Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy lays flowers at the Holodomor Memorial, Washington, D.C., July 9, 2024


Tuesday’s Coverage: Russia’s Missiles Kill 38+, Including in Children’s and Maternity Hospitals


Map: Institute for the Study of War


UPDATE 1026 GMT:

New UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has signaled that Ukraine can use British-made Storm Shadow long-range missiles to hit military targets inside Russia.

Starmer, who took office in a Labour Party landslide last Friday, said, “The missiles are “obviously to be used in accordance with international humanitarian law” and “for defensive purposes,” but “it is for Ukraine to decide how to deploy [them] for those defensive purposes.”

The statement echoes that of David Cameron, the Foreign Secretary in the Conservative Government that left office last week.

The Biden Administration has refused to grant Ukraine permission for the use of US-supplied ATACMS long-range missiles inside Russia.

Ukraine also has French-made SCALP missiles. Both they and the Storm Shadows have a maximum range of 550 km (340 miles).


UPDATE 0914 GMT:

Katarína Mathernová, the European Union Ambassador to Ukraine, posted about the aftermath of Monday’s deadly Russian missile strikes on Kyiv.

Search and rescue operations have concluded in the capital, with a death toll of 34 and 121 others injured.


UPDATE 0839 GMT:

At least two people, a truck driver and a security guard, have been killed and a sailor injured in a Russian missile strike on Odesa in southern Ukraine.

The attack damaged port infrastructure, warehouses, trucks, and a civilian ship.

The Russians also fired Iran-type attack drones on an energy facility in the Rivne region in western Ukraine. A fire was contained, and there were no reports of any casualties; however, the region suffered temporary power outages.

Ukrainian officials said Russia launched a total of 20 drones and five missiles. Fourteen drones were downed, and three Kh-59/Kh-69 missiles were intercepted.


UPDATE 0625 GMT:

Russia has issued an arrest warrant for Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Russian officials declared a two-month detention order for Navalnaya, who is living in exile, asserting that she is in an “extremist” group.

Navalny, having survived poisoning with a nerve agent, died in a Siberian penal colony in February. He had been condemned to a sentence of around 30 years because of his challenge to the Putin regime.

Navalnaya tweeted on Tuesday:

When you write about this, please don’t forget to write the main thing: Vladimir Putin is a murderer and a war criminal.

His place is in prison, and not somewhere in The Hague, in a cozy cell with a TV, but in Russia – in the same colony and the same 2 by 3 meter cell in which he killed Alexei.


UPDATE 0619 GMT:

Soon after embracing Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Whether it is war, conflict or a terrorist attack, any person who believes in humanity, is pained when there is loss of lives. But even in that, when innocent children are killed, the heart bleeds and that pain is very terrifying.”

Modi did not mention that, hours earlier, Ukrainian juveniles were among the 43 killed and almost 200 injured by Russian missile strikes across the country, including on children’s and maternity hospitals in Kyiv.

Instead, he proclaimed “bonds of friendship” with Putin.


UPDATE 0600 GMT:

US officials Russia is unlikely to make significant territorial gains in Ukraine, with poorly-trained forces struggling to break through Ukrainian defenses that have been reinforced with Western arms.

A “senior NATO official” emphasized, “What they are having to do is order undermanned, inexperienced units to move into areas to achieve unrealistic objectives.”

For months, the Russians have tried to seize additional areas in eastern Ukraine, notably in the Donetsk region. They took the town of Avdiivka in mid-February; however, while occupying some villages, they have been able to make a strategic breakthrough.

Ukraine’s defenders continue to hold Chasiv Yar, north of Avdiivka, which is strategically important because of its high ground and its location as a supply hub.

In May, the Russians launched a cross-border offensive into the Kharkiv region in the northeast. They advanced about 10 km (6.2 miles) into Ukraine, but the assault petered out after the invaders took heavy losses.

“Ukrainian forces are stretched thin and face difficult months of fighting ahead, but a major Russian breakthrough is now unlikely,” says Michael Kofman of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The American officials say Russia could advance with a strategic shift, such as a large expansion of mobilization and training programs. Moscow would also be boosted by a change in US policy, which is likely if Donald Trump returns to the White House.


ORIGINAL SUMMIT: As a NATO summit opened in Washington on Tuesday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked the world to ensure that “Russian terror” — including missile strikes killing at least 43 civilians and wounding almost 200 on Monday — “is defeated”.

Upon arrivial in Washington, Zelenskiy said on video:

We are fighting for more air defense systems for Ukraine….We are also striving to secure more aircraft, including F-16s. Additionally, we are pushing for enhanced security guarantees for Ukraine, including weapons, financial aid, and political support….

We are committed to doing everything possible to ensure that Russian terror is defeated. This is not just crucial for our country – it is essential for everyone – for every partner and all nations.

Zelenskiy visited the memorial to millions of victims of the 1932-1933 Holodomor — Soviet-imposed famine on Ukraine — near the US Capitol, reflecting on “another Russian empire [which] tries to destroy Ukrainians” and “historical justice”.

He invoked former US President Ronald Reagan after the first of the summit’s three days, “Strategy for peace has always been simple – be strong enough, be determined enough so that no adversary would think even for a moment that war might pay.”

For decades, the world relied on principles of territorial integrity and inviolability of borders. Will these principles remain? Ukraine, Russia’s neighbors, and America’s allies need answers.

Defending Against “Russia’s Brutality”

The summit is expected to commit $43 billion in assistance to Ukraine in 2025. It may make a commitment to Kyiv’s future, “irreversible” membership in the 32-nation bloc, is likely to avoid any specific steps while Russia’s 28 1/2-month invasion is ongoing.

US President Joe Biden announced the provision ot Ukraine of five new strategic air defense systems, repeatedly sought by Zelenskiy amid Russia’s deadly missile and drone strikes on civilian sites such as the Kyiv hospitals hit on Monday.

Biden called the attacks a “horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality”, as he pledged, “All told, Ukraine will receive hundreds of additional interceptors over the next year, helping protect Ukrainian cities against Russian missiles and Ukrainian troops facing their attacks on the frontlines.”

The US, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Romania confirmed in a joint statement that the US, Germany, and Romania will send additional batteries of the Patriot air defense system. The Netherlands is providing components for another battery, and Italy is sending an Italian-French SAMP/T system.

NATO members also pledged dozens of shorter-range tactical missile systems, including US-Norwegian-made NASAMS, US-made Hawks, IRIS batteries produced by a European consortium, and German Gepard missiles.

Biden declared to the summit:

Before this war, Putin thought NATO would break. Today, NATO is stronger than it’s ever been in its history. When this senseless war began, Ukraine was a free country. Today it’s still a free country and the war will end with Ukraine remaining a free and independent country.

Russia will not prevail. Ukraine will prevail.

Zelenskiy referred to the threat of victory for Donald Trump — who blackmailed Ukraine in 2019 with a cutoff of military aid and is threatening to do so again if he returns to the White House — in November’s US Presidential election.

Everyone is waiting for November. Americans are waiting for November, in Europe, Middle East, in the Pacific, the whole world is looking towards November and, truly speaking, Putin awaits November too.

It is time to step out of the shadows, to make strong decisions … to act and not to wait for November or any other month.