July 6, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

State Emergency Service workers inspect a building at H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University damaged by a Russian missile strike on July 6.

A Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, destroyed a pedagogical university on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address. 

The main building, lecture halls, university museum and scientific library of H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University was destroyed, according to Zelensky.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office said a watchman was killed during the shelling of the university which occurred around 1 a.m. local time.

Speaking in his nightly address, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Western artillery they have received “started working very powerfully” on Wednesday.

The eastern Luhansk region has not yet been completely occupied by Russian forces and fighting continues in a settlement on the outskirts of the region, the head of the Luhansk region military administration, Serhiy Hayday said on Wednesday.

Russian forces have suffered “enormous losses” in equipment and personnel, according to Hayday. Russian forces have been trying to take control of the Luhansk region for more than four months.

He added hospitals in the occupied area of the region are full of Russian soldiers who are severely wounded.

Hayday also said he believes Russian forces are trying to develop an offensive against the cities of Sloviansk and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.

A resident walks a bike past a building in Severodonetsk on July 1.

Approximately 7,000 to 8,000 people remain in the eastern city of Severodonetsk but in the near future they will live in “awful conditions” with no water, gas or power supply, Oleksandr Striuk, the head of the military administration of Severodonetsk, said Wednesday.

Russian forces destroyed the material base of housing and utility services in this key city in the Donbas region, and they are looking for staff to help restore them but almost no staff members remain in Severodonetsk, according to Striuk.

Many utility and city workers had been evacuated previously, Striuk said.

He added that Russian forces who now occupy the city are working on organizing the Education Department for children to go back to school starting on Sept. 1. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) at a press conference with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin today in Kyiv.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Ireland for taking in Ukrainian refugees and for Ireland’s senate recently adopting a resolution that recognizes the Russian invasion of Ukraine as genocide.

At a joint news conference on Wednesday with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in Kyiv, he said the two discussed a joint response to the threat to food security, the energy crisis and the preparation of the new seventh sanction package against Russia.

Martin said “Ukraine belongs to the European Union” and that Ireland will be with Ukraine “every step of the way.”

Martin also pointed out that Ireland welcomed 40,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war and said, “They are welcome to stay in Ireland for as long as they need to. Our home is your home.”

The commander of the unit checks the rockets on a HIMARS vehicle in Eastern Ukraine on July 1.

Ukraine accused Russia of spreading false information after Moscow claimed it had destroyed two US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.

“Russian propagandists are actively spreading false information about the alleged destruction of the American HIMARS artillery system,” Ukraine’s Joint Forces Task Force said in a statement Wednesday. “We emphasize that this message does not correspond to reality and is nothing but a fake.”

Earlier Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed it has destroyed the HIMARS Multiple Launch Rocket Systems during an air strike in the Donetsk region. 

“High-precision air-launched missiles destroyed two US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket launchers and two of their ammunition depots,” the Russian defense ministry said in a briefing on Wednesday.

The ministry released footage of the alleged strike, but CNN could not identify any HIMARS MLRS in the video. CNN could not independently verify either claim. 

The United States has committed to sending in eight HIMARS to Ukraine, and at least four of HIMARS have already entered the fight against Russia. 

Use of not just the HIMARS, but also other Western-supplied weaponry has been linked to an increasing number of strikes deeper into Russian lines, as most have longer ranges and more precise accuracy than some of the Soviet-era equipment Ukraine was fielding at the start of the war. 

“The HIMARS artillery systems provided by the American partners constantly inflict a devastating hit on strategically important points of the enemy, which leads to colossal losses of the equipment, personnel and support of the occupying forces,” Ukraine’s Joint Forces Task Force added in its statement. 

Farmers harvest grain in the fields of the Odesa region, Ukraine, on July 4.

Ukraine expects to harvest at least 50 million tonnes of grain in 2022 — well below the 85 million tonnes it produced the previous year but still above expectations, said Taras Vysotskyi, the first deputy minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.

“Taking into consideration all circumstances and difficulties of the sowing campaign and the logistics during the wartime, we expect the harvest to be not that bad — higher than the average for the last five years,” Vysotskyi said. “At least 50 tonnes of grain, maybe more. It depends on corn harvest, the results of which we will see in October.”

Vysotskyi went on to say that Ukraine would have to export at least a portion of that grain.

“We have internal consumption less than 20 million tonnes, meaning that at least 30 million tonne of harvest will have to be exported,” he said.

