Summary
Here’s a recap of today’s developments:
Russia said it had neutralised two Ukrainian drones over Moscow in the early hours of Monday, with one crashing close to the defence ministry in the city centre. Officials said the drones hit non-residential buildings in the capital and that there were no casualties. The attack came one day after Kyiv vowed to “retaliate” for a Russian missile attack on the Black Sea port of Odesa. The White House said it does not support attacks inside Russia.
The governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region said Russia was trying “make the world starve” by attempting to completely block exports of Ukrainian grain to global markets after the latest in a series of Russian air attacks struck grain infrastructure on the Danube River. The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, called on Russia to return to a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain in line with a proposal he made to Vladimir Putin after Russia quit the deal a week ago.
Almost 30 ships dropped anchor near Ukraine’s crucial Izmail port terminal after Russia attacked grain warehouses on the Danube River on Monday, data showed, although it is unclear why. Monday’s pre-dawn Russian airstrikes wounded seven people and hit infrastructure along the Danube, a vital alternative route for Ukrainian grain since the year-old deal allowing safe exports via the Black Sea ended last week. Kyiv said the attack was an expansion of an air campaign Russia launched recently after pulling out of the grain deal.
Without providing any evidence, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed the cathedral in Odesa was struck by a Ukrainian air defence missile. Peskov said “Our armed forces never strike at social infrastructure facilities, let alone temples, churches and other similar facilities, so we do not accept such accusations, this is an absolute lie.”Russia reserves the right to take “tough retaliatory measures”, the foreign ministry said, after it accused Ukraine of attacking Moscow and the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula with drones.
A child was killed and six people wounded in a Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, according to the region’s governor. Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, wrote on Telegram that Russian forces had fired Smerch rockets at “a local pond, where people were resting”.
A journalist working for Agence France-Presse news agency was wounded by a Russian drone attack while reporting from a Ukrainian artillery position near the battle-torn eastern city of Bakhmut, according to AFP reporters who witnessed the attack. Dylan Collins, 35, a US citizen based in Lebanon but on assignment in Ukraine, sustained multiple shrapnel injuries in the attack in a forested area near Bakhmut. He was evacuated to a nearby hospital where he was being treated. Doctors have said his condition was not life-threatening.
The Kremlin on Monday accused Kyiv of carrying out a “deliberate attack on journalists” in Ukraine’s south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region after a reporter for the Russian state news agency RIA was killed. The war correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev was killed in a Ukrainian cluster munition strike, according to RIA. He died from his wounds during an evacuation from a special military operation.
The US “strongly condemns” Russia’s escalatory attacks in Ukraine following its “callous” suspension of the Black Sea Grain initiative, a state department spokesperson has said.
In a press briefing today, a US state department spokesperson said Russian missile and drone strikes had killed “scores of civilians” in Odesa, devastated Unesco listed heritage sites, and destroyed port infrastructure and grain stockpiles since last week.
The consequences for the rest of the world of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine have never been more clear. These vicious strikes further illustrate Russia’s willingness to use food as a weapon in its illegal war against Ukraine.
The Kremlin wants to deprive Ukraine’s economy of a major source of income without regard for needy people across the globe who will feel the consequences and be forced to pay higher prices for food.
.@StateDeptSpox condemns Russia’s attacks: Over the weekend, we saw appalling images of burning churches and flattened residential buildings. Today, Russia attacked grain warehouses on the Danube River. The consequences of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine have never been more clear. pic.twitter.com/vKQWmqP0Cy
— Department of State (@StateDept) July 24, 2023
The US will send up to $400m in additional military aid to Ukraine, including a variety of munitions for advanced air defence systems and a number of small, surveillance Hornet drones, according to US officials.
The package includes an array of ammunition, ranging from missiles for the high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) and the national advanced surface-to-air missile system (NASAMS) to Stingers and Javelins, AP reported.
The US will also send howitzer artillery rounds and 32 Stryker armored vehicles, along with demolition equipment, mortars, Hydra-70 rockets and 28m rounds of small arms ammunition, according to officials, who spoke on condition on anonymity.
In total, the US has provided Ukraine with more than $41bn in military aid since Russia’s full scale invasion in February last year.
Road traffic has resumed on the bridge linking Russia to the Crimean peninsula, according to Russian officials.
Official Telegram channels reporting from Russian-occupied Crimea said traffic was moving in both directions on the bridge, which was closed down for about three hours without explanation.
Thousands of Wagner fighters have arrived in Belarus since failed uprising - report
Thousands of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group have arrived in Belarus since the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, led the group’s uprising last month, according to a military monitoring group.
Between 3,450 and 3,650 soldiers have traveled to a training camp in Asipovichy, south-east of the capital of Minsk, according to Belaruski Hajun, an activist group that tracks troop movements within the country, AP reported.
Satellite images show about 700 vehicles and construction equipment have also arrived in Wagner convoys to Belarus, the group added.
Wagner fighters began arriving in Belarus in large numbers earlier this month after Prigozhin struck a deal with the Kremlin to end a short-lived mutiny in which he sent his heavily armed fighters on a “march of justice” toward Moscow.
