The main information to remember
- US President Joe Biden announced $1 billion in aid to improve food security in the Middle East and North Africa, which has been threatened since Russia invaded Ukraine.
- The Ukrainian nuclear energy operator accuses the Russian army of having deployed missile launchers at the site of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, in particular to fire on the regions of Nikopol and Dnipro, where strikes were reported overnight from Friday to Saturday.
- A sign of the Kremlin’s desire to continue the war whatever the cost, its representatives have visited a military base south of Tehran twice recently to be presented with Iranian combat drones, according to the White House.
- US precision rockets have given Ukraine’s military a boost since their delivery in June, altering the balance of power on the battlefield, which could prompt Moscow to slow down its offensive.
11:30 p.m .: This live is now over, thank you for following us.
9:08 p.m .: Russia at the G20, an arsonist in a meeting of firefighters, says Canada
Russia’s participation in the G20 ministerial meeting in Indonesia was “absurd” and “amount to inviting an arsonist to a meeting of firefighters”, Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland criticized on Saturday. “We objected firmly and clearly to the presence of Russian officials,” recalled the Canadian Deputy Prime Minister, who has Ukrainian roots.
The “illegal invasion” of Ukraine by Russia is solely responsible for the “economic consequences” currently being suffered throughout the world, added Ms. Freeland, before attacking the Russian delegation.
6:15 p.m .: The war in Ukraine “must not overshadow security in Africa”
During a visit to Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, the French Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu conceded: “We have a form of myopia in Europe and in France, where the war in Ukraine is mobilizing all energies and that is quite natural, it is a conflict that concerns the whole of the West”. But he recalled that this conflict “must not overshadow security in Africa”.
5:23 p.m .: Update on the fighting in the Donbass
Russian forces are “probably coming out of the operational pause” they declared eight days ago to regenerate, says the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Moscow troops carried out “a series of ground assaults”, “still small-scale” and “largely unsuccessful”, northwest of Sloviansk, southeast of Siversk, along the Bakhmut-Lysychansk road, southeast of Bakhmut and southwest of the city of Donetsk, he lists.
Russian offensives in the Donbass remain “reduced”, confirms the British Ministry of Defence, with fighting concentrating on Siversk and Bakhmout, “despite Russian claims to have entered the suburbs of Siversk” this week. “Russia has already made premature and false declarations of success”, which aim to “demonstrate the success of the operation to Russian public opinion” and boost the morale of the troops, he observes.
4:06 p.m .: Russia is preparing to buy drones from Iran to beef up its arsenal
Russian officials have visited Iran at least twice this summer to inspect combat drones to be delivered by Tehran to Moscow, embroiled in its offensive in Ukraine, said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
The Iranian military presented its drones to a Russian delegation on June 8 and July 5 at Kachan air base, 200 km south of Tehran, according to satellite images released by the US government, as Russia seeks to beef up its arsenal in the face of resistance from the Ukrainian army in the east of the country.
It was important to let the world know that we know Russia needs these additional capabilities. They are increasing their resources at an accelerated rate.
John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council (NSC), within the White House
The White House had already announced last Monday that, according to its information, Iran was preparing to deliver hundreds of drones, including combat devices, to Russia, and that the Iranian army was to begin training sessions in handling of this equipment from July.
12:15 p.m .: Biden to commit $ 1 billion for food security in the Middle East / North Africa
Joe Biden will announce this Saturday a billion dollars in aid to improve food security in the Middle East and North Africa, threatened since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, according to a White House official.
This amount will be committed “in the short and long term”, specified this official, who did not wish to be identified, when Joe Biden concludes his tour in Saudi Arabia in the Middle East.
10:30 a.m .: Gazprom asks Siemens to hand over a turbine repaired in Canada
The Russian gas giant Gazprom announced on Saturday that it had officially asked the German group Siemens to hand over a turbine repaired in Canada to ensure the operations of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which supplies Europe. This equipment had been sent by Siemens to Canada for repair. Despite the sanctions aimed at Moscow for its offensive in Ukraine, Ottawa has announced that it will send the turbine back to Germany, Siemens having to hand it over to Gazprom. But the Russian group says it has no guarantee of being able to recover it.
9:30 am: “No indication” that Russia has targeted a Ukrainian military target
A U.S. defense official on Friday dismissed Russian claims that the attack in Vinnytsia, which claimed 23 lives including children kyiv, targeted a Ukrainian air force meeting in the far-flung town front lines. “I have no indication of the presence of a military target nearby,” the senior official told reporters on condition of anonymity. “It looked like a building,” the official added, confirming that Russia launched the missile strike Thursday from a submarine.
7:55 am: Russia accused of firing missiles from Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
The Ukrainian nuclear energy operator accuses the Russian army of having deployed missile launchers at the site of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, in particular to fire on the regions of Nikopol and Dnipro, where strikes were reported overnight from Friday to Saturday.
“The Russian occupiers have installed missile firing systems on the territory of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” Petro Kotin, president of Energoatom, said on Telegram, after a television interview on the Ukrainian channel United News.
“The situation (at the plant) is extremely tense and the tension is increasing day by day. »
7 a.m.: Precision artillery gives renewed vitality to Ukrainian troops
US precision rockets have given Ukraine’s military a boost since their delivery in June, altering the balance of power on the battlefield, which could prompt Moscow to slow down its offensive. Since mid-June, Ukraine has destroyed more than 20 major Russian ammunition depots and command posts with the Himars precision artillery system.
On Friday, Ukraine announced that it had received its first delivery of a sophisticated multiple rocket launcher system. “The first MLRS M270s have arrived! They will be good company for the Himars on the battlefield,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov wrote on social media. “No mercy for the enemy,” he added.
But these new weapons are also no silver bullet, warn experts, who point out that it will take more weapons and radar systems to be used in conjunction to defeat the Russians.
Westerners denounce at the G20 the impact of the war on the economy
A meeting of G20 finance ministers in Bali, Indonesia has sparked a new clash between the West and Russia. The big moneymakers of the West accused Russia of having created with its war against Ukraine a “shock wave” in the world economy, responsible for the food and energy crisis which is hitting many countries.
“There was a very broad denunciation of the war and its consequences” while “Russia tried to say that the world economic situation had nothing to do with the war”, indicated a source in the French delegation.
6:50 a.m .: The Russians have not improved their tactical positions in the Donbass
Russian forces have failed to improve their tactical positions northwest of Sloviansk, says the American Institute for the Study of War. The pro-Russian separatists of Lugansk, one of the two territories making up the Donbass, now fully under the control of Moscow, however claimed Thursday to control Siversk, about thirty kilometers from Sloviansk, which the British Ministry of Defense claims not to have. could check.
Troops in Moscow are also still on operational break. After having massively invested in conquering Severodonetsk, Lyssytchansk and Lugansk, it is restocking before a probable next assault.
What to remember from Friday
- Moscow said it targeted a meeting of the Ukrainian Air Force in the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on Thursday. These Russian strikes, fired from submarines in the Black Sea, killed at least 23 people. A US defense official has dismissed Russian claims that the attack in Vinnytsia targeted a Ukrainian air force meeting.
- Ukraine said it received its first delivery of a sophisticated multiple rocket launcher system, adding to a long-range artillery arsenal provided by the West.
- The European Union will target Russian gold exports in its next set of sanctions, as decided by the G7 countries at the end of June.
- Briton Paul Urey, captured in April by Russian or pro-Russian forces, died in custody on July 10, separatist authorities said, calling him a mercenary. Moscow will have to “take full responsibility” for his death, London warned.
6:45 am: Hello everyone, welcome to this live where we will follow the situation around the conflict in Ukraine, on the 143rd day of the Russian invasion.