Russo-Ukraine War - 01 July 2022 - Day 128

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A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]

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Ukrainian authorities said at least 17 people are dead and dozens wounded after a Russian missile strike on an apartment building and a resort near Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa, the latest in a spate of deadly missile strikes. With its ground forces concentrated in Ukraine’s eastern industrial region of Donbas, Russia has more than doubled the number of missile strikes around the country in the past two weeks, using inaccurate Soviet-era missiles for more than half of the attacks, according to a Ukrainian brigadier general.

The Ukrainian president's office said three Kh-22 missiles fired by warplanes had struck an apartment block and a campsite. Ukrainian authorities say the attack was revenge for Russian troops being forced from Snake Island, although Moscow has sought to portray their departure as a "goodwill gesture'' to help unblock the exports of grain via the Black Sea.

The UK Ministry of Defence reported that on 30 June 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that its forces had withdrawn from Snake Island in the north-west Black Sea. The island was seized by Russia on the first day of the invasion and sits along the main shipping lanes to Odesa and its adjacent ports. The Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted attacks against the Russian garrison in the past few weeks using missile and drone strikes. In addition, it used anti-ship missiles to interdict Russian naval vessels attempting re-supply the island. Russia has highly likely withdrawn from Snake Island owing to the isolation of the garrison and its increasing vulnerability to Ukrainian strikes, rather than as a ‘gesture of good will’, as it has claimed. Separately, Russian ground forces claim to have captured the village of Pryvilla, north-west of the contested Donbas town of Lyschansk. Intense fighting probably continues for the commanding high ground around Lyschansk Oil Refinery.

A Senior US Defense Official stated "We do not believe there is any credence to what Russia is saying that this was a gesture of good will. In fact, you know, the way we view this development is that the Ukrainians were very successful at applying significant pressure on the Russians, including by using those harpoon missiles that they recently acquired to attack a re-supply ship. And when you realize how barren and deserted Snake Island is, you -- you understand the importance of re-supply. So the Ukrainians made it very hard for the Russians to sustain their operations there, made them, you know, very vulnerable to Ukrainian strikes."

The Senior US Defense Official stated Lisichansk "is another one of these examples where we see Russia paying such a high price for tiny bits of gains in terms of territory, and -- and -- and that is the case today in Lisichansk.... I would use the word halting. I would not use the word steady to describe how Russia is advancing on -- on the battlefield, and I think they're suffering, you know, many, many setbacks along the way." The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the Russian occupiers continue to launch rocket attacks on civilian objects on the territory of Ukraine. There are no major changes on the Volyn, Polis, and Siver directions. The Russians shelled the areas of the settlements of Gremyach, Mikhalchyna Sloboda, Kolos in the Chernihiv region and Starykovo and Atynske in the Sumy region. In the Slobozhansk direction, the Russians fired artillery in the areas of Chepil, Zolochiv, Ruska Lozova, Rubizhne, Khrestishche, Pechenygi, Kharkiv, Pytomnyk, Bazaliivka, Ruska Lozova and Prudyanka. Conducted an airstrike by a pair of Ka-52 helicopters near Mospanovoy, and continued to conduct aerial reconnaissance.

In the Slavic direction, the Russians defended previously occupied lines, regroups, tried to improve the tactical position. Conducted artillery shelling near Dolyna, Mazanivka, Dibrivny, Hrushuvaha, Dovgenky, Krasnopill, Asiivka, Sloviansk, Mykilsky, and Bogorodichny.

In the Lysychansk and Bakhmut directions, the occupiers were shelling the areas of Sydorov, Pereizne, Kryva Luka, Mayaki, Siversk, Privillia, Lysychansk, Vovchoyarivka, Zolotarivka, Bakhmut, Klynove, Kodema, New York, Novoluhanske, Berestov, Loskutivka, Pokrovske, Zaitseve, Travneve and Vershyn. Russians airstrikes were recorded near Klinovo and Pokrovsky. In the Avdiivsk, Kurakhivsk, Novopavlivsk, and Zaporizhzhya directions, the Russians fired artillery of various calibers and tanks on the areas of the settlements of Avdiivka, Novoselivka Druga, Vodyane, Tonenke, Krasnohorivka, Pisky, Orihiv, Shevchenko, Novomykhailivka, Hirske, Gulyaipole, Vremivka, Vugledar, Novoandriivka, Chervone, Staroukrainka, Zaliznychne and Maryinka.

