Ukraine

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska has issued a sobering warning to the world as the conflict enters its 18 month, in an exclusive interview with Independent TV.

Speaking from the command centre in Kyiv, Ms Zelenska warned that her country is in desperate need of “faster” support to enable it to fight Vladimir Putin’s troops.

“We keep hearing from our Western partners that they will be with us as long as it takes. ‘Long’ is not the word we should use. We should use the word ‘faster’,” she told Independent TV.

“Ukrainians are paying for this war with the lives of our compatriots. The rest of the world pays with its resources. These are incomparable things, so we urge you to speed up this help,” she added.

A comedy screenwriter and the childhood sweetheart of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Ms Zelenska gave up her day job to become an ambassador for Ukraine after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Founding the Olena Zelenska Foundation in September 2022, the organisation’s work is wide-ranging, encompassing everything from reconstructing hospitals to supporting those suffering with their mental health.

Explosions and drone debris hit Kyiv in overnight attacks

Poland rushes troops to border with Belarus

Russia strikes port, grain storage in Odesa

Putin ‘unlikely to find enough new troops to resource even one new army’, says UK MoD

Torture, sexual violence commonly used by Russian forces in Ukraine, say experts

06:56 , Arpan Rai

As if on cue, the haunting wail of the air-raid siren sifts through the sunshine as we pull up to the checkpoint by the presidential complex in Kyiv.

Like swathes of Ukraine, the contours of this heavily guarded compound have been re-carved by President Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Instead of a sweeping pedestrian boulevard leading to 10 Bankova – Ukraine’s 10 Downing Street – the complex is a disorientating labyrinth of blast walls, sandbags, and soldiers.

Inside this bunker, it is as quiet and dark as a sunken cathedral. The windows are boarded up and filters cover each light casting an eerie muted glow. Sandbags, like used tissues, are wedged between marble columns. A chandelier which is not switched on, crowns the sweeping stairwell which leads up to makeshift barricades punctured by embrasures.

It feels like the presidential compound and its inhabitants are poised and prepared. Including the First Lady - Olena Zelenska - whom we are here to meet.

Bel Trew sits down with the first lady in a wide-ranging interview discussing her work rebuilding Ukraine in the middle of war – and the pressures on her family:

From Kyiv, Olena Zelenska’s urgent plea to help her nation as war rages

09:55 , Reuters

Russia has added Norway to its list of foreign states that have committed so-called “unfriendly” acts against Russian diplomatic missions, state news agencies report.

Countries on the list are limited in the number of local staff they can hire in Russia, with Norway restricted to 27, RIA Novosti said.

Norway expelled 15 Russian diplomats for alleged spying in April, and Russia responded by ordering out 10 Norwegian diplomats. Norway said there was no reason to claim that it had behaved in an unfriendly manner towards Russia, with whom it shares a border in the Arctic.

“Today’s situation is the result of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Russia can itself choose to end the war,” Norwegian foreign minister Anniken Huitfeldt told Reuters. “As neighbouring countries we both have an interest in functioning diplomatic relations and channels of contact, not least in difficult times.”

A Norwegian foreign ministry spokesperson separately said that Norway had not yet received an official notification from Moscow, and declined to comment on any specific consequences of Russia’s decision.

09:29 , Andy Gregory

The UK’s support for Ukraine is “tireless” the defence secretary has pledged, after the country’s first lady issued an emotional plea for the world not to lose interest in the fight against Russia.

Britain will back Ukraine “every way we can” until the war is over, Ben Wallace said.

His comments follow a heartfelt call from Olena Zelenska, in an exclusive interview with Independent TV, to other nations: “Please don’t get fatigued, because we as Ukrainians have no right to get tired.”

Our politics and Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has the exclusive report:

‘Until the end’: Ben Wallace’s dramatic pledge to Ukraine after first lady’s plea

09:06 , Reuters

Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territory are being forced to assume Russian citizenship or face harsh retaliation, including possible deportation or detention, US-backed researchers have alleged.

Yale University researchers said that as part of a plan by Moscow to assert authority over Ukrainians, residents of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions are being targeted by a systematic effort to strip them of Ukrainian identity.

A series of decrees signed by Vladimir Putin compel Ukrainians to get Russian passports, in violation of international humanitarian law, the report said.

Ukrainians in occupied territory who do not seek Russian citizenship “are subjected to threats, intimidation, restrictions on humanitarian aid and basic necessities, and possible detention or deportation – all designed to force them to become Russian citizens,” the report said.

“What is concerning here is that it represents, basically, a violation of the Hague and Geneva Conventions,” executive director Nathaniel Raymond of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, told Reuters. “It is very widespread and very ongoing.”

