Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

(Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sidelined his childhood friend as head of Ukraine’s security service, and another close ally as top prosecutor, in the biggest internal purge of the war, citing their failure to root out Russian spies.

FIGHTING

* A Russian shell smashed into a two-storey building in the eastern Ukrainian town of Toretsk on Monday, killing six civilians who were sheltering there, the State Emergency Service said.

* Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered generals to prioritise destroying Ukraine’s long-range missile and artillery weapons after Western-supplied weapons were used to strike Russian supply lines.

* British military intelligence said Russia has used the private military contractor Wagner to reinforce its frontline forces in the Ukraine conflict.

* Russia’s defence ministry said its aircraft had shot down a Ukrainian MI-17 helicopter near the eastern town of Sloviansk and an SU-25 aircraft in the Kharkiv region.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.

ECONOMY

* Russia’s Gazprom has declared force majeure on gas supplies to Europe to at least one major customer, according to a letter from Gazprom dated July 14 and seen by Reuters.

The letter said Gazprom, which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, could not fulfil its supply obligations owing to “extraordinary” circumstances outside its control.

* EU foreign ministers sought to show the bloc can maintain its financial and military support for Ukraine despite the serious inflationary impact on EU economies five months after Russia’s invasion.

* Foreign allies need to increase their financial support for Ukraine to help the country maintain financial stability during the war with Russia, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office said.

* Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations will most likely meet this week to discuss resuming Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said.

SOCIETY

* Dozens of relatives and local residents on Sunday attended the funeral of 4-year-old Liza Dmytrieva, one of 24 people killed in a Russian missile strike in the city of Vinnytsia last week.

QUOTES

* “Three people lost their lives, why? What for? Because Putin went mad?” said Raisa Shapoval, 83, sitting in the ruins of her home in Chuhuiv.

(Compiled by Angus MacSwan)