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Latest Developments in Ukraine: July 11


Rescue workers look thougt the window of a destroyed house after a Russian attack in a residential neighborhood in downtown Kharkiv, Ukraine, July 11, 2022.
Rescue workers look thougt the window of a destroyed house after a Russian attack in a residential neighborhood in downtown Kharkiv, Ukraine, July 11, 2022.

For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT:

11:55 p.m.: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine summoned its Canadian ambassador over Ottawa's decision to return to Germany gas turbines needed to maintain the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, Agence France-Presse reported.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to summon Canada's envoy to our country due to an absolutely unacceptable exception to the sanctions regime against Russia," Zelenskyy said in his daily address on Telegram.

Zelenskyy said the decision "will be perceived in Moscow exclusively as a manifestation of weakness."

11:30 p.m.: After Moscow ordered its troops to invade Ukraine, Sasha, a Russian woman living in Hungary, wanted to help people fleeing the conflict. She launched the group DreamIt, which offers free IT courses to Ukrainian refugees. She says she and other Russian expats "created this project with love" in the hope of uniting people divided by war. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has the story.

11:15 p.m.: Jalal Noory was a child when he escaped the Afghan civil wars following the Soviet invasion of his country, Afghanistan, in 1979, ending up in Ukraine, the BBC reports.

Almost 25 years later he woke up witnessing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and he only had two options: "to defend or die," he told the BBC.

8:51 p.m.: In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed several topics.

“First, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to summon Canada's representative to our country due to an absolutely unacceptable exception to the sanctions regime against Russia. This is not just about the turbine for the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which Canada was not supposed to, but nevertheless decided to transfer. Transfer actually to Russia. This is about general rules (of sanctions). If a terrorist state can squeeze out such an exception to sanctions, what exceptions will it want tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? This question is very dangerous. Moreover, it is dangerous not only for Ukraine but also for all countries of the democratic world,” he said.

Zelenskyy also spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: "I spoke with the President of Turkey (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan. The key issue is the restoration of our export routes through the Black Sea. We are working on making it possible. The sooner this happens, the fewer people in the world will feel the impact of the food crisis that was so carefully prepared by Russia."

7:30 p.m.: VOA’s U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer reports: The United Nations said Monday that thousands of children in war zones suffered grave abuses including rape, maiming and death last year, and that concerns are growing for children in new regions of conflict, including Ukraine.

“The fact remains that hundreds, if not thousands, of children are victims of violence in armed conflict every day of every week of every month of every year in conflict-affected states and regions,” Virginia Gamba, the special representative of the secretary-general for children and armed conflict, told reporters at the launch of the annual report.

6:18 p.m.:

5:31 p.m.: The United States believes Iran is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred drones, including some that are weapons capable, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters, according to Reuters. Sullivan also said the United States has information that shows Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use these drones.

4:38 p.m.: Ukraine has condemned a new decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin that allows Ukrainians in all parts of the country to obtain Russian citizenship.

"The mentioned decree is another encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, incompatible with the norms and principles of international law," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on July 11.

3:35 p.m.: Russian Tanks in Prague Spark Grief, Curiosity: Destroyed armor from the battlefields of Ukraine is being exhibited in the Czech capital after a similar display in Warsaw was organized by Ukraine's Ministry of Defense. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has photos from the display.

2:20 p.m.: Two Americans and a British man who are fighting for the Ukrainian Army spoke to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in Kharkiv about their reasons for volunteering for battle. Some express outrage at the devastation Ukraine is enduring while others say they are serving out of loyalty to Ukrainian friends.

1:36 p.m.:

12:57 p.m.: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan plan to meet in the near future after a phone conversation in which they discussed efforts to facilitate grain exports from Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Monday, according to Reuters.

Turkey has been mediating between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia’s invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Turkey’s Anadolu news agency said Erdogan had told Putin on Monday that it was time to act on a United Nations plan to set up a sea corridor for Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea.

Since the start of the conflict, Ukraine, one of the world's biggest grain producers, has been unable to use the seaports had been its main export conduit, and has been able to export only around a third of the grain it would previously have sent abroad.

A lack of Ukrainian grain has helped to drive global food prices to record highs and fueled concerns about food security.

11:19 a.m: Lithuania has widened restrictions on trade through its territory from Russia to the Russian Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, including a ban on concrete, wood, alcohol, and alcohol-based industrial chemicals, RFE/RL reported.

A spokesperson for Lithuanian customs told Reuters that the move was a result of the phase-ins on earlier announced European Union sanctions against Moscow taking effect.

Vilnius shut the route for transport of steel and other ferrous metals, which it said it was required to do under EU sanctions that took effect on June 18.

The EU imposed the punitive measures on Russia after it launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

9:17 a.m.: Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on expanding a fast track to Russian citizenship to all Ukrainians, according to state media.

Previously only residents of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as residents of the southern Zaporizhzhia and the Kherson regions, were eligible for the simplified procedure, Tass news agency reported.

8:49 a.m.: Ukrainian officials say the death toll from Russian rocket attack that hit an apartment block in eastern Ukraine on Saturday has now risen to at least 24.

Officials fear dozens of people could still be trapped in the rubble of the five-story apartment building in the Donetsk town of Chasiv Yar, according to RFE/RL.

Earlier, Donetsk regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram that at least 30 others “are under the rubble" of the building after it was hit by a Russian Uragan missile.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack represented another potential war crime by the Russia forces. Russia has denied targeting civilians.

6:15 a.m.: Austrian oil and gas company OMV said on Monday it is receiving roughly 70% less natural gas than it ordered after the biggest pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany began annual maintenance, reducing flows to Europe.

A spokesman for OMV confirmed a figure first reported by Austrian news agency APA, Reuters reported. Austria relies heavily on Russia for gas, obtaining about 80% of its supply from that one country. Russian deliveries have recently been between roughly half and 60% of agreed volumes.

5:45 a.m.: Russian missiles pounded Ukraine’s second-largest city early on Monday, local administrator said, The Associated Press reported.

Governor of the Kharkiv region Oleh Syneihubov said on Telegram that the Russian forces only hit civilian targets in three missile strikes on the northeastern city.

One of the missiles destroyed a school, another a residential building while the third landed near warehouse facilities, said Syneihubov. He said latest reports were that three people died and 28 were wounded in the attacks.

5:30 a.m.: Italy’s Eni, a Rome-based multinational oil and gas company, said Monday Russia’s Gazprom was reducing gas supply as routine maintenance on its Nord Stream 1 pipeline started.

5 a.m.: Ukrainian forces have recaptured the village of Ivanivka in the southern Russian-occupied region of Kherson, a Ukrainian infantry brigade said on Monday.

"The only thing left of the Russian occupiers in Ivanivka are horrible memories and 'dead' military equipment," it said.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the claim. There is more than one village of Ivanivka in the area. One of them is located along the front line.

4:30 a.m.: The governor of Russia’s Kaliningrad region proposed a total ban on the movement of goods between the three Baltic states and Russia Monday, in response to what authorities in the exclave have called a "blockade" of it by Lithuania, according to Reuters.

"As a reciprocal measure we propose to completely prohibit the movement of goods (including those in transit from third countries) between the three Baltic States and Russia," Governor Anton Alikhanov said.

The Kaliningrad region would be excepted from the ban, he added.

Lithuania on Monday expanded restrictions on trade through its territory to the exclave, as phase-ins of earlier-announced European Union sanctions against Moscow took effect.

4:15 a.m.: The death toll from a Russian rocket attack that hit an apartment block in eastern Ukraine over the weekend rose to 18 on Monday and rescuers were still racing to reach survivors in the rubble, the emergency services said.

Rescuers were in voice contact with two people trapped in the ruins of the five-story block in the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region that was struck late on Saturday, Reuters reported citing Ukraine’s emergency services.

"As of 08:45 on July 11, ... 18 people were killed, 6 people were rescued from the rubble, about 137 tons of rubble were cleared...," it said.

3 a.m.: A Lithuanian customs spokesperson said Monday that the country has expanded restrictions on trade through its territory to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, as phase-ins on earlier announced European Union sanctions set in.

Goods sanctioned from Monday morning include concrete, wood, alcohol and alcohol-based industrial chemicals, Reuters reported citing the spokesperson.

2:30 a.m.: The biggest single pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany started annual maintenance on Monday, with flows expected to stop for ten days, but governments, markets and companies are worried the shutdown might be extended due to war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline transports 55 billion cubic meters a year of gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Maintenance lasts from July 11 to 21.

Last month, Russia cut flows to 40% of the pipeline’s total capacity, citing the delayed return of equipment being serviced by Germany's Siemens Energy, in Canada. Canada said at the weekend it would return a repaired turbine, but it also said it would expand sanctions against Russia's energy sector.

Europe fears Russia may extend the scheduled maintenance to restrict European gas supply further, throwing plans to fill storage for winter into disarray and heightening a gas crisis that has prompted emergency measures from governments and painfully high bills for consumers.

2 a.m.: Donetsk regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on the Telegram messaging service that a Russian missile had struck Druzhkivka, a town behind the front line, and reported shelling of other population centers, Reuters reported.

As war rages on, Ukrainian officials accuse Russia of targeting civilians.

1:20 a.m.: Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, more than 7.4 million people have fled the country into the European Union, according to data shared by the European Commission, the executive of the EU.

1:15 a.m.: The U.K. defense ministry said Monday that warring parties haven’t made territorial gains in Ukraine over the weekend.

"As of Sunday 10 July, Russian artillery bombardments continued in the northern Donbas sector, but probably without any major territorial advances," the ministry said. "Ukrainian forces continued to apply localised pressure to the Russian defensive line in north-east Kherson oblast, also probably without achieving territorial gain."

12:01 a.m.: Rescuers picked through the rubble of an apartment building in eastern Ukraine searching for two dozen people, including a child, feared trapped after a Russian rocket strike on the five-story building killed 15 people, Reuters reported.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the attack in the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region was "another terrorist attack" and Russia should be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Rescuers used a crane to lift a concrete slab and their hands to dig through the debris on Sunday, while dazed residents who survived the Saturday evening attack retrieved personal belongings and told stories of their miraculous escape.

Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, calling it a "special military operation" to demilitarize Ukraine and rid it of nationalists.

Ukraine and its Western allies say Putin’s war is an imperial land grab and has accused his forces of war crimes. Moscow denies attacking civilians.

The biggest conflict in Europe since World War II has killed thousands, left cities and towns in ruins, and seen more than 5.5 million Ukrainians flee their country.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

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