Russian President Vladimir Putin with Donald Trump, Helsinki, July 16, 2018

Thursday’s Coverage: Russia’s Investment Head Dmitriev Visits Trump Administration

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1200 GMT:

At least six civilians have been killed and at least 46 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 42 of 78 drones, and 22 were lost to electronic counter-measures.

In addition to five slain and 32 injured in Kharkiv city, there were casualties in the Sumy, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions.

UPDATE 0928 GMT:

The toll from Russia’s latest drone attack on Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv has risen to four killed and 35 injured, including a child.

A UAV struck an apartment building in the city’s Novobavarskyi district on Thursday night, setting a large fire.

Rescuers found the body of a victim early Friday. The search for others continues.

UPDATE 0731 GMT:

The Trump Administration has not disbursed Congressionally-approved funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the news outlets broadcasting to Russia and Eastern Europe, defying a court order.

RFE/RL has not received almost $12 million in April funding from the US Agency for Global Media. Some staff have been furloughed and programming has been cut.

THe Agency for Global Media has also canceled satellite contracts for RFE/RL, hindering delivery of Russian-language programs, according to two RFE/RL officials.

Around 40 partner stations in Europe rely on the satellites.

Last month Judge Royce C. Lamberth, of the Federal District Count in Washington, ruled that the Trump Administration cannot close a news group that Congress established by law. He wrote that “the continued operation of RFE/RL is in the public interest”.

Kari Lake, the Trumpist politician installed at the Agency for Global Media, said on Thursday that the administration has not disbursed the funding to increase oversight and ensure accountability.

UPDATE 0724 GMT:

Zelensky met troops and civilian personnel, and saw a school where Russian detained villagers for almost a month at the outset of Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

UPDATE 0658 GMT:

US and European officials have issued positive statements about Ukraine’s forces on the battlefield.

NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, US Gen. Christopher Cavoli, said on Thursday that Kyiv has resolved some troop shortages, including by widening the pool of eligible recruits.

Amid uncertainty about the Trump Administration’s approach, Cavoli told a Senate hearing that any US cutoff of weapons and intelligence would be extremely harmful to Ukraine’s resistance.

If the Ukrainians were not able to receive intelligence from us, they would struggle to target, especially in-depth operational level targets such as command posts, logistics areas and things like that.

The general said of US support of Ukraine’s airpower, “There are more F-16s prepared to be deployed in there. There are more pilots in the training pipelines.”

Cavoli noted that Russia has lost about 4,000 tanks during its full-scale invasion, almost equal to the total in the US military.

The European Union’s foreign policy head, Kaja Kallas, said members are providing more than half of Ukraine’s ammunition needs, estimated at 2 million rounds.

“These things are moving very well….We need to get the help to Ukraine as fast as possible,” Kallas emphasized.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said the drive to supply Ukraine with ammunition has received further financing to keep deliveries running until September.

Canada, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands provided funds.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: US officials have advised Donald Trump not to call Vladimir Putin until the Kremlin agrees to end its 37-month invasion of Ukraine, according to two sources.

Trump and Putin spoke on March 18 amid direct US-Russia talks. Since then, the Kremlin has accepted a halt of attacks on energy infrastructure but has continued its nightly drone and missile strikes. Putin rejected a Ukraine-US agreement for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, demanding that Washington lift sanctions on Moscow.

Last week, Trump said he was “very angry” and “pissed off” with Putin, after the Russian leader called for the removal of the Zelensky Government in Kyiv.

The US officials said that despite Trump saying on Sunday that he planned to speak with Putin, no call has been scheduled.

But they cautioned that it is always possible that Trump will abruptly decide that he wants to contact the Russian.

“A person familiar with the discussions” said the Administration will wait for the Kremlin’s financial advisor Kirill Dmitriev to report to Putin before taking any steps.

Dmitriev was in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday, meeting with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff. Talks may have included Moscow’s gambit of a rare earth minerals offer, both from within Russia and from Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine.