Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 139

Here are the key events so far on Tuesday, July 12.

Get the latest updates here.

Fighting

• At least seven people have been killed and 40 injured as a result of a Ukrainian air raid on the city of Nova Kakhovka in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, according to Moscow’s state news agency TASS, citing a Russian-backed official.
• The death toll from a Russian rocket attack that hit an apartment block in the Donetsk town of Chasiv Yar over the weekend has risen to 33, Ukraine’s ministry of internal affairs reported.
• Russian troops are making small, incremental territorial gains in the Donetsk region, with Russia claiming to have seized control of the village of Hryhorivka, the United Kingdom’s defence ministry said.
• About 80 percent of residents have been evacuated from the Donetsk region since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said, according to Ukrinform.

Diplomacy

• The United States alleged Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with “hundreds” of unmanned aerial vehicles, including weapons-capable drones, for use in Ukraine.
• The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), a Russian-backed secessionist territory in eastern Ukraine, will open an embassy in Moscow today, Monocle magazine reported.
• The prime minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and reaffirmed his country’s support for Ukraine “politically, militarily and economically”.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree expanding a fast track to Russian citizenship to all citizens of Ukraine, a document published on the government’s website showed.

Economy

• Europe’s dependence on Russian energy was preoccupying policymakers and businesses as the biggest pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany began 10 days of annual maintenance. Governments, markets and companies are worried the shutdown might be extended because of the war.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has offered to mediate on the grain issue, discussed it with Putin by telephone. The Kremlin said the talks took place in the run-up to a Russian-Turkish summit scheduled for the near future.
• French carmaker Renault reported a plunge in its vehicle sales by 30 percent in the first half of 2022 after shutting down activities in Russia, its second-biggest market.
• Latvia may have to increase its defence spending and introduce compulsory military service for citizens regardless of their gender to contain any possible security risks arising from Russia, President Egils Levits said.