Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine predicts it will recapture Kherson region; push to restart grain exports after missile attack – live | Ukraine

The International Atomic Energy Agency said that 10 Ukrainian nuclear reactors have been connected to the grid, the Kyiv Independent reports.

According to the IAEA, one more nuclear energy reactor had been connected to the grid at the Rivne nuclear power plant in Ukraine’s Rivne pblast.

The outlet reported that now 10 of Ukraine’s 15 nuclear energy reactors are now connected to the grid. Three reactors are in the Rivne oblast, three are in the Russian-occupied Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia oblast, two are in the Myokolayiv oblast and two are in Khmelnytsky oblast.

Ukraine will continue doing all it can to inflict as much damage on Russian forces as possible, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on Sunday.

“Even the occupiers admit we will win,” he said as he hailed the upcoming day of Ukrainian statehood, July 28, a new annual holiday that Zelenskiy announced last year in August.

“We hear it in their conversations all the time. In what they are telling their relatives when they call them,” he added, saying that Ukraine was not letting up, Reuters reports.

“We do everything to inflict the highest possible damage on the enemy and to gather for Ukraine as much support as possible,” he said.

Zelenskiy further said that Ukraine had an important week ahead, with the holiday approaching in the midst of what he called a “cruel war.”

“But we will celebrate against all odds. Because Ukrainians won’t be cowed.”

Russia said Sunday that its missile barrage on a Ukrainian port central to a landmark grain export deal had destroyed Western-supplied weapons, after the attack sparked an outcry from Ukraine’s allies.

Agence France-Presse reports:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was embarking on a tour of several countries in Africa and on his first stop in Egypt sought to reassure his counterpart Sameh Shoukry that Russian grain supplies would continue.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denounced Saturday’s strike on the Odessa port as “Russian barbarism,” coming just one day after the warring sides struck a deal to release exports from the facility.

Turkey helped broker the accord and said immediately after the double cruise missile hits that it had received assurances from Moscow that Russian forces were not responsible.

But Russia’s defence ministry rolled back on the denial Sunday, saying the strikes had destroyed a Ukrainian military vessel and arms delivered by Washington.

“High-precision, long-range missiles launched from the sea destroyed a docked Ukrainian warship and a stockpile of anti-ship missiles delivered by the United States to the Kyiv regime,” it said.

“A Ukrainian army repair and upgrade plant has also been put out of order.”

The strikes have cast a shadow over the milestone accord – that was hammered out over months of negotiations and signed in Istanbul – to relieve a global food crisis.

German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Sunday that the war Russian president Vladimir Putin is waging against Ukraine is also a “war against the unity of Europe”.

“We must not let ourselves be divided, we must not let the great work of a united Europe that we have begun so promisingly be destroyed,” he said in a speech in the western German city of Paderborn.

“This war is not just about the territory of Ukraine, it is about the double shared foundation of our values and our order of peace,” he said.

But defending these values also means being prepared to “accept significant disadvantages,” he warned, without giving further details.

“Are we ready for that? We are all facing this question – today and in the days, weeks and months to come,” he said.

“Russia is not only questioning the borders, it is not only occupying the territories of an independent and sovereign neighbouring state, it is even challenging the statehood of Ukraine,” he added.

Ukraine’s health ministry said that least 18 medical personnel have been killed and nearly 900 medical facilities damaged or destroyed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which entered its sixth month on Sunday.

In a Facebook post, the ministry went on to say that more than 50 medical workers had been wounded by Russian attacks since Moscow launched its invasion on February 24.

The post also said that 123 medical facilities in Ukraine were totally destroyed by the invasion, while another 746 needed repairs.

Russia has denied deliberately targeting civilians or medical workers. Instead, it claims that it is conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine to fight nationalists.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 183 religious sites have been either fully or partly destroyed, the Kyiv Independent reports.

According to the Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnic Affairs and Freedom of Conscience, the sites include churches, mosques, synagogues, educational and administrative buildings of Ukraine’s religious communities.

The outlet went on to report that five of the 183 sites that have been ruined or destroyed by Russian attacks are Muslim, five are Judaic and the other 173 are Christian.

Hi everyone, it’s Maya Yang here – I’ll be taking over the blog for the next few hours and will bring you the latest updates on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A Canadian citizen has died in Ukraine, Canada’s foreign ministry has confirmed

Ukraine has warned that a deal to export grain via the Black Sea will stall if there are further Russian airstrikes on key ports, the Guardian’s Jon Henley reports. It comes after Saturday’s missile attack in Odesa.

Ukraine has warned that grain exports via the Black Sea would not restart as hoped if a Russian airstrike on a key port was followed by more, as Moscow insisted its weekend missile barrage on Odesa hit a warship and weapons stores.

Saturday’s attack, which the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, denounced as “barbarism” that showed Moscow could not be trusted to implement a freshly inked deal allowing grain exports to resume, drew international condemnation.

Turkey, which helped broker the accord aimed at easing global food shortages, said immediately after the double cruise missile hits on the strategic southern port that it had received assurances from Moscow that Russian forces were not responsible.

But Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday the strikes had destroyed a naval vessel and arms delivered by Washington. Kyiv said two Kalibr missiles fired from Russian warships hit an area around a pumping station and two more were shot down.

Read Jon Henley’s report in full: Airstrikes on ports could derail grain export plan, warns Ukraine

Ukrainians march through Belfast to show Russian invasion “is not over”

Several hundred people have marched through Belfast to remind the British public that the war in Ukraine is not over.

The crowd included Ukrainian nationals and supporters, who marched through Belfast city centre waving Ukrainian flags and chanting messages including “stop genocide in Ukraine”, PA reports.

One of those present, Kateryna Zaichyk, told PA the group’s main message is that fighting continues and that Ukraine still needs support.

Addressing crowds at City Hall, Oleg Shankaruk, chair of Ukrainians in Northern Ireland, thanked government agencies who have already offered support to host Ukrainian families. “We want to say a big thank you to everyone in Northern Ireland,” he said.

I’m Anna MacSwan, and will be bringing you the latest developments on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this evening.

Summary of the day so far

AFP has a report from a village 25 miles outside the city of Kherson that casts doubt on rhetoric coming from the Ukrainian authorities about recapturing the region by September. The reporter was told by local troops that Ukraine was “doing well just to hold the front line”.

More from AFP here:

In a devastated village near Ukraine’s southern front line, the thud of incoming Russian artillery is a constant reminder of the hard battle ahead for Kyiv’s troops in a planned major counter-offensive.

Signs of destruction are all around in the village, which was only liberated from Russian occupation after intense fighting.

Almost every house has been levelled to the ground or badly damaged, there are burnt out cars, craters left by rockets and there is no sign of the people who once called the area home

Now a small detachment of Ukrainian soldiers holds the position in sandbagged trenches and the wreckage of destroyed buildings, always alert to enemy drones in the air. A couple of dogs and a cat keep them company during the long, hot days of waiting.

“There are those who are afraid – but what can we do, we need to defend our homeland, because if I don’t do it then my children will be forced to do it,” said Stanislav, 49, who left his wife and two kids at home to volunteer to fight when Russia invaded.

Kyiv has vowed to launch a counter-offensive to retake the strategic Kherson region and President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that his forces were advancing “step by step”.

For now, the troops at the position visited by AFP said Ukraine was doing well just to hold the front line.

None doubted a push for Kherson city, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) away, would come eventually – even if the prospect looks brutal and Ukraine still needs more big guns and armoured vehicles to make larger gains.

“We really don’t have enough artillery here – if we fire eight times at them, they fire back 48 times. For now they have superiority in artillery,” said Stanislav, who comes from the neighbouring Odessa region.

“But we are holding on.”