Victorious news on 516th day of war: Blasts in Moscow, Crimea and gains of Ukrainian counter-offensive

The occupation authorities of Crimea claimed an attack by Ukrainian UAVs on an ammunition depot in the Dzhankoy district. 

On the morning of July 24, locals in the temporarily occupied Crimea heard powerful explosions. The head of the occupation authorities of the peninsula, Sergey Aksyonov, said that Ukrainian drones had allegedly hit an ammunition depot in the Dzhankoy district.

According to him, 11 Ukrainian drones were allegedly shot down by air defence forces in the skies over Crimea. They hit an ammunition depot in the Dzhankoy district. UAV debris also damaged a private house in Kirovsky district.

According to the Krymskiy Viter Telegram channel, three missiles, not UAVs, hit the BC warehouse near the village of Vilnyi, causing a fire. Instead, local residents told Kommersant that a fire broke out in a warehouse located near the village of Vilne, about 20 km from Dzhankoy, due to the detonation of ammunition.

Explosions near the Defence Ministry building in Moscow

On the night of July 24, explosions were heard in different parts of Moscow. Russian media and Telegram channels report damage to a building near the Russian Defence Ministry and a business centre, while the authorities blame Ukraine for the drone attack.

The Mash TV channel reported that glass was allegedly smashed in a building on Komsomolsky Avenue, which is located near the Russian Ministry of Defence, and that fragments of a drone were found near the building.

This information was later confirmed by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

During the offensive, the Ukrainian forces liberated more than 192 km² of territory in the south and 35 km² in the Bakhmut direction

As of July 24, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have liberated over 192 km² of Ukrainian territory in the south and 35 km² in the Bakhmut sector since the start of the counter-offensive.

This was reported by Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine Hanna Malyar.

According to her, over the past week alone, the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to advance 16 km² in the south and east as part of a counter-offensive.

In the Berdiansk sector, Ukrainian troops advanced from 350 metres to 1.4 km

This was reported by Valeriy Shershen, spokesman for the joint press centre of the Ukrainian Defence Forces in the Tavria sector.

"In the course of the Tavria offensive in the Berdiansk sector, our strike units had partial success and advanced  from 350 metres to 1.4 kilometres behind the enemy lines. Fierce fighting for Staromaiorsk continues," he said.

The SBU has served a notice of suspicion of high treason to Oleksandr Ponomarev, an MP from the Opposition Platform for Life pro-Moscow political party

This was reported by the State Security Service (SBU).

MP Oleksiy Honcharenko clarifies that MP Oleksandr Ponomarev from the Opposition Platform party has been served with suspicion notice. According to the materials of the Security Service and the State Bureau of Investigation, he was exposed for collaborating with Russia and is accused of treason.

During Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the politician was in the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region. There, he voluntarily cooperated with the invading Russian forces. In particular, he re-registered the companies under his control under Russian law and opened accounts in local "branches" of Russian banks.

Bild reports on the second wave of the counter-offensive

Ukraine is actively preparing for a second wave of counter-offensive and is forming a "fire fist" of Western weapons. Bild writes about this, citing the words of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The counter-offensive started slower than Ukrainians would have liked due to the delay in the delivery of Western weapons. Now the situation is improving. According to him, the second wave of the counter-offensive will begin soon, as Ukrainian soldiers have already reached the Russian fortifications that have been hindering their advance.

The US think tank Institute for the Study of War stressed that arms supplies from allies are truly crucial for Ukraine, and this affects the ability to sustain a counter-offensive. In addition, Western precision-guided missile and artillery systems have created a long-range "fire fist" of the Ukrainian Armed Forces that Russia has no means to counter.

Germany agrees with Poland to repair Leopard tanks damaged in Ukraine

Berlin said that Polish partners will be able to repair Leopard 2A4 tanks that were damaged at the front in Ukraine.

This was reported by Ukrinform with reference to a statement by German Defence Ministry spokesman Mitko Müller at a briefing in Berlin.

"We welcome the fact that now Ukrainian Leopard 2A4 tanks can also be repaired in Poland," the officer said.

Müller praised German-Polish cooperation. The German defence ministry spokesman did not disclose the amount and scope of repairs.

Ukrainian aviation carries out 8 strikes against Russian enemy

Over the past day, the Defence Forces' aviation carried out 8 strikes on areas where personnel, weapons and military equipment were concentrated, as well as 4 strikes on enemy anti-aircraft missile systems. Over the day, the defenders destroyed 3 enemy attack UAVs of the Shahed-136 type.

Missile and artillery units destroyed 4 control points, 3 air defence systems, 9 artillery pieces in firing positions and 4 Russian electronic warfare stations.