9 a.m.: Kupyansk in the crosshairs of the Russian army
In Kharkov region, the Russian army went on the attack. Ukraine claims that in this area, Moscow has concentrated a significant number of soldiers and military equipment and that its troops are advancing towards the city of Kupyansk, reconquered by the Ukrainian army during its counter-offensive a little less than a year ago. On the spot, the report of our correspondent, Gulliver Cragg.
6:49 am: Anti-ship missiles fired during Russian military ‘exercise’ in Black Sea
A military “exercise” was conducted by Russian forces in the northwest of the black SeaMoscow said, indicating that anti-ship missiles were fired to shoot down a target at sea.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet fired anti-ship cruise missiles “at a target boat in the combat training area in the northwestern part of the Black Sea”, a body of water where Moscow has since Thursday considered ships bound for Ukraine as “potential military boats”.
5:21 a.m .: kyiv uses cluster munitions delivered by Washington, White House says
kyiv began to use cluster munitions controversial weapons delivered by the United States, the White House said, as Ukraine seeks to build momentum in its counteroffensive against Russian forces.
Asked if Washington’s cluster munitions were now being deployed and used by kyiv, John Kirby, a White House spokesman, replied, “Yes.” According to Kirby, the deployment of these weapons to the front took place “about the last week or so”.
Ukrainian forces “use them appropriately. They use them effectively and they really have an impact on Russian defensive formations and defensive maneuvers” from Moscow, the spokesman told reporters.
Cluster munitions can disperse up to several hundred small explosive charges, capable of remaining unexploded in the ground and creating a risk for civilians after a conflict has ended.
They are prohibited by many countries, especially European ones, signatories of a convention signed in Oslo in 2008 and to which neither Russia, nor the United States, nor Ukraine are parties.
July 20 Essentials
The European Union has announced the six-month extension of sanctions against Russia because of the military aggression against Ukraine.
Twenty years in prison have been requested against the imprisoned Russian opponent Alexei Navalnytried for a month behind closed doors in a new trial for “extremism”, illustrating the climate of repression in Russia in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine.
With AFP and Reuters
2023-07-21 04:53:52
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