Ukrainians in areas under Russian control have no choice but to accept a Russian passport if they want to survive, or they face potential detention and, as the team has documented, deportation into Russia if they fail to comply,” Mr Raymond said.

08:42 , Andy Gregory

A Russian strike on a church in central Kherson has injured three civilians and four emergency service workers, Ukraine’s state broadcaster reports, citing regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

Three people who were traveling on a bus past the church were injured and hospitalised, Mr Produkin said – with officials alleging that Russia struck once more as the emergency services sought to extinguish the fire, injuring four.

08:21 , Andy Gregory

Russia is striving to cause a global food catastrophe, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed.

In his nightly address, Mr Zelensky said Russia had attacked ports in Odesa and other areas with 37 Iranian-made Shahed drones, some of which were shot down by air defences.

“It is very important for the world not to get used to this Russian terror,” he said. “Every hit is a common problem. Not only for Ukraine, but also for all those in the world whose stability Russia is trying to destroy by attacking our ports and infrastructure.

“Now, for the Russian state, this is a battle not only against our freedom, not only against our state. Moscow is fighting a battle for a global catastrophe: these lunatics need the world food market to collapse - they need price crises, supply disruptions.

“Someone in Moscow thinks they can make money on this ... Someone in Moscow hopes they will be able to bargain for something ... These are very, very dangerous hopes.”

07:57 , Andy Gregory

Vladimir Putin’s potential to disrupt world energy supplies, a deadly pathogen escaping from a lab and extreme weather linked to the climate crisis are among the serious risks facing the UK, according to a new government list.

The Cabinet Office has published a register designed to help Britain prepare for “worst-case scenarios” of some of the serious threats posed to the country.

Alongside a future pandemic and “Putin’s energy ransom”, other key risks outlined in the national register include the potential for the malicious use of drones and cyber attacks on health and social care systems.

Our politics and Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has the full report:

Putin’s ‘energy ransom’ and deadly virus escaping lab ‘among key threats facing UK’

07:38 , Andy Gregory

In strikes landing less than a mile from Nato territory, Russia attacked Ukraine’s main inland port across the River Danube from Romania on Wednesday – sending global food prices higher as it ramps up its use of force to prevent Kyiv from exporting grain.

The attacks destroyed buildings in the port of Izmail, south of Moldova, and halted ships in their tracks as they prepared to arrive there to load up with Ukrainian grain in defiance of a de-facto Black Sea blockade reimposed by Russia last month.

The port, which lies across the river from Nato-member Romania, is the main alternative route for exports. Ukraine said the Russian attacks damaged almost 40,000 tons of grain destined for countries in Africa as well as China and Israel.

Our daily edition editor Alastair Jamieson has the full story:

Russia attacks grain port across River Danube from Romania

07:24 , Andy Gregory

Anti-aircraft units were mobilised against attack drones during a three-hour air raid alert in and around Kyiv on Thursday, Ukraine’s military said – with several explosions reported but no strikes or casualties announced.

Kyiv military authorities lifted the alert just after 4am local time. One report by the military said airborne targets had been shot down, but no details were provided. Alerts were also lifted in most other areas of the country.

07:10 , Arpan Rai

Undergrowth regrowing across the battlefields of southern Ukraine is likely one factor contributing to the generally slow progress of combat in the area, the British Ministry of Defence has said.

“The predominately arable land in the combat zone has now been left fallow for 18 months, with the return of weeds and shrubs accelerating under the warm, damp summer conditions. The extra cover helps camouflage Russian defensive positions and makes defensive mine fields harder to clear,” the ministry said.

It added that while undergrowth can also provide cover for “small stealthy infantry assaults, the net effect has been to make it harder for either side to make advances”.

05:40 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine’s first lady has warned that Russia winning the war it started is “the worst-case scenario for all humanity”, in a heartfelt plea for the world not to lose interest in her country as its soldiers are fighting for “the democratic balance of the world”.

Speaking exclusively to Independent TV, Olena Zelenska said Ukraine is deeply concerned that the world is underestimating the wider threat from Moscow as the conflict grinds into its 18th month.

Read the full interview here:

If Russia wins it’s humanity’s worst-case scenario, says Ukraine’s Olena Zelenska

05:21 , Arpan Rai

Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territory are being forced to assume Russian citizenship or face harsh retaliation, including possible deportation or detention, US-backed research published yesterday said.

A series of decrees signed by Russian president Vladimir Putin compel Ukrainians to get Russian passports, in violation of international humanitarian law, the report said.

Yale University researchers said that as part of a plan by Moscow to assert authority over Ukrainians, residents of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions are being targeted by a systematic effort to strip them of Ukrainian identity.

