Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional state administration, said: Rescuers have already pulled 34 dead and 9 injured from the ruins of a multi-storey building in the city of Chasiv Yar. A child was among the dead.” Kirilenko added that as of 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, state emergency service workers had cleared about 70 percent of the debris, although the rescue operation was ongoing. “The Russians will bear the responsibility for every life destroyed and maimed!” he added. Rescuers pulled 34 dead and 9 injured from the ruins of a high-rise building in Chasovoy Yar. Among the dead was a child. State Emergency Service workers cleared about 70% of the debris. The rescue operation continues. Russians will be held responsible for all crimes! #StopRussia#RussiaKillsCivilians pic.twitter.com/LgHYAPlUTY — Pavlo Kyrylenko (@Pavlo_Kyrylenko) July 12, 2022 Important events: Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature
Russia makes small incremental territorial gains in Donetsk: UK Foreign Office
Russian troops continue to make small incremental territorial gains in Donetsk after claiming control of the town of Hryhorivka, the UK Ministry of Defense said. Russian forces are also continuing their offensive along the main E-40 supply route to the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk and are likely regrouping and regrouping for further attacks in the near future, the ministry said in its latest intelligence report. Personnel shortages in the Russian armed forces may force Moscow to turn to non-traditional recruitment, including recruiting personnel from Russian prisons for the private military company Wagner, the report added. “If true, this move likely indicates difficulties in replacing the significant number of Russian casualties.”
Iran to supply Russia with fighter drones, US says
Iran plans to supply Russia with hundreds of weapons-capable drones for use in Ukraine, according to a top US official. Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser, said the intelligence received by the US supported views that Russia’s heavy bombing of Ukraine, which has led it to consolidate gains in the east of the country in recent weeks, “is costing the preservation of its own weapons’. “The Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles]including weapon-capable UAVs, on an accelerated schedule,” Sullivan said. “Our information further indicates that Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use these UAVs, with initial training sessions scheduled to begin in early July.” Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had yet delivered any of the drones to Russia.
80% of Donetsk residents have fled, governor says
The governor of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region said earlier that about 80 percent of its pre-war population has now been evacuated. Pavlo Kyrilenko said about 340,000 people, or 20 percent of the local population before Russia’s full-scale invasion began on February 24, remain, Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform reported. As of February 24, 1,670,000 people were permanently living in the controlled area of the Donetsk region. There are about 340,000 people left.” Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region has been at the center of intensified Russian attacks in recent weeks, prompting officials to urge residents to seek safety elsewhere. Updated at 06.41 BST
Chasiv Yar’s death toll stands at 33
The death toll from a rocket attack on a five-story apartment building in Chasiv Yar, eastern Ukraine, has risen to 33, as rescue teams continue to pull bodies from the rubble. According to Kyiv, the residential building was hit by Russian missiles fired from truck systems late Saturday night. Ukrainian emergency services initially put the death toll at 10, but as rescue teams continued to comb through the wreckage that number rose. Ukraine: Rescue efforts underway after Russian missiles hit apartment building – video The latest victim, a nine-year-old boy, was reported to have been found at around 11.30pm on Monday night. In total, since the beginning of the work, the bodies of 33 dead people have been found at the site, including a child, while nine people have been rescued from the ruins. Work continues,” Ukraine’s interior ministry said in a statement, citing state emergency services. Nine people were rescued in the wake of the attack, while Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region that includes Chasiv Yar, said about three dozen people may remain trapped in the rubble.
Ukraine plans to retake its south with an army of 1 m
Ukraine is amassing a million-strong fighting force equipped with Western weapons to retake its southern territory from Russia, according to the country’s defense minister. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has asked army chiefs to draw up plans to assemble the “millionaire” force to retake occupied territories around the Black Sea coast that are vital to the country’s economy, Oleksii said Reznikov in an interview with The Times. Reznikov said: We understand that, politically, it is very necessary for our country. The president instructed the supreme military leader to draw up plans. After that the general staff does their homework and says to achieve this goal we need XYZ. Reznikov said he was writing letters to his counterparts in partner countries to talk about “why we need this kind of weapons, and then we make the political decisions.” Updated at 06:00 BST
Summary and welcome
Hello, it’s Samantha Lock back with you as we unpack all the latest news from Ukraine this morning. Ukrainian rescue teams have found the bodies of several civilians, including a 9-year-old child, trapped under the rubble of an apartment building in eastern Ukraine after a Russian rocket attack. Here are all the last lines from 8am in Kyiv.
At least 33 have been killed in a Russian missile attack on a five-story apartment building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Chasiv Yar. Emergency crews worked to pull people out of the rubble. Zelensky accused Moscow of deliberately targeting civilians in the attack that destroyed three buildings in a residential district. The latest victim, a nine-year-old child, was pulled from the wreckage on Monday night, Ukraine’s state emergency services said.
Ukraine plans to raise a fighting force of “millions” equipped with Western weapons to retake its southern territory from Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has ordered the military to retake occupied territories around the Black Sea coast that are vital to the country’s economy, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said.
At least six people were killed after Russian rocket attacks on Monday morning in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s general prosecutor’s office. Among the dead were a father and his 17-year-old son, who were driving on the way to pick up his university admission certificate, Ukrainian regional police official Serhiy Bolvinov said. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the shelling hit civilian infrastructure, including a commercial property and a tire repair shop. These are “places that had no military importance”, he added.
About 80% of residents in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region have fled, its governor said. Pavlo Kyrylenko said about 340,000 people, or 20 percent of the local population before Russia’s full-scale invasion began on February 24, remain.
Germany and the Czech Republic have signed a joint declaration pledging to overcome dependence on fossil fuels from Russia and accelerate the transition to low-carbon energy. “We will finalize the agreement on solidarity measures to ensure the security of natural gas supply between our countries before the start of the upcoming winter season,” the statement said.
The Russian president plans to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after the pair discussed efforts to facilitate grain exports from Ukraine, according to the Kremlin. Erdogan told Putin it was time to act on a UN plan to create a maritime corridor for Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea during a phone call on Monday, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Lithuania has extended restrictions on trade through its territory to Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave as sanctions announced earlier by the EU begin to be phased in. Goods targeted since Monday morning include concrete, wood, alcohol and industrial chemicals based on alcohol. Kaliningrad’s governor, Anton Alikhanov, has proposed a total ban on the movement of goods between the three Baltic states and Russia in response to what authorities in the enclave call a “blockade”.
Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine, Larisa Galadza, has been summoned to Kyiv to explain Ottawa’s decision to return to Germany gas turbines needed to maintain the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Canada agreed to send back the repaired turbines over the weekend, angering Ukrainian officials who insisted the move violated energy sanctions against Russia.
Eight foreign-flagged ships were able to reach ports along the Danube-Black Sea Canal to help Ukraine break a Russian-imposed embargo on grain exports, local media reported. The Kyiv Independent newspaper reported that the ships were escorted by the Ukrainian navy.
Latvia may increase its defense spending and introduce compulsory military service regardless of gender to limit security risks posed by Russia. President Egils Levits, 67, told Reuters that security is the “priority of our policy today” and plans to increase the defense budget to 2.5 percent of…
