Ukraine updates: Russia fires general who criticized bosses

That concludes our live updates on the conflict in Ukraine for Thursday, July 13, 2023.

President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was set to withdraw from a deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea unless its own demands are met, reaffirming Moscow's tough stance ahead of the deal's expiry next Monday.

Putin, in comments to Russian state television, also said the United Nations had so far failed to come up with a satisfactory solution to the issue and he denied having received any letter containing proposals from the UN Secretary General.

"We can suspend our participation in the deal, and if everyone once again says that all the promises made to us will be fulfilled, then let them fulfil this promise. We will immediately rejoin this deal," Putin said. A Kremlin spokesman later clarified that Russia had not taken a final decision on whether to exit the grain deal.

Meanwhile, European Commission President von der Leyen urged Putin to prolong the Black Sea grain deal saying the consequence of not doing so would be global food insecurity. The ball was now in Russia's court with the whole world watching, von der Leyen said.

Ukrainian armed forces have received cluster munitions pledged by the United States to Ukraine to boost its slow-moving counter-offensive against the Russian invasion, a senior Ukrainian army official said.

"We just got them, we haven't used them yet, but they can radically change (the battlefield)," Ukrainian army commander Oleksandr Tarnavskyi told US broadcaster CNN in an interview. 

"The enemy also understands that with getting this ammunition, we will have an advantage," Tarnavskyi said, adding that Ukrainian forces would not deploy the weapon in heavily populated areas.

The United States last week said it would deliver cluster bombs to Ukraine, despite concerns over the long-term risk posed to civilians. The cluster munitions are banned by numerous countries who are signatories to a 2008 Oslo Convention, to which neither Russia, the United States or Ukraine are parties.

Over 20 people have been injured in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia after rocket fire in the region, according to local governor Yuri Malashko.

Thirteen of the injured were taken to a hospital, eight of whom are minors.

Malashko said that Russia forces had shelled 14 areas in the Zaporizhzhia region, damaging dozens of buildings.

In neighboring Kherson, shelling killed at least three people and wounded three others on Wednesday and Thursday.

Regional governor Olexander Prokudin said settlements were under bombardment more than 79 times.

The German army, the Bundeswehr, has given arms manufacturer Rheinmetall a €4 billion ($4.47 billion) commission to produce munitions for tanks such as the Leopard 2, with a "significant amount" earmarked for use by Ukrainian armed forces as they fight invading Russian troops.

The new order builds on a previous one from 2020 worth €556 million, the Düsseldorf-based company said on Thursday.

"The order underlines the ambition of the armed forces to close gaps in its stock and to increase overall stores of munitions in view of the security situation," Rheinmetall said.

Under the contract, the Bundeswehr is to receive several hundred thousand rounds of various kinds for combat and training purposes by the end of 2030.

Rheinmetall is the biggest European manufacturer of munitions for tank cannons, howitzers and other artillery, including the 120 mm shells for the German-made Leopard 2 battle tank.

In January, the German government agreed to deliver modern Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine while also allowing other countries to do so.

Invading Russian troops are probably filling old armored vehicles with explosives and sending them toward Ukrainian forces after their crews have bailed out, the British Ministry of Defence has said in a daily intelligence update.

It said the tactic was possibly adopted from Chechen fighters.

"In June 2023, there have been several reports of Russian forces using antiquated armoured vehicles packed with several tonnes of explosives as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs)," the update said.

"Most Russian VBIED cases have been reported around Marinka, near Donetsk city, and started days after Chechen units reinforced the area: there is a realistic possibility that Chechen forces are pioneering the tactic," it added, saying Chechens fighting for Ukraine were reported to have used similar weapons in January 2023.

Although anti-tank mines and direct fire will almost certainly have caused most of the VBIEDs to explode before reaching their target, the explosions were likely to have a psychological effect on the targeted soldiers, the update said.

Russia is holding thousands of Ukrainians as prisoners across Russia and in  territories it is illegally occupying in Ukraine, according to the Associated Press (AP) news agency.

The agency says it has obtained a document from the Russian government that outlines plans to build 25 new prison colonies and six detention centers in Russian-occupied areas by 2026.

In its report, AP says prisoners are subject to freezing conditions and summary execution if they refuse to work — in one specific case on the digging of mass graves for civilians.

Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko says at least one person was killed in a third successive night of Russian attacks on the city on Thursday.

Debris falling from the downed drones caused fires in the Ukrainian capital, and a body was recovered in the historic Podil district, Klitschko said.

"This night, Russian terrorists again resorted to a mass attack. The enemy attacked the Kyiv region with drones and missiles. The air alert lasted more than 3 hours," Ruslan Kravchenko, the governor of the Kyiv region, said on the Telegram messaging app.

The country's air force said air defenses had shot down all 20 drones that Russia launched against Kyiv and the surrounding region, as well as two Kalibr missiles fired against other parts of the country.

There were explosions in other cities but no immediate indication of damage or casualties. 

The leadership of the Russian military has dismissed a general for criticizing Moscow's inefficient military strategy.

"The senior chiefs apparently sensed some kind of danger from me and quickly concocted an order from the defense minister in just one day and got rid of me," said Ivan Popov, who was at the helm of the 58th Combined Arms Army deployed in southern Ukraine. 

He said ordinary troops had not been provided with the adequate means to counter Ukrainian artillery strikes.

"I drew attention to the greatest tragedy of modern war — the lack of artillery reconnaissance and counter-strikes and the multiple deaths and injuries caused by enemy artillery."

Popov said Russian soldiers had been betrayed by their "senior chief," a possible reference to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

"The soldiers of the Ukrainian armed forces could not break through our front, but our senior chief dealt us a treacherous blow by decapitating the army at the most critical and tense moment," Popov said.

A mutiny by the Wagner Group, which also claimed it had been failed by the Russian Defense Ministry, has left Moscow without the forces that had been spearheading its offensive efforts during much of the war. 

Popov's post revealing the dismissal was circulated on the Telegram channel of a deputy in Russia's parliament, the Duma. The lawmaker, Andrei Gurulyov, is a hardline former army commander who makes regular appearances on state television.

"There was a tough situation with the senior bosses in which it was necessary either to keep quiet and be a coward or to say it the way it is," Popov said.

"I had no right to lie in the name of you, in the name of my fallen comrades in arms, so I outlined all the problems which exist."

Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov was reported to have called Popov an "alarmist" and replaced him.

Experts say there is widespread dissatisfaction in the Russian armed forces with their military leadership and the embellishment of situation reports passed up the chain of command.

rc/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters, DPA)