The Kremlin has consistently denied allegations of war crimes in Ukraine by forces taking part in a “special military operation” it says was launched to “de-Nazify” its neighbour and protect Russia.

Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin said in May that Moscow has given passports to almost 1.5 million people living in the annexed parts of Ukraine‘s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions since last October.

05:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Ahmed Salah grew anxious when he heard the news that Russia had suspended a crucial wartime grain deal. The bakery owner in Egypt‘s capital is concerned it could mean global food prices soar.

“There mightn’t be immediate impact,” the 52-year-old said last week as he oversaw workers baking bread in his shop in Cairo, “but if they didn’t find a solution soonest, things would be very difficult.”

Russia pulled out of the deal brokered by the U.N. and Turkey to allow Ukraine’s grain to flow during a global food crisis. It helped stabilize food prices that soared last year after Russia invaded Ukraine — two countries that are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other food to developing nations.

Read more:

Mideast countries that are already struggling fear price hikes after Russia exits grain deal

04:30 , Arpan Rai

Even though Russian forces have not made any significant headway along the front lines, they are entrenched in heavily mined areas they control, making it difficult for Ukrainian troops to move east and south, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday.

Russian forces have utilised ample time this year during their occupation in frontline areas to prepare defences and lay extensive minefields, Oleksiy Danilov, the Secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, said.

“The enemy has prepared very thoroughly for these events,” he told national television. “The number of mines on the territory that our troops have retaken is utterly mad. On average, there are three, four, five mines per square metre.”

In June, Ukrainian forces launched a drive to retake occupied areas and have been pressing southward toward the Sea of Azov to sever a land bridge between occupied eastern Ukraine and the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.

04:07 , Arpan Rai

Anti-aircraft units were in action against attack drones during a three-hour air raid alert in and around Kyiv in the early hours today, the military said, with several explosions reported but no strikes or casualties announced.

Kyiv military authorities lifted the alert just after 4am (1am GMT).

One report by the military said airborne targets had been downed, but no details were provided.

Alerts were also lifted in most other areas of the country.

04:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Amid the ravages of war, Sergey, a seasoned Wagner mercenary, found himself grappling with the relentless violence that has become a way of life and death on the front line. The savage conflict, the sense of betrayal from the Kremlin, and rumours of plots, all combined to create an atmosphere of uncertainty and dread.

At the end he decided to abandon the Wagner group and the savage, meat-grinding combat of Donbas where corpses piled up, and towns and cities were razed.

Kim Sengupta meets a fighter – a father of two – who has recently left the mercenary group and hears about the daily routine of ‘fight, eat, pray’ on some of the fiercest frontlines in the war:

Face to face with a mercenary: Inside Wagner and its bloody role in the Ukraine war

03:51 , Arpan Rai

Officials in Kyiv have said its troops have retaken areas near Bakhmut, an eastern city seized by Russian forces in May after months of battles.

Deputy Ukrainian defence minister Hanna Maliar said Russian forces had “tried quite persistently to halt our advance in the Bakhmut sector. Without success.”

Russian forces, she wrote on Telegram, were beefing up reserves and equipment in three areas further north, where heavy fighting has also been reported in recent weeks.

03:44 , Arpan Rai

Russia attacked Ukraine’s main inland port across the River Danube from Romania yesterday, sending global food prices higher as it ramps up its use of force to prevent Kyiv from exporting grain.

The attacks destroyed buildings in the port of Izmail, south of Moldova, and halted ships in their tracks as they prepared to arrive there to load up with Ukrainian grain in defiance of a de-facto Black Sea blockade reimposed by Russia last month.

The port, which lies across the river from Nato-member Romania, is the main alternative route for exports.

Russia attacks grain port across River Danube from Romania

03:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has cheered the recent flurry of drone strikes on Moscow as evidence that Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of his country is backfiring and that its consequences are becoming ever clearer to the Russian people.

“Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia – to its symbolic centres and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process,” he said in a video address from the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk.

Russia’s defence ministry conceded on Sunday (30 July) that a 50-storey building containing the offices of a number of government agencies and a shopping precinct in the capital’s western Moskva-Citi business district were both hit by drone strikes it blamed on Ukraine, claiming to have brought down three more devices.

Joe Sommerlad has the full story:

Mapped: The latest strikes on Ukraine and Russia as war rages on

02:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Thousands of Wagner mercenaries have arrived in Belarus since the group’s failed mutiny against Moscow led by its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin – leading to Nato member Poland reinforcing its eastern border against the “potential threat” they pose.

Adding to the tension, Poland’s government said that two Belarusian helicopters entered Poland’s airspace on Tuesday, with Warsaw authorities saying it is rushing more troops to the border in light of the incident. It said it had informed Nato of the border violation, which Belarus denies.

