Russia has launched massive naval drills involving the majority of its fleet and personnel after it was forced to pull back resources from the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.
The exercises are set to involve more than 300 vessels from four different fleets and flotillas, as well as around 20,000 navy personnel, Russian state news agency Tass reported.
It comes after repeated Ukrainian strikes forced Russia to withdraw its Black Sea Fleet warships from bases in occupied Crimea and all of its vessels out of the Sea of Azov, a body of water connected to the Black Sea, in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky visited the frontline in Kharkiv on Monday to pay tribute to Kyiv’s special forces, which have been engaged in bitter fighting with Putin’s forces in the region since May.
And Germany has hit out at Vladimir Putin for warning of a brewing Cold War-style missile crisis in Europe, saying it would “not be intimidated” by Putin’s threat to station long-range missiles in striking distance of the West.
Key Points
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Russia kicks off massive navy drills with 300 vessels and 20,000 personnel
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Zelensky arrives at Kharkiv region front line
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Germany hits out at Putin’s missile crisis threat
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Ukrainian drones fly 1,100 miles to hit Russian supersonic bombers at Arctic base
US to arm F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine with advanced weaponry
05:19 , Shweta Sharma
The US will reportedly arm dozens of F-16 fighter jets being supplied by other allies to Ukraine with advanced American weapons.
The fighter jets will be armed with American-made missiles and other advanced weapons, including long range guided bomb packs and air-to-air missiles like the AMRAAM and AIM-9X, reported the Wall Street Journal.
“We are confident that we will be able to supply all of those [weapons], at least the critical volumes that they need,” a senior US official said.
The first tranche of dozens of donated jets is due to arrive in Ukraine this summer. The aircraft will be flown by Ukrainian pilots being trained in European countries and the US.
Italian tax police seize real estate assets from Russian businessman, prosecutors say
05:02 , Andy Gregory
Italian tax police have seized real estate assets and holdings worth around €41m from a Russian businessman, according to Florence prosecutors.
The man was under investigation in Ukraine for alleged corruption, fraud and money laundering, and the seizure was made at the request of Ukraine’s anti-corruption prosecutor’s office, according to the Florence prosecutors’ statement.
The Italian seizure is reportedly unconnected to rounds of Western sanctions on wealthy Russians implemented in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia claims it has captured Donetsk’s Pivdenne
04:59 , Shweta Sharma
The Russian defence ministry claims to have captured the settlement of Pivdenne in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the latest report of a village falling to Moscow as it continues its push in the industrial Donbas area.
The Pivdenne settlement adjoins Toretsk, a Ukrainian stronghold and coal mining town towards which Russia began pushing in June.
Russia refers to the area with its Soviet-era name of Leninskoe.
The Ukraine military’s General Staff made no reference to Pivdenne in a late evening report, but said Russian forces had tried to breach Ukrainian defences near Pokrovsk 15 times in the past 24 hours.
Three skirmishes were still going on.
Ukrainian military bloggers dismissed any notion that Russian troops had pushed their way into Toretsk, but said areas around the town were gripped by heavy fighting.
One blogger calling himself “officer” said Russian soldiers were attempting to slip into the town in small groups.
Kyiv did not immediately comment on Pivdenne’s status.
Russia’s push for Toretsk is one of the most active combat zones in the Donetsk region, with Moscow’s forces also moving towards Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian transport hub around 70km (43 miles) west of Toretsk.
It comes after Russia claimed on Sunday that it had taken two villages, Prohres and Yevhenivka, on the approaches to Pokrovsk. Ukraine‘s General Staff recorded 40 Russia assaults in the Pokrovsk sector, with 18 clashes continuing.
US expects more direct engagement in Ukraine, top Biden official says
04:14 , Shweta Sharma
US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell said Washington expects more engagement from India with Ukraine, responding to a question at a Senate hearing over Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s Moscow visit this month.
“I think we’re likely to hear news of India engaging more directly in Ukraine. I’m grateful for that. I think India wants to play a responsible role globally,” Mr Campbell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Western countries have imposed sanctions on Moscow following its all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but nations such as India and China have continued to trade with Russia.
Mr Modi met Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this month just as a Russian missile attack struck a hospital in Kyiv and killed 44 people across the country, drawing international condemnation.
Indian media outlets have reported that Mr Modi is likely to visit Ukraine in August, his first visit to the country since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Asked about Mr Campbell’s comments, India’s Washington embassy referred to a news briefing in Tokyo on Monday by Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, at which he said more needed to be done to encourage negotiations to end the Ukraine conflict and that India was one of the few countries that was in touch with both sides.
