The Ukraine war has been on for 513 days. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry has published final data on the death toll of the Kakhovka dam collapse: it killed 31 people.

Russia’ Defence Ministry has conducted exercises for its Black Sea Fleet. It was a drill simulating an “isolation” of an area of the Black Sea. The US may provide Ukraine with its first F-16 fighters until the end of this year.

Ukraine’s Minister of Culture has resigned due to a “confusion regarding the importance of culture during wartime”.

Find out what happened overnight in Novaya Gazeta Europe’s 21 July round-up.

Ukraine’s Interior Minister: death toll caused by Kakhovka dam collapse stands at 31

A total of 31 people were killed in a flood caused by the Kakhovka dam collapse, Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s Interior Minister, said as he spoke to Radio Free Europe.

“As for the deceased: the current death toll stands at 31. A total of 29 people were killed in the Kherson region, and two more in the Mykolaiv region,” he said.

The final calculation of monetary damages is not over yet. Ukraine’s authorities previously mentioned that the direct losses amount to at least $2 billion.

“It is very hard to calculate how much potential harvest we lost over these months, how many private farms we lost, such as vineyards and melon fields,” Klymenko says.

He also says he is afraid the residents of the Kherson region might have issues with access to water as the water levels dropped significantly, and the former Kakhkovka reservoir has been largely depleted.

Russia stages drills on ‘isolating’ an area of Black Sea

Russia’s Defence Ministry has staged drills for the ships and aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet, training actions needed to isolate an area temporarily closed for maritime traffic, as per the agency’s Telegram channel.

The drills also simulated “a set of measures to apprehend a mock intruder ship”.

“In accordance with the Black Sea Fleet combat training plan, the crew of missile boat Ivanovets carried out live firing of anti-ship cruise missiles at a target ship at a combat training range north-western part of the Black Sea,” the agency reported. The mock ship was reported to be destroyed.

Starting from 20 July 2023, all vessels sailing in the waters of the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports are considered potential carriers of military cargo, the Russian Ministry of Defence declared in its recent statement. Ukraine issued a similar statement the following day.

Ukraine’s Minister of Culture resigns due to ‘a confusion regarding the importance of culture during wartime’

Oleksandr Tkachenko posted a statement in his Telegram channel.

“I filed my resignation with the Premier Minister today due to massive confusion regarding the importance of culture during wartime. Culture is important during times of war, because it is not only a war for territory, but also a war for people, their memories, history, language, art, and, despite the war, the legacy of the past for the sake of the future.

Both state money and private money are no less important for culture as the money for drones as culture is the shield of our identity and our borders. This is what I think that others don’t,” the statement reads.

US to provide Ukraine with first F-16s until end of year

Ukraine is most likely to receive its first F-16 fighter jets before the end of 2023, John Kirby, the US Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council told Fox News.

“Most likely, the F-16s will arrive in Ukraine before the end of the year. However, we do not believe that F-16s alone can alter the situation on the battlefield,” Kirby said.

He also added that Ukraine is in an immediate need of more artillery munitions.