The country’s defence ministry said: “There was a violation of Polish airspace by two Belarusian helicopters that were carrying out training near the border.” It added that Belarus had earlier informed Poland of plans to carry out training exercises in the area. It said they were flying at a low altitude and were not picked up by radar.

Chris Stevenson reports:

Why are Wagner mercenaries in Belarus – and would they try to invade Poland?

01:00 , Eleanor Noyce

China imposed restrictions Monday on exports of long-range civilian drones, citing Russia’s war in Ukraine and concern that drones might be converted to military use.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government is friendly with Moscow but says it is neutral in the 18-month-old war. It has been stung by reports that both sides might be using Chinese-made drones for reconnaissance and possibly attacks.

Export controls will take effect Tuesday to prevent use of drones for “non-peaceful purposes,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. It said exports still will be allowed but didn’t say what restrictions would apply.

Read more:

China imposes curbs on drone exports, citing Ukraine and concern about military use

Thursday 3 August 2023 00:01 , Eleanor Noyce

It’s front-page news today: the heart of Moscow has been hit by early-morning drone attacks. It makes me think of Tallulah. She’s a frozen embryo I have stored in an IVF clinic in St Petersburg. What if I ever wanted to get her home? Is she safe?

I know it sounds over the top to actually call a frozen embryo by a name – but I’m not alone.

I don’t want another child, writes Charlotte Cripps - but it doesn’t stop me from worrying about my frozen embryo in St Petersburg:

My frozen embryo is trapped in Russia – how do I get it out? | Charlotte Cripps

Wednesday 2 August 2023 23:30 , Eleanor Noyce

The Biden administration is delaying plans to restock the nation’s emergency oil reserve amid a price hike that has pushed oil above $80 a barrel.

The Energy Department cancelled a planned purchase of 6 million barrels for the strategic reserve this week, saying it wants to secure a good deal for taxpayers.

The administration said it remains committed to refilling the reserve, which President Joe Biden significantly drained last year in a bid to stop gasoline prices from rising amid production cuts by OPEC and a ban on Russian oil imports because of the war in Ukraine.

Read more:

Biden delays plans to restock nation’s emergency oil reserve

Wednesday 2 August 2023 23:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska further spoke of her transition to a public figure during wartime, noting that she has to be “effective” in her role “to support the president and the people of Ukraine.”

“All the fears, all the phobias, all the unpleasant moments that we experienced in peacetime fade into the background,” she said in an exclusive interview with Independent TV.

“The fact that I said that I don’t really like public speaking - does not matter now. I have to be effective in my role to support the president and the people of Ukraine.”

“I hope they feel that I am”, she adds.

Wednesday 2 August 2023 22:30 , Eleanor Noyce

In an exclusive interview with Independent TV, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska has labelled finding the tens of thousands of children that Ukraine has accused Russia of abducting “one of the biggest wounds in Ukraine.”

“We are trying to get our children back. It is hard to find an area of children’s life that the war has not touched”, Ms Zelenska told The Independent’s Bel Trew.

That includes the lives of her own children, who are forced to live separately from their father for security reasons.

“Maybe [now] it is more frequent that we can see each other altogether but these are still isolated instances,” she says, with a quiet sadness. “I am sure that we will pass this test.”

Wednesday 2 August 2023 22:15 , Eleanor Noyce

As if on cue, the haunting wail of the air-raid siren sifts through the sunshine as we pull up to the checkpoint by the presidential complex in Kyiv. Like swathes of Ukraine, the contours of this heavily guarded compound have been re-carved by President Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Instead of a sweeping pedestrian boulevard leading to 10 Bankova – Ukraine’s 10 Downing Street – the complex is a disorientating labyrinth of blast walls, sandbags, and soldiers.

Bel Trew sits down with the first lady in a wide-ranging interview discussing her work rebuilding Ukraine in the middle of war – and the pressures on her family:

From Kyiv, Olena Zelenska’s urgent plea to help her nation as war rages

Wednesday 2 August 2023 22:07 , Eleanor Noyce

In a rare interview the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, has spoken to Independent TV about her work rebuilding Ukraine in the middle of war, the pressures on her family and concerns for the future of her country.

From the presidential palace, she told The Independent’s Bel Trew about the need to reconstruct cities despite the fighting raging on, about building cutting-edge facilities to treat the country’s’ war-wounded and fighting stigma on trauma around the country.

Watch:

What Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska wants the world to know

Wednesday 2 August 2023 22:06 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukraine’s first lady has warned that Russia winning the war it started is “the worst-case scenario for all humanity”, in a heartfelt plea for the world not to lose interest in her country as its soldiers are fighting for “the democratic balance of the world”.

Speaking exclusively to Independent TV, Olena Zelenska said Ukraine is deeply concerned that the world is underestimating the wider threat from Moscow as the conflict grinds into its 18th month.

“If the aggressor wins now, it will be the worst-case scenario for all of humanity,” Ms Zelenska said from the heavily guarded presidential palace in Kyiv.

“This will mean that global deterrents aren’t working. This will mean that anyone with power, strength and sufficient financial capacity can do whatever they want.”

Read more:

If Russia wins it’s humanity’s worst-case scenario, says Ukraine’s Olena Zelenska

Wednesday 2 August 2023 21:15 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Russia’s attacks on port infrastructure showed Moscow was intent on creating a “global catastrophe,” with a crisis in food markets, prices and supplies.

“For the Russian state, this is not just a battle against our freedom and against our country,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

“Moscow is waging a battle for a global catastrophe. In their madness, they need world food markets to collapse, they need a price crisis, they need disruptions in supplies.”

Wednesday 2 August 2023 21:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Russian guards subjected Ukrainian prisoners to torture and sexual violence – including genital electrocution – according to a team of international experts investigating conditions in makeshift detention centres.

Almost half of Ukrainian prisoners held in Kherson, in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, said such tactics were frequent, according to the Mobile Justice Team, which was established by international humanitarian law firm Global Rights Compliance and is working with war crimes prosecutors.

Researchers said at least 36 victims described the use of electrocution while being interrogated.

Maya Oppenheim reports:

Russian guards using torture and genital electrocution on Ukrainian prisoners – study

Wednesday 2 August 2023 20:53 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territory are being forced to assume Russian citizenship or face harsh retaliation, including possible deportation or detention, U.S.-backed research published on Wednesday said.

Yale University researchers said that as part of a plan by Moscow to assert authority over Ukrainians, residents of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions are being targeted by a systematic effort to strip them of Ukrainian identity.

A series of decrees signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin compel Ukrainians to get Russian passports, in violation of international humanitarian law, the report said.

The Kremlin has consistently denied allegations of war crimes in Ukraine by forces taking part in a “special military operation” it says was launched to “de-Nazify” its neighbour and protect Russia.

Ukrainians in occupied territory who do not seek Russian citizenship “are subjected to threats, intimidation, restrictions on humanitarian aid and basic necessities, and possible detention or deportation – all designed to force them to become Russian citizens,” the report said.

“What is concerning here is that it represents, basically, a violation of the Hague and Geneva Conventions,” Executive Director Nathaniel Raymond of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, told Reuters. “It is very widespread and very ongoing.”

Ukrainians in areas under Russian control have no choice but to accept a Russian passport if they want to survive, or they face potential detention and, as the team has documented, deportation into Russia if they fail to comply,” Raymond said.

Responsibility lies at the Kremlin with President Putin, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the war crime of deporting Ukrainian children and occupation authorities, he said.

The Kremlin has said that the ICC’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin is a sign of the “clear hostility” that exists against Russia and against Putin personally.

The report was released as part of the Conflict Observatory program, with the support of the U.S. State Department and conducted by research partner the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab.

Wednesday 2 August 2023 20:00 , Eleanor Noyce

NATO allies located along the alliance’s eastern front are growing increasingly worried about the presence of Russia-linked Wagner group mercenaries in Belarus, where some have been deployed since a short-lived mutiny in Russia in June.

Poland, Lithuania and Latvia — members of NATO and the European Union which border Belarus — had already been on alert since large numbers of migrants and refugees began arriving at their borders from Belarus two years ago. They have accused Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russia, of opening the migration route in an act of “hybrid warfare” aimed at creating instability in the West.

Now concerns have grown further since the Wagner troops began arriving in Belarus after their short-lived mutiny in Russia.

Vanessa Gera reports:

Nervous NATO nations are beefing up security due to Wagner fighters across their borders in Belarus

Wednesday 2 August 2023 19:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia attacked Ukraine’s main inland port across the River Danube from Romania on Wednesday, sending global food prices higher as it ramps up its use of force to prevent Kyiv from exporting grain.

The attacks destroyed buildings in the port of Izmail, south of Moldova, and halted ships in their tracks as they prepared to arrive there to load up with Ukrainian grain in defiance of a de-facto Black Sea blockade reimposed by Russia last month.

The port, which lies across the river from Nato-member Romania, is the main alternative route for exports.

Alastair Jamieson reports:

Russia attacks grain port across River Danube from Romania

Wednesday 2 August 2023 19:15 , Eleanor Noyce

The glittering towers of the Moscow City business district dominate the skyline of the Russian capital. The sleek glass-and-steel buildings -- designed to attract investment amid an economic boom in the early 2000s – are a dramatic, modern contrast to the rest of the more than 800-year-old city.

