, Russia is solely responsible for the negative effects on the global economy, particularly higher commodity prices,” said US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. WATCHES | What happened in week 21 of Russia’s attack on Ukraine:
What happened in week 21 of Russia’s attack on Ukraine
Russian missiles hit towns in central and southwestern Ukraine far from the front lines of the conflict, and Ukraine said Canada’s decision to return turbines used in a pipeline to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany would be seen as a sign of weakness by Moscow . Here’s a recap of the war in Ukraine from July 9 to July 15. Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told Russian officials at the meeting that she held them personally responsible for “war crimes,” a Western official told Reuters. Russia calls its February 24 intervention a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and root out nationalists. Kyiv and its allies call it an attempt to reclaim a country that broke free from Moscow’s rule in 1991. Britain has summoned Russia’s ambassador after Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine said a Briton in custody had died of health problems. The separatists, who arrested Paul Urey, 45, in April, had accused him of being a mercenary. A British aid group, the Presidium Network, described him as a humanitarian volunteer.
