Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 146

Here are the key events so far on Tuesday, July 19.

Get the latest updates here.

Fighting

• A Russian missile attack in the Black Sea port city of Odesa wounded at least four people and burned houses to the ground, according to Ukrainian authorities.
• Ukraine said Russian troops tried unsuccessfully to advance towards the city of Avdiyivka north of Donetsk but were pushed back after several days of fighting, suffering heavy losses, with some 40 people dead.
• Ukraine’s top military commander said US-supplied long-range rocket systems helped “stabilise the situation” through “major strikes at enemy command points, ammunition and fuel storage warehouses”.
• Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered generals to prioritise destroying Ukraine’s long-range missile and artillery weapons after raids on Russian supply lines.
• And according to the United Kingdom’s defence ministry, Russia has struggled to sustain its offensive since the start of its invasion, and the problem was likely to become increasingly acute.

Economy

• Russia’s energy company Gazprom has told customers in Europe it cannot guarantee gas supplies because of “extraordinary” circumstances, according to a letter seen by the Reuters news agency.
• Dated July 14, the letter from the Russian state gas monopoly said it was declaring force majeure on supplies, starting from June 14.
• 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.

Diplomacy

• EU foreign ministers agree to another 500 million euros ($504m) of funding to supply arms to Ukraine, taking the bloc’s security support to 2.5 billion euros ($2.54bn) since Russia’s invasion began.
• In his second trip outside Russia since the invasion started, President Vladimir Putin arrived in Iran for a summit with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts on the Syrian conflict, Iranian state TV said on Tuesday.
• Russia’s highest-ranked women’s tennis player, Daria Kasatkina, called for an end to fighting in Ukraine in an interview released on Monday.
• The liberal-leaning Russian independent TV station Dozhd (TV Rain) resumed broadcasting on Monday evening from abroad after being forced to shut its Moscow studio following the invasion.