Now they are a sign of its vulnerability, following a series of drone attacks that rattled some Muscovites and brought the war in Ukraine home to the seat of Russian power.

The attacks on Sunday and Tuesday aren’t the first to hit Moscow — a drone even struck the Kremlin harmlessly in May. But these latest blasts, which caused no casualties but blew out part of a section of windows on a high-rise building and sent glass cascading to the streets, seemed particularly unsettling.

Read more:

Drone attacks in Moscow’s glittering business district leave residents on edge

Wednesday 2 August 2023 18:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine has been raging for one year now as the conflict continues to record devastating casualties and force the mass displacement of millions of blameless Ukrainians.

Vladimir Putin began the war by claiming Russia’s neighbour needed to be “demilitarised and de-Nazified”, a baseless pretext on which to launch a landgrab against an independent state that happens to have a Jewish president in Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine has fought back courageously against Mr Putin’s warped bid to restore territory lost to Moscow with the collapse of the Soviet Union and has continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid.

Joe Sommerlad and Thomas Kingsley report:

Here’s why Putin really invaded Ukraine

Wednesday 2 August 2023 18:15 , Eleanor Noyce

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said his country is working for peace in Ukraine but neither its leader nor Russia’s are prepared to talk peace.

“Neither Putin nor Zelenskiy are ready,” Lula told foreign correspondents in a news conference, adding that peace proposals he is seeking with other countries will be ready when Russia and Ukraine are willing to negotiate.

“Brazil’s role is to try to arrive at a peace proposal together with others for when both countries want it,” he said.

Lula has tried to form a group of neutral countries to get peace talks going. He has been criticized for saying that Ukraine and Russia are equally responsible for the war.

The leftist president, who was elected last year for a third term, lashed out at the Western powers backing Ukraine and the permanent U.N. Security Council members for not stopping war.

“The U.N. Security Council has not worked. United States invaded Iraq, France and England invaded Libya, now Russia. And everyone has veto power,” he stated.

Lula said the G7 group of advanced economies should no longer exist since the creation of the larger G20 group of leading and emerging economies.

“I hope once and for all that people see that discussing politics in the G7 is out of date. After the G20 there shouldn’t even be the G7,” he said.

Lula said the BRICS group of emerging economies should allow new members “as long as they meet the requirements.”

His country has become the main opponent of expanding BRICS, but the Brazilian president indicated that could change to make the five-country group stronger.

“I think it’s extremely important for Saudi Arabia to join the BRICS (and) for the United Arab Emirates join, if they want to. Argentina too,” he said.

Lula said the New Development Bank created by the BRICS should be more generous than the International Monetary Fund.

“The bank exists to help save countries and not to help sink countries, which is what the IMF often does,” he said.

Wednesday 2 August 2023 17:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that it had imposed restrictions on movement of ships and aircraft in the Kerch Strait, the TASS news agency reported.

It did not immediately give a reason for the move. The Kerch Strait connects the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, to the east of the Crimean peninsula.

Wednesday 2 August 2023 17:15 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday he hoped a Peace Summit could be held this autumn, and that talks in Saudi Arabia this week were stepping stone towards that goal.

Zelensky told Ukrainian diplomats in a speech that almost 40 countries would be represented at the meeting in Saudi Arabia.

“We are working on making it (the summit) happen this fall,” he said.

Wednesday 2 August 2023 17:00 , Eleanor Noyce

With Moscow facing a flurry of drone attacks in recent weeks – the latest over the weekend – Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has said the war in his country is “returning to Russia”.

While Kyiv is always very cagey about claiming direct responsibility for attacks on Russian soil, the number of incidents has coincided with the Ukrainian counteroffensive to retake territory occupied by Moscow’s forces. All while the Kremlin is still dealing with the fallout from a mutiny last month by the battle-hardened mercenaries of the Wagner Group, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Askold Krushelnycky speaks to Ukrainian officials about the ongoing counteroffensive and how Kyiv is seeking to exploit the extended fallout from Wagner’s short-lived mutiny:

Drones and discord: Ukraine’s push to spread anxiety in Russia’s ranks

Wednesday 2 August 2023 16:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia attacked Ukraine‘s main inland port across the Danube River from Romania on Wednesday, sending global food prices higher as it ramps up its use of force to prevent Ukraine from exporting grain.

The attacks destroyed buildings in the port of Izmail and halted ships in their tracks as they prepared to arrive there to load up with Ukrainian grain in defiance of a de-facto blockade Russia reimposed in mid-July.