Vysotskyi added, “350,000 tonnes of agricultural products were exported in March, 1,000,000 tonnes in April. Now, in June, it was 2,100,000 tonne. This means that our alternative logistics ways, excluding the Black Sea Ports, have increased.”

He also said the wheat crop will be of a food consumption quality, meaning it can be used for flower and bread making, as opposed to feed livestock. 

The crowdfunded Bayraktar BH2 combat drone destined for Ukraine is delivered to Lithuania, in this undated handout image obtained on July 4.

A Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone, secured by Lithuania for Ukraine after a local crowdfunding campaign, is expected to be shipped to Kyiv in the coming hours. 

The “Vanagas” (which means “Hawk” in Lithuanian), along with ammunition, arrived in the Baltic country on Monday, the country’s Defense Minister, Arvydas Anušauskas, tweeted. After a press introduction on Wednesday, Anušauskas added the drone would be transferred to Ukraine soon.

“Last hours of Bayraktar “Vanagas” in Lithuania. Very soon it will be delivered to Ukraine,” he tweeted.

The crowdfunding campaign was launched by Lithuanian online broadcaster Laisves TV last month and was able to secure around 6 million euros ($6.11 million) to purchase the drone. 

The purchase was organized by the Lithuanian Defense Ministry, but it says that after learning it was being purchased via a crowdfunding campaign, the manufacturer donated the drone for free. 

“Citizens of Lithuania collected funds for this aircraft, but inspired by the idea, the Turkish company ‘Baykar’, the manufacturer of ‘Bayraktar’, decided to donate it,” the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said in a statement. “1.5 million euros of the donated 5.9 million was allocated for arming the unmanned aircraft.”

It is not the first time Baykar has donated some of its drones to the Ukrainian armed forces. Last month, after a Ukrainian crowdfunding campaign secured enough funds to purchase three of the drones, the company said it would be donating them for free.

“We ask that the raised funds be remitted instead to the struggling people of Ukraine,” it said in a statement on June 27.

The Bayraktar TB2 drone has played a key role in Ukraine’s defense against Russia. The country had around 20 of the unmanned aerial vehicles before the start of the war on Feb. 24, but Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on June 28 that his office had been able to secure up to 50 drones since the invasion began.

“In the near future, almost all capacity of the Baykar Makina plant will be focused on meeting the needs of the Armed Forces. It’s about ordering dozens more drones,” Reznikov added.

Russia is likely to try and mount an offensive towards Sloviansk, the head of the city’s military administration, Vadym Liakh said, adding that Ukrainian forces are currently holding Moscow’s armies on the Siverskyi Donets river.

“Probably, they will [attack Sloviansk]. Probably, that is why the incoming hits have become more frequent,” Liakh said Wednesday. “I think that as soon as the enemy is able to carry out assault operations, it will begin the destruction of the infrastructure and the city itself.”

Liakh gave an update, saying that the frontline is now along the Siverskyi Donets river, a “natural obstacle” that Russia has already failed to surpass. He added that many fortifications were built near Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, making it possible for Ukrainian troops “to restrain the enemy for 4 months.” 

So far, Russian forces have been stationed by the Siverskyi Donets river for a month, which he thinks “will continue to be this way. But, unfortunately, the civilian population will be shelled more and more often.”

Liakh also explained that the situation inside the city is “tense,” given the intensified shelling in the past few weeks, with several killed and wounded.

“Critical infrastructure is operating, but there has been no centralized water supply for more than a month,” he said. “There are also problems with electricity, about a third of the population periodically remains without electricity. We restore it, but the enemy destroys it again.”

WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner, center, is escorted to a courtroom for a hearing, in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, on July 1.

WNBA star Brittney Griner committed a “serious offense” that is supported by “indisputable evidence,” the deputy spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alexey Zaytsev, said Wednesday.

“Basketball player Brittney Griner, who was taken into custody at Sheremetyevo Airport upon arrival from New York, is accused of smuggling and storing hash oil, which is classified as a narcotic drug,” Zaytsev said.

“This is a serious offense, supported by indisputable evidence and liable to imprisonment for up to 10 years, according to Art. 229 Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation,” Zaytsev added.

Attempts to present Griner’s detention as “illegal” do not stand up to criticism, according to Zaytsev.

“The law has been violated, and arguments about the innocent nature of Griner’s predilection – which, by the way, is punishable in some US states – are inappropriate,” Zaytsev said.

The spokesman added that “no one stops Brittney Griner from filing an appeal or asking for clemency” after the court issues a verdict.

