Section: The Centre for Eastern Studies (Poland)
NATO Summit in Vilnius: breakthroughs and unfulfilled hopes
The main topics of the NATO Vilnius Summit held on 11–12 July were deterrence and deterrence, Ukraine’s future membership of NATO, and deepening relations with partners in the Indo-Pacific. The Alliance is partly returning to the defence planning processes and structures that were in place during the Cold War, but which NATO abandoned in...
The commanders of Mariupol’s defence return to Ukraine. Day 502 of the war
Ukrainian troops are continuing their offensive operations on the Zaporizhzhia front. In recent days, fighting has been concentrated around the village of Robotyne, where subunits of the 47th and 65th Mechanised Brigades have been attempting for over a month to push through the defence line of the Russian 42nd Motorised Rifles Division. The...
Rocket attack on Lviv. Day 498 of the war
On 6 July, the Russians launched a rocket attack on Lviv and the surrounding region. One rocket hit a complex of buildings in the city centre; ten civilians were killed and 42 wounded. Thirty-five buildings were destroyed or damaged. Two more of the 10 Kalibr cruise missiles used in the attack were said to have hit Lviv (the Ukrainian Air Force...
Russia’s nuclear project in Hungary: France’s growing role
Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Hungarian government has declared it is fully determined to build the Paks II Nuclear Power Plant, the main contractor of which is Russia’s Rosatom. Several important decisions have been taken over recent weeks to remove the barriers to implementing the project. For example, Hungary and Russia...
Back to trench warfare. Day 495 of the war
At the beginning of July, the fighting in the Bakhmut area began to intensify again. Ukrainian forces renewed their attacks south-west of the town, and declared that they had made further advances towards the enemy-occupied town of Klishchiivka. Russian forces went on the offensive to the north-west of Bakhmut, striking at the Donets-Donbas canal...
Reorganisation of the Ukrainian arms industry. Day 491 of the war
Representatives of the Ukrainian army command and the leadership of the Ministry of Defence have announced that they are taking the initiative on the frontline. On 30 June, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar reported that in the south and east, the defenders were moving from a few hundred metres to two kilometres a day, and that the...
The glass half empty. An assessment of Ukraine and Moldova’s progress in implementing EU recommendations
On 22 June 2023, the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi presented the European Commission’s oral assessment of the progress Ukraine, Moldova (and also Georgia) have made in implementing the recommendations which these countries’ governments had received in June 2022. It is an initial and informal opinion...
Ukraine: new problems with the electricity system
In the evening of 27 June, due to a shortage of capacity to cover internal consumption, Ukraine requested 150 MW of power from the electricity systems of Poland and Romania. This was due to the emergency disconnection of one of the nuclear power plant units (although it was reconnected to the grid the following morning). This is another example...
The Ukrainians have established a bridgehead on the Dnieper’s left bank. Day 488 of the war
Ukrainian forces are continuing their offensive operations in Zaporizhzhia oblast and the western part of Donetsk oblast. On 24 June, south of Orikhiv, they again pushed the Russians away from the Zaporizhzhia-Mariupol road and approached the first Russian fortifications in the village of Robotyne. The following day, they intensified their...
Ukrainians damage the Chonhar bridge. Day 484 of the war
Ukrainian forces continued their attacks on Russian positions south and west of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia oblast and south of Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk oblast. On 23 June, Ukrainian General Staff spokesman Andriy Kovalev reported that they had achieved partial success south of Orikhiv, and were consolidating around the captured positions in...
