Iran Threatens Ukraine as 100 Days Could Decide the War
Calls for peace are increasingly heard from political podiums, while Moscow and Kyiv continue to exchange strikes. At the same time, another participant has appeared in the conflict. Ukraine attacked an Iranian ship, causing serious disagreements to emerge between Tehran and Kyiv. In this article, we have gathered the main news about the special military operation over the past week.
Attacks
This week, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) continued to send drones at Wildberries warehouses. In Udmurtia, a warehouse in the city of Sarapul was hit. A fire broke out there, and employees were evacuated. Fortunately, no one was injured.
In addition, 15 drones attacked a warehouse in the Penza Oblast. Governor Oleg Melnichenko reported that 226 employees were evacuated, and 4 people were injured. A strong fire broke out on the premises. The flames covered 62,000 square meters. More than 100 employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and rescuers, over 50 pieces of equipment, and 2 firefighting railway trains were involved in extinguishing the blaze.
A warehouse in Yekaterinburg was also targeted, but the drone was shot down earlier — it fell on the grounds next to the building. Employees were evacuated outside; no one was injured.
A warehouse in Volgograd, however, was hit. A fire broke out there; according to preliminary information, no one was injured. But there are casualties in the region. Governor Andrei Bocharov reported that five people sustained injuries. In addition, as a result of the attack, an industrial enterprise of the fuel and energy complex caught fire.
The attacks did not end with warehouses alone. In Tyumen, on City Day, a drone fell on the territory of an oil refinery — a fire broke out. Due to the threat, residents were asked to leave festival venues.
Besides warehouses, many other civilian objects suffered this week. In the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the attack hit a tourist base. 14 people were injured, 8 were killed, including two children.
In addition, the AFU targeted the kindergarten «Podsnezhnik» in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Fortunately, there were no children in the building, and none of the 15 staff members were injured, reported regional head Yevgeny Balitsky.
As a result of the drone attack on Rostov Oblast, eight people were injured, six of whom were sent to hospitals. Drone debris damaged 3 apartment buildings, 17 private houses, and a homeless shelter. At the time of the attack, there were 43 residents and 3 staff members there; none of them were injured. On 27 July, after night attacks, a married couple was killed in the city.
In response, Russia is also striking. The night before, on 30 July, Russia attacked a number of facilities on the territory of Ukraine. Precision weapons were used for this purpose — from aircraft, from the ground, from ships, as well as drones.
The targets of the strikes were military industry enterprises, telecommunications and logistics centers, as well as vessels carrying military cargo. The strikes targeted Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne, and Dnipropetrovsk Oblasts, as well as the Pivdennyi port and ships at sea.
In Kyiv, two enterprises were damaged:
the Mayak plant — it made components, ammunition, and parts for drones;
an electrical engineering plant — it produced reconnaissance and strike drones.
In Lviv, the following were damaged:
the LDARZ aircraft plant — it repaired engines for missiles and drones;
the LORTA plant — it produced electronics and radar systems for missiles.
In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (in Kryvyi Rih), a plant was hit that assembled and modernized drones and unmanned surface vessels, as well as producing and repairing howitzers.
In Odesa Oblast, at the Pivdennyi port, a dry cargo ship with military cargo was damaged. Two more dry cargo ships carrying weapons to the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk were struck south and east of Odesa.
Help for Ukraine
Foreign countries continue to support Kyiv. The Independent reports that the UK plans to send troops to Ukraine. The country«s new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has set out conditions for this.
According to the politician, London will fulfill all its obligations to Kyiv, but only after a ceasefire is reached and the conflict ends. Then, Burnham said, Britain would be ready to participate in the deployment of multinational forces — this is needed to ensure Ukraine«s long-term security.
The Prime Minister also stressed that Britain does not intend to scale back its support for Ukraine and will continue to apply pressure to achieve a complete and unconditional halt to the conflict.
The Netherlands, however, is still helping Ukraine. The AFU has already begun using their Ruta Block 1 missiles against Russia. According to the Telegram channel «Voyennaya Khronika» (Military Chronicle), the Ruta Block 1 is a compact ground-based drone-missile with a speed of about Mach 0.7. The stated range is up to 300 km.
The missiles are produced in the Netherlands by Destinus, which independently manufactures key components (including T150 engines). To ramp up production, Destinus has created a joint venture with the German concern Rheinmetall — Rheinmetall Destinus Strike Systems — with capacities being deployed, including in Germany.
Peace Negotiations
Politicians are increasingly calling for peace. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, at a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Omsk, proposed freezing the conflict in Ukraine.
Tokayev considers it advisable to return to the «Istanbul Formula 2.0.» In his opinion, significant results were previously achieved within its framework. The leader of Kazakhstan also noted that he receives many signals on the topic of the Ukrainian conflict from Europe and the United States. In response, Vladimir Putin promised to inform Tokayev in detail about the current situation on the Ukrainian front during the talks.
The same rhetoric is held in the United States. According to CNN, the US believes it is time to end the conflict in Ukraine. A White House source reported this. According to him, US President Donald Trump intended to discuss issues of peaceful settlement between Moscow and Kyiv with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to Reuters, the US and Ukraine are discussing the possibility of introducing a ceasefire regime in airspace. This initiative is planned to be presented to Russia during the next round of negotiations.
In turn, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that at the moment there are no concrete agreements on the issue of an air ceasefire. In addition, a Russian diplomatic source, in a comment to TASS, noted that the idea of such a ceasefire is fraught with a number of serious difficulties.
In particular, the question of control over compliance with the regime remains open. The territory of Ukraine is quite large (even by European standards), and organizing a no-fly zone over it, let alone over Russia, is extremely problematic. Furthermore, the source pointed to the lack of clarity on who can guarantee that the Ukrainian side will adhere to the agreements and stop striking the territory of the Russian Federation.
Hope for a speedy end to the conflict was expressed by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. He stated that the next 100 days could decide the outcome of the special military operation.
At the same time, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Grigory Karasin, in an interview with Lenta.ru, said it was too early to forecast the timeline for the end of the special operation.
According to the senator, much depends on the actions of the parties, primarily on the position of Europe, which, as Karasin believes, determines Kyiv«s strategy and practical steps. The politician stressed that the key factor remains the work of the Russian Armed Forces on the front line: the offensive continues, and this significantly affects the development of the situation.
The senator also cited the line of EU countries supporting Ukraine as another important circumstance. In conclusion, Karasin called on Europe to «grow up,» noting that its citizens are interested in a stable and predictable world.
Iran Threatens Ukraine with Missiles
Amid peace discussions, another confrontation flared up on the world stage. This happened because an Iranian merchant ship was attacked in the Caspian Sea. As a result of the incident, one sailor was killed, and another was wounded. According to the country«s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the attack was carried out by the AFU.
«Iran will not hesitate to defend its own interests and national security in accordance with the principles and fundamental norms of international law,» the country«s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The publication «Strana» reported that Iran could strike Ukraine with three ballistic missiles.
Number of Military Personnel in the Russian Army Will Increase
Vladimir Putin signed a decree to increase the official strength of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. According to the document, the total official strength of the RF Armed Forces will be 2,426,130, of which 1,535,000 are military personnel.
Compared to the previous decree of 12 June (when the number of military personnel was 1,510,000 people), the figure will increase by 25,000 people. The changes will take effect on 1 August. The reason for the adjustment is the re-establishment of military construction units disbanded in 2006.
As reported in late April by Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, since the beginning of the year, 127,000 people have signed contracts with the Armed Forces, and another 10,000 with volunteer formations. Over 2025, according to Medvedev, 450,000 people signed contracts.
