“In particular, more than 60 employees of the prosecutor’s office and [Security Service of Ukraine] they remained in the occupied territories and are working against our state,” Zelensky said. “Such a series of crimes against the foundations of national security of the state and the ties recorded between the Ukrainian security forces and Russian special services raise very serious questions for their respective leaders,” he said. He fired Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova and replaced her with her deputy Oleksii Simonenko. He also fired Ivan Bakanov, the head of Ukraine’s security service, the SBU. Bakanov was a longtime friend of Zelensky, according to Ukrainian news agencies. Ukraine’s security service chief Ivan Bakanov, left, appears with Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova at a news conference in Kyiv on May 11. Zelensky on Sunday fired both of them. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)
The Ukrainian counterattack is approaching in the south
Earlier on Sunday, Russian missiles hit industrial facilities in Mykolaiv, a strategic city in southern Ukraine. Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said the missiles hit an industrial and infrastructure facility in the city, a key shipbuilding center at the mouth of the Southern Bug River. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Mykolaiv has come under regular Russian missile strikes in recent weeks as the Russians have sought to weaken Ukrainian defenses. The Russian military has stated its goal to cut off the entire Black Sea coast of Ukraine all the way to the Romanian border. If successful, such an effort would deal a crushing blow to the Ukrainian economy and trade and allow Moscow to secure a land bridge to Moldova’s separatist region of Transnistria, which is home to a Russian military base. Early in the campaign, Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attempts to capture Mykolaiv, which lies near the Black Sea coast between Russian-held Crimea and the main Ukrainian port of Odessa. Since then, Russian troops have stopped their attempts to advance on the city, but have continued to hit both Mykolayiv and Odessa with regular rocket attacks. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, chaired by President Vladimir Putin, responded to statements by Ukrainian officials that Kyiv could strike the bridge linking Crimea with Russia, warning that it would have devastating consequences for Ukrainian leadership. “They will face Judgment Day momentarily,” Medvedev said on Sunday. “It would be very difficult for them to hide.” Medvedev, once touted by the West as more liberal than Putin, has said Russia will press its action in Ukraine until it fulfills its stated goal of “demilitarization” and “demilitarization” of the country. He predicted that the fighting “will undoubtedly lead to the collapse of the existing regime” in Kyiv. 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. The representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday that Russian missiles destroyed a depot of Harpoon anti-ship missiles delivered to Ukraine by NATO allies, a claim that could not be independently confirmed. The Russians, fearing a Ukrainian counterattack, also tried to strengthen their positions in the Kherson region near Crimea and in part of the northern Zaporizhzhia region that they captured in the first stage of the war. Britain’s Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that Russia was moving troops and equipment between Kherson, Mariupol and Zaporizhia and increasing security around Melitopol. It added: “Given the pressures on Russian manpower, the reinforcement of the south, while the fight for Donbas continues, shows the seriousness with which Russian commanders take the threat.”
Race for Donbass
For now, the Russian military is focused on trying to take control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, the Donbass, home to Moscow-backed separatists and home to the most capable and well-equipped Ukrainian forces. Ukraine says its forces still maintain control of two small villages in Luhansk region, one of the two provinces that make up Donbas, and are repelling Russian efforts to push deeper into the second, Donetsk region. The General Staff of the Ukrainian army said on Sunday that Ukrainian troops had repelled Russian attempts to advance on Sloviansk, the main Ukrainian stronghold in Donetsk, and attacks elsewhere in the region. However, Russian officials are urging their troops to make even more territorial gains. During a visit to the front lines on Saturday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu issued an order to “further intensify the actions of units in all operational areas.”
