Russia and Ukraine Trade Strikes as Blackout Hits Chernihiv
A Russian attack on an energy facility around the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv cut power to about 150,000 people, as the two sides pressed a relentless exchange of long-range strikes. It followed a rare daytime Russian ballistic strike on a defence-industry gathering in the Kyiv region that killed at least ten and wounded more than a hundred. Kyiv struck back at a missile-components plant in the Russian city of Kirov.
The daytime strike marked a shift in Russian tactics and came a day after President Zelensky hosted senior figures from Raytheon, the American maker of the Patriot air-defence systems Kyiv is seeking to co-produce. The Institute for the Study of War reported no confirmed advances by either side on 23 July, and noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had rejected Moscow’s claim of any deal to end the war struck at last year’s Alaska summit. Ukraine has pressed a sustained campaign against Russia’s war economy, hitting refineries, warehouses and shadow-fleet vessels. Watch whether the deep strikes shift either side towards talks.