An aerial view of Russia’s Saky airbase in occupied Crimea, and fire on the airfield after a Ukrainian strike, July 26, 2024

Friday’s Coverage: Defenders Blunt Large Russian Assault in Donetsk

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1332 GMT:

Russian Defense Secretary Andrei Belousov asked his US counterpart Lloyd Austin on July 12 to halt a Ukrainian covert operation, according to the New York Times.

“Two U.S. officials and another official briefed on the call” say Belousov warned that the Russians had detected the operations and believed it was supported by the US. He asked Austin if the Pentagon was aware of the plan and its potential to raise tensions.

The US officials said the Pentagon was caught by surprise. The Americans contacted the Ukrainians and told them that, if the operation was underway, to halt it.

Pentagon officials would not say if Austin brought up the issue in a phone call on Tuesday with Ukrainian Defense Rustem Umerov.

UPDATE 1009 GMT:

Ukraine’s air defenses downed four Iran-type attack drones and a guided air missile launched by Russia overnight.

UPDATE 0638 GMT:

Meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Laos, the European Union’s foreign policy head Josep Borrell has urged Beijing to support the peace process in Ukraine and halt the export of dual-use goods to Russia.

Borrell emphasized that Beijing’s support for Russia is affecting impacts EU-China relations as Moscow poses an existential threat to Europe.

He noted that joint statement by China and Brazil in May called for a peace conference but did not address Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

Earlier this week, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met Wang Yi in Guangzhou in southern China.

UPDATE 0558 GMT:

Slovakia says it has offered a technical solution to Ukraine to restore suspended Russian oil supplies to Slovak and Hungarian refineries.

Officials have warned that a partial halt in flows via Ukraine could lead to fuel shortages as early as September, after Kyiv imposed sanctions on Russia’s Lukoil.

The Slovakian government said Prime Minister Robert Fico spoke to Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal and “proposed to Ukrainian partners a technical solution in which several states including Slovakia would have to participate”. No details were given.

Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is a long-term ally of Vladimir Putin, has said it will block European Peace Facility funding for Ukraine until Kyiv allows the resumption of the flow of Russian oil.

UPDATE 0538 GMT:

A German medic, sentenced to death in Belarus, has been presented on State TV.

In tears and shown handcuffed inside a prison cell, Rico Krieger, 30, begged German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to intervene: “Mr. Scholz, please, I am still alive….It is not yet too late.”

Authorities in Belarus assert that Krieger travelled to the country last autumn on the orders of Ukrainian intelligence, seeking to attack a railway line.

Krieger said during the 17-minute TV program, “This was the biggest mistake of my life. I admit my guilt, without a doubt….Time is against me. At any moment they could carry out the sentence. Every second I regret what I did.”

German government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said Scholz is aware of the case: “Like the entire government, [he] is worried about these events, especially in connection with the death sentence.”

UPDATE 0530 GMT:

In the latest purge within Russia’s Defense Ministry, a former senior official has been arrested and charged with corruption.

Dmitry Bulgakov, who was Deputy Defense Minister in charge of military logistics for almost 15 years until he was dismissed in September 2022, was detained by the FSB security service on Friday. He is in the Lefortovo prison in Moscow.

Bulgakov was blamed for logistical failures during the early months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, leaving troops undersupplied as Ukraine rolled back Moscow’s advances. Before his downfall, he had received military and civilian awards including the Hero of Russia, the country’s highest honor.

A series of Russian senior commanders and deputy ministers were dismissed and/or indicted this spring amid a reported battle between agencies. Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu was replaced by the economist Andrei Belousov.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine’s officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, have confirmed a strike on Russia’s Saky military airfield in occupied Crimea.

Explosions were heard early Friday as residents reported seeing drones over the town of Novofedorivka in the west of the peninsula, seized by Moscow in 2014. Russian proxy authorities in Sevastopol confirmed the presence of Ukrainian drones and the threat of ballistic missiles.

Russian outlets on Telegram claim Ukraine fired four US-made ATACMS missiles on the airfield. One hit an ammunition depot, setting it ablaze and wounding two servicemen. Another hit an air defense position, destroying a radar installation. Two were shot down.

Later in the day, the Ukrainian military confirmed its responsibility and said it was assessing the aftermath of the strike: “This is one of the operational airfields that Russia uses to control the airspace, in particular the Black Sea, and for launching airstrikes on Ukrainian territory.”

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelenskiy commended “our soldiers who are striking Russian bases and logistics on occupied territory”.

He praised, “To our guys, our soldiers, I thank you for your accuracy.”

The occupier must feel that this is Ukrainian land.

Every destroyed Russian airbase, every destroyed Russian military aircraft — whether on the ground or in the air — saves Ukrainian lives.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not acknowledge the Ukrainian assault.

Fighting back against Vladimir Putin’s invasion, Ukraine has attacked Russia’s military positions in and near Crimea since summer 2022. The strikes have destroyed or damaged around 1/3 of Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet, forcing it to withdraw from the area and opening up Ukraine’s ports.

Airbases including Saky have been regularly attacked. Oil and ammunition depots and other supply and logistic points have been set afire.