Vladimir Putin claimed Prigozhin had rejected an offer for him to step down as the head of Wagner and allow his mercenaries to continue fighting in Ukraine.
Instead, thousands of Wagner fighters have decamped to Belarus, where some are said to be instructing Belarusian territorial forces at a training camp in Asipovichy.
The arrival of the Wagner mercenaries in Belarus appears to be a temporary measure as the Kremlin tries to manage the fallout from last month’s brief mutiny.
The Russian embassy in Moldova’s capital, Chişinău, has 28 “spy antennas” installed on its rooftop, which can be used for signals intelligence purposes, according to a Moldovan outlet.
These devices can “capture” signals between a transmitter and a receiver, and can modify them before releasing them again, experts told Jurnal, the Kyiv Independent reported.
These signals can come from radio, television, mobile networks, or satellite communications, it said, adding that the devices could be used for either military or civilian purposes.
The outlet said the satellite dishes on Chisinau’s embassy are likely connected to a command centre inside the building.
Updated
White House says it does not support attacks inside Russia
The White House has said it does not support attacks inside Russia in response to a reporter’s question about two drones from Ukraine that damaged buildings in Moscow this morning.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, during a press briefing, said:
As a general matter we do not support attacks inside of Russia.
Russian officials said two drones crashed into non-residential buildings in Moscow in the early hours of Monday morning, with one crashing close to the defence ministry in the city centre.
Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said there were no casualties.
As Vladimir Putin hosted Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, his close ally, in Russia, the crackdown on opposition and dissent in Belarus has worsened.
Belarusian security forces are rounding up opposition figures, journalists, lawyers and even people committing minor offences such as commenting on social media memes or walking a dog without a leash, according to a New York Times report.
The country’s security forces are particularly focused on finding and punishing the people who took part in the 2020-2021 anti-Lukashenko protests.
In Belarus, red and white are the colours of the protest movement against its president and Belarusians are being arrested for wearing red and white, sporting a tattoo of the protest movement’s symbol of a raised fist, or being seen in photographs of the anti-government demonstrations.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said his country is “fully prepared” to start talks on joining the European Union.
In his nightly video address, the Ukrainian leader said he had spoken with military leadership in a meeting that focused on frontline issues “where we are moving forward and those where Ukrainian forces are on the defensive”. He said:
In all areas, the first task is to destroy the occupiers, their equipment, supplies, warehouses, and headquarters as much as possible. Russia must lose every day - that’s fair.
I held a meeting on the European Union and our integration. This year we are to start negotiations on membership. 🇺🇦 is fully prepared for this - we are doing what is necessary on our part. And we are doing everything possible to ensure that the 🇪🇺 is also fully prepared. Exactly… pic.twitter.com/aDlwbiMe9W
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 24, 2023
Water at the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant has dropped to a critical level, threatening the station’s full operational capacity, according to the state-owned energy company Ukrhydroenergo.
The water level is at 12.05 metres, while the plant requires 12-12.5 metres to function fully, the company wrote on Telegram.
In June, the strategically important Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was breached in what Ukraine said was an attack by Russian forces. The incident led to a sharp drop in the water level in the lower reservoir of the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant, according to Ukrhydroenergo.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, visited the Valaam Monastery in Karelia, Russia on Monday.
Ukrainian boys are faced with a potentially life-or-death decision as they approach the age of 18: should I stay in Ukraine or leave?
Under Ukrainian martial law, which has been in place since Russia’s invasion in February last year, men aged 18 to 60 are prohibited from travelling abroad and are potentially subject to conscription into Ukraine’s armed forces (AFU).
Although the AFU for the most part have filled ranks with volunteers, young Ukrainian men coming of age face an uncertain, according to a Kyiv Post report.
One 17-year-old boy, Ruslan, decided to leave Ukraine in February. He told the paper:
The main reason was that I don’t want to fight and none of my relatives want me to either. I am a patriot of Ukraine, but I’m definitely not ready to die, especially at such a young age. I am ready to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine as soon as I earn enough money.
Others have decided to stay in Ukraine despite worries about potentially being conscripted. Dmytro, 17, said:
It seems to me that they give [call up papers] to guys at the age of 20-21 and those who aren’t studying at university. So I hope that the war will end in a few years. But in any case, everything will already be as it will be.
Child killed and six people wounded, says governor of Donetsk
A child was killed and six people wounded in a Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, according to the region’s governor.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, wrote on Telegram that Russian forces had fired Smerch rockets at “a local pond, where people were resting”.
Three children were among the injured, he added.
It is not possible to independently verify his claim.
Updated
AFP journalist wounded in drone attack near Bakhmut
A journalist working for Agence France-Presse news agency was wounded by a Russian drone attack while reporting from a Ukrainian artillery position near the battle-torn eastern city of Bakhmut on Monday, according to AFP reporters who witnessed the attack.
Dylan Collins, 35, a US citizen based in Lebanon but on assignment in Ukraine, sustained multiple shrapnel injuries in the attack in a forested area near Bakhmut.
He was evacuated to a nearby hospital where he was being treated. Doctors have said his condition was not life-threatening. He is conscious and speaking to colleagues, AFP said.