“We do believe we should be more active there,” Mr Jaishankar said, adding that Modi met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Italy before his Moscow visit.
“I can reasonably expect there will be more contacts between us and Ukraine and between us and Russia as well,” Mr Jaishankar said, when asked about the possibility of Mr Modi visiting Ukraine.
Russia claims control of another Donetsk settlement
04:08 , Andy Gregory
Russia claims to have seized control of the settlement of Pivdenne in Ukraine’s – marking the latest of several settlements claimed by Moscow’s forces in the Donetsk region in recent days.
It was not possible to immediately verify the claims.
Russia launches drone onslaught of Kyiv
03:51 , Shweta Sharma
Most of the Ukrainian capital was under air aid alerts this morning after Vladimir Putin’s forces launched an overnight drone attack on Kyiv and the surrounding area, the military said today.
“Air defence systems are being engaged in the region and on the approaches to Kyiv in particular,” Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Blasts rang out across the city in what sounded like air defence systems engaged in repelling an air attack, according to Reuters.
The city and most of Ukraine were under air raid alerts that began at around 8pm GMT yesterday.
Kyiv invites Chinese foreign minister to visit Ukraine
03:05 , Andy Gregory
The Ukrainian government has invited Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi to visit Ukraine and Beijing indicated it was “interested” in the proposal, Kyiv’s foreign ministry has announced.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba met with his Chinese counterpart last week during his first wartime visit to China, where the two spoke for more than three hours.
“We are ready to welcome Minister Wang Yi in Ukraine to see first-hand the consequences of the Russian aggression against our country and hold deeper bilateral talks with him on a number of bilateral, regional and international issues,” foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said.
China positions itself as neutral on the war, but declared a “no limits” partnership with Russia days before Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and hosted President Vladimir Putin for talks in May.
Ukrainian heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk says, ‘UK and Ukraine are a good team’
02:04 , Andy Gregory
Espionage concerns over Hungary’s decision to ease visa rules for Russian and Belarusian citizens
Wednesday 31 July 2024 00:58 , Reuters
The European People’s Party (EPP) has raised security concerns over a decision by Hungary to ease visa restrictions for Russian and Belarusian citizens, fearing it could fuel espionage in the EU, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
Manfred Weber, chair of the centre-right EPP, has written to European Council head Charles Michel to say the new Hungarian rules could “create grave loopholes for espionage activities … posing a serious risk to national security”.
“This policy could also make it easier for Russians to move around the (borderless) Schengen area, bypassing the restrictions required by EU law,” Weber said in his letter.
The letter was first reported by the Financial Times. The Hungarian government did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Mr Michel’s office had no comment on the letter, which highlights tensions between EU institutions and Hungary, current holder of the bloc’s rotating presidency, as it seeks to maintain cordial ties with Russia despite the Ukraine war.
A European Commission spokesperson said it would be in touch with Hungary regarding the new rules, and that Budapest was bound to check whether they complied with Schengen regulations.
Diplomatic spat erupts between Hungary and Poland over conflicting views on Russia
Tuesday 30 July 2024 23:41 , AP
A diplomatic spat has erupted between Poland and Hungary that lays bare the deep tensions within Europe over how to deal with with Russia when it is waging war on Ukraine.
Poland, like Germany, France and most other European nations, is a staunch ally of Ukraine while Hungary’s populist prime minister Viktor Orbán is widely considered to have the warmest relations with the Kremlin among all EU leaders.
The Polish government has been openly critical of Hungary for its stance. The spat erupted when Orbán lashed out at Poland over the weekend.
“The Poles are pursuing the most sanctimonious and the most hypocritical policy in the whole of Europe. They are lecturing us morally, criticizing us for our economic relations with Russia, and at the same time they are doing business with the Russians and buying oil indirectly, and running the Polish economy with it,” Orbán said.
That triggered a denial and angry response from a Polish deputy foreign minister, Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski, who said Sunday: “We do not do business with Russia, unlike prime minister Orbán, who is on the margins of international society — both in the European Union and Nato.”
Vanessa Gera and Balint Domotor have more in this report:
A diplomatic spat erupts between Hungary and Poland over conflicting views on Russia
Watch: Volodymyr Zelensky presents medals on visit to Ukrainian special forces base
Tuesday 30 July 2024 22:32 , Andy Gregory
Belarus president Lukashenko ‘weighing pardon’ for German national facing death sentence
Tuesday 30 July 2024 21:30 , Andy Gregory
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko is weighing whether to pardon Rico Krieger, a German sentenced to death on terrorism and other charges, the Belta state news agency has reported.
