Ukraine: July 2024

Ukrainian nationalist ex-MP shot dead in Lviv street — 19 July 2024 (LINK)

Ukraine is on an 'irreversible' path to NATO, say members. But only after war with Russia ends — 10 July 2024 (LINK)

— The U.S., the Netherlands and Denmark announced that the first NATO-provided F-16s would be in the hands of Ukrainian military pilots by this summer.

— NATO also announced a long-term commitment of security assistance to Ukraine, and confirmed establishment of a new NATO center aimed at ensuring that Ukraine gets a more reliable flow of arms and training from members of the alliance. But the commitments still fall short of the striking power Ukraine says it needs to defeat the invading Russian forces.

— The final statement called China — which the West says provides components for Russia's weapons — a "decisive enabler" of Russia's war against Ukraine.

Russia under fire at UN over Ukraine strikes — The .kyivpost — 9 July 2024 (LINK)

Rage as Putin bombs a children’s hospital in Kyiv, but know there is a way to try him for his crimes: the Council of Europe has a plan to hold the Kremlin to account — The Guardian — 9 July 2024 (LINK)

A major Russian missile attack on Ukraine kills at least 20 people and hits a children's hospital — AP — 8 July 2024 (LINK)

Hungary's Orban unexpectedly visits China after Moscow and Kyiv, backs Xi's peace plan — CNN — 8 July 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 156 media reports — (LINK)

Indian Prime Minister Modi makes first visit to Russia since the start of war on Ukraine — AP — 8 July 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 25 media reports — (LINK)

Institute for the Study of War: Russian offensive campaign assessment, July 7, 2024 — understandingwar.org — 7 July 2024 (LINK)

• The 24 June Nekhoteevka strike demonstrates Ukraine's ability to conduct successful strikes on Russian military targets within Russia using Western-provided weapons to degrade Russian forces' ability to conduct offensive operations in Ukraine.
• Ukrainian drone operators appear to be improving their capabilities to interdict longer-range Russian drones in mid-air, and these technological innovations may allow Ukrainian forces to ease pressures on short-range and medium-range air defense assets if successfully fielded at scale.
• Chechen "Akhmat" Spetsnaz forces likely coerced a Russian milblogger to issue a public apology after he criticized "Akhmat" forces — an illustrative example of unprofessionalism in the Russian military.

— ISW is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy research organization. Dr. Kimberly Kagan founded ISW in May 2007, as U.S. forces undertook a daring new counterinsurgency strategy to reverse the grim security situation on the ground in Iraq . Frustrated with the prevailing lack of accurate information documenting developments on the ground in Iraq and the detrimental effect of biased reporting on policymakers, Dr. Kagan established ISW to provide real-time, independent, and open-source analysis of ongoing military operations and insurgent attacks in Iraq.

Ukraine's AI drones can target enemy uniforms and vehicles — eurasiareview — 1 July 2024 (LINK)

— A Ukrainian tech startup has created a new AI-powered drone that can identify and target things based on visual cues, such as specific uniforms. These drones can operate together in swarms and communicate with each other. The startup says the drones can make quick decisions on their own. But to avoid mistakes, such as hitting friendly targets, they need human approval before taking action.