Russian forces kept up their bombardment of cities across Ukraine, with intense shelling of Sumy in the north, cluster bombs targeting Mykolaiv and a missile strike in Odesa in the south, authorities said on Tuesday.
FIGHTING
* In Odesa, a Russian missile strike injured at least four people, and burned houses to the ground, said Oleksii Matsulevych, a spokesman for the regional administration.
* Russian forces hit Mykolaiv with cluster shells on Monday, injuring at least two people and damaging houses, the Ukrainian city’s Mayor Oleksandr Senkevich said in a social media post.
* More than 150 mines and shells had been fired on the Sumy region, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, the head of the Sumy regional military administration, said on Telegram.
* Ukraine’s top military commander, General Valery Zaluzhny, said U.S.-supplied long-range rocket systems were helping to”stabilize the situation” through “major strikes at enemy command points, ammunition and fuel storage warehouses.”
* Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered generals to prioritise destroying Ukraine’s long-range missile and artillery weapons after strikes on Russian supply lines.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.
ECONOMY
* Russia’s Gazprom has told customers in Europe it cannot guarantee gas supplies because of “extraordinary” circumstances, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Dated July 14, the letter from the Russian state gas monopoly, said it was declaring force majeure on supplies, starting from June 14.
* Foreign allies need to increase their financial support for Ukraine to help the country maintain financial stability during the war with Russia, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office said.
* Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations will most likely meet this week to discuss resuming Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said.
DIPLOMACY
* EU foreign ministers agree to another 500 million euros ($504 million) of funding to supply arms to Ukraine, taking the bloc’s security support to 2.5 billion euros since Russia’s invasion began.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Tehran on Tuesday for a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the first trip by the Kremlin chief outside the former Soviet Union since the invasion of Ukraine.
