Russia ‘doesn’t have the courage’ to admit defeat, says Zelenskiy – as it happened
From 12 Jul 2022 22.37 Zelenskiy: Russia 'doesn't have the courage' to admit defeat Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Russia “doesn’t have the courage” to admit defeat in Ukraine, and is warning the occupying military force that it is not safe “anywhere on our land”. Ukraine’s president delivered the remarks in a blistering video address to the nation on Tuesday night, the 139th day since Moscow’s invasion, and posted to his official website. ⚡️Zelensky: Russia does not have courage to admit defeat.



“They no longer have strategic power, character, or understanding of what they are doing here, on our land. There is not an iota of courage to admit defeat and withdraw troops from the Ukrainian territory,” Zelensky said. — The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 12, 2022 Zelenskiy also mocked the Russian military’s apparent reliance on ageing weapons and Soviet-era tactics, and insisted the unity of his country’s citizenry, combined with the strength of Ukraine’s armed forces, meant the outcome of the war was “certain”: The occupiers have already felt very well what modern artillery is, and they will not have a safe rear anywhere on our land. They have felt that the operations of our reconnaissance officers to protect their homeland are much more powerful than any of their ‘special operations’. Russian soldiers, and we know this from interceptions of their conversations, are truly afraid of our armed forces. The so-called second army of the world is afraid of Ukrainians and is able to do something only on the basis of bottomless stocks of old Soviet weapons. They no longer have strategic strength, character, or understanding of what they are doing here on our land. They also don’t have even an iota of courage to admit defeat and withdraw troops from Ukrainian territory. Ukraine, he said, will “be able to defend itself, rebuild itself, and realise all its foreign policy goals”: When millions of people work sincerely for this, each and every one at their own level, the result will be certain. Zelenskiy’s remarks came as fierce fighting continues for control of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, and Russia appears to be stepping up its attacks on civilians, with at least 45 people now known to have died in a weekend missile strike on a block of flats in Chasiv Yar. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Polish defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak meet in Kyiv Tuesday. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters The president also revealed he had met Poland’s deputy prime minister and defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak in Kyiv on Tuesday, and discussed cooperation over defence. He said: “It is important not only what we talked about, but also how we talked. With absolute confidence in the Ukrainian future, in the Ukrainian-European future”. Zelenskiy added: A really difficult road is ahead. Unfortunately, it is impossible to do otherwise when you are protecting your home from a terrorist assault. But it is also clear that what lies ahead is the success of our state.



13 Jul 2022 01.10 Thank you for joining us for today’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. We will be pausing our live reporting overnight and returning in the morning. In the meantime, you can read our comprehensive summary of the day’s events below. The death toll from a weekend Russian missile attack on a residential apartment block in Chasiv Yar, eastern Ukraine, rose to at least 45 on Tuesday. Saturday’s strike destroyed the five-storey building and damaged several others in the Donetsk region city. Nine people have been pulled out alive, with a rescue operation still ongoing. At least seven people were reportedly killed by a Ukrainian missile strike on a large ammunition store in the town of Nova Kakhovka, in Russia-occupied Kherson, in a strike attributed to recently acquired US weapons. The explosion hit a warehouse close to a key railway line and a dam on the Dnipro River. Footage on social media showed a large explosion lighting up the night, burning ammunition and towering smoke. Russia has reportedly heavily shelled the eastern town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region overnight in response to the Nova Kakhovka strike. Kyiv Independent reporter Illia Ponomarenko tweeted alongside footage purportedly of the assault: “Meanwhile, Russia responds by sweeping Bakhmut off the earth with artillery in the night.” Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Russia “doesn’t have the courage” to admit defeat. In a nationally televised address, Zelenskiy also mocked the Russian military’s apparent reliance on ageing weapons and Soviet-era tactics, and insisted the unity of his country’s citizenry, combined with the strength of Ukraine’s armed forces, meant the outcome of the war was “certain”. Grain shipments via the Danube River have increased with the reopening of the Bystre canal. The number of foreign ships reaching Ukraine ports to help with grain exports has doubled to 16 within the last 24 hours, according to Ukraine deputy infrastructure minister, Yuriy Vaskov. Ukraine has restored the long-decommissioned ports to facilitate the exportation of grain due to Russia’s Black Sea blockade, and expects to increase monthly exports to 500,000 tons. The US treasury announced on Tuesday it was sending an additional $1.7bn (£1.4bn) in economic aid to Ukraine to help continue funding the country’s “essential services”. The move follows an announcement by European foreign ministers late on Monday approving €1bn (£850m), the first instalment of a €9bn rescue package agreed in May. Russian president Vladimir Putin is set to visit Tehran next week to hold talks with Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The meeting comes as the US has accused Iran of preparing to supply Russia with hundreds of weapons-capable drones for use in Ukraine. Military delegations from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey will meet UN officials in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss a possible deal to resume safe exports of Ukraine grain from the major Black Sea port of Odesa as a global food crisis worsens. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday that more than 5,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded on 24 February, adding that the real toll was probably much higher. The European Union has so far frozen €13.8bn (£11.7bn) worth of assets held by Russian oligarchs, other individuals and entities sanctioned for Moscow’s war against Ukraine, the bloc’s top justice official said on Tuesday. Russia has claimed to have killed a significant number of foreign mercenaries fighting in Ukraine in the last three weeks, including 23 from Great Britain. The appeals over the death sentences of captured Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Saaudun Brahim will be dealt with within a month, an official from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said. UK foreign secretary Liz Truss has said she “utterly condemns” the sentencing, stating: “They are prisoners of war. This is a sham judgement with absolutely no legitimacy.” Brazil is looking to buy as much diesel as it can from Russia and the deals closed “as recently as yesterday,” Brazilian foreign minister Carlos Franca said on Tuesday, without giving further details.



12 Jul 2022 00.50 The Virgin Mary seen hanging on the wall of a destroyed church due to Russian shelling in the south of Ukraine. Photograph: Mykhaylo Palinchak/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock An Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia battalion rests after patrolling at the frontline near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday, July 12. Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP



12 Jul 2022 00.15 Russia shelling east Ukrainian town of Bakhmut - reports Russia has reportedly responded to an earlier Ukrainian strike on the Russian-held town of Nova Kakhovka by shelling the eastern town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region overnight. Kyiv Independent reporter Illia Ponomarenko tweeted alongside footage purportedly of the assault: “Meanwhile, Russia responds by sweeping Bakhmut off the earth with artillery in the night.” According to multiple reports, Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, is currently under heavy shelling. pic.twitter.com/dTi0aU2FGi — Oleksiy Sorokin (@mrsorokaa) July 12, 2022



12 Jul 2022 00.00 Ships begin to pass through Danube to export Ukraine grain Here is a little more detail regarding an increase in Ukraine’s grain exports as ships reportedly begin to pass through an important mouth of the Danube river. Deputy infrastructure minister Yuriy Vaskov was quoted as a saying in a ministry statement: In the last four days, 16 ships have passed through the Bystre rivermouth. We plan to maintain this pace.” The ministry said the 16 vessels were now waiting to be loaded with Ukrainian grain for export to foreign markets, while more than 90 more vessels were awaiting their turn in Romania’s Sulina canal. Only four ships could be received per day along the Sulina route, he said, while a rate of eight per day was needed. But Ukraine was negotiating with Romanian colleagues and European Commission representatives about increasing the rate of crossings, he added. If such conditions were met, and with the opening of the Bystre, he said Ukraine expected this ship congestion would end within a week and that monthly exports of grain would increase by 500,000 tonnes.



12 Jul 2022 23.04 Summary It’s 1am in Kyiv and Moscow, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its 140th day. Here’s what we’ve been following: Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Russia “doesn’t have the courage” to admit defeat, and that the occupying forces are not safe anywhere in the country. In a nationally televised address, Zelenskiy also mocked the Russian military’s apparent reliance on ageing weapons and Soviet-era tactics, and insisted the unity of his country’s citizenry, combined with the strength of Ukraine’s armed forces, meant the outcome of the war was “certain”.

In a nationally televised address, Zelenskiy also mocked the Russian military’s apparent reliance on ageing weapons and Soviet-era tactics, and insisted the unity of his country’s citizenry, combined with the strength of Ukraine’s armed forces, meant the outcome of the war was “certain”. The death toll from a weekend Russian missile attack on a residential apartment block in Chasiv Yar, eastern Ukraine, rose to at least 45 on Tuesday. Saturday’s strike destroyed the five-storey building and damaged several others in the Donetsk region city. Nine people have been pulled out alive, the Kyiv Independent reported, with a rescue operation ongoing.

Saturday’s strike destroyed the five-storey building and damaged several others in the Donetsk region city. Nine people have been pulled out alive, the Kyiv Independent reported, with a rescue operation ongoing. Footage from social media appears to show a Ukrainian missile strike on a large ammunition store in the town of Nova Kakhovka, in Russia-occupied Kherson. The Guardian’s Peter Beaumont in Kyiv reports that at least seven people were killed, and that the missile used in the strike was among a batch of recently acquirted weapons from the US.

The Guardian’s Peter Beaumont in Kyiv reports that at least seven people were killed, and that the missile used in the strike was among a batch of recently acquirted weapons from the US. The US treasury announced on Tuesday it was sending an additional $1.7bn (£1.4bn) in economic aid to Ukraine to help continue funding the country’s “essential services”. The move follows an announcement by European foreign ministers late on Monday approving €1bn (£850m), the first instalment of a €9bn rescue package agreed in May.

The move follows an announcement by European foreign ministers late on Monday approving €1bn (£850m), the first instalment of a €9bn rescue package agreed in May. The number of foreign ships reaching Ukraine ports on the Danube to help with grain exports has doubled to 16 within the last 24 hours, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing the country’s infrastructure ministry. Ukraine has restored the long-decommissioned ports to facilitate the exportation of grain due to Russia’s Black Sea blockade, and expects to increase monthly exports to 500,000 tons.

Ukraine has restored the long-decommissioned ports to facilitate the exportation of grain due to Russia’s Black Sea blockade, and expects to increase monthly exports to 500,000 tons. Russian president Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, the Kremlin said, a day after the US warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its action in Ukraine.

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday that more than 5,000 civilians had been killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded on 24 February, adding that the real toll was probably much higher.

The European Union has so far frozen €13.8bn (£11.7bn) worth of assets held by Russian oligarchs, other individuals and entities sanctioned for Moscow’s war against Ukraine, the bloc’s top justice official said on Tuesday.

Russia has claimed to have killed a significant number of foreign mercenaries fighting in Ukraine in the last three weeks, including 23 from Great Britain.

An official at the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic says that the appeals over the death sentences of Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Saaudun Brahim will be dealt with within a month. UK foreign secretary Liz Truss has said she “utterly condemns” the sentencing, stating: “They are prisoners of war. This is a sham judgement with absolutely no legitimacy.” That’s it from me, Richard Luscombe, in the US. My colleagues in Australia will be along shortly to guide you through the rest of the day’s developments in Ukraine.



12 Jul 2022 22.48 Ukraine’s air force has carried out about 1,700 attacks on Russian forces since the start of the war on 24 February, the online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda is reporting, citing military officials. Air force command spokesman Yuriy Ignat told the outlet that Ukraine’s pilots had been able to overcome strong air defence systems employed by the “temporary” occupiers, and “continue to provide air support to ground troops in the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine” using Su-25 attack aircraft and Su-24M bombers: In total, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, air force strike aircraft have conducted 1,700 group airstrikes against the positions, warehouses, equipment and manpower of the Russian occupying forces on the front lines... despite the large number of enemy air defenses that the occupiers have concentrated in the temporarily occupied territories.



12 Jul 2022 22.37 Zelenskiy: Russia 'doesn't have the courage' to admit defeat Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Russia “doesn’t have the courage” to admit defeat in Ukraine, and is warning the occupying military force that it is not safe “anywhere on our land”. Ukraine’s president delivered the remarks in a blistering video address to the nation on Tuesday night, the 139th day since Moscow’s invasion, and posted to his official website. ⚡️Zelensky: Russia does not have courage to admit defeat.



“They no longer have strategic power, character, or understanding of what they are doing here, on our land. There is not an iota of courage to admit defeat and withdraw troops from the Ukrainian territory,” Zelensky said. — The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 12, 2022 Zelenskiy also mocked the Russian military’s apparent reliance on ageing weapons and Soviet-era tactics, and insisted the unity of his country’s citizenry, combined with the strength of Ukraine’s armed forces, meant the outcome of the war was “certain”: The occupiers have already felt very well what modern artillery is, and they will not have a safe rear anywhere on our land. They have felt that the operations of our reconnaissance officers to protect their homeland are much more powerful than any of their ‘special operations’. Russian soldiers, and we know this from interceptions of their conversations, are truly afraid of our armed forces. The so-called second army of the world is afraid of Ukrainians and is able to do something only on the basis of bottomless stocks of old Soviet weapons. They no longer have strategic strength, character, or understanding of what they are doing here on our land. They also don’t have even an iota of courage to admit defeat and withdraw troops from Ukrainian territory. Ukraine, he said, will “be able to defend itself, rebuild itself, and realise all its foreign policy goals”: When millions of people work sincerely for this, each and every one at their own level, the result will be certain. Zelenskiy’s remarks came as fierce fighting continues for control of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, and Russia appears to be stepping up its attacks on civilians, with at least 45 people now known to have died in a weekend missile strike on a block of flats in Chasiv Yar. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Polish defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak meet in Kyiv Tuesday. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters The president also revealed he had met Poland’s deputy prime minister and defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak in Kyiv on Tuesday, and discussed cooperation over defence. He said: “It is important not only what we talked about, but also how we talked. With absolute confidence in the Ukrainian future, in the Ukrainian-European future”. Zelenskiy added: A really difficult road is ahead. Unfortunately, it is impossible to do otherwise when you are protecting your home from a terrorist assault. But it is also clear that what lies ahead is the success of our state.



12 Jul 2022 21.25 The number of foreign ships reaching Ukraine ports on the Danube to help with grain exports has doubled to 16 within the last 24 hours, the Kyiv Independent reports, citing the country’s infrastructure ministry. The Guardian reported on Saturday that Ukraine was restoring and expanding some of its long-decommissioned river ports on the Danube to facilitate the exportation of grain due to Russia’s Black Sea blockade. The Kyiv Independent said Tuesday that 16 vessels have now entered through the Danube-Black Sea Canal to load Ukrainian grain, with the assistance of the Ukraine navy. More than 90 ships are currently waiting for their turn, the ministry said, as Ukraine expects to increase the monthly export of grain by 500,000 tons. The use of the canal opened up after Ukraine liberated Snake Island from Russian forces on 30 June.



12 Jul 2022 20.36 Chasiv Yar death toll rises to 45 The death toll from a weekend Russian missile attack on a residential apartment block in Chasiv Yar, eastern Ukraine, rose to at least 45 on Tuesday, according to the Kyiv Independent. The newspaper reported that the state emergency service said it had now pulled 45 bodies out of the rubble, including a child. Saturday’s missile attack destroyed the five-storey building and damaged several others in the Donetsk region city. Nine people have been rescued, the newspaper says, and the rescue operation is ongoing.



12 Jul 2022 19.55 US and EU send billions more in Ukraine aid The United States treasury announced on Tuesday it was sending an additional $1.7bn (£1.4bn) in economic aid to Ukraine to help continue funding the country’s “essential services”. The move follows an announcement by European foreign ministers late on Monday approving €1bn (£850m), the first instalment of a €9bn rescue package agreed in May. #UPDATE The United States Treasury announced Tuesday it will send an additional $1.7 billion in economic aid to Ukraine to help fund the country's recovery from Russia's invasion pic.twitter.com/JQYoaSPGMO — AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 12, 2022 Like the European money, the US payment is also part of a wider package, $7.5bn (£6.3bn) in aid signed off by Joe Biden in May, and brings to almost £2.5bn the amount approved in aid for Ukraine from both sides of the Atlantic in just the last 24 hours. In a statement, the US treasury secretary Janet Yellen said the money was intended to directly help those suffering from Russia’s 24 February invasion of Ukraine: This latest contribution of economic assistance for Ukraine is part of President Biden’s commitment to support the government of Ukraine as it defends Ukraine’s democracy against Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable war. This aid will help Ukraine’s democratic government provide essential services for the people of Ukraine. The funds will go towards critical operations in Ukraine, such as paying health care worker salaries, according to the treasury statement. Yellen is currently in Tokyo, where she met Japanese finance minister Shunichi Suzuki on Tuesday to discuss strengthening economic sanctions against Russia. According to AFP, Zbynek Stanjura, finance minister of the Czech Republic, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said the European money would be immediately beneficial, as EU member nations debate a timetable for the release of the rest of the approved package. He said: This will give Ukraine the necessary funds to cover urgent needs and ensure the operation of critical infrastructure.

Updated at 19.59 BST