Ukrainian deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the Russian drone attacks damaged almost 40,000 tons of grains which had been destined for countries in Africa as well as China and Israel.

“Russian terrorists have once again attacked ports, grain, global food security,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram.

Russian state news agency RIA said the port and grain infrastructure hit at the port was housing foreign mercenaries and military hardware and a naval ship repair yard had also been targeted. Reuters was not able to verify the report.

Video released by the Ukrainian authorities showed firefighters on ladders battling a blaze several storeys high in a building covered with broken windows. Several other large buildings were in ruins, and grain spilled out of at least two wrecked silos.

There were no reports of casualties, Odesa region governor Oleh Kiper wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Watch:

Wednesday 2 August 2023 16:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Workers removed a Soviet emblem from the shield of the “Motherland” monument in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Created by Soviet sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich in 1981, the original monument featured a hammer and sickle, which were taken down on Tuesday, 1 August at a compound of the World War II museum in the capital city.

They will be replaced by a tryzub, a three-pronged emblem of Ukraine, in time for the country’s Independence Day on 24 August.

Yuriy Savchuk, director of the Museum of the History of Ukraine in World War II, said: “This is the moment that millions of Ukrainians, generations of Ukrainians have dreamed about.”

Ukraine removes Soviet emblem from Kyiv’s Motherland Monument

Wednesday 2 August 2023 16:15 , Eleanor Noyce

Russian guards subjected Ukrainian prisoners to torture and sexual violence – including genital electrocution – according to a team of international experts investigating conditions in makeshift detention centres.

Almost half of Ukrainian prisoners held in Kherson, in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, said such tactics were frequent, according to the Mobile Justice Team, which was established by international humanitarian law firm Global Rights Compliance and is working with war crimes prosecutors.

Researchers said at least 36 victims described the use of electrocution while being interrogated.

Maya Oppenheim reports:

Russian guards using torture and genital electrocution on Ukrainian prisoners – study

Wednesday 2 August 2023 15:58 , Eleanor Noyce

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said his country is working for peace in Ukraine but neither its leader nor Russia’s are ready to talk peace.

“Neither Putin nor Zelensky are ready for peace,” Lula told foreign correspondents in a news conference, adding that peace proposals he is seeking with other neutral countries will be ready for when Russia and Ukraine are ready to negotiate.

Lula said the BRICS group of emerging economies should allow new members “as long as they meet the requirements.” His country has been the main opponent of expanding BRICS.

Wednesday 2 August 2023 15:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Russian president Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday that Moscow was ready to return to the Black Sea grain deal as soon as the West met its obligations with regard to Russia’s own grain exports.

The deal, brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in July 2022, allowed for the safe export of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. Last month Moscow exited the deal, accusing the West of hampering Russia’s own grain and fertiliser exports.

In a statement on Putin’s call with Erdogan, the Kremlin said: “It was noted that in the conditions of a complete lack of progress in the implementation of the Russian part of the ‘grain deal’, its further extension has lost all meaning.”

It added that Russia would return to the deal “as soon as the West actually fulfils all the obligations to Russia” contained within it.

Russia’s grain and fertiliser exports are not subject to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its military actions in Ukraine. But Moscow has said restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance have been a barrier to shipments.

The U.S. envoy to the United Nations said on Tuesday there were “indications” that Russia might be interested in returning to talks about the deal. Asked about those comments on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed the need for the West to honour parts of the deal concerning Russian exports.

Wednesday 2 August 2023 15:20 , Eleanor Noyce

Its balmy beaches have been vacation spots for Russian czars and Soviet general secretaries. It has hosted history-shaking meetings of world leaders and boasts a strategic naval base. And it has been the site of ethnic persecutions, forced deportations and political repression.

Now, as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its 18th month, the Crimean Peninsula is again both a playground and a battleground, with drone attacks and bombs seeking to dislodge Moscow’s hold on the territory and bring it back under Kyiv’s authority, no matter how loudly the Kremlin proclaims its ownership.

Read more:

The Crimean Peninsula: playground and battleground, coveted by Ukraine and Russia

Wednesday 2 August 2023 14:58 , Eleanor Noyce

NATO allies located along the alliance’s eastern front are growing increasingly worried about the presence of Russia-linked Wagner group mercenaries in Belarus, where some have been deployed since a short-lived mutiny in Russia in June.

Poland, Lithuania and Latvia — members of NATO and the European Union which border Belarus — had already been on alert since large numbers of migrants and refugees began arriving at their borders from Belarus two years ago. They have accused Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russia, of opening the migration route in an act of “hybrid warfare” aimed at creating instability in the West.

Now concerns have grown further since the Wagner troops began arriving in Belarus after their short-lived mutiny in Russia.

Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said on the weekend that some 100 Wagner fighters in Belarus had approached the border with Poland, specifically a strategically sensitive area known as the Suwalki Gap.

“Now the situation becomes even more dangerous,” Morawiecki told reporters. “This is certainly a step towards a further hybrid attack on Polish territory.”

Wednesday 2 August 2023 14:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia attacked Ukraine’s grain ports in the early hours of Wednesday, including an inland port across the Danube River from Romania, sending global food prices soaring as Moscow ramps up its use of force to reimpose a blockade of Ukrainian exports.

Ukraine’s defence ministry said a grain silo was damaged in the Danube port of Izmail in the Odesa region: “Ukrainian grain has the potential to feed millions of people worldwide,” the ministry wrote on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

There were no reports of casualties, Odesa region governor Oleh Kiper wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Kiper posted several photos showing firefighting crews trying to put out a fire in a blighted high-rise building next to a river.

“Unfortunately, there are damages,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram.

“The most significant ones are in the south of the country. Russian terrorists have once again attacked ports, grain, global food security.”

An industrial source also confirmed Izmail was the main target of the attack, describing the level of damage as “serious”.

Ukraine’s prosecutor’s office released pictures showing a war crimes investigator outside a ruined building, and at least two damaged silos with wheat tumbling out.

The port, across the river from NATO-member Romania, has served as the main alternative route out of Ukraine for grain exports since Russia reimposed its de facto blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports in mid-July.

Wednesday 2 August 2023 14:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has cheered the recent flurry of drone strikes on Moscow as evidence that Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of his country is backfiring and that its consequences are becoming ever clearer to the Russian people.

“Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia – to its symbolic centres and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process,” he said in a video address from the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk.

Russia’s defence ministry conceded on Sunday (30 July) that a 50-storey building containing the offices of a number of government agencies and a shopping precinct in the capital’s western Moskva-Citi business district were both hit by drone strikes it blamed on Ukraine, claiming to have brought down three more devices.

Joe Sommerlad reports:

Mapped: The latest strikes on Ukraine and Russia as war rages on

Wednesday 2 August 2023 14:15 , Eleanor Noyce

Thousands of Wagner mercenaries have arrived in Belarus since the group’s failed mutiny against Moscow led by its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin – leading to Nato member Poland reinforcing its eastern border against the “potential threat” they pose.

Adding to the tension, Poland’s government said that two Belarusian helicopters entered Poland’s airspace on Tuesday, with Warsaw authorities saying it is rushing more troops to the border in light of the incident. It said it had informed Nato of the border violation, which Belarus denies.

The country’s defence ministry said: “There was a violation of Polish airspace by two Belarusian helicopters that were carrying out training near the border.” It added that Belarus had earlier informed Poland of plans to carry out training exercises in the area. It said they were flying at a low altitude and were not picked up by radar.

Read more:

Why are Wagner mercenaries in Belarus – and would they try to invade Poland?

Wednesday 2 August 2023 14:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Poland issued a protest against Belarusian actions near its border, Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski said on Wednesday, after the country accused Belarus of violating its airspace with military helicopters.

“Poland has issued a firm protest against Belarus’ actions, which we perceive as provocations,” Jablonski said after the Belarusian charge d’affaires was summoned to the ministry.

The Belarusian military denied any such violation took place.

Wednesday 2 August 2023 13:35 , Eleanor Noyce

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday that Moscow was ready to return to the Black Sea grain deal as soon as the West met its obligations with regard to Russia’s own grain exports.

The deal, brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in July 2022, allowed for the safe export of grain from Ukraine‘s Black Sea ports. Last month Moscow exited the deal, accusing the West of hampering Russia’s own grain and fertiliser exports.

In a statement on Putin’s call with Erdogan, the Kremlin said: “It was noted that in the conditions of a complete lack of progress in the implementation of the Russian part of the ‘grain deal’, its further extension has lost all meaning.”

It added that Russia would return to the deal “as soon as the West actually fulfils all the obligations to Russia” contained within it.

Russia’s grain and fertiliser exports are not subject to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its military actions in Ukraine. But Moscow has said restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance have been a barrier to shipments.

The U.S. envoy to the United Nations said on Tuesday there were “indications” that Russia might be interested in returning to talks about the deal. Asked about those comments on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed the need for the West to honour parts of the deal concerning Russian exports.

Wednesday 2 August 2023 13:24 , Eleanor Noyce

A Ukrainian naval drone tried to attack a Russian warship escorting a civilian transport ship in the Black Sea early on Wednesday, the RIA news agency cited Russia’s Defence Ministry as saying.

The warship destroyed the drone, it was quoted as saying.