Gazprom signs agreement with Iran’s national oil company
The logo of Russian energy giant Gazprom is pictured at one of its gas stations in Moscow on July 11, 2022.
Kiril Kudryavtsev | AFP | Getty Images
Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom has signed a memorandum of understanding for strategic cooperation with Iran’s national oil company NIOC.
The tentative deal comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Tehran on Tuesday, meeting Iranian officials as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The memorandum provides for the two countries to evaluate possible joint projects, including “the development of Iranian oil and gas fields and oil fields, the execution of swap transactions with natural gas and petroleum products, the implementation of large-scale and small-scale LNG projects, the construction of gas pipelines, as well as scientific – technical and technological cooperation,” Gazprom said in a statement.
Gazprom is likely to be keen to forge new partnerships abroad at a time when its traditional customer base in Europe is rapidly collapsing as the EU and UK seek to limit all Russian gas imports due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
— Holly Elite
Kramatorsk and neighboring Slavyansk were attacked, the number of victims is unknown
The center of Kramatorsk, a key target for Russian forces in Donetsk, was attacked, according to the city’s mayor, with the number of casualties yet to be determined.
“Attack in the central part of Kramatorsk. There are casualties. Specialists from the explosive engineering services and rescuers are working on the spot,” Alexander Vasilovich, the mayor of Kramatorsk, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
Police officers respond in front of a burning building after an airstrike hit the courtyard of a civilian home in central Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on July 19, 2022.
Miguel Medina | Afp | Getty Images
Pavlo Kirilenko, the governor of Donetsk, also reported on Telegram that there were loud explosions in the city, adding that Russian forces had hit the central part of the city. He said preliminary information suggested the missiles were fired from an aircraft. One image he posted showed a dead civilian on the ground in front of a burning building.
Fires broke out in the residential floors that were at the epicenter of the impact, with emergency services on the scene to put them out.
Emergency services of Ukraine posted on Facebook that as a result of shelling in a five-story apartment building, a fire broke out on the balconies of the third and fourth floors. “As a result of the shelling, 10 people were injured, of which 5 people were hospitalized,” they said.
Separately on Tuesday, Kramatorsk’s neighbor Slavyansk was also attacked, according to the head of the local military administration, Vadim Lyakh.
“Unfortunately, Slavyansk was shelled again,” Lyach said, adding that there were four explosions. “Many households have been damaged, people are trapped under the rubble, there are injured. Fortunately, there are no confirmed casualties yet,” Liach said in a video address.
— Holly Elite
The death toll from last week’s attack in Vinnytsia has risen to 25
The death toll from a devastating strike in a public area of the city of Vinnytsia last week has now risen to 25, the head of the city’s regional military administration said on Tuesday.
Russian forces hit the center of Vinnytsia last Thursday with three Kalibr missiles, according to Ukrainian officials, causing a large number of deaths and injuries. Among the dead was a 4-year-old child.
Ukrainian servicemen lay flowers and toys at the site where 4-year-old Lisa was killed by a Russian cruise missile. Vinnytsia, Ukraine July 15, 2022
Maxim Marusenko | Nurphoto | Getty Images
“Three Caliber missiles cost the lives of 25 people,” Sergiy Borzov said on Telegram today, adding that the 25th victim of the strike was 45-year-old neurologist Natalia Falshtinska, who died today in a military hospital.
The funeral ceremony for four-year-old Liza Dmitrieva, one of the victims of the July 14 rocket attack in Vinnytsia, takes place at the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral, Vinnytsia, west-central Ukraine.
Alexander Lapin | Publishing house of the future | Getty Images
Borzov said 54 people who were injured in the attack were still in hospitals in Vinnytsia, with eight of them in serious condition, including a 20-year-old girl with 98 percent burns, he said. Some of the most serious victims were transferred to a specialized burn center in Lviv.
Russia has said it did not target civilians, but last week’s attack was one of many in which there were mass civilian casualties.
— Holly Elite
Russia has made too many commitments in Donbas and is likely to move slowly, UK says
A photo taken on June 13, 2022 shows a Russian serviceman in front of school number 22, which was shelled on April 30 in Donetsk, amid ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine.