FP’s Europe director Christine Buhagiar said in a statement:
We are investigating the full circumstances behind this incident. Our thoughts are with Dylan and his loved ones.
Collins has been working for the international news agency since 2018 and is currently its video coordinator for Lebanon and Syria. He has made regular trips to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-fledged invasion in February last year.
A short edit from my @AFP video on a group of young Ukrainians bringing a vibe to the reconstruction process https://t.co/OC4zr2TYWJ
— Dylan Collins (@collinsdyl) July 10, 2023
In May, AFP video journalist Arman Soldin was killed aged 32 in a Russian rocket strike near Bakhmut.
Spain’s ministry of defence said four Leopard 2 battle tanks and 10 armoured carriers are en route to Ukraine.
In a statement published today, the ministry said a ship with military and humanitarian material bound for Ukraine had left the port of Santander, and were expected to be delivered to Ukraine’s armed forces by early August.
The latest batch of assistance included four Leopard 2A4s, which will join the six Leopard 2s that have already been delivered to Ukraine, it said.
Also included in this shipment are 10 M-113 armoured vehicles, ten Navy trucks, one multipurpose armoured vehicle, three civil ambulances, one BMR armoured ambulance, and one armoured civilian ambulance, it said.
Summary
Good evening. It is now approaching 9pm in Kyiv. I’ll be handing over to my colleague Léonie soon, so here is a summary of the day’s events so far:
Russia said it had neutralised two Ukrainian drones over Moscow in the early hours of Monday, with one crashing close to the defence ministry in the city centre. Officials said the drones hit non-residential buildings in the capital and that there were no casualties. The attack came one day after Kyiv vowed to “retaliate” for a Russian missile attack on the Black Sea port of Odesa. “A Kyiv regime attempt to carry out a terrorist act using two drones on objects on the territory of the city of Moscow was stopped,” Russia’s defence ministry said. “Two Ukrainian drones were suppressed and crashed. There are no casualties.”
The governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region said on Monday that Russia was trying “make the world starve” by attempting to completely block exports of Ukrainian grain to global markets after the latest in a series of Russian air attacks struck grain infrastructure on the Danube River. Reuters reports that Oleh Kiper said on Ukrainian television: “Russia is trying to fully block the export of our grain and make the world starve.”
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said extending a ban on Ukrainian grain exports by land to the EU after 15 September is “unacceptable”, at a meeting the export of the country’s agricultural products.
The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, called on Russia on Monday to return to a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain in line with a proposal he made to president Vladimir Putin after Russia quit the deal a week ago.
Almost 30 ships dropped anchor near Ukraine’s crucial Izmail port terminal after Russia attacked grain warehouses on the Danube River on Monday, data showed, although it is unclear why. Monday’s pre-dawn Russian airstrikes wounded seven people and hit infrastructure along the Danube, a vital alternative route for Ukrainian grain since the year-old deal allowing safe exports via the Black Sea ended last week. Kyiv said the attack was an expansion of an air campaign Russia launched recently after pulling out of the grain deal.
Russia said on Monday it had dramatically increased production of ammunition and military equipment.
Without providing any evidence, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has claimed that the cathedral in Odesa was struck by a Ukrainian air defence missile. Peskov said “Our armed forces never strike at social infrastructure facilities, let alone temples, churches and other similar facilities, so we do not accept such accusations, this is an absolute lie.”
Lithuania’s foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, has called on Nato to “double down” on efforts to support Ukraine, after what he described as the Russian president being “emboldened to escalate” attacks on the country.
Russian media reported a third drone crashed into a cemetery in the Moscow region.
Russia’s industry minister, Denis Manturov, said on Monday that the defence industry was producing more munitions a month than it did in the whole of 2022, the RIA news agency reported.
Russia reserves the right to take “tough retaliatory measures”, the foreign ministry said on Monday, after it accused Ukraine of attacking Moscow and the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula with drones.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, signed new legislation on Monday which marked the final step in outlawing gender-affirming procedures, a crippling blow to Russia’s LGBTQ+ community.
Chargé d’affaires ad interim, Alexander Gusarov, said Russia’s solidarity with Africa i was set out in their its new foreign policy concept, which aims to create a “closer partnership” and to “increase bilateral trade and investment” with African countries. He said Russia’s foreign ministry was working on “expanding [our] diplomatic foothold”, with plans to introduce more diplomatic and consular posts across the continent.
The Kremlin on Monday accused Kyiv of carrying out a “deliberate attack on journalists” in Ukraine’s south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region after a reporter for the Russian state news agency RIA was killed. The war correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev was killed in a Ukrainian cluster munition strike, according to RIA. He died from his wounds during an evacuation from a special military operation.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, thanked the president of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, for his “immense personal contribution” to strengthening the two countries alliance and strategic partnership in a birthday message on Twitter.
An ammunition depot was struck during a Ukrainian drone attack on Dzhankoi in Crimea early on Monday, with Russian air defence forces intercepting or suppressing 11 drones over the area, a Russian-installed official has said.
Interfax reports train traffic in Crimea has begun moving again after a delay caused by the earlier drone attacks. The Russian Federation unilaterally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Ukraine claims to have recaptured a small amount of territory in the Bakhmut region, according to the latest operational briefing by the deputy defence minister.
Tass reports that one civilian has been killed, and another injured, by Ukrainian shelling into occupied Kherson on the left-bank of the Dniepr River.
Yevgeny Balitsky, head of the Russian-imposed administration of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, has posted to Telegram to claim that Ukraine is not actively attacking across the frontline in the region, and that “their command is actively carrying out the delivery of personnel to positions, making up for losses.”
Russia attacked the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa again and kept up a barrage that has damaged critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said. At least one person was killed and 22 wounded in the strike early on Sunday. An overnight drone attack then destroyed a grains depot and injured four port employees. The city has come under repeated attack since Moscow last week pulled out of a deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain.
Updated
Here are some images of firefighters working to extinguish a fire at a warehouse destroyed by shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine on 24 July, courtesy of Reuters. The area is largely controlled by Russia.
firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire at a warehouse damaged by shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
In other news, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, signed new legislation on Monday which marked the final step in outlawing gender-affirming procedures, a crippling blow to Russia’s LGBTQ+ community.
The bill, which was approved unanimously by both Houses of Parliament, bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person,” AP reports, as well as changing your gender in official documents and public records. The only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies.
It also annuls marriages in which one person has “changed gender” and bars transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.
Lawmakers say the legislation is to safeguard Russia against “western anti-family ideology,” with some describing gender transitioning as “pure satanism.”
Russia’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ people started a decade ago when Putin first proclaimed a focus on “traditional family values,” supported by the Russian Orthodox church.
Updated
Meanwhile, in an opinion piece for two of Kenya’s largest newspapers, Ambassador Dmitry Maksimychev blamed the US and the EU for the Black Sea grain deal’s collapse, asserting they had “used every trick” to keep Russian grain and fertiliser from the global markets.
He wrote:
Now, my dear Kenyan friends, you know the whole truth about who is weaponising food.
Russia plans to host nearly 50 African countries that rely heavily on Moscow for agricultural products and security for the two-say sumit. It’s not clear how many heads of state will attend, AFP reports.
Here are some images sent over the wires of Ukrainian military personnel in Donetsk oblast, Ukraine.
Russia said on Monday it had dramatically increased production of ammunition and military equipment, as its offensive in Ukraine enters its 18th month.
The Russian deputy prime minister, Denis Manturov, said:
Since the beginning of this year, many types of weapons and military equipments are being produced in quantities far above last year.
In terms of munitions, we are reaching a level where deliveries in a month exceed last year’s total orders.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said in May that his forces were dependent on the “timely replenishment” of ammo and hardware inventories, and urged a boost in production, according to AFP.
Western sanctions have sought to hinder Moscow’s ability to restock by banning exports of machine parts and electronic components that could be used on the battlefield.
But analysts say Russia has circumvented some sanctions by importing through third countries.
Last week, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukraine was using from 5,000 to 10,000 of one type of shell daily.
In July, the EU sealed a plan to boost ammunition production in the bloc, as part of a push to arm Ukraine and restock depleted arsenals.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said extending a ban on Ukrainian grain exports by land to the EU after 15 September is “unacceptable”, at a meeting the export of the country’s agricultural products.
A meeting on the export of our agricultural products. We believe in the agreement with the European Commission, but we are preparing for any scenario.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 24, 2023
Our position is clear: blocking exports by land after September 15, when the relevant restrictions expire, is unacceptable in… pic.twitter.com/mBtLmYADyC
Updated
Russian security council secretary, Nikolai Patrushev, and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi discussed how to bolster their two countries’ security at a meeting in South Africa, Russia’s RIA news agency reports.
Updated
UN secretary-general calls on Russia to return to Black Sea grain deal
The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, called on Russia on Monday to return to a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain in line with a proposal he made to president Vladimir Putin.
Russia quit the agreement a week ago, saying that demands to improve its own food and fertiliser exports had not been met, and that not enough Ukraine grain had reached the poorest countries under the Black Sea deal, Reuters reports.
At the Food Systems summit in Rome on Monday, Guterres said:
With the termination of the Black Sea Initiative, the most vulnerable will pay the highest price.
When food prices rise, everybody pays for it. This is especially devastating for vulnerable countries struggling to feed their people.
Guterres had written to Putin on 11 July in a final effort to save the deal. He proposed Russia extend it – with a daily limit of four ships traveling to Ukraine and four ships leaving – in return for connecting a subsidiary of Russia’s Agricultural Bank, Rosselkhozbank, to the SWIFT global payments system, which the EU cut off in June 2022.
Guterres added:
I call on the Russian Federation to return to the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative, in line with my latest proposal.
I urge the global community to stand united for effective solutions in this essential effort.
I remain committed to facilitating the unimpeded access to global markets for food products and fertilisers from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and to deliver the food security that every person deserves.
Updated
Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian MP and leader of the liberal Golos party, said it doesn’t make sense to “expect that there will be less Russian shelling”, as she appealed for more tactical ballistic missiles.
She said:
We need a capability to destroy Russian coastal missile complexes in Crimea.
[US manufactured MGM-140 army tactical missile system] ATACMS would help us.
