Timeline: day 155 of Ukraine's defense against russia's aggression
photo by Ukraine's Emergency Service in Mykolaiv region
Today is July 28. russia's military attack on Ukraine has been going on for 155 days. We're reporting on the current news. The article will be updated.
What about today?
Key points
Today, July 28, 2022, Ukraine celebrates the Day of Ukrainian Statehood for the first time. Last year, President Zelensky offered to introduce a new state holiday, which will be celebrated on the day of the baptism of Kyivan Rus-Ukraine. The Day of Ukrainian Statehood was introduced to confirm over thousand-year-old traditions of Ukrainian state-building, which went back to the founding of the city of Kyiv and flourished during the reign of Volodymyr the Great.
The russians, in their cruel manner, also "congratulated" the Ukrainians: in the morning, the Kyiv region was hit by a rocket attack. Chernihiv region, Kharkiv region, Mykolaiv region, Dnipropetrovsk region, and Donetsk region are under fire. This morning, the russians launched missiles over Ukraine from the territory of Belarus. In total, the ruscists fired about 25 rockets. They brought S-300/400 and, of course, Iskander missiles to the airfield in Gomel. But we will not give up and will not be intimidated. Ukraine is an independent, free, indivisible state!
The russian military continues storming Ukrainian defenders' positions in the east. At the same time, the Ukrainian forces successfully hit the occupiers' warehouses. This is evidenced by a new map of hostilities published by the UK's Ministry of Defense:
The russians can withstand only two significant offensive operations in Ukraine: the attempt to capture Siversk and the offensive on Bakhmut, the American Institute for the Study of War said.
President Zelensky stressed that no matter what russia's plans are, we will break them. "We will liberate our territory with the military, diplomatic, and all other available tools until we reach the legal borders of Ukraine," Zelensky said in his daily address.
British intelligence says that Ukraine's counteroffensive in the Kherson region is gaining momentum. Kherson is now practically cut off from other occupied territories. According to intelligence data, Ukrainian forces most likely established a bridgehead south of the Inhulets River, which forms the northern border of the territory occupied by russia. According to the British Ministry of Defense, russia's 49th army is stationed on the right bank of the Dnieper and now "looks very vulnerable."
A former US defense official and fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank, Chris Dougherty, says Ukraine has enough forces to liberate Kherson and the territory around it by the end of September. According to the military expert, after the last strike of the Antonivka bridge, the situation with the russian army's logistics on the right bank of the Dnieper has worsened several times. "I think if you define it [southern Ukraine] as Kherson and the area around it, then perhaps they can be successful by the end of September," the former Pentagon official predicted.
The South Operational Command reports the total losses of the enemy in the area of responsibility in the past 24 hours:
- 66 occupiers,
- three T-72 tanks,
- three tracked mine blockers,
- two Msta-S howitzers, Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, Sani mortar complex,
- three automotive engineering units.
- Two ammunition warehouses were destroyed in Chornobayivka and Bilohirka.
In total, our soldiers destroyed three ammunition warehouses and four bases of invaders in a day.
The key points from the morning summary of Ukraine's General Staff:
- To the south of Bakhmut, the enemy conducted assaults in the directions of Klynovo — Bakhmut and Myronivskyi — Semihiria. Both assaults were repulsed.
- The russians have partial success during the assault on the village of Vershyna, where they are entrenched on the southeastern outskirts.
- The russian federation attempted to attack Soledar from the east — from Volodymyrivka and Striapivka — failed.
- The General Staff doesn't confirm the russian offensive from Donetsk, as reported by russian Telegram channels yesterday. But airstrikes on Avdiivka are recorded.
- In the south, the russians tried to attack Bilohirka in the Kherson region (on the Inhulets River's left bank) again but were repulsed.
russia lost over 75,000 people killed or wounded in Ukraine, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin of the Defense Committee told CNN. Ukraine announces the number of russians killed — more than 40,000. There is no official information from the russian authorities about the number of dead and wounded. A cemetery the size of 24 football fields would be needed to bury all the russian soldiers who died in Ukraine. Ukraine's Ministry of Defense made such calculations.
Who's coming to Ukraine?
On financial and information aid, weapons and politicians
The Czech Republic agreed to patrol the skies of Slovakia. It will allow the Slovaks to transfer their fighter jets to Ukraine, Reuters reports. Airspace patrolling will begin in September, so we hope we will soon have 11 Slovak MiG-29 fighters.
Poland raises money for helicopters for Ukraine. As the team called the campaign cyclical, the Arming Ukraine aid campaign decided to start with collecting funds for three Mi2AM evacuation helicopters. "Thanks to these helicopters, it will be possible to evacuate the wounded as soon as possible and provide them with the necessary medical assistance, as they have the necessary medical equipment. Every minute gained is important and gives doctors an advantage in the fight for the life of the wounded," the campaign page states.
Meanwhile, the US is transferring six fifth-generation F-22 fighter jets from Alaska to Poland to deter russia. This is reported by the Pentagon's Stars And Stripes departmental publication.
In the USA, both parties (Democratic and Republican) support the supply of long-range ATACMS missiles (310 km) to Ukraine. The member of the House of Representatives from the Democratic Party of the USA, Elissa Slotkin from Michigan, announced it at a briefing following the meeting of deputies with representatives of the White House, CNN reports. According to her, the US government urgently considers it necessary to provide additional assistance to the Ukrainians in the next three to six weeks, as the Armed Forces of Ukraine are planning an offensive in the south. Washington wants this offensive to be successful.
Poland spent 1% of the country's GDP to support Ukrainian refugees. The expenses of the authorities and citizens of Poland to support Ukrainian refugees this year will exceed 5.3 billion dollars, which is almost 1% of the country's GDP, Bloomberg reports.
News from partners
Photo: DW
Germany has approved a plan to invest $180 billion over the next four years to help accelerate the transition to a green economy and less dependence on russian energy supplies.
Economy Minister Herman Halushchenko announced Ukraine's readiness to provide European countries with 5–6 billion cubic meters of gas this winter.
Poland wants to create a "drone valley" to accelerate innovation in this field. The idea of creating such a location was discussed yesterday in Warsaw by representatives of Poland, Ukraine, and the United States of America at the Warsaw Drone Summit conference. "The creation of the Drone Valley will accelerate innovation in this field for the benefit of Poland and Ukraine, and Poland can become a regional center of drone innovation," Polskie Radio said.
Sanctions on the aggressor!
Photo: Perild
Montenegrin authorities have begun freezing real estate owned by russians as part of the sanctions regime. Montenegro is not a member of the European Union, but in late February, it joined all EU sanctions against russia, including individual and economic restrictions. The government has promised to conduct its policy regarding the conflict in Ukraine 100% following EU policy.
The Philippines refused to buy 16 Mi-17 helicopters from russia due to US sanctions. The Philippine government canceled the $227 million deal, the Associated Press reports.
Strengthening sanctions to break the russian military machine is our goal, Yermak emphasized. The President's Chief-of-Staff stated that the work of the McFaul-Yermak international sanctions group has already yielded results:
- In the US Senate and Congress, resolutions were created calling for the russian federation to be recognized as a terrorist country;
- russian assets worth more than $23 billion have been frozen;
- Sanctions were introduced against officials and banks of the russian federation;
- An embargo has been imposed on gold.
Work is also underway to strengthen responsibility, up to criminal liability, for evasion of sanctions and several other issues.
Life considering hostilities
The sale of the "Good evening, we are from Ukraine" stamp starts today.
Ukrainians are asking to legalize prostitution. The corresponding petition appeared on the president's website. The petition's author argues that this law will bring an already active field out of the shadows, provide the state with new taxes and reduce the risk of venereal diseases.
Turkish fans started chanting "vladimir putin" from the stands after Dynamo Kyiv scored a goal against Turkish team Fenerbahçe. But it did not help them; the Turks still lost. Social media did not support this performance and suggested excluding Fenerbahçe from the cups.
More than 4 billion (!) UAH have been donated to the Return Alive fund since 2022. People made almost 866,000 payments. "It is you, the people of Ukraine, and those who support us, for more than $16.5 million purchased the Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle complex with, in particular, three strike aircraft; it was you who bought 25 Leleka-100 complexes, 10 PD-2 drones with ground stations and many other things that are necessary on the front line," the fund says.
A voluntary civil defense was created in Odesa. It included Odesa residents, most of whom had already participated in rescue operations: members of the Association of Voluntary Firefighters of Ukraine, the Moto Help organization, volunteers and employees of the Red Cross, dog trainers, diggers, and climbers.
