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occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula.
Russia plans to annex fifth of Ukraine by Sept. The Kremlin is moving to hold the so-called “referendums” in Russian-occupied territories in order to annex territories by September, Bloomberg reported citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. According to the sources, the attention is focused on the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and the southern territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
Prosecutor General, Security Service chief fired by parliament on July 19.
According to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak from the Voice Party, 264 and 265 lawmakers supported President Volodymyr Zelensky's motion to dismiss Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova and Security Service Head Ivan Bakanov, respectively. Zelensky cited the presence of traitors among prosecutors as the reason for their dismissal.
The Russian military has moved weapons and explosives into the Zaporizhzhia NPP. The Russian army dragged at least 14 units of heavy military equipment along with ammunition, other weapons, and explosives to the engine room of the 1st power unit of the ZNPP, Energoatom wrote on Facebook. The Russian military equipment prevents access to the control room of power unit No. 1 by specialized fire engines and other vehicles. Therefore, the fire risk has increased many times, and efforts to extinguish any fire would be highly problematic. If a fire occurs, for example, due to the accidental detonation of ammunition, then its scale could be equal to that which occurred during the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.
Germany delays defense weapon delivery to Ukraine, including IRIS-T missiles. German media outlet Welt, citing anonymous Ukrainian officials, reported that Germany's Economy Ministry approved the Ukrainian government's application to purchase 11 IRIS-T air defense systems, but a final decision is being held up by Germany's Federal Security Council, of which German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is the head.
UNHCR: 3.7 million Ukrainian refugees receive temporary protection status in EU. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 3.7 million refugees from Ukraine registered for Temporary Protection or similar national protection schemes. Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic are in the lead. In total, 6 million Ukrainian refugees are recorded across Europe.
Ukraine wants more HIMARS but US says it’s complicated. The Americans have said they want to see how the Ukrainians use and absorb particular capabilities into their arsenal before they send more advanced weaponry, even if potential delays cost lives.
Russia might face first Hague war crime case this year. According to Bloomberg's unnamed sources, the International Criminal Court aims to move forward with a case over Russian war crimes in Ukraine closer to winter. Since Feb. 24, the UN recorded that at least 5,024 civilians have been killed, including over 300 children, but the agency expects the actual figures to be considerably higher.
20 UKRAINE Country Report XXXX 2018 www.intellinews.com