Russia is currently talking with the West about a possible exchange involving US reporter Evan Gershkovich, convicted on spying charges he denies, and other Westerners being held in Russia.
Among those Moscow would like to free is Vadim Krasikov, a Russian serving a life sentence in Germany for murder – an exchange that would require Berlin to get something in return.
In an interview with Belarus-1 state TV published last week, Krieger said Ukraine’s SBU security service had told him to photograph military sites in Belarus last October, and to plant explosives on a train line southeast of Minsk. The explosives went off but no one was hurt.
It was not clear whether Krieger was speaking under duress. He said he regretted his actions and hoped to secure a pardon from Lukashenko.
Belarus’s president was quoted by Belta as saying on Tuesday that, as president, he would have the “last word” on Krieger’s case. BelTA said Lukashenko had invited people involved to speak with him. The news agency published a photograph of him sitting at a table with five people, who the president said included a state investigator and Krieger’s lawyer.
“The most difficult things in the fate of a president are cases like this, involving exceptional punishment,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying. “But a decision has to be made. I just want to consult with you in this regard; not to consult, but to hear your opinion.”
Krieger’s lawyer, Vladimir Gorbach, was quoted by Belta as saying the meeting had been “frank”. “We’re hoping the head of state will commit an act of humanity,” Mr Gorbach said, adding that Lukashenko had said he would “reflect and make a decision”.
Hungary accuses European Commission of blackmail over Ukraine oil dispute
Tuesday 30 July 2024 20:32 , Andy Gregory
Hungary’s foreign minister has accused the European Commission of blackmail in a dispute over blocked oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia – two countries that have been critical of the European Union’s arming of Ukraine.
Ukraine put Russia’s Lukoil on a sanctions list in June, stopping supplies running through Ukraine to Hungarian and Slovak refiners owned by Hungarian oil and gas group MOL. Hungary and Slovakia asked the Commission last week to put pressure on Kiev to reverse the decision.
“More than a week has passed and the European Commission has done nothing,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Tuesday.
“Despite the threat to the energy security of two EU Member States, despite the crystal-clear violation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, Brussels remains silent,” he added, referring to a deal over Kyiv’s possible eventual EU entry.
Mr Szijjarto said the Commission was either “so weak that it is incapable of asserting the fundamental interests” of member states, or that it might have manufactured the dispute itself.
It was maybe “Brussels, not Kyiv, that invented the whole thing; it was the European Commission, not the Ukrainian government, that wanted to blackmail two pro-peace countries that reject arms transfers.”
Ukraine claims to spark fire with strike on Russian oil depot in Kursk
Tuesday 30 July 2024 19:33 , Andy Gregory
The Ukrainian military claims it has successfully hit a Russian oil depot in the Kursk region overnight.
“According to intelligence data, as a result of the attack, a fire broke out at the enemy facility,” the General Staff said on Facebook.
Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be worse global crisis than Ukraine war or Covid, warns president
Tuesday 30 July 2024 18:29 , Andy Gregory
Taiwan’s president Lai Ching-te has warned that a Chinese invasion of the self-governed island would have worse global impacts than either Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine or the Covid pandemic.
Mr Lai was speaking on Tuesday during the largest-ever gathering of foreign lawmakers and dignitaries in Taipei, at a summit chaired by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. The coalition, with hundreds of members from parliaments in more than 35 countries, is focused on monitoring Beijing’s threats to democracy and human rights.
Lawmakers met on Monday and held panel discussions on Tuesday at the event, attended by The Independent, which is taking place despite intense pressure against participants from the Chinese government.
Mr Lai said he hoped the summit would “allow the world to understand that any conflict in the Taiwan Strait will have a more profound economic impact on the world than the Russia-Ukraine war and Covid-19”.
My colleague Arpan Rai has the full report:
Taiwan says Chinese invasion would be worse global crisis than Ukraine or Covid
The Independent’s war correspondent Kim Sengupta dies aged 68
Tuesday 30 July 2024 17:28 , Andy Gregory
Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin moved from prison to unknown destination, lawyer says
Tuesday 30 July 2024 16:30 , Andy Gregory
Ilya Yashin, a prominent Kremlin critic who is serving an eight and a half year jail sentence for criticising Russia’s war in Ukraine, has been moved from his prison to an unknown destination, his lawyer has said.
