text: Stay on top of Russia-Ukraine war 07-23-2024 developments on the ground with KyivPost fact-based news, exclusive video footage, photos and updated war maps.
  Russian propagandists’ goal in their accounts of the assassination attempt on Trump is not to offer a single narrative, but rather to muddy the waters so Americans come to doubt everything.
  Following the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, Russian journalists and government officials decided it was appropriate to give their forecasts on social media of how the near-fatal event might affect the US elections. Not surprisingly, their analyses generally concurred that the “official narratives” in the US could not be trusted and Trump’s victorious path to the White House was now assured.
  In the eyes of one of Moscow’s favorite “political technologists,” Yevgeny Minchenko, Trump’s chances of winning have increased due to his now strengthened image of being a “warrior opposing the system,” echoing Russian International Affairs Council expert, Alexey Naumov, who said, “The attempt on Donald Trump’s life will greatly strengthen his image of a martyr and victim, already created by the criminal cases against him.”
  Almost 500 Ukrainian coaches and athletes have been killed since the Russians invaded in February 2022.
  Ukraine’s 2008 heptathlon Olympic champion Nataliia Dobrynska told AFP the Paris Games can serve as a platform to raise awareness about the war in her country “that is destroying the lives of our athletes, coaches, and all Ukrainians.”
  The 42-year-old, who is a member of World Athletics’ ruling Council, said that while the 2008 Beijing Olympics remain “one of the brightest moments” of her life, the Paris edition “holds a unique significance” for Ukraine “because we are at war.”
  Slovakia and Hungary have increased pressure on Kyiv after they said last week they had stopped receiving oil from Lukoil via Ukraine.
  Hungary and Slovakia have asked the European Commission to mediate a consultation procedure with Ukraine, Hungary’s foreign minister said on Monday (22 July), after Kyiv placed Russian group Lukoil on a sanctions list, stopping its supplies to the two countries.
  Slovakia and Hungary have increased pressure on Kyiv after they said last week they had stopped receiving oil from Lukoil via Ukraine. Hungary receives 2 million metric tons of oil from the Russian group annually, around a third of its total oil imports, Péter Szijjártó said.
  Milbloggers posted videos on social media that showed two dirt bikes driving near the front line that were fitted with smoke canisters in an attempt to screen them during assaults.
  The “Russia No Context” milblogger posted a video on Telegram on Monday, July 22, that showed two Russian military trail bikes fitted with improvised frames which held Russian UDSh training mines.
  UDSh, modeled on the TM-62M anti-vehicle emits smoke during training to indicate a landmine has functioned or to simulate a chemical landmine. It can be initiated electronically or manually and discharges smoke for eight to ten minutes.
  Russian Air Force reconnaissance is finding so many targets that on Monday it set a wartime record for glider bombs dropped in a 24-hour period, an AFU statement says.
  Russian observation drones are operating freely over the battlefield and can call in artillery, air and missile strikes without interference because the Ukrainian Ground Forces have little to shoot them with, Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), said in a statement.
  Lt. Gen. Syrsky in comments published on Monday on his personal Telegram channel said that Ukrainian forces are facing a “total shortage” of hand-held anti-aircraft missiles and must find “new ways” to attack the Russian reconnaissance aircraft armed with advanced sensors and muti-spectral cameras. He suggested troops under his command improve jamming techniques and develop tactics for using one-way kamikaze drones to intercept and ram the enemy robot planes.
  A majority of Democratic delegates are apparently set to back VP Kamala Harris' bid to become the Democratic presidential candidate.
  US Vice President Harris has come across as resolute in her first appearances since Biden's withdrawal from the presidential campaign.
  A majority of Democratic delegates are apparently set to back her bid to become the Democratic presidential candidate at the party's National Convention in August. Europe's press follows this turn of events with hope and scepticism.
  In an attempt to transform Ukrainian society so it is better equipped to defend itself, Ukrainian high-schoolers will be taught first aid and how to handle weapons and military equipment.
  In Ukraine, a model curriculum project called “Defense of Ukraine” has been developed for grades 10 and 11 of general secondary education institutions, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine reported.
  The updated project reflects the realities and challenges that Ukraine is facing, the ministry said. It will be the same for all students, regardless of gender, and will include the study of innovative technologies, information security and first-aid medical care.
  Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine regularly conducts strikes on targets in Russia, but a source in Ukrainian intelligence said Kyiv wasn’t involved in this strike.
  “The Kyiv regime has once again attempted a terrorist attack on the territory of Krasnodar Krai,” Governor Veniamin Kondratyev claimed in a Telegram post.
  The Georgian Legion in Ukraine said around 300 of its fighters in Ukraine are wanted by Tbilisi, with some likely from other units already questioned over coup d'état and terrorism charges.
  Georgia’s State Security Service (SSS) has emulated its Russian equivalents by placing around 300 fighters from the Georgian National Legion, that are fighting for Kyiv against Moscow on its wanted list, the commander of the legion said.
  Mamuka Mamulashvili, commander of the Georgian Legion, told the independent Russian news site The Insider that some of those wanted are still in Ukraine, and he believed the SSS was working with the Russian authorities.
  The Ukrainian military shot down a Russian Su-25 close-air support aircraft, which, paired with another Su-25, was attempting to attack frontline Ukrainian Defense Forces.
  Ukrainian anti-aircraft gunners have shot down a Russian Su-25 ground attack aircraft in the Donetsk region, according to a report by the Khortytsia operational and strategic group of troops on Telegram.
  “‘Pokrovsky triangle’ for Russian aviation,” read the caption to the released video.
  The EU says this first tranche of funds will be used to finance the purchase of essential military equipment for Ukraine.
  The high EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said during a meeting of the bloc’s Council on Foreign Affairs that Ukraine will receive the first income from the frozen assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation next week.
  Borrell said, “On earnings, I informed the ministers about the progress in the preparation of the first transfer of €1.4 billion ($1.52 billion), which is expected to take place at the beginning of August, next week.”
  Hungary’s repeated uncoordinated steps to speak against EU unity must “have some formal consequences,” EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said.
  In a rebuke of Hungary’s controversial solo diplomatic efforts on Ukraine, the EU’s informal meeting of foreign and defence ministers will take place in Brussels instead of Budapest, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday (22 July).
  “We have to send a signal, even if this is a symbolic signal,” Borrell told reporters after Monday’s foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, announcing the change of venue.
  Kyiv said Kuleba's visit would focus on "ways to stop Russian aggression" as well as "China's possible role in achieving a sustainable and just peace".
  Ukraine's foreign minister was in China Tuesday for talks on how officials there might help end the war with Russia, whose ties with Beijing have grown stronger since the conflict began.
  China presents itself as a neutral party in the war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.
  Between now and autumn, Ukraine is expected to battle Russian advances along a 1,000-kilometer front line, hoping recently supplied Western weapons and ammunition will help hold back Russian forces.
  As Ukraine braces itself for a tough summer along its front lines, Kyiv has to navigate a delicate diplomatic landscape balancing Western unity with a push for peace talks on its own terms.
  Between now and autumn, Ukraine is expected to battle to contain Russian advances along a more than 1,000-kilometer-long front line. It is hoped weapons and ammunition recently supplied by Western countries will help hold back Russian forces.
  Four soldiers from Ukraine's Third Assault Brigade began their meet-and-greet tour in Warsaw on Sunday. They will visit Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania next.
  Several Ukrainian soldiers have begun a tour of European cities to meet their compatriots living abroad in a bid to counter misinformation on the war against Russia.
  Four soldiers from Ukraine's popular Third Assault Brigade kicked off their meet-and-greets in the Polish capital on Sunday, home to large numbers of Ukrainian refugees, more than two years into the war.
  Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.
  Key Takeaways from the ISW:
  Harris gains landslide of money and endorsements in US presidential bid; Hungary again blocks EU aid to Ukraine, foreign affairs summit moved to Brussels; Riga packs up 500 drones for Kyiv.
  US Vice President Kamala Harris is gaining steam toward her Democratic Party’s nomination for president, now that Joe Biden has dropped his re-election bid. Her campaign reported on Monday that it has raised $81 million from donors over 24 hours, in addition to the $96 million war chest belonging to the Biden-Harris campaign she likely will inherit.
  [A major Democratic political action committee (PAC), Future Forward, reported contributions of $150 million on Monday over that same period.]