Ukraine Update…887 Days of the Russian Conflict…Ukraine F-16’s Questions….

• The US will arm F-16 fighter jets supplied by other allies to Ukraine with advanced American weapons including air-to-ground missiles, extended range guided bomb packs and air-to-air missiles including the AMRAAM and AIM-9X, according to the Wall Street Journal ($). The first of dozens of donated F-16s are due in Ukraine this summer, flown by Ukrainian pilots trained in European countries and the US.

• Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday its forces had captured the settlement of Pivdenne in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. It adjoins Toretsk, a Ukrainian stronghold the Russians are trying to take. Ukrainian military bloggers said areas around Toretsk were gripped by heavy fighting with Russian soldiers trying to infiltrate in small groups. Ukraine’s military general staff made no reference to Pivdenne in a late evening report but said Russian forces tried repeatedly to breach Ukrainian defences near Pokrovsk, another hotspot farther west.

• The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday it had successfully hit a Russian oil depot in the Vozy settlement of the Kursk region. The depot was targeted in a joint operation of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and other forces, said the military general staff. The Kursk region’s acting governor said there had been a missile attack. On Sunday, Ukraine’s military struck the Polevaya oil depot in the Kursk region with three tanks catching fire.

• Ukraine’s energy situation is improving, officials have said, as it contends with waves of Russian attacks targeting power stations. State-run electricity operator Ukrenergo said 30 July was the first day of the month with no power cuts. “If there is no more shelling, it will be possible to manage with minimal restrictions or no power outages at all in the next three months,” said Yuriy Boyko, an adviser to Shmygal who sits on Ukrenergo’s supervisory board. Ukraine has been importing electricity from the EU to fill the gap in generation. The prime minister, Denys Shmygal, said Ukraine was continuing “to prepare for the autumn and winter period and develop alternative generation sources.”

• The Ukrainian government has invited the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, to visit Ukraine, the latter’s foreign ministry has said. Yi and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, met in China last week.

• Shaun Walker reports that the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has pardoned Rico Krieger, a German sentenced to death after being accused of espionage on behalf of Ukraine. Germany’s foreign office confirmed to the AFP news agency that Krieger had been pardoned. It comes amid talk of possible high-profile prisoner exchanges by Belarus’s close ally Russia.

• Russian lawmakers passed a bill on Tuesday allowing businesses to use cryptocurrencies in international trade, as part of efforts to skirt western sanctions…..

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