Live blog: Ukraine warns of heavy Russian attacks in Donbass

Monday, July 11, 2022

Heavy attacks to come: Ukrainian army  

Russian troops are believed to be planning to launch some of their heaviest attacks yet in the Donbass region, the Ukrainian army has warned.

"There are signs of enemy units preparing to intensify combat operations in the direction of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut," it said, referring to two main cities still under Ukrainian control. 

Kiev condemns Russia's fast-track citizenship for Ukrainians 

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has condemned a decree from President Vladimir Putin that simplified the Russian citizenship procedure for all Ukrainians.

"The mentioned decree is another encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, incompatible with the norms and principles of international law," the ministry said in a statement. 

Leader of Russian-occupied Ukrainian town killed by car bomb 

The Russian-appointed administrator of a small town in the Russian-occupied east of Ukraine's Kharkiv region has been killed by a car bomb presumed to be the work of Ukrainian saboteurs, the regional occupation authorities have said.

The military-civilian administration said Yevgeny Yunakov, chief administrator of Velikyi Burluk, had been killed by a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group, according to Russia's TASS news agency.

Alongside parts of the Kharkiv region in the east, Russian forces have also captured swathes of the southern Ukrainian provinces of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Putin fast-tracks Russian citizenship for Ukrainians

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree to fast-track citizenship for all Ukrainians, more than four months into Moscow's military offensive in Ukraine.

The decree ordered that "all citizens of Ukraine" be given "the right to apply for admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation in a simplified manner".

In May, Putin already fast-tracked citizenship for residents of two regions of Ukraine - the southern region of Kherson, which is almost entirely under the full control of Russian troops, and the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia, which is partially controlled by Moscow.

Russia, Türkiye plan summit talks soon: Kremlin

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin plan to meet in the near future after a phone conversation in which they discussed efforts to facilitate grain exports from Ukraine, the Kremlin has said.

The Kremlin did not provide more details.

Turkey has been mediating between Moscow and Kiev since Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24. The last talks between representatives of Russia and Ukraine were held in Istanbul in the end of March.

Death toll in Russian rocket attack on housing block rises to 24

The death toll from a Russian rocket attack that hit an apartment block in eastern Ukraine over the weekend rose to 24 and rescuers were still combing the rubble for survivors, the State Emergency Service said.

Nine people have been rescued from the ruins of the five-storey block in the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region that was struck late on Saturday, the agency said.

The emergency services said 55 people were helping the rescue effort. 

Conflict 'may last longer' than expected: Dutch PM in Kiev 

The conflict in Ukraine may continue longer than expected, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev.

"This war may last longer than we all hoped or expected. But that does not mean we can sit back and passively watch how it unfolds. We have to stay focused and continue to support Ukraine in every way," Rutte said.

Russian shelling kills three, wounds 28 in Kharkiv - Ukraine

Three people have been killed and 28 others wounded after Russian shelling hit the northeast Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the regional governor has said.

An official from the president's office said residential areas had been struck when Russia fired rockets from multiple rocket launchers at the city.

Russia says it struck ammo depots in Ukraine's Dnipro region

Russia's defence ministry has said that its missiles have struck ammunition depots in Ukraine's central Dnipro region used to supply rocket launchers and artillery weapons.

It also said that it struck deployment points for Ukrainian troops and foreign fighters in Kharkiv region.

Ukraine says it recaptured village in occupied Kherson region

Ukrainian forces have recaptured the village of Ivanivka in the southern Russian-occupied region of Kherson, a Ukrainian infantry brigade has said.

"The only thing left of the Russian occupiers in Ivanivka are horrible memories and 'dead' military equipment," it said.

Number of Ukrainians entering EU back to pre-war levels - bloc's migration chief

The number of Ukrainians crossing into European Union countries has returned to levels from before Russia's offensive and more people will be coming - and going - before school starts, the senior EU official for migration has said.

"When it comes to the refugee flows, the situation now is stable. The crossings between the EU and Ukraine, the numbers are pre-war, pre-Covid level, so we are back to like a normal number of people crossing," Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told reporters.

At the moment, almost the same number of people were entering the EU as returning to Ukraine, Johansson said on arriving for a meeting of EU home affairs ministers in Prague.

Lithuania widens curbs on Kaliningrad trade despite Russian warning

Lithuania has expanded restrictions on trade through its territory to Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, as phase-ins on earlier-announced European Union sanctions against Moscow over its offensive in Ukraine have taken effect.

Additional goods barred from Monday morning include concrete, wood, alcohol and alcohol-based industrial chemicals, a spokesperson for Lithuanian customs said.

On Monday, the Kaliningrad regional governor proposed a total ban on overland movement of goods between Russia and the three EU Baltic member states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, to push them into using Kaliningrad ports. "This will provide activities to (our) maritime carriers and give work to Kaliningrad ports, which have been hit hard by the EU restrictions," Governor Anton Alikhanov said.

Death toll from Russian rocket attack on apartment block rises to 18: Ukraine

The death toll from a Russian rocket attack that hit an apartment block in eastern Ukraine over the weekend has risen to 18 and rescuers have still been racing to reach survivors in the rubble, the emergency services have said.

Rescuers were in voice contact with two people trapped in the ruins of the five-storey block in the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region that was struck late on Saturday, the service said.

"As of 08:45 on July 11, ... 18 people were killed, 6 people were rescued from the rubble, about 137 tonnes of rubble were cleared...," it said.

Ukraine official says Russia strikes 'absolute terrorism'

Russian missiles have pounded Ukraine's second-largest city, local administrator has said, describing the attacks as “absolute terrorism.”

Governor of the Kharkiv region Oleh Syneihubov said on Telegram that the Russian forces only hit civilian targets in three missile strikes on the northeastern city.

“All (three were launched) exclusively on civilian objects, this is absolute terrorism!” Syneihubov said. One of the missiles destroyed a school, another a residential building while the third landed near warehouse facilities, said Syneihubov.

EU creates Moldova hub to stem arms trade from Ukraine

The EU is creating a hub in Moldova to battle organised crime, particularly arms smuggling from war-roiled neighbouring Ukraine, an official has said.

"By experience from the previous war in former Yugoslavia, we still have problems with firearms being trafficked from there to the organised criminal groups, feeding into violence in the criminal networks in European Union," EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson at a meeting of EU interior ministers.

The commissioner said the hub will be a "one-stop shop" allowing Europol to share information and for the EU's border guard agency Frontex to support border management and detection of firearms trafficking.

Russian shelling in east Ukraine kills at least 15

Rescuers have picked through the rubble of an apartment building in eastern Ukraine searching for two dozen people, including a child, feared trapped after a Russian rocket strike on the five-storey building killed 15 people.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the attack in the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region was "another terrorist attack" and Russia should be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Rescuers used a crane to lift a concrete slab and their hands to dig through the debris, while dazed residents who survived attack retrieved personal belongings and told stories of their miraculous escape.

For live updates from Sunday (July 10), click here