Some background: Griner, 31, who has played in Russia during the WNBA’s offseason, was arrested February 17 in Moscow, a week before Russia invaded Ukraine.

She went on trial at a court near Moscow on Friday on drug smuggling charges.

Griner’s supporters and US officials say she has been wrongfully detained and have called for her release as fears mount that she is being used as a political pawn amid rising tensions between Russia and the US.

Earlier this month, she wrote a handwritten letter to US President Joe Biden saying she is “terrified” she will be detained in Russia “forever” and pleaded with the President not to forget about her and other American detainees.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin has arrived in Kyiv for meetings with the Ukrainian government in a show of support from both his country and the European Union.

“On the visit he will engage with Ukrainian authorities on how Ireland and the EU can support the country’s current, and future, needs,” a statement by the Taoiseach’s office on Wednesday read. 

Martin is expected to visit some of the areas around Kyiv worst affected by Russia’s invasion.

“The people of Ireland stand with Ukraine and its people in the face of Russia’s immoral and unprovoked war of terror,” he said ahead of the visit, according to the statement. “The bombardment and attacks on civilians are nothing short of war crimes, and I will use my visit to express Ireland’s support for moves to hold those behind these attacks fully accountable.”

Martin described the Ukrainian people’s “spirit and resolve” as inspiring, and added that “Ireland will provide every support for Ukraine’s path to full EU Membership, and continue to welcome and support civilians fleeing this war.”

People walk through the damage caused to the central market in Slovyansk, Ukraine, on July 6.

Ukrainian officials are urging the remaining residents in the Donetsk region to evacuate to safer areas, as Russian forces inch closer to the eastern territories.

“Russia has turned the entire Donetsk region into a hot spot where it is dangerous to remain for civilians,” the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko said, commenting on a missile strike in Toretsk on Wednesday.

“I call on everyone to evacuate. Evacuation saves lives,” he added.

Ukraine still controls 45% of Donetsk, but after taking over Lysychansk in the neighboring Luhansk region, Russian forces are now pushing toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Renewed strikes have increased the pace of evacuations but most people have already left the city, according to the head of the Sloviansk military-civilian administration, Vadym Liakh.

Ukrainian officials continue to call on the remaining residents still in the Donetsk region to evacuate to safer areas.

“Those who saw (what happened in Severodonetsk or Lysychansk) left a long time ago. Now there are approximately 23,000 residents of Sloviansk (out of around 100,000) which remain in the city,” Liakh said. “The number of people willing to leave has increased. We are working on evacuation in two directions: to Lviv, Dnipro or Rivne.”

Due to the increase in the flow of passengers leaving Donetsk, Ukrainian Railways said it would add additional wagons to facilitate the movement of people.

Although some are resisting calls from officials to evacuate, most people have already left the Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk region. Only around 340,000 people — out of 1,670,000 before the war — remain, according to Kyrylenko.

“It is difficult to persuade people to evacuate,” Kyrylenko said on Friday, “We are working on that all the time. People are starting to leave more actively, as there is chaotic shelling of civilian infrastructure.”

Some background: The General Staff of the Ukrainian military said on Monday that after taking over the last remaining Ukrainian-controlled city in the Luhansk oblast, Russian forces were preparing to continue their move toward cities in Donetsk still controlled by Kyiv. 

Sloviansk and Kramatorsk are the two largest population centers in the area. 

After taking Lysychansk, Russian forces now control nearly the entirety of the Luhansk region, barring a few pockets of resistance. 

Ukrainian servicemen are seen riding on top of an armored personnel carrier in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on July 5.

Ukraine says its military is putting up fierce resistance to Russian forces trying to advance through the eastern Donbas region, inflicting significant losses on Moscow’s armies.

The head of the Luhansk region military administration, Serhiy Hayday, says Ukrainian fighters are putting up stiff resistance.

The Russian Ministry of Defense does not regularly report the number of dead and injured among its forces and CNN could not independently verify Hayday’s claims about Russian casualties. However, independent analysts and observers, including some pro-Russian bloggers, have criticized the effort made by Moscow to capture the city of Lysychansk, saying it was too costly.

Ukraine needs weapons support: Hayday called for additional supplies of Western weapons to help balance the fight.

“When there is more long-range weapons, the advantage of the enemy in personnel will be leveled,” he said.

Russian forces now occupy most of the Luhansk region, barring a few pockets of resistance, and are pressing toward the Donetsk cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Pushback against Russia: Russian shelling targeted Ukrainian military positions in Luhansk “near Lysychansk in the direction of Bakhmut,” according to the Ukrainian military General Staff. In the neighboring Donetsk region, “the entire territory of the region,” was targeted, including Sloviansk, killing six civilians and wounding 21, the General Staff added.

Hayday said Russian attempts to push toward Donetsk and to cut the Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway that passes by Bilohorivka, were repelled by Ukrainian forces.

“The enemy was forced to retreat under the pressure of our fighters,” Hayday said.

Farmers harvest grain in Odesa, Ukraine, on July 4.

For months, Ukraine and allied countries have been trying to mitigate a growing food crisis caused by Russia’s months-long blockade of Ukrainian ports, with Moscow being accused of using food as a weapon of war.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said up to 60 million tons of grain could be stuck in the country by the fall if it continues to face blocked exports.

Here’s what you need to know about the situation:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers his nightly address from his office in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 5.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Western allies to supply his country with a modern, effective air defense system after Russia struck targets in the Khmelnytskyi region of western Ukraine on Tuesday evening, causing air raid sirens to ring across the country.

Missiles fired: The head of the Khmelnytskyi region military administration, Serhii Hamalii, said four missiles had been fired at the territory. One of the projectiles was intercepted by Ukraine’s air defenses, with debris falling in the Shepetiv district. The remaining three landed on civilian infrastructure, Hamalii said.

“The target of the strikes was a water tower that fully supplies the community with water,” he said on Tuesday evening. “As a result of the explosions, one person was injured.”

According to Zelensky, there were also Russian strikes in Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk on Tuesday.

Moscow is throwing “all the reserves they now have” as Russian and Ukrainian forces engage in “heavy battles” on the outskirts of the eastern Luhansk region, Serhiy Hayday, the head of Luhansk region military administration said.

Here are the latest headlines:

Firefighters work to control flames at the central market of Sloviansk, following a suspected Russian missile attack on July 5.

At least two people were killed and seven others injured when Russian forces shelled Sloviansk in the Donetsk region, a regional military chief said on Tuesday.

Kyrylenko called for residents to evacuate, saying “the most important thing is to save your lives.”

Some context: After Russian and separatist forces secured Lysychansk — effectively taking over nearly all the Luhansk region, barring a few pockets of resistance — they are now setting their sights on the Donetsk cities still under Ukrainian control, namely Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Norway has intervened to end a strike by oil and gas workers, the country’s government said in a statement late Tuesday, citing concerns about Europe’s energy crisis amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Natural gas prices spiked after Norwegian oil and gas workers went on strike over a pay dispute Tuesday, shutting three fields in the North Sea and threatening to escalate action over the course of the week.

Some context: Norway is Europe’s second-largest energy supplier after Russia and the strike had pushed gas prices to their highest level in four months.

The Norwegian oil and gas employers’ lobby had said the strikes could have halted almost 60% of Norwegian gas exports to Europe from July 9.

What this means: The closure of the three fields resulted in the loss of the equivalent of about 89,000 barrels of oil a day, Norway’s state-owned energy company Equinor said in a statement.

How significant was the closure: Europe is trying to reduce its reliance on Russia’s exports, which are already being curtailed by Moscow. Any sustained drop in Norway’s output could deal a big blow to efforts to replenish gas stocks ahead of the winter, as well as raise the risk of a catastrophic energy shortage.

What is being done: The Norwegian government has proposed a compulsory wage arbitration to settle the dispute, the statement said.

Read the full story here.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a press conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin on June 24.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet his Chinese counterpart during the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali this week, for a “candid exchange” on Beijing’s response to the war in Ukraine.

The top priority for the meeting between Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is to “underscore our commitment to intense diplomacy and maintaining open lines of communication with the People’s Republic of China,” Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Dan Kritenbrink said on a call with reporters Tuesday. 

Some context: China’s ruling Communist Party has neither condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine nor even labeled it as an invasion. Meanwhile, China’s state media has presented a carefully censored version of the war to its citizens and parroted Kremlin talking points on NATO.

Last week, China was for the first time included in NATO’s “Strategic Concept,” adopted at the bloc’s summit in Madrid. The document lays out the security challenges facing the US-led military alliance while outlining a course of action, and now says China’s ambitions and “coercive policies” challenge the allies’ interests, security and values.

The move came after the Group of Seven (G7) major democratic economies included tough language on China in their own communique, released days after launching an infrastructure investment plan to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative.