July 25, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The Ukrainian General Staff has conceded that Russian forces have been able to make small advances in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

According to the General Staff, intense shelling was reporting along the frontline in the entire Donetsk region, especially near Siversk, Sloviansk, Bakhmut and Kramatorsk. Ukraine says Russia also made a push towards Spirne and Ivano-Dariivka.

“[Russian forces] received a tough fight back and withdrew,” the General Staff said. 

The Ukrainian military also said Russian forces are demoralized and “the Russian command in some directions is throwing manpower into the attack without being covered by armored vehicles.”

CNN could not independently verify the claims made by the Ukrainian military.

European Investment Bank (EIB), also known as the European Union's bank, is providing an additional 1.59 billion euros ($1.62 billion) of financial assistance for Ukraine amid the devastating impact from the Russian invasion, the European Commission said Monday in a statement. 

Of the new amount pledged, 1.05 billion euros ($1.07 billion) will be made available immediately, it said.

This is the second financial package provided by the bloc since the invasion began and will help Ukraine "repair the most essential damaged infrastructure and resume critically important projects addressing the urgent needs of Ukrainian people," the commission said.

The European Union continues to stand by Ukraine and its people in the face of Russia's brutal aggression," Valdis Dombrovskis, EU executive vice president for an economy that works for people, said in the statement.

He added that the commission "will keep working with EU Member States and our international partners to support Ukraine on every level — for as long as it takes.”

Serhii Marchenko, Ukraine's minister of finance, expressed his gratitude to the EIB and the European Union for their support.

"With this financial support, we will keep working on restoring damaged infrastructure, resuming the provision of municipal services, including transport services, and preparing for the coming heating season," Marchenko said.

The Ukrainian government has criticized Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s trip to Africa, with a senior official calling it “the quintessence of sadism.”

“You arrange an artificial hunger and then come to cheer people up,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian President’s chief of staff, tweeted on Monday. “With one hand you sign the Istanbul initiative, with the other attack Odessa sea port." 

Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom says it will have to further reduce gas flow through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Wednesday as it halts another turbine for repairs.

This comes days after Gazprom resumed gas shipments through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, a vital artery linking Russia's vast gas reserves to Europe via Germany. The pipeline had been shut 10 days for scheduled maintenance, and many had feared Russia would not resume deliveries once the work was done.

“Due to the expiration of prescribed time before overhaul (in line with the Rostekhnadzor notification and taking into account the technical condition of the relevant machine), Gazprom is shutting down one more gas turbine produced by Siemens at the Portovaya [compressor station],” the company said in a statement on Monday. 

“The daily throughput of the Portovaya CS from 7:00 am (Moscow time) July 27 will be up to 33 million cubic meters,” the statement added.

The head of Germany’s gas regulator, Klaus Muller, confirmed the move in a tweet on Monday. 

“If Russian gas deliveries via Nord Stream 1 continue at this low level, a storage level of 95% by November is hardly achievable without additional measures,“ Germany's regulatory office for gas and electricity said in a statement Monday.  

The country’s Economics Minister Robert Habeck had previously called on Germans to reduce gas consumption in order to get the gas storage facilities as full as possible for the winter. 

Germany’s current total gas inventories are at 65.9%, according to the daily figures provided by the government. 

The reduction in the gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will also affect the transfer of gas to other European countries such as France, Austria and the Czech Republic.

Wholesale prices have risen noticeably as a result of the reduction in gas supplies and have recently settled at a higher level, Germany’s regulatory office said, warning that “businesses and private consumers must prepare for significantly high gas prices.”

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline delivers 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year, or nearly 40% of the bloc's total pipeline imports from Russia.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Pesko said on Monday that a repaired gas turbine for Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline will be installed after all the technical procedures are fulfilled, after which the gas flow to Europe will resume “to the extent that is technologically possible.” 

Peskov insisted that the issues with gas supply have nothing to do with politics.

“There is no politics here. These are the consequences of the restrictions that the Europeans themselves have introduced, and the Europeans themselves suffer from these restrictions,” he said, adding that Russia does not want Europe to give up Russian gas.

Moscow will continue to be a “reliable gas supplier," he said.

Read more here on why it matters.

The Ukrainian government is hoping to resume exports of grain from the Black Sea port of Odesa despite a Russian missile strike on Sunday, said Markiyan Dmytrasevych, the deputy minister for agrarian policy and food.