US defense officials remain hesitant to provide these long-range ballistic missiles to Ukraine, according to the Washington Post, despite earlier pleas from Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
It makes no sense to expect that there will be less russian shelling. We need a capability to destroy russian coastal missile complexes in Crimea. #ATACMS would help us 🚀
— Kira Rudik (@kiraincongress) July 24, 2023
Almost 30 ships dropped anchor near Ukraine’s crucial Izmail port terminal after Russia attacked grain warehouses on the Danube River on Monday, data showed, although it is unclear why.
Monday’s pre-dawn Russian airstrikes wounded seven people and hit infrastructure along the Danube, a vital alternative route for Ukrainian grain since the year-old deal allowing safe exports via the Black Sea ended last week. Kyiv said the attack was an expansion of an air campaign Russia launched recently after pulling out of the grain deal.
According to Reuters calculations, based on ship tracking data from analytics company MarineTraffic, about 29 vessels, which also included chemical tankers, had stopped around Izmail.
A further three vessels had also dropped anchor along the waterway leading to the terminal of Reni-Odesa, the data showed.
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian authorities.
More information to come …
The Russian state-owned news agency Tass has a quick snap to say that a woman wounded earlier by Ukrainian shelling in Pologovsky in occupied Zaporizhzhia region has died of her injuries in hospital.
Updated
Lithuania’s foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, has called on Nato to “double down” on efforts to support Ukraine, after what he described as the Russian president being “emboldened to escalate” attacks on the country. Landsbergis posted to social media to say:
Since Vilnius Nato summit Putin feels emboldened to escalate, pulling out of the grain deal, attacking Odesa and now a Danube port. We must make sure our determination to help Ukraine to victory, and Nato membership, is better understood. Time to double-down on our efforts.
Updated
Interfax reports that traffic has now been restored along Likhachev Avenue in Moscow after the earlier drone incident closed the road.
The FT correspondent Christopher Miller has shared on social media some drone footage of the wrecked city of Bakhmut.
New drone footage of destroyed western Bakhmut, result of months of barbaric Russian attacks on the eastern city once home to 70,000+, myself included for more than 2 years. This is Dekabristov and Yuvileyna Streets. Apartment buildings and children’s hospital turned to rubble. pic.twitter.com/IHAi2wj2Yp
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) July 24, 2023
Updated
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, has announced that she will hold a briefing on “current foreign policy issues” at 2pm local time on 26 July.
Follow our live coverage to stay up to date.
Updated
Russia’s industry minister, Denis Manturov, said on Monday that the defence industry was producing more munitions a month than it did in the whole of 2022, the RIA news agency reported.
Updated
The missile strike in Odesa on Sunday damaged more than 20 architectural monuments. Here are some more photos from the wires showing the aftermath in Odesa and the region.
Updated
Ukraine’s defence ministry shared these images on Twitter showing some of the damage done to grain depots on the Danube River it claims were attacked by Russia.
russian terrorists continue their war on grain. Last night, they attacked the grain infrastructure on the Danube River with Shaheds. Three drones were shot down by air defense. Unfortunately, as a result of the attack, six people were injured and a grain hangar and cargo storage… pic.twitter.com/TY7S0IOvtq
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) July 24, 2023
Updated
Russia reserves right to take 'tough retaliatory measures', says foreign ministry after it accuses Ukraine of drone attacks
Russia reserves the right to take “tough retaliatory measures”, the foreign ministry said on Monday, after it accused Ukraine of attacking Moscow and the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula with drones.
Updated
Chargé d’affaires ad interim Alexander Gusarov said Russia’s solidarity with Africa was set out in its new foreign policy concept, which aims to create a “closer partnership” and to “increase bilateral trade and investment” with African countries.
He said Russia’s foreign ministry was working on “expanding [our] diplomatic foothold”, with plans to introduce more diplomatic and consular posts across the continent.
Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Alexander Gusarov: #Russia’s solidarity with #Africa is enshrined in the new 🇷🇺Foreign Policy Concept. We aim to forge a closer partnership and increase bilateral trade and investment with countries of the region. https://t.co/0pNRkgSV9O pic.twitter.com/zIdvdrGJJ8
— Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) July 23, 2023
Updated
Russia 'trying to make the world starve' by attempting to block Ukrainian grain exports, says Odesa governor
The governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region said on Monday that Russia was trying “make the world starve” by attempting to completely block exports of Ukrainian grain to global markets after the latest in a series of Russian air attacks struck grain infrastructure on the Danube River.
Reuters reports that Oleh Kiper said on Ukrainian television:
Russia is trying to fully block the export of our grain and make the world starve.
Updated
Here are some photos of the Transfiguration Cathedral, which sits in the heart of Odesa’s Unesco-listed historic centre in Ukraine. It was heavily damaged by an apparent Russian missile attack on Sunday.
At least one person was killed and 22 others were wounded in the attack, according to Reuters.
Updated
The Kremlin on Monday accused Kyiv of carrying out a “deliberate attack on journalists” in Ukraine’s south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region after a reporter for the Russian state news agency RIA was killed.
The war correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev was killed in a Ukrainian cluster munition strike, according to RIA. He died from his wounds during an evacuation from a special military operation.
“Sadly, it is true. Rostislav [Zhuravlev] has died,” RIA’s press service said.
Russia has launched an investigation into Zhuravlev’s death, Reuters reports.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, thanked the president of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, for his “immense personal contribution” to strengthening the two countries alliance and strategic partnership in a birthday message.
It added:
I highly appreciate our good, friendly relations.
We will continue to take joint efforts to solve pressing issues on the bilateral, regional and international agendas.
✍️ President Vladimir #Putin sent birthday greetings to President of Uzbekistan Shavkat #Mirziyoyev:
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) July 24, 2023
🇷🇺🇺🇿 You make an immense personal contribution to enhancing the strategic partnership and alliance between our countries.
🔗 https://t.co/FiwBzXCYMB#RussiaUzbekistan pic.twitter.com/cC1SN6qPHs
Summary of the day so far …
Russia said it had neutralised two Ukrainian drones over Moscow in the early hours of Monday, with one crashing close to the defence ministry in the city centre. Officials said the drones hit non-residential buildings in the capital and that there were no casualties. The attack came one day after Kyiv vowed to “retaliate” for a Russian missile attack on the Black Sea port of Odesa. “A Kyiv regime attempt to carry out a terrorist act using two drones on objects on the territory of the city of Moscow was stopped,” Russia’s defence ministry said. “Two Ukrainian drones were suppressed and crashed. There are no casualties.”
Russian media reported a third drone crashed into a cemetery in the Moscow region.
An ammunition depot was struck during a Ukrainian drone attack on Dzhankoi in Crimea early on Monday, with Russian air defence forces intercepting or suppressing 11 drones over the area, a Russian-installed official has said.
Interfax reports train traffic in Crimea has begun moving again after a delay caused by the earlier drone attacks. The Russian Federation unilaterally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Ukraine claims to have recaptured a small amount of territory in the Bakhmut region, according to the latest operational briefing by the deputy defence minister.
Tass reports that one civilian has been killed, and another injured, by Ukrainian shelling into occupied Kherson on the left-bank of the Dniepr River.
Yevgeny Balitsky, head of the Russian-imposed administration of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, has posted to Telegram to claim that Ukraine is not actively attacking across the frontline in the region, and that “their command is actively carrying out the delivery of personnel to positions, making up for losses.”
Russia attacked the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa again and kept up a barrage that has damaged critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said. At least one person was killed and 22 wounded in the strike early on Sunday. An overnight drone attack then destroyed a grains depot and injured four port employees. The city has come under repeated attack since Moscow last week pulled out of a deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain.
Without providing any evidence, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has claimed that the cathedral in Odesa was struck by a Ukrainian air defence missile.
Peskov said “Our armed forces never strike at social infrastructure facilities, let alone temples, churches and other similar facilities, so we do not accept such accusations, this is an absolute lie.”
The UN has recorded thousands of civilian casualties since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine’s civilian power infrastructure has been repeatedly struck by missiles, and a large number of hospitals, schools and train stations have been hit.
Andriy Yermak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, has shared this image of the empty Kakhovka reservoir, drained after the destruction of the dam, describing it as “ecocide”.
Каховське водосховище після російського теракту.
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) July 24, 2023
Фото: Astra. pic.twitter.com/hLPMGK6PIC
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Interfax in Russia reports that train traffic in Crimea has begun moving again after a delay caused by the earlier drone attacks.
Here are some more images sent to us over the news wires from Moscow.
Ukraine claims to have recaptured a small amount of territory in the Bakhmut region, according to the latest operational briefing by the deputy defence minister.
In her latest operational update, Hanna Maliar said:
The enemy continues to focus its main efforts on Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mariinka axes, severe hostilities continue.
The enemy assaults simultaneously on several axes, tries to oust our troops from their positions, but faces a decent resistance.
On Bakhmut axis, during the last week, a successful offensive has been carried out on the southern flank, and now our troops continue to advance there gradually but confidently.
In a week, as a result of improvement of operational (tactical) position and alignment of the front line on Bakhmut axis, the territory of 4 sq km was liberated. In general, during the offensive on this direction, the liberated area is 35 sq km.
On the northern flank of Bakhmut the fighting continues, the situation is unchanged.
In the Bakhmut axis the enemy is on the defensive. Russians are trying to regain its lost positions in the southern flank of Bakhmut.
Yevgeny Balitsky, head of the Russian-imposed administration of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, has posted to Telegram to claim that Ukraine is not actively attacking across the frontline in the region, and that “their command is actively carrying out the delivery of personnel to positions, making up for losses.”
“They bring more and more soldiers, who will continue to be sent to the slaughter,” he added.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, is reporting that there are “local emergency power outages” in Odesa. The region has been repeatedly targets by Russian missile and drone attacks in recent days.
Tass reports that one civilian has been killed, and another injured, by Ukrainian shelling into occupied Kherson on the left-bank of the Dniepr River. It cited the emergency services of the Russian occupying authorities.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, in his daily operational update, details shelling of Avdiivka among other settlements, and states that houses were damaged in Toretsk and Siversk. However he reports “there was no information about the wounded and dead in the region” in the preceding 24 hours.
Donetsk is one of the regions of Ukraine which the Russian Federation claimed to annex in 2022.
Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency, citing emergency services, is suggesting that another drone was downed over Moscow region. It reports on its Telegram channel:
A helicopter-type drone without an explosive device fell in the Zelenogradsky district of Moscow region, on the territory of the central cemetery. No one was injured, emergency services told RIA Novosti.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Russia’s ministry of defence has issued a further statement about what it claims was a thwarted drone attack on the Crimea peninsula. On its official Telegram channel it reported:
During the night of 24 July, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack by seventeen unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) on objects on the territory of the Crimean peninsula was thwarted.
Fourteen Ukrainian UAVs were suppressed by electronic warfare, of which eleven drones crashed in the Black Sea, and three more fell on the territory of the peninsula.
In addition, three UAVs were destroyed by air defence systems. There are no casualties as a result of the thwarted terrorist attack.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, having occupied and unilaterally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Russian authorities have tended to describe any military action by Ukraine against Russian-held targets in Ukraine as “terrorism”.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
Here’s a full report on drones hitting two non-residential buildings in central Moscow early today:
Ukrainian drone attack hits Crimea ammunition depot, says pro-Moscow official
An ammunition depot was struck during a Ukrainian drone attack on Dzhankoi in Crimea early on Monday, with Russian air defence forces intercepting or suppressing 11 drones over the area, a Russian-installed official has said.
Reuters reports that Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of the Crimean peninsula, also said a residential building was damaged in the area.
It was not immediately clear whether the ammunition depot was directly hit by a drone or if it was damaged by falling drone debris.
Russia has a military airbase near Dzhankoi. Ukrainian officials have long said the city and surrounding areas have been turned into Moscow’s largest military base in Crimea.
Aksyonov also said on Telegram that “for safety reasons” railway and road traffic in the area was suspended.
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Vladimir Putin has revealed his “continuing concern” over potential threats Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenary force may pose to him through “symbolism and posturing” during a meeting with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, according to a US thinktank.
The Institute for the Study of War said the Russian president made several significant gestures during the meeting in St Petersburg on Sunday. They included taking Lukashenko to visit Kronstadt, a historically significant island fortress, and touring it with St Petersburg governor Alexander Beglov and Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu’s younger daughter – both Beglov and Shoigu being personal enemies of Prigozhin, it said.
The public display in Kronstadt “was almost certainly intended to signal Putin’s and his loyalist cadre’s defeat of Prigozhin’s rebellion and Prigozhin’s St Petersburg-based supporters”, the thinktank said in its analysis, posted on Twitter.
Putin also made an unusual effort to take photographs with crowds of local Russian citizens, including children, while at Kronstadt, likely to present himself as a popular and beloved leader among the Russian people.
These symbolic gestures indicate that Putin is concerned about his perceived popularity, the security of his regime, and the array of factions competing for power within the high echelons of Russian governance.
Prigozhin led a short-lived uprising against Moscow’s military leadership last month before agreeing to a Lukashenko-brokered deal in which charges against him and his Wagner forces would be dropped in return for his exile in Belarus.
NEW: #Putin revealed his continuing concern over the potential threats that the #Wagner Group & Yevgeny #Prigozhin may pose to him through symbolism and posturing during a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander #Lukashenko in St. Petersburg, #Russia. https://t.co/jWahtGG1dM pic.twitter.com/neZLAPVkpN
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) July 24, 2023
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Russian attack injures four and destroys Odesa grains depot – Ukraine
Russia’s overnight drone attack on the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa destroyed a grains depot and injured four port employees, Reuters reports Ukraine’s southern military command as saying.
Based on preliminary information, three drones were destroyed in the attacks, the command said on social media.
The news agency could not independently verify the report.
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The US secretary of state has said that while Ukraine has recaptured about half the territory that Russia initially seized in its invasion, Kyiv faces “a very hard fight” to win back more.
Antony Blinken told CNN on Sunday:
These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough.
It will not play out over the next week or two. We’re still looking, I think, at several months.
Reuters also reports that Blinken was asked if Ukraine would get US-made F-16 fighter jets and said he believed it would.
And the important focus is on making sure that when they do, they’re properly trained, they’re able to maintain the planes, and use them in a smart way.
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Russia’s defence ministry has accused Ukraine of a “terrorist” drone attack after Moscow’s mayor said two buildings were hit and media reported that debris was found not far from the defence ministry’s buildings.
Reuters reports it is unclear whether the drones hit the buildings when they were downed early on Monday or whether they deliberately targeted the buildings.
Neither the defence ministry nor the mayor said where the drones were intercepted.
Russia’s state news agencies, citing emergency services, reported that drone fragments were found near a building on Komsomolsky Avenue, which runs through central Moscow. The site is about 2km (1.2 miles) from the defence ministry’s buildings.
Traffic was closed on that avenue as well as was on Likhachev Avenue in Moscow’s south, where a high-rise office building was damaged, Russian news agencies reported.
Polina, a young woman who lives near the high-rise building on Likhachev Avenue, said:
I was asleep and was woken up by a blast, everything started shaking.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in the country.
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In other news, Vladimir Putin has said Russia will replace exports of Ukrainian grain to Africa, after Moscow exited a deal allowing their safe shipment.
