Pray for brothers and sisters in Ukraine

[Justin Adams]

Typical Russian nastiness..

[Justin Adams]

Losses to date:

[Justin Adams]

Two Americans, a Canadian citizen, and a Swedish citizen have been killed as a result of a Russian tank attack in Donetsk region.

Their commander, Ruslan Miroshnychenko, told Politico about this, Yevropeiska Pravda online media reports.

The names of the dead U.S. citizens were Luke "Skywalker" Lutsyshyn and Brian Young, the Canadian - Emile Antoine Roy-Sirois, and the Swedish citizen - Edward Patrignani.

Miroshnychenko said that they were killed on July 18 as a result of tank shelling near the village of Hryhorivka.

The fighters were part of the Special Operations Forces of the Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The unit is based near Siversk, a city in eastern Donetsk region.

According to Miroshnychenko, "the boys were tasked with taking up firing positions" and clearing the ravine where the Russian forces practiced crossing the river.

"They did it successfully. But at the end of the task, they were ambushed by Russian tanks," Miroshnychenko said.

"The first shell injured Luke. The three boys, Edward, Emil and Brian, immediately tried to help Luke, provide first aid and evacuate him from that place. Then the second shell killed them all," Miroshnychenko said.

A State Department official confirmed the deaths of the two Americans on Friday, but did not release their names.

According to Miroshnychenko, Lutsyshyn, an American of Ukrainian origin born in 1991, worked as a police officer in the United States. His grandmother emigrated from Ukraine to the United States after World War II.

Young born in 1971 is an American soldier who was wounded and retired. When the Russian invasion began, he decided to come to Ukraine because he "swore to defend the free world."

Roy-Sirois was a paramedic with experience in the French Foreign Legion. He was born in 1991.

Patrignani, born in 1994, was a reserve lieutenant, an economist and a philosopher and, according to Miroshnychenko, wanted to form a "platoon of Swedes".

As reported by Ukrainian News Agency, the demand for US citizens to leave Ukraine urgently is connected with the increase of missile attacks by Russian troops.

[Justin Adams]

Russian citizens refuse to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

This is reported by Ukrainian intelligence, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"Citizens of Russia refuse to undergo military service in the army of the occupying country," said Vadym Skibitskyi, a representative of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in an interview with Radio Liberty and Krym.Realiya.

According to him, if in the first months BARS - "combat army reserve of the country" - was quite actively engaged, now there are already signs that Russian citizens refuse to sign contracts.

"Those who are in BARS refuse to sign service contracts because they understand that they will immediately be sent to our territory to conduct hostilities," Skibitskyi explained.

When asked where in Russia the most people refuse to sign contracts, the representative of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense noted that it primarily depends on which units have the greatest losses.

As reported by Ukrainian News Agency, Russian military aggression against Ukraine involved pilots and aviation personnel of Russian state airlines operating within the structure of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

[Justin Adams]

The Russian command throws soldiers into battle without cover to preserve equipment. This was reported in the operational update by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook on Monday, July 25.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that the enemy's personnel is currently demoralized.

"The russian command in certain directions is throwing manpower into the attacks without the cover of armored vehicles. In this way, the officers keep the equipment in working order and try to take revenge on their subordinates for deliberately disabling the weapons. A similar practice of sabotage is widespread among the private ranks of the occupiers in order not to participate in combat clashes with Ukrainian soldiers,” the General Staff emphasizes.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on July 25, the Ukrainian military repelled the assault actions of the invaders in three directions.

Also, as of July 25, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed 50 Russian ammunition depots using M142 HIMARS.

At the same time, the losses of Russian troops for July 24 increased by 180 to 39,700 killed, and the Ukrainian military destroyed 1 aircraft, 8 tanks and 4 cruise missiles last day.

[Justin Adams]

In Russia, each of the 83 regions of the country was obliged to form and finance one new battalion to participate in the war against Ukraine. This is stated in the message of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Thus, it is reported that not everyone is ready to form groups at the expense of the local population and form them from residents of other regions.

"In particular, the Moscow authorities are forming the so-called "mayor's regiment," which mainly recruits people from other regions and even citizens of Central Asia (Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan)," the report said.

It is noted that a high salary and the opportunity to obtain citizenship of the Russian Federation are offered for encouragement.

Moreover, the Kremlin forces the temporarily occupied Crimea and Sevastopol to participate in this campaign.

According to intelligence, Russia is changing the tactics of replenishing the occupation troops on the territory of Ukraine. To avoid the undesirable announcement of mobilization, recruitment is carried out through:

private military companies;

the National Guard of the Russian Federation (Rosgvardiya);

“LDPR.”

"Cases of coercion to sign "contracts" against the local population in the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions are recorded. A full carte blanche was received from the Russian authorities to select militants in the colonies," the Defense Intelligence noted.

In addition, the Russians began working with former graduates of the Chelyabinsk Tank School in reserve under the age of 50. They are urged to volunteer for a tank battalion, which is tentatively formed in Perm.

A collection point is organized there and Т-72 tanks are arriving, which are urgently removed from long-term storage.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in Crimea, the Russian mobilization center recruits university graduates.

Meanwhile, the Russian Federation ordered a covert mobilization in Mariupol.

[Justin Adams]

The IRIS-T air defense systems that Berlin promised should arrive in Ukraine in late August or September.

This was told by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in an interview with Radio Svoboda.

"We are also delivering the IRIS-T air defence system. Well, I hope in late summer, early September... And this is in the final stage of production, it was supposed to go to another country. Therefore, we had to agree with another country that they would retreat, that this system could go to Ukraine. And I really hope we can do that with a lot of these IRIS-T systems," she said.

This clarification was made after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed to provide Ukraine with modern air defense systems.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on July 26, Ukraine received a batch of heavy weapons from Germany, consisting of Mars II multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) and PzH 2000 howitzers.

On July 25, Ukraine received the first three Gepard anti-aircraft guns from Germany.

On July 12, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov promised good news on the supply of weapons from Germany.

[Justin Adams]

The West believes that Russia has finally lost the initiative in the battle for the Donbas, and it will not be able to capture the region in the near future despite the statements of the Kremlin and its satellites.

It is reported by European Pravda with reference to PA Media.

According to an anonymous Western official, despite the loss of the initiative in the Donbas, "they (Russians) are not going to just give up and go home."

However, he added that the war in Ukraine developed according to the scenario of "ups and downs," so Russia has the ability to "adapt and adjust what it can do next."

During the previous briefing of the anonymous representative of the West, the media wrote that the pace of Russian progress in Ukraine was uneven, yet Russian forces were still making "real progress" in capturing the Donbas.

But now the West's assessment has changed: in his opinion, the occupation of the entire territory of Donetsk region remains "the minimum political goal of the campaign in the Donbas," but it is becoming "increasingly unlikely" that Russia will reach it in the next few months.

The anonymous Western official also commented on the strike of Ukrainian forces on the strategic Antonivskyi Bridge in Kherson region. The West estimates that the crossing is currently "completely unusable."

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on July 27, the Armed Forces of Ukraine repelled the Russian offensive in three directions in the east.

In particular, in the area of Bakhmut, the invaders tried to improve the tactical position, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine repelled the enemy's assault actions in the directions of Klynove - Bakhmut and Myronivske - Semyhiria and forced the invaders to retreat.

Meanwhile, the Russian occupiers, presumably, can carry out only two significant offensive operations in Ukraine - on Siversk and on Bakhmut in Donetsk region.

[Justin Adams]

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with ambassadors of the G7 countries (the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Japan) and Turkiye in the Odesa Commercial Sea Port and emphasized that Ukraine is ready to start exporting grain.

The head of state wrote about this on his Telegram channel and also it is stated in a message on the website of the Office of the President, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"We are ready to export Ukrainian grain. We are waiting for signals from our partners to start transportation. It is important for us to remain a guarantor of world food safety. While someone blocking the Black Sea takes life from other states, we allow them to survive," the President wrote.

Among the ambassadors were U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink, British Ambassador Melinda Simmons, Italian Ambassador Pier Francesco Zazo, Canadian Ambassador Larisa Galadza, German Ambassador Anka Feldhusen, Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine Remi Duflo, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine Osnat Lubrani.

The President also discussed with them the issues of grain exports and international support for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy published a number of photos of a meeting with ambassadors.

During a trip to Odesa, the Head of State got acquainted with the loading of Ukrainian grain on a Turkish grain carrier for further export.

The first loading of the ship since the beginning of the war took place in the Chornomorsk Commercial Sea Port.

Exports will begin with the departure of several ships that have been loaded but have been unable to set sail due to the outbreak of war.

Exports could begin in the coming days.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the ambassadors of the G7 countries and Turkiye arrived in Odesa in anticipation of the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports.

[Justin Adams]

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on the United Nations (UN) to visit Olenivka, Donetsk region, to establish the circumstances of the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Kuleba wrote about this on Twitter, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"I call on the UN, which contributed to the evacuation of Ukrainian troops from Azovstal, to sharply condemn Russia for the shelling of the detention center in Olenivka and visit the place to establish all the facts of this terrible crime," he wrote.

Kuleba also called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to check the conditions of all Ukrainian prisoners of war.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out targeted deliberate artillery shelling of a correctional institution in Olenivka, Donetsk region, where, in particular, Ukrainian prisoners were held.

The President's Office called the shelling by the Russian Federation of a colony with Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka, Donetsk region, a cynical provocation.

Earlier, Kuleba called on the world community to firmly condemn today's shelling of the colony in Olenivka, where more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed.