Toretsk in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, July 2024

Monday’s Coverage: Kyiv’s Strike Sets Largest Oil Depot on Fire in Russia-Occupied Crimea

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1620 GMT:

At least two civilians have been killed and 23 injured in two waves of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv on Tuesday.

The fatalities and three injuries were inflicted by a guided bomb in the afternoon.

In the morning, another attack injured more than 20 people, including a 16-year-old child.

UPDATE 1613 GMT:

Russian troops who attacked Vuhledar in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine outnumbered Ukrainian defenders by around 9:1, says Oleksandr Okhrimenko, commander of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade.

Vuhledar fell last week after Russian attacks since March 2022, and Moscow’s ground and aerial offensive in Donetsk since last October.

The 72nd Mechanized Brigade defended Vuhledar for more than two years without rotation.

UPDATE 1603 GMT:

The UK has sanctioned Russian officials involved in the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Russia’s Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defence Troops and their head, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, were among those sanctioned. Two Russian Defense Ministry scientific centers are also on the list.

During Vladimir Putin’s invasion, Ukraine has recorded more than 4,000 cases of Russian chemical agents used on Ukraine’s front line, including more than 3,100 reported cases since December 2023.

There were 639 Russian gas attacks in June and 358 in July, according to the Ukrainian military’s Support Forces.

UPDATE 1358 GMT:

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-Hyun says North Korea will likely deploy troops to Ukraine in support of Russia’s invasion.

Kim told Parliament, “As Russia and North Korea have signed a mutual treaty akin to a military alliance, the possibility of such a deployment is highly likely.”

Asked about a report that six North Korean personnel were killed and three injured while visiting a Russian military facility near occupied Donetsk city in eastern Ukraine, the minister said that this was likely true.

See also Ukraine War, Day 956: Did Kyiv’s Missile Strike Kill North Koreans on Russian Base?

UPDATE 0713 GMT:

The Belgorod region, in southwest Russia on the Ukrainian border, is offering a record 3 million rubles ($31,200) in one-time payments to men signing military contracts to fight in Ukraine.

“The payment will amount to 3 million rubles from all sources: the federal, regional, municipal budgets and extra-budgetary funds,” Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. The bonus is available for those who volunteer or sign contracts with the Russian Armed Forces between October 7 and the end of 2024.

Seeking more frontline troops without the order of a full mobilization, the Russian Government is allocating 90 billion rubles ($948 million) to one-time payments for men signing a military contract between 2025 and 2027.

The Kremlin is hoping to recruit 225,000 new personnel through contract service in the next three years.

UPDATE 0642 GMT:

Russian authorities report an “unprecedented” cyber-attack against State media infrastructure on Monday.

The All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) said unspecified actors hacked its online services overnight. Pro-Kremlin outlet Gazeta reported that the attack took down broadcasts of Russian State television channels Rossiya-1, Rossiya-24, Rossiya Kultura, and Karusel and about 80 regional television and radio companies.

VGTRK claimed that its systems did not suffer significant damage and are operating normally.

UPDATE 0619 GMT:

For the second time within 24 hours, Russian forces struck a foreign cargo ship in a Ukrainian port.

Monday’s attacks damaged a vessel flying the flag of Palau in the port of Odesa. A 60 year-old Ukrainian port employee was killed and five foreign nationals injured.

Overnight on Monday, the Paresa, flying the flag of St. Kitts and Nevis and loaded with about 6,000 tons of Ukrainian corn, was damaged in the port of Pivdennyi. No casualties were reported among the 15 people on board, including Egyptian and Syrian citizens..

Russia blocked Ukraine’s Black Sea ports from the start of Vladimir Putin’s 31-month invasion. However, Ukrainian forces broke the blockade as they damaged 1/3 of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

A trade route has been established in the western Mediterranean. Russia first disrupted it on September 12, striking a cargo ship carrying Ukrainian wheat to Egypt and sailing through Romania’s exclusive economic zone.

UPDATE 0609 GMT:

Four civilians were killed by overnight Russian attacks.

In the Sumy region in the north, two brothers aged 35 and 38 were slain.

In Kherson city in the south, one person was killed and 19 wounded. An educational facility and residential buildings were damaged.

In Slovyansk in the Donetsk region in the east, one person perished and seven were injured, including children aged 2 and 13.

UPDATE 0607 GMT:

A Russian hyper-sonic missile struck near the Starokostiantyniv airbase in the Khmelnytskyi region in western Ukraine on Tuesday morning.

Khmelnytskyi Governor Serhiy Tyurin said there were no civilian casualties and no damage to critical infrastructure.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Pursuing a year-long offensive, Russian forces have entered the outskirts of the city of Toretsk in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

“The situation is unstable, fighting is taking place literally at every entrance,” Anastasiia Bobovnikova, spokesperson of the Ukraine military’s Operational Tactical Group Luhansk, told the national broadcaster. “The Russians have entered the eastern outskirts of the city.”

She continued:

The Russians have advanced somewhat along Central Street, heading toward the Central Mine.

But the situation is constantly changing — at times, we overrun their positions, and at others, they destroy ours. However, we continuously restore our positions and strive to reclaim what the occupiers have taken, preventing them from advancing.

Toretsk was home to more than 30,000 people before the invasion. Around 1,600 people remained in the area as of mid-September.

The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier on Monday that its forces inflicted damage to manpower and equipment near several settlements in the area.

The Russian invaders had advanced only gradually while taking heavy losses in the offensive. However, in recent weeks, the pace has accelerated with the capture of a series of villages.

Last week, the Russians overran Vuhledar after assaulting it since March 2022. The town was the second to fall in Donetsk in the past year, following Moscow’s capture of Avdiivka in February.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the resistance of the 31 1/2-month invasion is in “a very important phase”, referring both to Moscow’s offensive in the east and to Ukraine’s two-month incursion into the Kursk region in western Russia.

“We need to put pressure on Russia in the way that’s necessary for Russia to realise that the war will gain them nothing,” Zelenskiy said. “We will continue to apply even greater pressure on Russia – because only through strength can we bring peace closer.”