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Key events:

Russia’s Tass news agency is reporting that “dozens of people were injured as a result of the strike of the armed forces of Ukraine at Novaya Kakhovka”.

Novaya Kakhovka is on the Dnieper river in an area of Kherson occupied by pro-Russian forces in the south of Ukraine.

It quotes Vladimir Leontyev, part of the administration imposed on the region by pro-Russian occupying forces, saying:

Unfortunately, there are casualties, a large number of injured, dozens of people were left homeless. The victims were admitted to both the city hospital and the military hospital. We still have to assess the damage, because the situation is still ongoing.

Tass reports: “In addition to damaged buildings, the attack also led to an explosion at fertiliser warehouses.”

The claims have not been independently verified.

In his daily operational briefing, Maksym Kozytskyi, the governor of Lviv, states that 150 people arrived in the region on evacuation trains yesterday, and that there was one air raid alarm overnight but that it came to nothing.

He also says that Lviv police evacuated the main railway station yesterday after reports there were explosives there, but nothing was found. He said that 835 people left Lviv region to head to Przemyśl in Poland yesterday.

Four people have been injured after Mykolaiv came under heavy shelling this morning, according to the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Syenkevych.

He posted to Telegram to say that rockets hit two medical facilities and residential buildings. The claims have not been independently verified.

Chasiv Yar death toll rises to 34

The death toll from a missile strike on an apartment block in eastern Ukraine has reached 34, according to a Donetsk regional official.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk regional state administration, said:

Already 34 dead and 9 wounded have been retrieved by rescuers from the rubble of a multi-story building in the city of Chasiv Yar. One child was among the dead.”

Kyrylenko added that as of 6.30am on Tuesday, employees of the state emergency service had cleared about 70% of the rubble, though the rescue operation is ongoing.

“The Russians will bear responsibility for every destroyed and mutilated life!” he added.

34 загиблих та 9 поранених дістали рятувальники з-під завалів багатоповерхівки у Часовому Ярі. Серед загиблих — 1 дитина.
Працівники ДСНС розчистили близько 70% руїн. Рятувальна операція триває.
За всі злочини росіяни будуть відповідати!#StopRussia#RussiaKillsCivilians pic.twitter.com/LgHYAPlUTY

— Павло Кириленко (@Pavlo_Kyrylenko) July 12, 2022

Russia making small incremental territorial gains in Donetsk: UK MoD

Russian troops continue to make small incremental territorial gains in Donetsk after claiming to have seized control of the town of Hryhorivka, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.

Russian forces also continue their assault along the E-40 main supply route towards the cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk and are likely regrouping and reconstituting for further offensives in the near future, the ministry said in its latest intelligence report.

Russian armed forces’ personnel shortages may be forcing Moscow to turn to non-traditional recruitment, including recruiting personnel from Russian prisons for the Wagner Private Military Company, the report added.

“If true, this move likely indicates difficulties in replacing the significant numbers of Russian casualties.”

Iran to supply Russia with combat drones, US says

Iran is planning to supply Russia with hundreds of weapons-capable drones for use in Ukraine, according to a top US official.

Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said the information received by the US supported views that Russia’s heavy bombardments in Ukraine, which have led it to consolidate gains in the country’s east in recent weeks, were “coming at a cost to the sustainment of its own weapons”.

“The Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], including weapons-capable UAVs, on an expedited timeline,” Sullivan said.

“Our information further indicates that Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use these UAVs, with initial training sessions slated to begin as soon as early July.”

Sullivan said it was not clear whether Iran had delivered any of the drones to Russia yet.

80% of Donetsk residents have fled, governor says

The governor of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region earlier said about 80% of its pre-war population has now been evacuated.

Pavlo Kyrylenko said about 340,000 people, or 20% of the local population before Russia’s full-scale invasion began on 24 February, remain, Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform reported.

On February 24, 1,670,000 people permanently lived in the controlled territory of the Donetsk region. About 340,000 people remain,”

Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region has been the focus of intensive Russian attacks in recent weeks, prompting officials to urge residents to seek safety elsewhere.

Chasiv Yar death toll rises to 33

The death toll has reached 33 from a missile strike on a five-storey apartment block in Chasiv Yar, eastern Ukraine, as rescue teams continue to retrieve bodies from the rubble.

According to Kyiv, the residential building was hit by Russian rockets fired from truck-borne systems late on Saturday evening.

The Ukrainian emergency services initially gave a death toll of 10, but as rescue teams continued to comb through the debris that number rose.

Ukraine: rescue efforts under way after Russian rockets hit apartment block – video

The latest victim, a nine-year-old, was reported to have been found around 11.30pm on Monday evening.

In total, since the beginning of the work, the bodies of 33 dead people, including one child, have been found at the scene, and nine people have been rescued from the rubble. Works are ongoing,” Ukraine’s ministry of internal affairs said in an update, citing state emergency services.

Nine people were saved in the aftermath of the attack while Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region that includes Chasiv Yar, said about three dozen people could still be trapped in the rubble.

Ukraine plans to recapture its south with 1m strong army

Ukraine is massing a million-strong fighting force equipped with western weapons to recover its southern territory from Russia, according to the country’s defence minister.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has asked military chiefs to draw up plans to gather the “million-strong” force to recover occupied areas around the Black Sea coast that are vital to the country’s economy, Oleksii Reznikov said in an interview with the Times.

Reznikov said:

We understand that, politically, it’s very necessary for our country. The president has given the order to the supreme military chief to draw up plans. After that the general staff are doing their homework and say to achieve this goal we need XYZ.

Reznikov said he was writing letters to his counterparts in partner countries to talk about “why we need this kind of weaponry and then we get the political decisions”.

Summary and welcome

Hello, it’s Samantha Lock back with you as we unpack all the latest news from Ukraine this morning.

Ukrainian rescue teams have found the bodies of more civilians, including a 9-year-old child, trapped under the rubble of an apartment building in eastern Ukraine after a Russian rocket strike.

Here are all the latest lines as of 8am in Kyiv.

  • The death toll from a Russian missile attack on a five-storey apartment building in the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine has risen to at least 33. Emergency crews worked to pull people from the rubble. Zelenskiy accused Moscow of deliberately targeting civilians in the attack which destroyed three buildings in a residential quarter. The latest victim, a nine-year-old child, was retrieved from the wreckage on Monday evening, Ukraine’s state emergency services said.
  • Ukraine plans to gather a “million-strong” fighting force equipped with western weapons to recapture its southern territory from Russia. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, ordered the military to recover occupied areas around the Black Sea coast that are vital to the country’s economy, defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said.
  • At least six people died after Russian rocket attacks on Monday morning on Kharkiv in north-east Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office. Among those killed were a father and his 17-year-old son, who were driving on their way to pick up a certificate for his university admission, Ukrainian regional police official Serhiy Bolvinov said. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said shelling struck civilian infrastructure including a commercial property and a tyre repair shop. These are “places which had no military significance”, he added.
  • About 80% of residents in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk have fled, its governor said. Pavlo Kyrylenko said about 340,000 people, or 20% of the local population before Russia’s full-scale invasion began on 24 February, remain.
  • Germany and the Czech Republic have signed a joint declaration, pledging to overcome Russian fossil fuel dependency and to accelerate the transition to low carbon energy. “We are going to finalise the agreement on solidarity measures to safeguard the security of gas supply between our countries prior to the start of the upcoming winter season,” the declaration read.
  • The Russian president plans to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after the pair discussed efforts to facilitate grain exports from Ukraine, according to the Kremlin. Erdoğan told Putin that it was time to act on a UN plan to set up a sea corridor for Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea during a phone call on Monday, the Turkish state-owned Anadolu news agency said.
  • Lithuania expanded restrictions on trade through its territory to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, as phase-ins on earlier announced EU sanctions begin. Goods sanctioned from Monday morning include concrete, wood, alcohol and alcohol-based industrial chemicals. The governor of Kaliningrad, Anton Alikhanov, has proposed a total ban on the movement of goods between the three Baltic states and Russia, in response to what authorities in the exclave have called a “blockade”.
  • Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine, Larisa Galadza, has been summoned to Kyiv explain Ottawa’s decision to return to Germany gas turbines needed to maintain the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Canada agreed to send back the repaired turbines at the weekend, angering Ukraine officials who insisted the move breached energy sanctions in place against Russia.
  • Eight foreign-flagged ships have been able to reach ports along the Danube-Black Sea Canal to help Ukraine break a Russia-imposed blockade on grain exports, according to local media reports. The Kyiv Independent newspaper said the vessels were escorted by the Ukraine navy.
  • Latvia may increase its defence spending and introduce compulsory military service regardless of gender to contain security risks arising from Russia. President Egils Levits, 67, told Reuters that security is the “priority of our politics today” and plans to raise the defence budget to 2.5% of GDP “may not be enough”.
  • The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, met Zelenskiy in Kyiv to reiterate his country’s support for Ukraine “now and in the years to come”. The war in Ukraine may last longer than anyone had hoped, Rutte warned during a visit to the capital. After their meeting, Zelenskiy welcomed the “constructive” talks with the Dutch leader and the decision to supply weapons to Ukraine.
  • Iran is planning to supply Russia with hundreds of weapons-capable drones for use in Ukraine, according to a top US official. Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said: “The Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], including weapons-capable UAVs, on an expedited timeline.” Sullivan said information suggested that Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use the UAVs as soon as early July.
  • The lower house of the Russian parliament will gather on 15 July for an extraordinary session where more than 80 draft laws will be discussed. “We plan to consider a little [more] than 60 issues,” Vladimir Vasilyev, the head of the United Russia party, said but did not disclose what the issues were.
  • The United Nations says it will monitor the war in Ukraine for violations against children, including killings, injuries, recruitment, rape and other forms of sexual violence.



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