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Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says, in contrast to earlier statements, that Russia is seeking to overthrow the Ukrainian government [File: Willy Kurniawan/Reuters]
By Virginia Pietromarchi and Sasha Petrova
Published On 23 Jul 2022
  • Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says, in contrast to earlier statements, that Russia is seeking to overthrow the Ukrainian government.
  • Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson will be recaptured by Kyiv’s forces by September, a Ukrainian official has said.
24 Jul 2022 - 19:55
 (19:55 GMT)

Zelenskyy says Ukraine unbowed, even Russians expect defeat

Ukraine will continue to do all it can to inflict as much damage on its enemy as possible, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in his nightly video address.

“Even the occupiers admit we will win,” he said as he hailed the upcoming day of Ukrainian statehood, July 28, a new annual holiday that Zelenskyy announced in August last year.

“We hear it in their conversations all the time – in what they are telling their relatives when they call them.”

Ukraine will continue to do all it can to inflict as much damage on its enemy as possible, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address [File: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP]
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was not letting up: “We do everything to inflict the highest possible damage on the enemy and to gather for Ukraine as much support as possible.”

He said Ukraine had an important week ahead, with the holiday approaching in the midst of what he called a “cruel war”.

“But we will celebrate against all odds. Because Ukrainians won’t be cowed.”

24 Jul 2022 - 18:29
 (18:29 GMT)

Lavrov confirms regime change plans for Ukraine

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says, in contrast to earlier statements, that Russia is seeking to overthrow the Ukrainian government.

“We will definitely help the Ukrainian people to free themselves from the regime that is absolutely anti-people and anti-history,” Lavrov said in Cairo.

The Russian and Ukrainian people would live together in the future, he said.

24 Jul 2022 - 18:15
 (18:15 GMT)

Ukraine says 18 medics killed, hundreds of health facilities damaged

Ukraine’s health ministry says at least 18 medical personnel have been killed and nearly 900 medical facilities damaged or destroyed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a Facebook post, the health ministry said that more than 50 medical workers had been wounded by Russian attacks.

The post also said that 123 medical facilities in Ukraine were totally destroyed by the invasion, while another 746 needed repairs.

A damaged operating theatre in a hospital in Trostyanets that staff said Russian troops attacked with tanks during their occupation of the town [Thomas Peter/Reuters]
24 Jul 2022 - 17:53
 (17:53 GMT)

At least 183 religious sites damaged in Ukraine: Report

At least 183 religious sites in Ukraine have been fully or partially destroyed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, the Kyiv Independent reports, citing figures from the State Service for Ethnic Affairs and Freedom of Conscience.

Five of these are Muslim, five are Jewish, and the other 173 are Christian, the report added.

24 Jul 2022 - 17:08
 (17:08 GMT)

Ukraine history books in high demand amid war

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pre-war address attacking Ukraine’s history has brought an unexpected windfall for book shops.

It has motivated Ukrainians to find out more about their past, leading to a surge in sales of history books.

Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher reports from Kyiv, Ukraine.

24 Jul 2022 - 15:53
 (15:53 GMT)

German industry cuts production due to high energy prices: Survey

A survey of 3,500 companies in Germany has found that 16 percent of them are cutting production, or partially discontinuing business operations, due to soaring energy prices.

“These are alarming figures,” said Peter Adrian, president of the Chambers of Industry and Commerce, which conducted the survey. “They show how permanently high energy prices are a burden.”

Germany is largely dependent on Russian gas to fuel its export-led economy and to keep homes warm. But the nation has been bracing for a possible complete halt in Russian supplies if Moscow steps up its use of gas as an economic weapon against the West while it wages war in Ukraine.

24 Jul 2022 - 15:42
 (15:42 GMT)

A Canadian citizen died in Ukraine: Foreign ministry

A Canadian citizen died in Ukraine, Canada’s foreign ministry spokesperson has said, adding that further details will not be shared due to privacy considerations.

“Global Affairs Canada is aware of the death of a Canadian in Ukraine. Consular officials are in contact with the family and are providing consular assistance,” the spokesperson said.

This comes a day after two United States citizens were confirmed dead in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, according to the US Department of State. No further details on the circumstances of their deaths were provided.

