‘Guided by Love for His Country’ – Ukraine at War Update for July 22

Now that US President Joe Biden has ended his re-election campaign, saying “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down,” Democrats on Sunday have begun the process of selecting his presidential replacement for the November ticket, as well as a search for a new vice presidential nominee.

In his letter announcing his decision on Sunday, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the bid, but this does not automatically grant her the nomination. That selection will be made by the 4,700 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, which begins on August 19 in Chicago.

The delegates could reach a consensus sooner, as a virtual roll call might be initiated in early August, but that decision has not yet been made.

In a statement on Sunday, Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison said only that in the coming days the party will “undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November.”

Meanwhile, the Harris campaign has hit the ground running to secure those votes.

“We have been whipping delegates for the last week,” a senior Democratic strategist who worked on Harris’ 2020 campaign told CNN. (In American political parlance, to “whip votes” is to convince the undecided within a caucus to take the majority position. For example, the current “Majority Whip” in the Republican-held House of Representatives is Tom Emmer from Minnesota.)

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If the presidential nominee vote goes to the convention floor, where each candidate would be allotted 20 minutes to speak, one of them could win a majority of those delegates. If none of them earn a majority, then the voting will go on to include the 750 “automatic” delegates (once called “super-delegates”) who are elected officials and other Democratic icons, such as former presidents.

Then there is the question of who inherits Biden’s campaign funds and infrastructure. The campaign has a war chest of about $96 million and offices and staffers across the country. Harris has the most legitimate claim to those resources, as this money indeed belongs to the “Biden-Harris” campaign. She is the heiress apparent to that political fortune, but even that much is not legally binding.

Delegates also will vote on a vice presidential nominee, either before or during the convention, even though the presidential nominee will be the one to officially announce that pick in Chicago next month.

Zelensky and allies thank Biden for his leadership, his “difficult decisions” and his “achievements for Europe and the world”

After Biden dropped out of the race for re-election on Sunday, allies from across the world expressed their gratitude for his service and his commitment to Ukraine’s freedom.

President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately thanked Biden for taking “bold steps” in supporting his country.

“We will always be thankful for President Biden’s leadership. He supported our country during the most dramatic moment in history, assisted us in preventing Putin from occupying our country, and has continued to support us throughout this terrible war,” he wrote on social media.

AFP reported that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk praised the US president for taking “many difficult decisions thanks to which Poland, America and the world are safer, and democracy stronger.”

“I know you were driven by the same motivations when announcing your final decision. Probably the most difficult one in your life,” added Tusk.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau added, “He’s a great man, and everything he does is guided by his love for his country,” he wrote.

Newly elected UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he respected Biden’s decision, adding, "I look forward to us working together during the remainder of his presidency… I know that, as he has done throughout his remarkable career, he will have made his decision based on what he believes is best for the American people,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that “Joe Biden has achieved a lot: for his country, for Europe, for the world,” he wrote on social media. “His decision not to run again deserves respect.”

Former US President Barack Obama: “Internationally, he restored America’s standing in the world, revitalized NATO, and mobilized the world to stand up against Russian aggression in Ukraine,” Obama said.

Russian drone mows down a farmer harvesting his field in Sumy, as attacks on civilians continue

The office of the prosecutor general in the Sumy region reported on Sunday that Russian troops attacked a combine harvester while the farmer was harvesting crops.

The 37-year-old combine operator was killed and his 59-year-old helper was injured. According to those reports, what appeared to be a kamikaze drone attack took place at about 4:40 p.m. on Sunday in the border city of Bilopillia.

In the early hours of Saturday, state media Ukrinform reported, a Russian kamikaze drone hit an energy infrastructure facility in the town of Konotop, about 150 km west of the region's capital city of Sumy.

At roughly the same time as the attack on the farmer, Russian forces also shelled the Korabelnyi district of the regional capital of Kherson, injuring a 52-year-old man.