Dispatch for July 18

Yet another Ukrainian serviceman is reported killed in the Russian missile strike on Vinnytsia — colonel Oleh Makarchuck, head of the Armaments and Vehicles Repair Department and head of the Logistics Command Armament Service.

Together with Colonel Dmytro Burdyko and Leutenant Colonel Kostyantyn Puzyrenko (see our previous dispatch), he was reported killed in Vinnytsia on July 14, the day a Russian missile strike killed dozens of civilians. Given that already three Ukrainian Air Force officers are reported killed in Vinnytsia, we believe some event did take place in the House of Officers. It was not necessarily a meeting with foreign arms suppliers, as the Russian Ministry of Defense claims. However, this does not justify Russia's actions because, we believe, at the very least they violate the principle of proportionality of collateral damage (killing countless civilians while hitting a few officers).

Yesterday's dispatch also touched upon an interview with the family of a Russian soldier killed in Ukraine. Many viewers noticed a fridge with a warranty sticker in Ukrainian, assuming that the fridge was looted from Ukraine. However, yesterday another explanation emerged. One Russian review of the fridge's model says that back in 2013 a person got a fridge like the one in the video with a sticker in Ukrainian. The fridge seen in the video may well have been bought by the family long ago.

Last night, in the sky over Alchevsk (Luhansk region, deep in the "separatist" rear, so no Ukrainian air defense could be present) the Russian forces shot down their own Su-34 jet. There are photos and videos of the incident.

At the time of producing the dispatch we also received information that a bridge in Kherson was hit by some kind of projectiles.  It is currently unknown which exact projectile was used. There is a video. 

Smoke is rising from Chornobaivka near Kherson — it is currently unknown what happened there.

Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region, was again attacked with various munitions. Local military administrator Yevhen Yevtushenko reports civilian objects hit.

Mykolaiv is again under attack. Reportedly, a car dealership and an agricultural vehicle dealership were hit. Other hits were on the outskirts of the city. There is currently no data on casualties.

Another Russian attack hit Toretsk, Donetsk region; reportedly five people were killed and several more wounded, rescue workers are pulling apart the rubble. Pro-Russian Telegram channels claim it was a Ukrainian barracks building. There is currently no proof of this claim. 

The Russian Air Force also attacked Bakhmut with an unknown munition. It hit a lawn.

In occupied Rayske near Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region, an ammo dump was hit.

Luhansk military governor Serhiy Hayday reports that Russian forces trying to advance on the Bakhmut axis are now using men mobilized in newly occupied territory.

S-400 anti-air missile launchers were reportedly spotted in the Donbas, allegedly for the first time. Previously, we only saw older S-300 launchers there.

The Ukrainian soldiers are now using FH70 howitzers supplied by Estonia and Italy.

Ukrainian border guards are making improvised drone munitions: energy drink cans stuffed with explosives and tail fins attached. Such a projectile has little fragmentation effect. However, suppressive fire is also very important.

Russian military blogger Aleksand Arutyunov aka Razvedos announced an upcoming story about a Russian National Guard (militarized police) convoy that rushed to storm a Ukrainian city early in the war.

New Bellingcat investigation: former DNR commander Igor "Strelkov" Girkin has false identity papers issued from the FSB. His false identity's last name (Runov) is the same as his grandfather.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) found and published maps from 1969 found among the papers of a soldier of Russia's 138th Motorized Rifle Brigade. Even though the maps feature tactical drawings of a Russian column on the march, we believe that Russian soldiers don't actually use those maps and keep them because regulations demand it.

The SBU also reported that Belarusian railway locomotives were seized that were used to transfer Russian soldiers and vehicles to the Ukrainian border and further to Kyiv and Chernihiv regions.

In Novi Petrivtsy, Kyiv region, a burnt-out GAZ-3344 Russian military all-terrain vehicle is displayed to the public. An all-terrain vehicle of this model was spotted back in December at a training ground in Kursk region by a French TV crew. It was one of the indications that this was no ordinary exercise, because the Sixth Combined Arms Army that was arriving to the training ground had no such vehicles.

Norway has announced crowdfunding for a Bayraktar drone for Ukraine.

Switzerland refuses to treat wounded Ukrainian soldiers. To uphold their neutrality, they would have to intern the soldiers they treat and keep them in Switzerland until the end of the war.

Putin will take part in a meeting with the presidents of Iran and Turkey as well as hold bilateral talks with each leader. He will also meet Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Khamenei for the fifth time. Russia may purchase Iranian drones.

Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin says that Dmitry Rogozin, the recently dismissed head of the Russian Space Agency, will soon be back "in the ranks". We don't know whether this is a coincidence or a conscious reference to Rogozin's tweet from 2014, in which he said he wished to be in a trench near Slovyansk, where Russian-led separatists were fighting the Ukrainian army.

A lot of pro-Russian Telegram channels are realizing that listening to propaganda and deceiving yourself is counterproductive. Many on the Russian side feel the need to "debunk" the success of US-supplied HIMARS attacks. However, some channels do have an awakening and they write that HIMARS are actually very effective. This, for example, led to a split among the admins of a Wagner PMC-linked channel "Reverse Side of the Medal". They now run two separate channels.

Appeal to translators:

Теперь мы выпускаем сводки на английском языке и ищем команду переводчиков (которые не будут пропускать наш текст через Google Translate, а будут оперативно переводить под командованием нашего лучшего военного переводчика). Мы научим вас специфике. Учитывайте, что это сложная и тяжелая работа; сводки выходят шесть дней в неделю. У вас будут текстовые версии нашей видеосводки (2-3 страницы А4), которые надо будет быстро переводить на английский. Если вы готовы нам в этом помогать – пишите либо в бот, либо напрямую Руслану.