Startup Skyroot Aerospace has successfully launched India's first privately developed orbital-class rocket, Vikram-1.

The precision-guided air strike hit fuel and lubricant storage tanks at Yuzhny Port, some 30 km east of Odessa on the Black Sea Coast. The fuel was intended for use by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russia's Defense Ministry said.

The Ukrainian public is exhausted by the conflict, and defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov promised them a “less bloody…cleaner, more organized, less corrupt” and “technological approach” toward fighting, prolific military and geopolitical analyst Scott Ritter told Sputnik.

Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov visited the Zapad battlegroup command, received reports on the operational situation and the results of combat missions, and praised the battlegoup's successes in liberating the Donetsk People's Republic while setting tasks for further actions, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.

Researchers from St. Petersburg State University and Almazov National Medical Research Center have created a mathematical model that distinguishes between two "twin" lung diseases using routine blood samples and avoids invasive procedures.

Russian forces have continued striking Ukrainian ports and vessels involved in supporting the Ukrainian military, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a phone call on July 18 with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan about the situation in the Gulf region amid ongoing US-Iran strikes, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

Iran has ruled out negotiations with the United States, vowing instead to defend the country decisively in response to what it calls American violations of its commitments.