The statement by Tatyana Solomina noted that several other figures imprisoned for criticising the military or for alleged extremist activity because of their work with the organisation of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny also were moved.
Among them are Oleg Orlov, chair of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group Memorial, musician Alexandra Skochilenko, who is serving seven years for replacing price tags in a supermarket with messages decrying civilian deaths in Ukraine, and former Navalny regional coordinators Lillia Chanysheva and Ksenia Fadeyeva.
Memorial also said Germany-born Russian citizen Kevin Liik – who was sentenced to four years for allegedly providing information to German special services – has been removed from his prison.
The movements prompted speculation on social media about whether they were in preparation for some kind of a prisoner swap. Kremlin critics and rights advocates have previously called for exchanges that would release Russian political prisoners.
Mr Yashin is one of the few well-known Kremlin critics to stay in Russia after the start of the war.
He was arrested in June 2022 in a Moscow park, convicted of spreading false information about Russian soldiers, and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. The charge stemmed from a YouTube livestream in which he talked about civilians slain in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.
Ukraine says it hit oil depot in Russia’s Kursk region
Tuesday 30 July 2024 15:32 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday it had successfully hit a Russian oil depot in the Kursk region overnight.
“According to intelligence data, as a result of the attack, a fire broke out at the enemy facility,” the General Staff said on Facebook.
What is in Putin’s ‘nuclear doctrine’ that could trigger a Russian attack?
Tuesday 30 July 2024 14:29 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
On Day 1 of the war, President Vladimir Putin said “whoever tries to impede us, let alone create threats for our country and its people, must know that the Russian response will be immediate and lead to consequences you have never seen in history.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Putin and other Kremlin voices have frequently threatened the West with its nuclear arsenal.
What is in Putin’s ‘nuclear doctrine’ that could trigger a Russian attack?
Australia’s foreign minister says Russia-North Korea defense deal is ‘risky for the world’
Tuesday 30 July 2024 14:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Australia’s foreign minister said Tuesday the recent defense deal between North Korea and Russia was “destabilizing” and “risky for the world,” after she visited the tense border village shared by North and South Korea on Tuesday.
Australia’s foreign minister says Russia-North Korea defense deal is ‘risky for the world’
A diplomatic spat erupts between Hungary and Poland over conflicting views on Russia
Tuesday 30 July 2024 13:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
A diplomatic spat has erupted between Poland and Hungary that lays bare the deep tensions within Europe over how to deal with with Russia when it is waging war on Ukraine.
Poland, like Germany, France and most other European nations, is a staunch ally of Ukraine while Hungary’s populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is widely considered to have the warmest relations with the Kremlin among all EU leaders.
The Polish government has been openly critical of Hungary for its stance. The spat erupted when Orbán lashed out at Poland over the weekend.
A diplomatic spat erupts between Hungary and Poland over conflicting views on Russia
Tuesday 30 July 2024 13:09 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Volodymyr Zelensky presented medals on a frontline visit to Ukrainian special forces base.
Zelensky presents medals on frontline visit to Ukrainian special forces base
Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be worse global crisis than Ukraine war or Covid, warns president
Tuesday 30 July 2024 12:39 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Taiwan’s president Lai Ching-te has warned that a Chinese invasion of the self-governed island would have worse global impacts than either Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine or the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Lai was speaking on Tuesday during the largest ever gathering of foreign lawmakers and dignitaries in Taipei, at a summit chaired by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. The coalition, with hundreds of members from parliaments in more than 35 countries, is focused on monitoring Beijing’s threats to democracy and human rights.
Taiwan says Chinese invasion would be worse global crisis than Ukraine or Covid
Russia says its forces took control of Pivdenne in eastern Ukraine
Tuesday 30 July 2024 12:17 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Russia‘s defence ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had taken control of the settlement of Pivdenne in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.
The ministry in its statement called the settlement by the name Russia uses to describe it – Leninskoe.
Kyiv invites Chinese foreign minister to visit Ukraine
Tuesday 30 July 2024 11:43 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
The Ukrainian government has invited Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Ukraine and Beijing indicated it was “interested” in the proposal, a spokesman for Kyiv’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
“We are ready to welcome Minister Wang Yi in Ukraine to see first-hand the consequences of the Russian aggression against our country and hold deeper bilateral talks with him on a number of bilateral, regional and international issues,” foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi told a briefing in Kyiv.
