A Russian ammunition depot explodes after a strike by Ukrainian forces on Nova Kakhovka in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, July 11, 2022

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Friday’s Coverage: Russia’s Missiles Kill 23+, Injure 66 in Center of Vinnytsia

Source: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1636 GMT:

A local woman has spoken about the Russian missile strike on Dnipro in central Ukraine, which killed three people and wounded 15:

When the blast wave hit, there were few shards because all my windows were taped up. I have a small injury on the left of my body but the people whose windows were not protected like this, there was a lot of blood, their injuries were horrible.

I saw a small child all covered in blood. It was awful.

UPDATE 1106 GMT:

The death toll has risen to 24 from Russia’s missile strike on Vinnytsia in central Ukraine on Thursday, after a woman died in hospital of her injuries.

UPDATE 0952 GMT:

More reports of Ukrainian civilians killed in Russia attacks….

Two people were killed in Nikopol in southern Ukraine when Russian forces fired 53 Grad rockets at the town.

In northeast Ukraine, a Russian strike killed three people, including a 70-year-old woman, and wounded three in Chuhuiv in the Kharkiv region.

The attack damaged a residential block, a school, and a shop.

UPDATE 0612 GMT:

A Russian delegation has visited an airfield in central Iran at least twice in the last month to examine weapons-capable drones, says US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan supported the assertion with satellite images.

US officials noted that Tehran has been displaying the Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 drones, capable of carrying precision-guided missiles.

Sullivan summarized, “We have information that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with several hundred UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], including weapons-capable UAVs.

The lack of drones has compounded Russia’s loss of troops, armored vehicles, and weapons amid its initial failures in Vladimir Putin’s invasion and then its offensive in eastern Ukraine.

However, Russian military bloggers have criticized Moscow’s reliance on the Iranian drones to improve artillery targeting, saying command issues should be addressed.

The bloggers say requests for artillery fire are being delayed by several hours to several days because of a convoluted chain of command.

UPDATE 0555 GMT:

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is close to Vlaidmir Putin, has insisted that Europe “shot itself in the lungs” with sanctions on Russia.

Speaking on national radio, Orbán maintained, “Brussels must admit that it was a mistake, that it has not fulfilled its purpose and has even had the opposite effect.”

In June, the European Union agreed to phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022, but — after weeks of resistance by Orbán — granted Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia an exemption for oil delivered by pipeline.

Ukraine Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko responded to Orbán:

Sanctions help hold the aggressor state accountable for its crimes, as well as weaken its ability to continue waging war.

It is not sanctions that are killing the European economy, but Russia’s hybrid war.

UPDATE 0547 GMT:

Continuing deadly missile strikes on civilian areas, Russian forces fired on Dnipro in central Ukraine on Friday evening.

Governor Valentyn Rezynchenko said at least three people were killed and 15 injured. Four of the six missiles were downed by anti-air defenses.

The dead include a city bus driver, said local transportation official Ivan Vasyuchkov.

The man had finished his work day and was headed to the depot to go back to work at 5 a.m. tomorrow. He didn’t make it.

Two children have been left without a father. A really young guy, my age, he still had so much time to live. There are simply no words.

In eastern Ukraine, eight people were killed and 13 injured by Russian shelling of 10 locations across the Donetsk region, said Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

Ukraine Defence Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianyk said on Friday that up to 70% of Russian missile strikes are deliberate attacks on civilian sites: “This is the extermination of Ukrainians as a nation, this is an attempt to break the spirit of Ukrainians and lower the level of their resistance.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Bolstered by US medium-range rocket systems, Ukraine’s forces have destroyed more than 30 military logistics centers of the invading Russians in recent weeks, says a Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman.

Oleksandr Motuzianyk emphasized the role of the American M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) rocket systems. Eight were delivered by the Biden Administration last month, and Washington announced last week that another four are being dispatched.

Each of the advanced wheel-mounted systems can carry six rockets with a range of 70 to 80 km (43 to 50 miles).

Ukrainian forces have used the systems to destroy a series of Russian ammunition depots across occupied Ukraine. In the most visible attack, the Ukrainians detonated a large ammunition stockpile in the town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine on Tuesday. The military said artillery and armored vehicles were also destroyed.

See also Ukraine War, Day 140: Ukrainians Strike Russia’s Ammunition Depots

While Russian officials have not admitted any losses, the deployment of the HIMARS has caused consternation among Russian officials, with Vladimir Putin warning of retaliation with severe consequences. Russian military bloggers have criticized authorities for their ineffective defense against the systems, raising the prospect of censorship by the Kremlin.

On Friday, Ukraine Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov celebrated that the HIMARS have been accompanied by the arrival of US M270 multiple rocket launch systems, each carrying 12 rockets.

Norway approved the transfer of three M270s after they were upgraded by the British military.

Reznikov told the BBC that Ukrainian military losses peaked in May, with up to 100 troops killed each day.

He repeated that, with advanced weapons changing the course of the war and a million Ukrainians mobilized to fight, the country is preparing to reclaim southern areas seized by the Russians.