Military situation:

According to estimates by the US foreign intelligence agency CIA, 15,000 people have already died on the Russian side in the war against Ukraine. About three times as many Russians have probably been wounded so far, said CIA Director William Burns on Wednesday (local time) at a panel discussion during a security conference in Aspen, Colorado. “And the Ukrainians suffered too – probably a little less. But, you know, significant casualties,” Burns said. There is no current information from the official authorities in Russia on the number of deaths.

Burns said the concentration of Russian forces in the Donbass indicates, at least for now, that the Russian military has learned from failures at the start of the war that has now been going on for almost five months. In a way, the Russian military has receded into a more comfortable position – using its advantage and long-range firepower to distance and effectively destroy Ukrainian targets, and to address the military vulnerabilities they still have , to compensate.”

International experts have documented serious and widespread violations of international humanitarian law by Russian troops since the beginning of the war against Ukraine. The Warsaw-based electoral and human rights office ODIHR of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) presented a report supporting the allegations.

Particularly serious cases are the shelling of the theater full of refugees in Mariupol in mid-March and the busy Kramatorsk train station in early April. The experts were also appalled by the siege of cities whose inhabitants had not been given the opportunity to evacuate. Witnesses reported many cases of illegal executions, detentions, torture, sexual violence and kidnappings.

The Ukrainian army also violated international humanitarian law, albeit to a lesser extent, the ODIHR report said. In addition, both sides would violate applicable international law when dealing with prisoners of war.

The US government plans to supply Ukraine with four more Himars multiple-barrel rocket launchers. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said during online consultations with the so-called Ukraine Contact Group from dozens of countries that the Himars missile launchers that have been delivered so far have “made so much difference on the battlefield”. The US would also provide additional weapons, ammunition and equipment, including missiles and artillery shells, as part of the next package for Ukraine. Details would be announced later in the week.

Austin said at a press conference after the deliberations that there had been “many new announcements” from defense secretaries and army chiefs from the more than 50 participating countries. “We see that countries from all over the world continue to provide urgently needed systems and ammunition.” He was not more specific.

The US is the main arms supplier to Ukraine. So far, according to US Chief of Staff Mark Milley, they have already delivered twelve Himars systems in addition to numerous other weapon systems.

Voices from Kyiv:

Meanwhile, President Zelensky himself accused Russia of using Ukraine as a testing ground for possible attacks against other European countries. “Russia is testing everything that can be used against other European countries in Ukraine,” said Zelenskyy. “It started with gas wars and ended with a full-scale invasion, rocket terror and burning down of Ukrainian cities.”

Ukraine was outraged that Russia had threatened to take more territory. “Russia discards diplomacy and is focused on war and terror,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter. Instead of negotiations, the Russians are after bloodshed. Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov had previously stated that Moscow’s territorial claims on Kyiv are now greater than they were at the beginning of the war at the end of February.

After the invasion of the neighboring country, the Kremlin of Kyiv demanded above all the cession of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed in 2014, as well as the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukraine clearly refused. Moscow is now pointing to Western arms deliveries that are said to pose a threat to the pro-Russian separatist areas of Luhansk and Donetsk. That’s why they want to push back the Ukrainian army even further than originally planned, according to Moscow.

Voices from Moscow:

In view of the severe destruction caused by his war in Ukraine, Russian President Putin has announced that the cities in Donbass will be rebuilt. There is a lot to do in Luhansk and Donetsk, said Putin. “Therefore, our country will help the Luhansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic,” he said at a video conference with children and young people. In February, Russia recognized the areas of Luhansk and Donetsk that had broken away from Ukraine as independent states and then started the war – officially to protect them.

The Russian border region of Belgorod blames the Ukrainian side for an attack that killed one person. The region’s governor said the villages of Nekhoteyevka and Zhuravlevka were shelled on Wednesday. Several houses were damaged in Nekhoteyevka and a civilian died. Russia, which itself started the war against neighboring Ukraine, has since repeatedly complained about shelling on its own territory. The Ukrainian side usually does not comment on these allegations.

This will be important today:

The EU’s new Russia sanctions are due to come into force this Thursday. The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States launched the written decision-making process in Brussels on Wednesday. It is considered a formality as the procedure is usually only approved when all EU capitals have cleared their objections.

After the maintenance of Nord Stream 1, the gas supply through the German-Russian pipeline started again on Thursday morning. Gas is flowing again, a spokesman for Nord Stream AG told the German Press Agency. How much gas is actually delivered is currently still unclear. Statements by Putin suggested a 40 percent capacity utilization. The head of the Federal Network Agency recently assumed 30 percent.

More on the topic: Day of Truth – Fears about gas delivery: What comes through the Baltic Sea gas pipeline Nord Stream 1?

Also read: Ukraine update on July 20 – Uncertainty about gas supplies, Ukraine sees Russian tactics change