24 Jul 2022 - 15:26
 (15:26 GMT)

Photos: Teachers return to school hit by Russian shelling

Teachers have returned to what remains of their school in Bakhmut in the Donetsk region after Russian forces hit the building. Some collected items or cleaned up, while others simply observed the level of destruction.

A reporter from the AFP news agency captured these moments.

A teacher examines a school destroyed by shelling in Bakhmut, Donetsk region [Igor Tkachev/AFP]
Teachers and workers carry out surviving items from their school [Igor Tkachev/AFP]
Teachers and workers clean up their school [Igor Tkachev/AFP]

24 Jul 2022 - 14:42
 (14:42 GMT)

Lavrov offers reassurance over Russian grain supplies in Cairo visit

Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov has offered reassurances over Russian grain supplies to Egypt during his visit to Cairo.

“We reaffirmed the commitment of Russian grain exporters to meet all their commitments,” Lavrov said in a press conference with Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

“We discussed specific parameters of cooperation in this area, agreed on further contacts between the relevant ministries, and we have a common understanding of the causes of the grain crisis,” he added.

24 Jul 2022 - 13:38
 (13:38 GMT)

Ukraine’s Kherson to be ‘liberated’ from Russia by September: Official

A Ukrainian official has said that the country’s southern region of Kherson, which fell to Russian troops early in their February invasion, would be recaptured by Kyiv’s forces by September.

“We can say that the Kherson region will definitely be liberated by September, and all the occupiers’ plans will fail,” Serhiy Khlan, an aide to the head of the Kherson region, said in an interview with Ukrainian television.

The Ukrainian army, emboldened by deliveries of Western-supplied long-range artillery, has been clawing back territory in the southern Kherson region in recent weeks.

“We can say that a turning point has occurred on the battlefield. We see that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are prevailing in their most recent military operations,” Khlan said.

24 Jul 2022 - 12:30
 (12:30 GMT)

Ukraine MP on Russia’s claims about Odesa attack

A Ukrainian legislator has hit back at Russia’s claims that an air attack on the port of Odesa had hit only military targets.

Valentyn Nalyvaichenko told British broadcaster Sky News that Odesa was a “totally civilian seaport” and called on the international community to press Russia to stick to a deal signed to allow grain exports to resume from there.

A military command spokesperson said no grain storage facilities were hit.

Nalyvaichenko said it was vital for global food security to get Ukraine’s seaports working again.

“But Russian attacks using those especially dangerous missiles against civilians, against Ukrainian cities, that’s the main problem for us now while we are fighting Russian aggression,” he told Sky News.

24 Jul 2022 - 10:23
 (10:23 GMT)

War will not break Ukraine, Zelenskyy says

As Russia’s war on Ukraine reaches its five-month mark, President Zelenskyy has said he is confident his country will prevail.

“This war has not broken Ukraine and will not break it,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

“We will not give up. We will protect what is ours. We will win!” he continued, adding that life went on in his country despite the fighting.

Zelenskyy repeated his call for the US and other NATO member states to supply heavy weapons to halt the Russian advance and free territories occupied during the war.

24 Jul 2022 - 09:55
 (09:55 GMT)

Russia’s defence ministry says it struck a Harpoon missile depot in Odesa

In addition to targeting a military boat in the port of Odesa, Russia’s defence ministry says it also destroyed US-supplied Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

“A docked Ukrainian warship and a warehouse with US-supplied Harpoon anti-ship missiles were destroyed by long-range precision-guided naval missiles in Odesa seaport on the territory of a ship repair plant,” Russian news agencies reported quoting the defence ministry.

The attack on the southern port took place on Saturday, a day after a deal was signed to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports and ease global food shortages caused by the war.

24 Jul 2022 - 09:06
 (09:06 GMT)

Odesa strike shows it won’t be easy to export grain via ports: Adviser

Ukraine could export 60 million tonnes of grain in eight to nine months if its ports were not blockaded, but Russia’s strike on the port of Odesa showed it will definitely not be that easy, an economic adviser to the Ukrainian president said.

Ukraine could earn $10bn by exporting 20 million tonnes of grain in silos in addition to 40 million tonnes from its new harvest, economic adviser Oleh Ustenko said on television.

The harvest totals 60 million tonnes, of which 20 million are for domestic consumption, he explained.

