Deoccupation of Staromaiorske, disqualification of fencer Harlan, resignation of Minister of Culture: July 27 highlights

Liberation of Staromaiorske

The Ukrainian forces announced they de-occupied the village of Staromaiorske in the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region. One of the service members said that the village was liberated by the 35th Separate Marine Brigade and the Arei Volunteer Battalion.

At the same time, Russian troops tried to drive the Ukrainian Armed Forces from their dominant positions in the Kupiansk direction. Still, the Ukrainian military had already repelled several attacks without losing ground.

In the Bakhmut direction, the Defense Forces are gradually moving forward south of Bakhmut and repelling Russian attacks north of the city. Fightings are currently ongoing in the area of Klishchiyivka, Kurdiumivka, and Andriivka (Donetsk region).

Meanwhile, in the Lyman direction, Ukrainian troops repelled several Russian attacks in the area of Serebrianskyi forest.

Disqualification of fencer Olga Kharlan 

The Ukrainian national fencing team leader, Olga Kharlan, defeated Russian athlete Anna Smirnova in the 1/32 finals of the World Fencing Championships.

After the match, the Ukrainian athlete refused to shake hands with the Russian, which, according to the International Fencing Federation (FIE) rules, is punishable by a black card. As a result, the Ukrainian was withdrawn from the World Championships.

The Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Vadym Gutzeit, said he had warned the FIE in advance that Ukrainian athletes would not shake hands with Russian athletes under a neutral flag.

The International Olympic Committee responded to the incident and called on international federations to exercise caution when holding competitions between Ukrainian and Russian athletes. The Committee expressed solidarity with Ukrainian athletes.

Verkhovna Rada supports Tkachenko's resignation from the Ministry of Culture

The Verkhovna Rada supported the resignation of Ukraine's Minister of Culture, Oleksandr Tkachenko. A total of 321 MPs voted in favor of the decision.

On July 21, Tkachenko submitted a letter of resignation from the post of Minister of Culture on his own initiative. He said that the night before, he had brought a statement to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal "due to a wave of misunderstandings about the importance of culture during the war."

Ukrainian Orthodox Church to switch to the New Julian calendar

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine finally approved the transition to the New Julian calendar on September 1 at the Local Council.

The Primate of the OCU, His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy, emphasized that parishes and monasteries can temporarily continue to use the old calendar if they wish.

According to the calendar change, all holidays with fixed dates will be moved back 13 days. Thus, the OCU will celebrate Christmas on December 25, not January 7, the Intercession on October 1, and Epiphany on January 6. However, the change will not affect Easter, as this holiday has no fixed date and its date is calculated according to a special principle.

The New Julian calendar is currently used by most Orthodox churches in the world, including the Constantinople, Greek, Bulgarian and Romanian churches.

Other news of the day

• The US has submitted its evidence of Russian war crimes to the ICC – Prosecutor General.
• Ukraine's energy operator, Ukrenergo, prepares for the "worst case scenario" in winter due to new possible Russian attacks.
• In occupied Crimea, 13 people were detained who came to the hearing of a case of Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis, Nariman Dzhelal.
• The National Bank improved its inflation forecast and cut the discount rate for the first time in a year.
• The Verkhovna Rada approved the European Commission's recommendation to hold a competitive selection of candidates for the position of a Constitutional Court judge.