This is where the war stands on Saturday, July 20, 2024:
Fighting
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A Russian missile hit a children’s playground in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv, killing a child and two adults, and injuring five others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram. Vitaliy Kim, the regional governor, praised residents who rushed to the site to help before medics arrived and said another missile had landed elsewhere in the region.
- Russian attacks killed two people on the right bank of the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, a day after Ukraine acknowledged its foothold on the left bank was mostly destroyed. In the town of Bilozerka, about 5km (3 miles) inland from the Dnipro river, “massive strikes by Russian rocket artillery” left two dead, said Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
- At least five others in Kherson were wounded, including a paramedic who was hit by a drone while helping the injured, Prokudin added.
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Russian drones launched in an overnight attack on Ukraine hit energy infrastructure facilities in two regions in the country’s north, the Reuters news agency reported, citing Ukrainian regional officials. One of the Shahed drones hit an energy facility in the Sumy region while another struck a site in the Chernihiv region. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
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Ukrainian air defence forces shot down 13 of 17 Russian drones over five regions in the east, north, and centre of the country, the air force said.
- Russian forces have captured the village of Yurivka in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defence. The claim could not be independently verified.
- Russia shot down 26 Ukrainian drones overnight in the southern Rostov region, several hundred kilometres from the front line, Vasily Golubev, the regional governor said, but there were no casualties. Last week, an oil depot in the Rostov region caught fire after a Ukrainian drone attack.
Politics and diplomacy
- Ukraine is on its way to being able to “stand on its own feet” militarily, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, noting that more than 20 other countries have pledged to maintain their own military and financial aid to the country even if the United States were to withdraw its support under a different president. Blinken for the first time directly addressed the possibility that former US President Donald Trump could win the November election and back away from commitments to Ukraine.
- US Republican presidential nominee Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he had a “very good call” with Zelenskyy and pledged to end the war.
- Zelenskyy also reported his conversation with Trump and expressed thanks for US military assistance. But he made no reference in a post on social media platform X on efforts to end the 28-month-old conflict. He also congratulated him on securing the presidential nomination, condemned the assassination attempt on him and agreed to arrange a meeting in person.
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The US has imposed sanctions on two leaders of the Russian hacktivist group Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, citing their roles in targeting US critical infrastructure, the Treasury Department said. Yuliya Vladimirovna Pankratova and Denis Olegovich Degtyarenko are the group’s leader and a primary hacker, Treasury said in a statement.
Weapons
- Zelenskyy said Poland had taken a decision that would speed up the deliveries of much-needed F-16 jets to his country but did not say what it was. Poland, which borders Ukraine and has been a close wartime ally, is not among the countries that pledged to supply the jets to Ukraine. There was no immediate announcement from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s office on the remark.
Sport
- Two-thirds of Russian athletes approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete in the Paris Olympics as neutrals have expressed support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or have links to the military, according to a report from Global Rights Compliance, a foundation based in The Hague. The IOC and host France have said proper vetting rules were followed. Fifteen Russians and 16 Belarusians have accepted invitations to compete under a neutral banner at the games, which begin on July 26, according to the IOC.
Crime
- A gunman has shot and killed a nationalist former member of Ukraine’s parliament known for vociferous campaigns to defend the Ukrainian language, the authorities said. Police said they are still looking for a suspect alleged to have killed Iryna Farion, 60, on a street in the western city of Lviv. Writing on Telegram, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said investigators were for the moment linking the shooting either to Farion’s political activity or to a personal motive.