The Russian president said in a statement published on the Kremlin’s website that Russia would continue its “energetic efforts to provide supplies of grain, food products, fertilisers and other goods to Africa”, Agence France-Presse reports.
I want to give assurances that our country is capable of replacing the Ukrainian grain both on a commercial and free-of-charge basis.
Moscow last week left the year-old agreement allowing the export of Ukrainian grain after complaining that a related deal on allowing the export of Russian food and fertilisers had not been honoured. Moscow later said it would consider cargo ships travelling to Ukraine through the Black Sea potential military targets.
The African Union has expressed “regret” over Moscow’s decision to end the grain export deal.
Later this week Russia will host a second Russia-Africa summit and the Russia-Africa economic and humanitarian forum, according to the Kremlin.
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The reported drone attack in Moscow comes a day after Ukraine vowed to retaliate for a Russian missile strike on the Black Sea port city of Odesa.
Russian forces have repeatedly hit Odesa since Moscow last week quit an agreement allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea. The latest strike on Sunday killed two people and severely damaged Odesa’s historic Transfiguration Cathedral.
Agence France-Presse reports that the Ukrainian government condemned the cathedral strike as a “war crime”, saying it had been “destroyed twice – by Stalin and Putin”.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed retaliation, saying on Sunday:
They will definitely feel this. We cannot allow people around the world to get used to terrorist attacks.
The target of all these missiles is not just cities, villages or people. Their target is humanity and the foundations of our entire European culture.
Russia’s Tass news agency reported on Monday that one drone crashed in central Moscow’s Komsomolsky Prospekt, near the defence ministry, while another hit a business centre on Likhacheva Street, by one of Moscow’s main ring roads.
Moscow and its environs lie about 500km (310 miles) from the Ukrainian border but have been hit by several drone attacks this year, with one hitting the Kremlin in May.
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Some images from around the scene of the reported drone strike in central Moscow:
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Russia’s defence ministry confirmed there were no casualties in the drone attack in central Moscow.
It said on Telegram that it thwarted the attack from two unmanned aerial vehicles.
By means of electronic warfare, two Ukrainian UAVs were suppressed and crashed … there were no victims.
Russia’s FSB-linked Telegram channels have reported that residents of several districts in Moscow’s south-west and south reported the sounds of explosions, Reuters reports.
Komsomolsky Avenue is near Russia’s defence ministry buildings in Moscow’s central administrative district.
The debris of a drone has been found in central Moscow, Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency is reporting.
It quoted an emergencies official as saying early on Monday:
At 17, Komsomolsky Prospekt, the debris of a drone was discovered. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties.
The official said law enforcement agencies and emergency services were working at the scene.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome back to our continuing live coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine – this is Adam Fulton.
Drones hit two non-residential buildings in Moscow around 4am (0100 GMT) on Monday, Moscow’s mayor said.
“There was no serious damage or injuries,” Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.
Russia’s defence ministry said air-defence forces thwarted the attack and that two drones were intercepted and destroyed.
In other key developments:
Russia attacked the Ukrainian port city of Odesa again and kept up a barrage that has damaged critical port infrastructure in the country’s south, Ukrainian officials have said. At least one person was killed and 22 wounded in the strike early on Sunday. The city on the Black Sea has come under repeated attack since Moscow last week pulled out of an agreement allowing the export of Ukrainian grain.
Four children were among the wounded in the Odesa blasts, which severely damaged the historic Transfiguration Cathedral, a landmark Orthodox cathedral in the city, said Odesa’s regional governor, Oleh Kiper. The cathedral’s archdeacon, Andrii Palchuk, rued the “enormous” destruction of the church, which he said was caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said Ukraine’s counteroffensive “has failed” as he hosted Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, his close ally, for talks in St Petersburg. “There is no counteroffensive,” Russian news agencies quoted Lukashenko as saying on Sunday, to which Putin replied: “It exists, but it has failed.” Ukraine began its counteroffensive last month but has so far made only small gains.
Lukashenko claimed Minsk was “controlling” the situation with fighters from the Wagner mercenary group and restricting them to staying in the centre of the country. Belarus is hosting Wagner fighters on its territory after brokering a deal that saw Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin end a short-lived uprising last month in exchange for safe passage to exile in Belarus.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has said Kyiv and Warsaw will “always stand united” after Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko accused Poland of having territorial ambitions. “Putin’s attempts to drive a wedge between Kyiv and Warsaw are as futile as his failing invasion of Ukraine,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Unlike Russia, Poland and Ukraine have learned from history and will always stand united against Russian imperialism and disrespect for international law.”
Ukraine alleged Russia shelled a cultural centre in the Donetsk region with cluster munitions on Sunday morning. The defence ministry said the centre in Chasiv Yar housed “humanitarian headquarters” and was used as an aid distribution point for civilians.
A meeting of a new Nato-Ukraine Council, expected to address Black Sea security, has been scheduled for Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday. Nato spokesperson Oanu Lungescu said earlier that the previously announced meeting, requested by Zelenskiy in a phone conversation with Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg, would discuss the situation following Russia’s withdrawal from the year-old deal over Ukrainian grain exports.
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