“If the ports were unblocked now and we say we need to move 60 million tonnes of grain… then we would transport 60 million tonnes of grain within eight to nine months,” he said.

“But with the way they are opening now and what Russia is doing in the Black Sea, yesterday’s strike shows that it definitely won’t work that way,” he said.

24 Jul 2022 - 08:15
 (08:15 GMT)

Russia FM visits Egypt as part of Africa trip amid Ukraine war

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials as his country seeks to break diplomatic isolation and sanctions by the West over its invasion of Ukraine.

Lavrov landed in Cairo late on Saturday, the first leg of his Africa trip that will also include stops in Ethiopia, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to Russia’s state-run RT.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry was holding talks with Lavrov on Sunday morning.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, walk before talks of representatives of the Arab League states in Moscow on April 4, 2022 [File: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AFP]
The Russian chief diplomat was scheduled to meet Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit later on Sunday. He will also address the permanent representatives of the pan-Arab organisation, RT reported.

Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, refused to take sides since the war in Ukraine began in February as it maintains close ties with both Moscow and the West. Egypt is among the world’s largest importers of wheat, with much of that from Russia and Ukraine.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has cultivated a close personal rapport with President Vladimir Putin. Both leaders have strengthened bilateral ties considerably in the past few years.

24 Jul 2022 - 08:08
 (08:08 GMT)

Russia says it hit military boat in Odesa port

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says Russian forces hit a Ukrainian military boat in the port of Odesa in Ukraine with high-precision missiles.

The Ukrainian military had said Russian missiles hit the crucial southern port on Saturday, threatening a deal signed just one day earlier to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports and ease global food shortages caused by the war.

“Kalibr missiles destroyed military infrastructure in the port of Odessa, with a high-precision strike,” Zakharova said on Telegram in response to President Zelenskyy, who said dialogue with Moscow was becoming increasingly untenable after the attack.

24 Jul 2022 - 06:48
 (06:48 GMT)

Ukraine says 358 children killed amid war

Some 358 children have been killed in Ukraine and more than 684 injured as a result of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office has said.

The office noted these figures were not conclusive as work was still under way to establish them “in places of active hostilities” and “in temporarily occupied and liberated territories”.

The prosecutor general’s office also said 2,188 educational institutions in Ukraine had been damaged by Russian shelling and 221 destroyed.

24 Jul 2022 - 06:39
 (06:39 GMT)

North Korea resurfaces Russia’s ‘biological weapons’ claims: CNA

North Korea has accused the United States of manufacturing biological weapons in Ukraine, echoing a Russian claim dismissed by the United Nations in March, CNA has reported.

Washington “set up many biological labs in tens of countries and regions, including Ukraine, in disregard of the international treaties”, CNA said, citing the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

KCNA reportedly said these laboratories had been “detected” by Russia.

24 Jul 2022 - 06:16
 (06:16 GMT)

Russia’s claim it has expanded war aims beyond the Donbas ‘not true’: UK

The United Kingdom says Russia’s claim it has expanded its war aims beyond the Donbas region is “almost certainly not true”.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence noted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent comments in which he said Russia had expanded the scope of its “special military operation” beyond Ukraine’s Donbas region to include areas such as the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions.

“This is almost certainly not true. Russia has not ‘expanded’ its war; maintaining long-term control of these areas was almost certainly an original goal of the invasion,” the ministry said.

“There is a realistic possibility that Lavrov made the comments to pave the way for referenda to take place in occupied territories beyond Luhansk and Donetsk,” it added.

24 Jul 2022 - 05:23
 (05:23 GMT)

Two killed, two injured in Donetsk: Governor

Russian shelling killed two civilians and injured another two in the Donetsk region on Saturday, the regional governor has said.

Pavlo Kyrylenko said one person was killed in the town of Avdiivka and another in Toretsk.

He said transport infrastructure had been hit in the industrial city of Kostyantynivka.

“Toretsk was covered with artillery fire around six in the morning — at least five private houses were damaged and a local resident was killed. The situation remains tense throughout the region,” Kyrylenko wrote on Telegram.

A woman walks past a destroyed market near a railway station in Donetsk region, Ukraine, July 22, 2022 [Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters]