The day before, as a result of the Russian shelling in Chuhuyiv in Kharkiv oblast, six people were injured, including two children — 6 and 9 years old. Two people died in the town of Balaklia, Izium district. In Kharkiv, Russian troops fired a missile at a sports complex at an educational institution. A fire broke out in the destroyed building. At night, Russia fired on the territory of Zaporizhzhia oblast from rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Preliminarily, infrastructure facilities in the area of one of the settlements near Zaporizhzhia came under fire. Information on the destruction and casualties is being clarified.
The Ukrainian military was ordered to withdraw from Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk oblast, because it makes no sense to be in broken positions — the number of dead is growing. The Russians are advancing to Lysychansk from Toshkivka and Zolote, and they are succeeding in some settlements. The Russian army entered Hirske community of the Sievierodonetsk district and occupied it. There are up to 4,000 locals left in the community, there is no electricity, water or gas. There is also no opportunity to bring humanitarian aid to the community. In addition, the Russians are destroying roads and bridges leading to Lysychansk from helicopters.
Collaborator Dmitry Savluchenko was blown up in Kherson. The so-called head of the Department of Family, Youth and Sports of the Kherson Civil-Military Administration, Dmitry Savluchenko, began cooperating with the occupiers from the beginning of the Russian invasion. The Russian propaganda publication RIA writes about the "terrorist attack" and the blown-up car.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces captured the pilot of a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft shot down on June 17. The pilot admitted that he was a former major of the Russian Air Force, who got a job in the "Wagner Air Force", and made several combat sorties. The involvement of retirees currently working under contract with The Russian Air Force to carry out direct aviation support tasks suggests that the Russian Air Force is probably trying hard to support the invasion of Ukraine with a sufficient number of crews. This is probably due to Russiaʼs combat losses and the lack of properly trained pilots.
According to US intelligence, the Russian fleet was ordered to mine approaches to the ports of Odesa and Ochakiv. The Russians have already mined the mouth of the Dnipro River to block grain exports. The Guardian writes that Russia purposefully wants to block water communication with Ukraine.
The Come Back Alive Foundation has implemented the most expensive project in its history - purchased 20 PD-2 drones with mobile ground stations, the total cost of which is approximately $ 8.5 million, or UAH 300 million. PD-2 is a multi-purpose, primarily reconnaissance unmanned system of domestic production. Flight radius — more than 200 kilometers. The total length of the route PD-2 (on one tank) can exceed a thousand kilometers.
Four more HIMARS MLRSs will arrive in Ukraine from the United States in mid-July, CNN reports, citing a senior US Department of Defense official — a group of Ukrainian servicemen is already undergoing operational training.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concluded that on July 17, 2014, near the occupied Torez, Donetsk oblast, a Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a missile from the Russian Buk anti-aircraft missile system. The PACE confirmed that the Russian version that the plane had been shot down by Ukrainian fighters and the Ukrainian Buk missile fired from the territory controlled by Ukraine had been completely refuted.
In Russia, near Ryazan, an IL-76 military transport plane made a hard landing due to an engine malfunction. The plane partially crashed in a collision with the ground. There were 10 people on board, at least two were killed.