{"id":1798,"date":"2025-07-18T06:41:31","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T06:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/07\/18\/russia-ukraine-war-list-of-key-events-day-1240\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T06:41:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T06:41:31","slug":"russia-ukraine-war-list-of-key-events-day-1240","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/07\/18\/russia-ukraine-war-list-of-key-events-day-1240\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,240"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><main id=\"main-content-area\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-label=\"Main content area\"><\/p>\n<header>\n<p><em>Here are the key events on day 1,240 of Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/header>\n<figure>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AFP__20250716__66YU8WE__v1__HighRes__UkraineRussiaConflictWar-1752796444.jpg?resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\"   alt=\"This handout picture taken and released by Ukrainian State Emergency Service on July 16, 2025 shows rescuers carrying a body from a damaged civilian installation following a Russian strike in Dobropillia, Donetsk region, amid Russian invasion in Ukraine. A Russian strike on a central square in Ukraine's frontline town of Dobropillia killed at least two people and wounded 22, authorities said on July 16, 2025 in a new blow to US President Donald Trump's calls for Moscow to end its invasion. (Photo by Handout \/ Ukrainian State Emergency Service \/ AFP) \/ RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT \"AFP PHOTO \/ HANDOUT \/ UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE\" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS\"><\/p><figcaption>Ukrainian State Emergency Service workers carry a body from a damaged civilian installation following a Russian strike in Dobropillia, Donetsk region [Handout\/Ukrainian State Emergency Service via AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Here is how things stand on Friday, July 18:<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"fighting\">Fighting<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed that its forces have captured three Ukrainian settlements: Kamianske in the southeastern Zaporizhia region, Dehtiarne in the northeastern Kharkiv region, and Popiv Yar in the Donetsk region.<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Russia\u2019s Defence Ministry said that it shot down 73 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 10 in the Moscow region. No casualties have been reported. Most were downed in areas near the Ukraine border, including 31 over Russia\u2019s Bryansk region and 10 over the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>Russian air defences destroyed a Ukrainian drone headed for Moscow, the city\u2019s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said.<\/li>\n<li>Russia and Ukraine have exchanged more bodies of their war dead, a Kremlin aide said, part of an agreement struck at the second round of peace talks in Istanbul in June. A total of 1,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers were turned over in exchange for 19 bodies of Russian soldiers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"military-aid\">Military aid<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Preparations are under way to quickly transfer additional Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine, NATO\u2019s top military commander, Alexus Grynkewich, said.<\/li>\n<li>Czech-coordinated shipments of artillery ammunition for Ukraine are rising this year, according to Ales Vytecka, director of the Czech Defence Ministry\u2019s AMOS international cooperation agency. So far this year, shipments have totalled 850,000 shells, including 320,000 NATO 155mm calibre projectiles.<\/li>\n<li>Ukraine will let foreign arms companies test out their latest weapons on the front line of its war against Russia, Kyiv\u2019s state-backed arms investment and procurement group Brave1 said.<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the US publication The New York Post that he and United States President Donald Trump are considering a deal that involves Washington buying battlefield-tested Ukrainian drones in exchange for Kyiv purchasing weapons from the US.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>Zelenskyy told the country\u2019s parliament that he expects his new government to increase the amount of domestically-produced weapons on Ukraine\u2019s battlefield from 40 percent to 50 percent within the next six months.<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The US has informed Switzerland of delays to the delivery of Patriot air defence systems, the Swiss Defence Ministry said, adding that Washington wants to prioritise delivery of the systems to Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said clarity is needed on how the US could replace any weapons that Europe plans to send to Ukraine. He issued the statement during a visit to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"politics-and-diplomacy\">Politics and diplomacy<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>President <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/7\/14\/trump-says-us-will-send-patriot-missiles-to-ukraine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trump\u2019s<\/a> decision to ramp up arms shipments to Ukraine is a signal to Kyiv to abandon peace efforts, Russia Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia had no plans to attack NATO or Europe but floated the idea of preemptive strikes if it believed the West was escalating what he cast as its full-scale war against Russia.<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Slovakia\u2019s Prime Minister Robert Fico said his country will stop blocking the approval of the 18th package of European Union sanctions against Russia, which could be approved on Friday.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Ukraine\u2019s parliament appointed <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/7\/14\/zelenskyy-nominates-yulia-svyrydenko-as-new-ukraine-pm-in-cabinet-shake-up\">Yulia Svyrydenko<\/a>, 39, as the country\u2019s first new prime minister in five years, part of a major cabinet overhaul aimed at revitalising wartime management of the country as prospects for peace with Russia grow dim. Ukraine\u2019s former Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has been named defence minister.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>Ukraine\u2019s parliament also voted to keep Andrii Sybiha as foreign minister, while appointing Olha Stefanishyna, a deputy prime minister responsible for Euro-Atlantic integration, as the country\u2019s new ambassador to the US.<\/li>\n<li>Russian lawmakers have advanced a bill that would outlaw opening or searching for content online judged to be \u201cextremist\u201d in nature, such as songs glorifying Ukraine and material by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/10\/2\/pussy-riots-tolokonnikova-russia-wants-me-poisoned-dead-or-in-jail\">feminist rock band, Pussy Riot<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Source: <\/p>\n<p>Al Jazeera and news agencies<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n<hr>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are the key events on day 1,240 of Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine. Ukrainian State Emergency Service workers carry a body from a damaged civilian installation following a Russian strike in Dobropillia, Donetsk region [Handout\/Ukrainian State Emergency Service via AFP] Here is how things stand on Friday, July 18: Fighting The Russian Ministry of Defence &#8230; <a title=\"Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,240\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/07\/18\/russia-ukraine-war-list-of-key-events-day-1240\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,240\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}