This Week in the World sheds light on events and personalities around the globe that may not have made the headlines
Ukraine-Russia war
This week saw heavy fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the east of Ukraine. Near the village of Prohres in Donetsk Oblast, two battalions of the Ukrainian 31st Mechanized Brigade were nearly encircled by Russian forces but managed to break out and retreat from the area. This is according to the Deepstatemap site. Reporting from Forbes claims that the brigade commander never gave the order to break through, but that the encircled troops ignored their commander and broke out of the encirclement themselves.
The 31st Brigade was placed in this dangerous position after a surprise Russian assault in the area recently broke a Ukrainian unit, either the 110th Mechanized Brigade or the 111th Territorial Defence Brigade.
The Ukrainian 79th Air Assault Brigade claimed to have stopped a large, armoured assault by the Russian 150th Motor Rifle Division south-west of Donetsk city on 24 and 25 July. The attack consisted of 11 tanks, 45 infantry fighting vehicles, and hundreds of troops. The 79th posted footage online of drones and artillery striking the Russian forces as they advanced.
Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, leader of Ukraine’s armed forces, was interviewed in The Guardian and gave his thoughts on the war so far. Syrskyi claimed that Russia’s army had grown from the initial invasion force of around 100 000 troops to more than 500 000 troops. While he did not give numbers of Ukrainian troops, he said that despite weapons deliveries from Western countries, Ukraine faced a 2-to-1 or even 3-to-1 deficit in equipment, with Russian tanks and artillery significantly outnumbering Ukraine’s equivalents. He went on to say: “Therefore, for us, the issue of supply, the issue of quality, is really at the forefront.”
The governments of Denmark and the Netherlands promised to deliver an additional 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine in the coming months.
In a speech to the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies in London in July, former commander of the Ukrainian armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who is now Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, described the war in Ukraine as tactically and technologically shaping the wars of the future. He said the current conflict was a “war of transition”.
U.S. elections
This week saw the departure from the U.S. presidential race of incumbent Joe Biden. An incumbent president dropping out of the race is not unprecedented; Lyndon Johnson dropped out in 1968 after an unexpected poor showing in the New Hampshire primary in that year. However, never before has a candidate dropped out so close to the election date.
While Kamala Harris, Biden’s vice president, has not formally been chosen as the Democratic Party candidate yet, polling and the large number of endorsements she has already received suggest there is little chance she will not be the nominee.
Previously widely considered by many Democrats behind closed doors to be unelectable, Harris had a strong start to her campaign, defying many expectations. She has improved her position in the polls over Biden, either being slightly behind or ahead of Trump, and within the first 24 hours of her campaign raised $280 million, an enormous amount.
An election that seemed to be firmly heading in Trump’s direction is once again more uncertain.
Sudan civil war
This week, on 23 and 24 July, troops of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed to have seized more territory in the south of the country from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The RSF claimed to have taken the towns of Al Jabalayn and El Suki, both in Sennar state.
Middle East
On 20 July, the Yemeni group, Ansar Allah, popularly known as the Houthis, claimed responsibility for a drone attack on the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, which killed and wounded Israeli civilians. This would be one of the longest-range attacks launched by the Houthis on Israel.
The following day Israel carried out its first airstrike in Yemen in retaliation for the drone attack, striking Hodeidah Port, an attack the Houthis claim killed at least six people.
On 22 July Israel claimed to have intercepted a missile launched from Yemen by the Houthis.
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