July 27, 2023 at 2:38 a.m. EDT
Swedish officials accused the Kremlin of backing a disinformation campaign to discredit Stockholm — which is set to join NATO soon — in the eyes of Muslims. Copies of the Quran have been burned at demonstrations in the country, triggering outrage among Muslims, including in Turkey, a NATO member country that was slow to agree to Sweden’s accession to the transatlantic alliance. The Russian Embassy in Stockholm did not immediately return a request for comment early Thursday.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Ukraine’s military made advances south of the town of Orikhiv in the country’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, The Washington Post reported, citing Ukrainian officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters. Kyiv is “gradually advancing” in the direction of the southern cities of Melitopol and Berdyansk, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said, without offering further details.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive is not a stalemate, but it is not progressing as quickly as hoped, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday. The Ukrainians are “not just frozen. The Ukrainians are moving,” Kirby said.
Russian-backed actors are “amplifying incorrect statements such as that the Swedish state is behind the desecration of holy scriptures,” Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said, according to Reuters. The disinformation campaign is aimed at hurting Swedish interests and citizens, he told reporters. Sweden has insisted that it does not support burning the holy book, but it cannot block such acts during protests because of free-speech laws.
The White House is exploring “less efficient” land routes to export grain from Ukraine, after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal last week. The United States expects Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports to last “for some time,” Kirby told reporters, adding that truck or rail alternatives were not as efficient. Washington is in talks with European and Ukrainian partners to find overland routes, Kirby said.
The goal of Ukraine’s latest military push is to reach the Sea of Azov. Successfully achieving that would allow Ukraine to sever Russia’s land bridge to Crimea, a strategic strip of territory that was annexed by Russia and a key conduit for moving Russian forces and equipment into Ukraine.
Air alarms sounded in Ukrainian cities early Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. Moscow fired cruise missiles across Ukraine the previous evening, according to the Ukrainian air force, which said it shot down 36 of 39 missiles launched. There “were a few hits, and some missile fragments fell,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.
Moscow and Kyiv acknowledged intense fighting around the town of Robotyne. Russia’s Defense Ministry said an attack on the Russian-held area in Ukraine was repelled. It added that its troops had destroyed 20 Ukrainian tanks and 10 armored personnel carriers, and killed 100 Ukrainian soldiers. The Russian pro-war military blog Zapisky Veterana reported more modest Ukrainian losses. A Ukrainian official said the country’s forces had suffered some casualties but denied Russian artillery had pushed them to retreat.
Russia has partially destroyed five civilian vessels and 26 pieces of port infrastructure since withdrawing from the Black Sea grain deal, a senior Ukrainian official said. Russia is also restricting shipping near Crimea and the territorial waters of Bulgaria, the official said.
The United States will cooperate with the International Criminal Court’s investigation into war crimes in Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday in New Zealand. Washington — which is not party to the Rome statute that set up the ICC — has long kept the tribunal at arm’s length. “We’ve made clear that there needs to be accountability for those who have committed war crimes in Ukraine,” Blinken told reporters. “We support the ICC’s investigation. We’ll be cooperating with that investigation.” The Pentagon has been hesitant about such cooperation, fearing that it might set a precedent that exposes U.S. personnel to investigations for actions elsewhere.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu handed a letter from President Vladimir Putin to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, North Korean state media reported. Shoigu is on a visit to Pyongyang, which is marking the 70th anniversary of the armistice of the Korean War. Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam said Pyongyang fully supports the “just struggle of the Russian army and people,” according to North Korean state media.
Putin courts Africa at summit, but many African leaders stay away: Russian President Vladimir Putin will host leaders from Africa in St. Petersburg on Thursday, in a gathering designed to portray Moscow as a great power with many global friends, report Robyn Dixon and Katharine Houreld. But only 16 heads of state will attend, fewer than the 43 that came to the first Russia-Africa summit in 2019, in a sign of the region’s dismay about a war that has raised food and fuel prices, hurting vulnerable populations.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed the West for the reduced number, claiming there had been “brazen interference” from the United States, France and others.
Michael Birnbaum in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.
