The events of July 4 in the “Babel” review: the Armed Forces of Ukraine hold part of Luhansk oblast, the flag of Ukraine was delivered to Zmiinyi, the “government” of the Russian Federation was created in Kherson oblast

From the very beginning of Russiaʼs full-scale war against Ukraine, "Babel" conducts text live coverage of the events every day and promptly informs about the main news in the Telegram channel. We also do a daily digest of the dayʼs highlights in case you werenʼt able to follow along live.

The Armed Forces are defending a small part of Luhansk oblast so that our military has time to build defensive redoubts. In the territories defended by the Armed Forces, the Russians destroyed 90% of the infrastructure. 60% of buildings cannot be restored. About 8,000 people remained in Sievierodonetsk, more than 10,000 in Lysychansk. Fighting continues in the Bilohorivka area.

The artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed 36 Russian soldiers, two howitzers, two Uragan multiple rocket systems, two tanks, six armored vehicles, as well as warehouses with ammunition in the south overnight. In addition, Ukrainian fighters in the Izyum direction blew up warehouses with artillery ammunition of the Russian troops.

The flag of Ukraine was installed on Zmiinyi Island, the military operation there was completed. Natalia Humeniuk, head of the joint coordination press center of the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, stated this at a briefing.

Russia again shelled the border areas of Sumy Oblast — more than 70 "arrivals", patients of a psychiatric boarding school were injured. Around 1:00 p.m., the ruscists shelled the Sumy oblast with missiles from a helicopter. Over the past week, Russia has shelled border posts within Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts more than 100 times.

The head of intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said that the activity of the Belarusian army near the borders of Ukraine is of a planned nature — there is no threat of an offensive yet. Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba assured that the Armed Forces are capable of defeating Belarusian troops, and Minsk understands this.

Lack of water is currently the main problem of occupied Mariupol, no more than 3% of residents have access to it. People are forced to travel kilometers to reach water collection points, where there are huge queues. Residents collect water everywhere, including sewage wells, where water appeared after experiments with water supply.

A Russian "government" was created in the captured Kherson oblast. It was headed by an FSB person, two Russian officials received positions, and an MP from "Servants of the People", collaborator Oleksiy Kovaliov became "deputy chairman for agriculture."

Prime Minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson visited Bucha and Borodyanka, Kyiv oblast. The delegation visited the mass burial site of people who were killed and tortured by the Russians, near the church of St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle in Bucha, and also visited Borodyanka.

Ukraine presented the countryʼs recovery plan. It is designed for 10 years and is aimed at accelerating sustainable economic growth. In total, the recovery plan contains 850 projects, and their implementation requires approximately $750 billion. If you have your own idea for restoration, you can leave it on the site.

Great Britain introduced new sanctions against Belarus for the fact that the Lukashenko regime continues to actively support Putinʼs invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions relate to imports and exports of goods worth around £60 million. The UK government also restricts Belarusʼ access to Britainʼs world-class financial services sector, banning most Belarusian companies from issuing bonds and securities in London.