Yuri Kadobnov | AFP | Getty Images
Russia continues to nominally commit six separate armies to its Donbas offensive, according to the latest intelligence update from Britain’s Ministry of Defense, which noted on Tuesday that at full strength, before the invasion, these formations were set up for about 150,000 personnel.
In recent weeks, Russia has often operated with company-sized groups of about 100 personnel when launching offensive operations in each sector at once, the ministry noted.
Nevertheless, Russia has struggled to maintain effective offensive combat power since the beginning of the invasion, and this problem is likely to become more acute, it added.
“In addition to dealing with severe personnel shortages, Russian planners face a dilemma between deploying reserves in the Donbas or defending against Ukrainian counterattacks in the southwestern Kherson sector.”
Given that Russia’s stated immediate political objective is to capture all of Donetsk in the Donbass, while Russia can still make further territorial gains, its operational tempo and speed of advance are likely to be very slow, the UK said, “without significant operational pause for reorganization and repair.”
— Holly Elite
US Himars are helping to stabilize the front line, a Ukrainian military official said
Part of the Ukrainian army displays HIMARS vehicle missiles in eastern Ukraine on July 1, 2022.
The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Ukraine’s top military commander said the “timely arrival of M142 Himars” from the US is helping Ukrainian forces resist Russian front-line attacks in Donbas.
The Himars are long-range, multiple-launch missile systems and are seen as a potential game-changer in Ukraine’s resistance and retaliatory strike against Russia’s near-constant artillery pounding cities in the Donetsk, Donbass region.
In a Telegram post on Monday, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny said the weapons allowed his forces to “stabilize the situation.”
“It’s complex, intense, but completely controlled. An important contributing factor to our holding of defense lines and positions is the timely arrival of M142 HIMARS, which deliver targeted strikes on enemy checkpoints, ammunition and fuel storage depots,” he said.
— Holly Elite
Putin and Erdogan will meet and discuss grain exports from Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Iran later today, with one of the main topics of conversation being the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports.
Kremlin aide Yuriy Ushakov said Putin and Erdogan will “discuss key issues of Russian-Turkish cooperation, the implementation of leading projects in the trade and economic sphere, as well as deeply consider some international issues, including the situation around Ukraine and the export of Ukrainian grain “, the Russian state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday.
An aerial photo taken on July 15, 2022 shows a farmer harvesting wheat near Kramatorsk in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Miguel Medina | AFP | Getty Images
The issue of creating a grain corridor from Ukraine, whose ships are blocked and grain exports cannot leave the country via the Black Sea, is central as global food prices rise.
Representatives of Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations held talks last week that appeared to be headed in the right direction with a deal Ukraine said was in sight.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar appeared confident that more progress could be made this week, saying on Monday that the countries could sign a final document agreeing to the creation of a coordination center to manage and oversee the resumption of exports on grain.
— Holly Elite
Russia wants oil payments from India in UAE dirhams: Reuters
Russia wants payment in UAE dirhams for oil exports to some Indian clients, according to Reuters.
Patrick Plull | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Russia is seeking payment in UAE dirhams for oil exports to some Indian clients, Reuters reported, citing three sources and a document.
Reuters said it had seen an invoice showing a refinery’s oil delivery bill in dollars, while payment was requested in dirhams.
Russian oil company Rosneft moves crude oil through trading firms in India, according to the news agency.
It comes after a raft of Western sanctions prompted oil importers to shun Moscow, sending spot prices for Russian crude to record discounts to other grades. Indian refiners bought exports at deeply discounted prices, and Russia overtook Saudi Arabia as India’s second-biggest oil supplier after Iraq for the second straight month in June, Reuters said.
— Natalie Tam
An employee of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant has been kidnapped by Russian forces, Ukraine claims
Six power units generate 40-42 billion kWh of electricity, making the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant the largest nuclear power plant not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe, Enerhodar, Zaporizhia Oblast, Southeastern Ukraine, July 9, 2019. Ukrinform.
Dmytro Smolenko |…
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