“We expect that, as announced, despite the incident that happened on Saturday, [export of grain] will start in the coming days. Hopefully we'll see some early results this week,” Dmytrasevych told journalists on Monday.

On Friday, Ukraine and Russia agreed to a deal that would allow the resumption of vital grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports. Ministers from both countries signed an agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in Istanbul. Just 24 hours after the deal, Russian missile strikes hit the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday pointed to the role of UN and Turkey to ensure security given their involvement in mediating the deal.

Zelensky said Ukraine will start exports "in order to prove to the world that it's not Ukraine who is blocking the exports," but said Turkey and the UN "should look after the security."

Separately, Deputy Minister Dmytrasevych said the Russian strike had reduced the “enthusiasm” that local farmers had over the deal signed with the UN and Turkey in Istanbul last week. 

“Scepticism towards this agreement was also felt by farmers and security experts even before the signing of the agreement. It is clear that no one trusts the Russians, no one believes them,” Dmytrasevych said. “Let's see how this initiative will work in practice, and for how long. Because we understand that this work can be interrupted.”

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has welcomed the arrival of three German self-propelled anti-aircraft systems, just days after a missile struck the port of Odesa. 

“Our capabilities to protect our sky will be strengthened. Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft systems began to arrive in Ukraine,” Reznikov tweeted on Monday, thanking Germany and the country’s defense minister for the delivery.

Reznikov also addressed the arrival of the new weaponry on Ukrainian television, explaining that the first delivery included three of these machines, with “a few thousand rounds of ammunition.” A total of 15 are expected, he added.

The Ukrainian defense minister went on to ask for additional equipment from western countries and called on companies involved in the defense industry to test their products in his country.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow’s strike on the port of Odesa did not break any of the commitments it agreed to in a deal to guarantee the export of Ukrainian grain. 

“If we talk about the episode that took place in Odesa, there is nothing in the obligations that Russia has taken on — including within the framework of the agreements signed on July 22 in Istanbul — which would prohibit us from continuing the special military operation, destroying military infrastructure and other military targets,” Lavrov told journalists during a press conference in Congo. 

Lavrov went on to repeat Moscow’s claims it only struck military targets. 

“As for the targets of those high-precision strikes, they are located in a separate part of the Odesa port, in the so-called military part of the Odesa port,” he said. “These targets were the combat boat of the naval forces of Ukraine and the ammunition depot, where the Harpoon anti-ship missiles were recently delivered. They were brought there to pose a threat to the Russian Black Sea Fleet.”

“The experts also confirmed that the grain terminal of the Odesa port is located at a considerable distance from the military unit, there are no obstacles for grain to be delivered to customers in accordance with the agreements signed in Istanbul, we did not create them,” he added.

The Russian foreign minister is visiting several African countries to try and drum up support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. African nations have been the worst affected by the restrictions on Ukrainian grain exports. 

A Ukrainian official said the country was preparing to resume grain exports soon despite Russia's attack on Odesa, while Russia's foreign minister has started a tour of various African nations aiming to shore up alliances. Fighting continues in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, while Ukrainian officials say they have carried out "very successful strategic operations" in southern Kherson region.

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Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Yurii Vaskov said that he hopes the first convoy will leave from the port of Chornomorsk this week after Russia and Ukraine signed a deal Friday that would allow the resumption of vital grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

Within the next two weeks, three Ukrainian ports, including Odesa, will be ready to export grain, Vaskov added. He said that the agreement with Russia also included the import and export of fertilizers, which are crucial for future harvests.

A Coordination Center is being set up in Istanbul, Turkey, to oversee the maritime caravans, Vaskov said, adding that representatives from the countries involved are “already” in Istanbul and the center should be ready to function “by Wednesday.”

There is no limit on the volume of exports of grain under the agreement, according to Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, who signed the deal.

The exports should mean “at least $1 billion in monthly export revenue” for Ukraine, he noted.

All of the maritime caravans will be escorted by Ukrainian ships, he explained.

“It was very crucial to us that — in the Ukrainian territorial waters — we will be controlling everything. The Ukrainian Navy will be controlling and not any other countries nor United Nations representatives or any other countries. That will be only the Ukrainian Navy,” Kubrakov said.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly attributed the timeline of exports. The timeline came from Ukraine's deputy infrastructure minister.