July 25, 2022

1. Russian Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response in Ukraine issued an Emergency Statement on July 25, 2022

According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the Kiev regime has completed preparations for a monstrous provocation using highly toxic substances in Slavyansk. In the next few days, Security Service of Ukraine plan to blow up tanks with more than 120 tonnes of the chemically hazardous substance, hexane, at the oil and fats plant.

Explosion of the hexane tanks would create a toxic cloud that would spread more than 10 kilometers away. All residential areas of Slavyansk and nearby settlements will be in the chemical attack zone.

The specific cynicism of such inhuman actions by the Ukrainian authorities is that they are prepared to sacrifice tens of thousands of their own citizens living in Slavyansk, as well as servicemen of the Ukrainian armed formations stationed in the city, to achieve their criminal goals.

Hexane is a powerful neurotoxin and carcinogen. Irritating to skin, affects lungs if inhaled, acts as a strong narcotic, causes drowsiness, dizziness, peripheral nervous system damage, numbness of legs, central nervous system depression and eye irritation. Prolonged inhalation of hexane causes chronic poisoning, leading to serious nervous system disorders, manifested by decreased sensitivity, rapid fatigue, decreased muscle tone and headaches. However, because hexane is capable of igniting spontaneously at ambient temperatures of plus 23-38ºC (followed by intense combustion and high heat release), an explosion could also occur due to the abnormally high ambient air temperature currently prevailing in Slavyansk district. The most effective emergency measures for protection against hexane vapour are to take cover indoors and to close windows and doors tightly. In case of poisoning, ensure fresh air supply to the victim and protect the respiratory system and skin.

We recommend that the residents of Slavyansk and neighbouring localities take the necessary protective measures immediately.

The purpose of this provocation is to accuse the Russian Armed Forces and Donetsk People's Republic formations of allegedly indiscriminate strikes against potentially dangerous objects, using a well-established scenario, followed by extensive coverage in the Ukrainian and Western media.

We once again emphasize that during the special military operation, the Russian Armed Forces and military formations of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics are not targeting civilian infrastructure.

We call on the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to immediately influence the Ukrainian authorities and take effective measures to prevent this provocation.

2. Ukraine has not demined its sea ports so far

70 foreign vessels from 16 countries still remain blocked in six Ukrainian ports, including Kherson, Nikolaev, Ochakov, Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhniy. The last three port are listed in the Istanbul agreement reached on July 22, 2022 as ports of exit to deliver Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products.

The threat of shelling and high mine danger posed by official Kiev prevent vessels from entering the high seas unhindered. Under the Istanbul deal, Ukrainian Armed Forces are responsible for conducting demining operations in the Black Sea, while Russian and Turkish Navies will escort all ships going out from these three ports controlled by Kiev along the Black Sea corridors and maintain security for all merchant vessels.

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have created the necessary conditions for the operation of two maritime humanitarian corridors that constitute safe lanes for navigation:

1) in the Black Sea (from 08:00 AM to 07:00 PM every day) to leave Kherson, Nikolaev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa and Yuzhnyi ports towards south-west from Ukraine's territorial sea, 139 miles long and 3 miles wide;

2) in the Sea of Azov (uninterruptedly 24 hours each day) to leave Mariupol port, 115 miles long and 2 miles wide, towards the Black Sea.

Detailed information on the modus operandi of the maritime humanitarian corridors is broadcast daily every 15 minutes by VHF radio on 14 and 16 international Channels in English and Russian.

The Kiev authorities continue to avoid engaging with representatives of states and ship-owning companies to resolve the issue of ensuring the safe passage of foreign vessels to the assembly area. The danger to navigation from Ukrainian mines drifting off their anchors along the coasts of Black Sea states remains.

3. Russia hit Ukrainian Naval Base in Odessa. Ukraine hit its own commercial seaport in Odessa located far away from it

A Ukrainian military vessel and a stockpile of Harpoon missiles sent by the USA were hit during Saturday’s attack, on July 23, Russian Defense Ministry has said

The Russian Ministry of Defense has confirmed striking targets in the major Ukrainian port of Odessa on Saturday, revealing that its missiles hit military infrastructure and arms stockpiles. “In the seaport of Odessa, on the territory of a shipyard, a docked Ukrainian warship and a warehouse of Harpoon anti-ship missiles, supplied by the U.S. to the Kiev regime, have been destroyed by sea-based high-precision long-range missiles,” the ministry said on July 23.

The attack also crippled a repair facility where vessels of the Ukrainian Navy have been fixed.

Russian Armed Forces never attacked merchant seaport in Odessa.

It is very strange that Kiev ordered to shell merchant seaport in Odessa frlom where Ukrainian grain will be shipped abroad.

Russia's obligations under the agreements signed in Istanbul do not prohibit it from continuing a Special Military Operation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, commenting on the strike on Ukrainian military facilities in the port of Odessa.

"If we talk about the episode that occurred in Odessa, there is nothing in the commitments that Russia has undertaken, including within the framework of the agreements signed on July 22 in Istanbul, that would prohibit us from continuing a Special Military Operation, destroying military infrastructure and other military targets," he said at a briefing on the results of his meetings with the Foreign Minister of Congo.

The Russian Foreign Minister added that the targets hit were located in the military part of the Odessa port, the grain terminal is located at a considerable distance from it.

"There are no obstacles for grain to be delivered to customers in accordance with the agreements signed in Istanbul, and we did not create them," the Russian Foreign Minister stressed.

4. Humanitarian situation

Russian Armed Forces continue to record the facts of the inhumane treatment of civilians and use of civilian facilities for military purposes by Ukrainian armed groups.

In the Donetsk People's Republic:

a) in Artyomovsk, at lower and upper floors of residential buildings (Nezavisimosto Street), AFU units have deployed their strongpoints and firing positions, as well as armament and munitions depots in the basement;

b) in Konstantinovka, in the school №6 (Shestogo Sentyabrya Street), Territorial Defence units have deployed their manpower, as well as observation posts and firing positions at the approaches to the educational institution, while residents of the nearby buildings have not been evacuated;

c) in Kramatorsk, neo-Nazis have deployed their firing positions and munitions depots in residential buildings (Parkovaya Street). Militants restrict local residents to leave their houses with pretext of their alleged safety, all their attempts to evacuate to safe areas are severely suppressed;

d) in New York, in the school №16 (Yesenina Street), militants of Right Sector nationalist battalion have deployed MLRS and use them for launching periodical attacks at the positions of Russian Armed Forces in order to provoke a counter-attack, while residents of the nearby buildings are retained in the basement of the institution being used as a live shield.

In Belgorod-Dnestrovsky, Odessa Region, in the urban sports school (Nezavisimosti Street), militants of Ukrainian armed groups have deployed their manpower, as well as armoured equipment, MLRS and artillery at the adjacent territory, the approaches to the building have been mined, but local population has intentionally been left uninformed about it.

These acts committed by Ukrainian authorities show their inhumane treatment to the lives of Ukrainian citizens and total disregard to all norms and principles of the international humanitarian law. All of it occurs with the tacit consent of the collective West that continues turning a blind eye to the numerous war crimes of the Kiev regime.

Russian MoD emphasized again the Russian Armed Forces and units of Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics do not launch attacks at civilian infrastructure facilities during the special military operation.

5. Humanitarian aid distribution

Russian humanitarian aid is the only opportunity to stay alive for a considerable part of Ukrainians who were betrayed by their own authorities.

Over 51 thousand tonnes of prime necessity items, groceries, medication and medical products have been prepared at the collection points.

Since March 2, 2022, 47,184.7 tonnes of humanitarian goods within 1,350 humanitarian campaigns have been delivered to the Republics of Donbass and Ukraine.

Over the past 24 hours, the civilian population has been provided with 651,5 tonnes of humanitarian goods within 6 humanitarian campaigns held in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporozhye, Kharkov and Kherson Regions.

6. Ukrainian plot to hijack Russian warplanes exposed by Moscow

According to information shared with RT, Kiev’s spies offered Russian pilots money and EU citizenship as a reward

Russian intelligence has claimed that it foiled a sophisticated plot from Ukrainian spies to hijack several military jets. A security official official and a pilot, who is said to have been targeted by Kiev's agents, have shared details of the operation with RT.

Russia's Federal Security Service (the FSB) has sensationally added that a leading figure from the US-government funded investigative organization Bellingcat – which presents itself as a journalistic grouping – was also involved in the scheme, which it believes was "supervised by NATO intelligence agencies." The FSB specifically pointed the finger at British operatives.

It explained that Russian pilots were promised passports from EU members states, and substantial cash rewards in order to participate in the plot.

Early in the ongoing conflict, the Ukrainians compiled a list of Russian military hardware, using publicly available information. They promised monetary rewards for potential defectors who managed to bring the equipment with them. The more elaborate the weapons were, the better the rewards that were promised, with warplanes, helicopters and tanks fetching the top payment of up to $1 million.

When the public call for defectors fell flat, Ukraine’s security service targeted individual Russian servicemen – pilots in particular – directly. They apparently traced and identified the airmen through the digital trail they left online, an operative with the Russian Security Service (the FSB) told RT TV reporter Maria Finoshina. Kiev appeared to be specifically interested in Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers and Tu-22M3 strategic aircraft, according to the source. 

A Su-34 pilot targeted in the plot told RT that he was initially reluctant to speak with the Ukrainian spies, believing the promise of $1 million for stealing warplanes and defecting to Kiev to be a prank. After realizing his interlocutors were serious about the proposal, he tipped off Russian intelligence, which then monitored subsequent conversations.

“Initially, of course, I took it as a joke, but after a period of talking it became clear that I was dealing with representatives of the Ukrainian intelligence service and their Western partners,” the pilot said. “Also, I was supposed to get passports of European states and a comfortable life abroad was promised.”

Kiev's intelligence operatives apparently believed the Russian pilots who they contacted were ready to commit treason and hijack their own warplanes, putting them in touch with a Ukrainian pilot to discuss technical details.

“They believed so much in the possibility of organizing the hijacking that they revealed the layout of their defense systems, altitude maps, and lots of other useful information to us,” the Russian airman said, adding that the information obtained from the Ukrainians was used during the military operation.

To prove that the pilots were actually able to pull off the hijacking and had access to the specific warplanes, Ukrainian intelligence demanded video proof from them. The pilots were paid between $4,000 and $7,000 per video, which showed them getting into the planes while holding pieces of paper with specific numbers.

The middleman claimed he had received orders directly from Christo Grozev, the Bulgarian ‘lead Russia investigator’ with Bellingcat, a controversial Western state-funded organization that was labeled “undesirable” in Russia earlier in July. Moscow has repeatedly questioned the independence of the investigative group, citing its close ties with intelligence agencies. “Grozev… did not actually explain anything to me, he just told me the name of the courier who would deliver the money by train,” the suspect claimed.

The alleged involvement of Grozev is not the only suggestion of Western influence in hijacking the planes. During the negotiations with the pilots, Ukrainian intelligence was able to procure two legitimate EU passports – one Slovakian and one Romanian – for wives of the pilots, as a guarantee for the would-be ‘defectors’.

Leaving Russia with such documents would have immediately turned the pilots’ families into “hostages” of Ukrainian intelligence, the FSB operative told RT, as “methods of blackmail, threats and pressure on relatives” have long been standard practice for them.

“Obviously, the operation itself was carried out with the support of Western and, primarily, British intelligence services. We know about Grozev’s involvement and MI6 not only from these statements,” he added, claiming that Ukrainian intelligence had recently “ceased hiding” its ties with foreign spies.

The plot also described an even a darker element, as the would-be-defectors were supposed to somehow deal with their fellow crew members, it was revealed. While the Su-34 has two crew members, the Tu-22M3 has four.

Ukrainian intelligence reportedly suggested that Russian pilots should drug their comrades with Clophelin (Clonidine), a medication used to treat high blood pressure and other ailments. In high doses, however, it has a strong sedative effect, which makes the drug ‘popular’ among criminals wishing to knock out their victims to rob them. Very high doses can also be lethal.

Since the medication is not easy to come by in Russia, Ukrainian intelligence is said to have arranged a dead drop involving the substance. The FSB says it later recovered a stash of the product.

“As the pilot, I was asked to knock out my co-pilot, and what would happen to him after that is not clear – even whether he would be kept alive,” the Russian serviceman said.

According to the FSB’s information, the Ukrainian side insisted the betrayed crew members would be safe and exchanged as POWs later on. The Russian pilot, however, expressed strong doubts about that.

7. News from the battlefields

According to official data from the DPR JCCC, from the beginning of the active phase of the 3^rd Ukrainian military aggression against Donbass started from February 17 to July 23, totally 262 civilians have been killed; 1,228 civilians, including 94 children, were injured with various degree of wounds in the territory within the borders before the beginning of the Special Military Operation or SMO. In the territory liberated during the SMO, 1,500 civilians were injured, including 84 children.

On the other hand, Russian Defence Ministry reported on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine

High-precision sea-based long-range weapons near Bogdanovtsy, Khmelnitskyi region, have destroyed transshipment base with US-supplied ammunition for HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems and shells for US M777 large-calibre howitzer used by the AFU to kill civilians in Donbass and in other areas in Ukraine.

An attempt of Ukrainian sabotage group to advance and land from fast landing boats on the territory of Kherson Region has been discovered in Dneprovskyi estuary. Two Ukrainian landing boats with saboteurs on board were destroyed as a result of strike.

High-precision weapons attack of the Russian Aerospace Forces on a temporary deployment point of 95th Airborne Assault Brigade of AFU has eliminated over 100 nationalists and foreign mercenaries in Kostantinovka, Donetsk People's Republic.

Operational-tactical and army aviation, missile troops and artillery strikes continue against military facilities in Ukraine.

6 command and observation posts have been neutralised, including units of 60th Infantry Brigade near Orekhov in Zaporozhye Region and 113th Territorial Defence Brigade near Klugino-Bashkirovka and Chuguyev in Kharkov Region. 4 missile and artillery weapons and ammunition depotsnear Lyubimovka, Dnepropetrovsk Region, Stepnoye, Zaporozhye Region, and Artemovsk, Donetsk People's Republic, as well as 1 radar of S-300 missile system near Nekremennoye, Donetsk People's Republic, have been destroyed.

As part of counter-battery warfare, 4 platoons of Grad multiple-launch rocket systems near Uspenovka, Markovo, Minkovka and Semenovka and 2 artillery platoons of D-20 howitzers have been suppressed, 3 artillery platoons of Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems, as well as 8 Ukrainian platoons of D-30 guns at firing positions near Dzerzhinsk, Georgiyevka, Vodyanoye, Novomikhailovka, Kurakhovo and Kamyshevka in Donetsk People's Republic.

Russian air defence means have shot down 6 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near Kamenka, Brazhkovka, Malaya Kamyshevakha in Kharkov Region and Khartsyzsk in Donetsk People's Republic.

In addition, 6 shells of Uragan multiple-launch rocket system have been intercepted near Stakhanov in Lugansk People's Republic and Popasnaya in Donetsk People's Republic.

Written by Vladimir P. Kozin