Here are the key events on day 1,240 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.Here is how things stand on Friday, July 18:
Fighting
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.
Russian air defences destroyed a Ukrainian drone headed for Moscow, the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said 46 Ukrainian drones were destroyed over a period of four hours on Thursday evening, including a single drone over the Moscow region. Most were downed in areas near the Ukraine border, including 31 over Russia’s Bryansk region and 10 over the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula.
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.
Military aid
Preparations are under way to quickly transfer additional Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine, NATO’s top military commander, Alexus Grynkewich, said.
Czech-coordinated shipments of artillery ammunition for Ukraine are rising this year, according to Ales Vytecka, director of the Czech Defence Ministry’s AMOS international cooperation agency. So far this year, shipments have totalled 850,000 shells, including 320,000 NATO 155mm calibre projectiles.
Ukraine will let foreign arms companies test out their latest weapons on the front line of its war against Russia, Kyiv’s state-backed arms investm …