Ukrainian soldiers successfully and competently repulsed the Russian's reconnaissance attempt by fighting in the direction of the Lysychan gelatin plant. The occupiers left. In the Southern Buzka direction, the Russians continued shelling in the areas of the settlements of Posad-Pokrovske, Stepova Dolyna, Tavriyske, Prybuzke, Oleksandrivka, Myrne, Shevchenkive, Novogrigorivka, Shiroke, Partizanske, Blagodatne, Pervomaiske, Kobzartsi, Chervyn Yar, Kavkaz, Steppove, Kalynivka, Velike Artakove , Dobryanka, Potemkine and Mykolaivka. Conducted an airstrike in the area of the settlement of Divizia.

In readiness for missile strikes on objects on the territory of Ukraine, the occupiers keep two carriers of high-precision weapons in the Black Sea. The anti-aircraft missile unit of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed the Russian "Forpost" anti-aircraft missile defense system in the Mykolaiv region, with an estimated cost of 7 million US dollars.

Ukrainian aviation and missile and artillery units continue their activities to destroy the Russians's logistics centers, fuel supply points, accumulations of combat armored vehicles and manpower.

In connection with significant losses of personnel of military units from the Eastern Military District of the Russian Federation, an active conscription company is being held on its territory. In particular, the recruitment point of the mobilization reserve was deployed in the city of Vladivostok and in Sergeevka, the point of permanent deployment of the 127th Motorized Rifle Division of the 5th Combined Arms Army.

The head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, stated that the Ukrainian authorities control 45% of Donetsk region, and almost all settlements are shelled. "In Donetsk region - we are sure that we will stop the enemy and in the future we will liberate our occupied territories - but currently 45% remains under control. This is almost half of the region, despite the fact that a third was occupied for eight years before the full-scale invasion. Shelling on the territory of Donetsk region is devastating and there are many of them. Almost all populated areas of the region are being shelled," he said on the air of the national telethon. According to him, during the last week there is a trend of attacks on Sloviansk.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the allied forces took the local oil refinery, the Matrosskaya mine, the gelatin plant, and went directly to the city in three days in Lisichansk. The failures and heavy losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the battlefield led to an increase in the level of desertion in the Ukrainian troops. So, in one of the battalions of the 17th tank brigade in the area of Novaya Poltavka (Donetsk People's Republic, DPR), no more than 20% of the personnel of the regular strength remained in service.

The Ukrainian authorities opened criminal cases against the command and 171 fighters of the 42nd battalion of the 57th motorized infantry brigade, who defended themselves in the "Gorsky cauldron". The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation noted that in this way Kyiv is trying to find "extreme" because of the failures of its group of troops in the Donbass.

During the day, high-precision weapons of the Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed 2 command posts, 5 ammunition depots in the DPR, the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), Nikolaev and the Nikolaev region, as well as manpower and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 26 districts. During the counter-battery fight, high-precision weapons hit 2 platoons of multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) and two artillery platoons in the DPR.

Aviation, missile troops and artillery hit 32 command posts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a radar station for detecting air targets in the Odessa region, 3 ammunition depots in the DPR, manpower and military equipment in 297 districts. Air defense systems shot down two Su-25 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force in the Kharkiv region. 11 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were shot down in the DPR, Kharkiv and Zaporozhye regions. 8 multiple rocket launchers were intercepted in the Kharkiv region, the LPR and the DPR.

Fighting continues in Lisichansk. Andrey Marochko , a spokesman for the NM LPR , said that there are more than 10,000 civilians in the city. It is reported about the beginning of the fighting for Zolotarevka, where units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that retreated from Lisichansk are trying to gain a foothold, as well as clashes on the outskirts of Novodruzhesk.

The Senior US Defense Official stated " the HIMARS munitions in this package, it comes directly from U.S. stocks. So that's coming straight from the U.S. military, whereas Ukraine security assistance initiative, this -- these are items that are going out and procuring from industry. So what you'll typically see with the timelines, you'll see drawdown is happening in a matter of days... We do not have Excalibur rounds in this package... " The UN’s cultural agency inscribed the culture of cooking borscht soup in Ukraine on its list of endangered cultural heritage, in a move urged by Kyiv but vehemently opposed by Moscow. Ukraine considers borscht—a thick nourishing soup usually made with beetroot—as a national dish although it is also widely consumed in Russia, other ex-Soviet countries and Poland.

The culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking “was today inscribed on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding” by a UNESCO committee. The decision was approved after a fast-track process prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the “negative impact on this tradition” caused by the war, UNESCO said. Kyiv hailed the move, with Ukraine’s Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko saying on Telegram that “victory in the borscht war is ours... will win both in the war of borshch and in this war.”