The Russia-US divide was on display during Moscow’s monthlong presidency of the UN Security Council
Tuesday 30 July 2024 11:11 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Whether it’s Gaza, Ukraine, Syria or a new world order, it’s been Russia versus the United States and the West during Moscow’s presidency of the Security Council this month, with the growing divide on vivid display.
The tension was hardly new.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in violation of the U.N. Charter, which stresses the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all 193 members of the world organization, the West has been lashing out at Moscow.
The Russia-US divide was on display during Moscow’s monthlong presidency of the UN Security Council
Russia’s Wagner group hit by largest battleground loss in years
Tuesday 30 July 2024 10:48 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Wagner mercenaries were killed by jihadis and rebels over the weekend in northern Mali in what one analyst described on Monday as the largest battleground blow to the shadowy Russian group in years. Others were taken captive.
Approximately 50 Wagner fighters in a convoy were killed in an al-Qaida ambush, which was joined by rebels who were in pursuit, along the border with Algeria, said Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, a security think tank, who said he counted bodies in a video of the aftermath.
The mercenaries had been fighting mostly Tuareg rebels alongside Mali’s army when their convoy was forced to retreat into jihadi territory and ambushed south of the commune of Tinzaouaten, Nasr said.
Russia’s Wagner group hit by largest battleground loss in years
Why are Russia and Belarus banned from the Paris Olympics?
Tuesday 30 July 2024 10:09 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Russian and Belarusian athletes will again be in the spotlight at Paris 2024 with their particpation at the Olympics controversial.
This is the fourth Games in a row that entrants from Russia have not been allowed to compete under their own flag, though their ban for widespread doping violations has now ended.
The absence of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) from this Olympics instead comes because of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Why are Russia and Belarus banned from the Paris Olympics?
Italy seizes assets of Russian businessman under investigation in Ukraine
Tuesday 30 July 2024 09:14 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Italian tax police seized real estate assets and holdings worth around 41 million euros ($44.4 million) from a Russian businessman on Monday, Florence prosecutors said.
The man was under investigation in Ukraine for alleged corruption, fraud and money laundering, and the seizure was made at the request of Ukraine‘s anti-corruption prosecutor’s office, according to the Florence prosecutors’ statement.
They did not identify the Russian businessman, but a judicial source and a separate legal source both told Reuters his name was Alekszej Fedoricsev.
Several Italian newspapers, including the country’s biggest selling daily Corriere della Sera, gave the same name.
An Italian court-appointed lawyer for the businessman told Reuters he could not comment on the case.
Fedcom Media, part of Fedoricsev’s Fedcom Group, did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
According to Italian prosecutors, Fedoricsev reinvested proceeds obtained illegally in Ukraine and owns, through a Florence-based trust, a large real estate complex in the Tuscan capital.
The property, part of the seized assets, is the 12th century Torre del Gallo castle, Corriere della Sera reported.
Fedoricsev is the chairman and founder of the Fedcom Group, a global leader in the field of logistics, shipping and commodities trading, according to his LinkedIn profile, which says he lives in Monaco with his family.
Fire at oil depot in Russia’s Kursk region put out, acting governor says
Tuesday 30 July 2024 08:43 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
A fire at an oil depot in Russia‘s Kursk region, caused by a Ukraine-launched drone attack, has been put out, the local acting governor said on Tuesday.
Three tanks at the oil storage depot caught fire on Sunday.
Australia’s foreign minister says Russia-North Korea defence deal is ‘risky for the world’
Tuesday 30 July 2024 08:07 , Associated Press
Australia’s foreign minister said today that the recent defence deal between North Korea and Russia was “destabilising” and “risky for the world,” after she visited the tense border village shared by North and South Korea.
In June, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a pact stipulating mutual military assistance if either country is attacked, deepening worries about the expanding ties between the countries.
The US and its partners have steadfastly accused North Korea of supplying much-needed conventional arms to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance.
Penny Wong told reporters: “I also want to say something about the security pact between North Korea and Russia. And say again, this is destabilising. This is risky for the world and again we say Russia is behaving in ways which are not conducive to peace but are escalatory.”
Wong was speaking following a visit to the southern side of the Korean border village of Panmunjom.
She also condemned North Korea’s extended run of missile tests that she said threaten regional security.
“We share great concerns about DPRK’s escalatory reactions, destabilising actions,” she said, referring to North Korea by the acronym of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Volodymyr Zelensky presents medals on frontline visit to Ukrainian special forces base
Tuesday 30 July 2024 07:51 , Shweta Sharma
Poland and Hungry engage in diplomatic spat over Russia’s Ukraine war
Tuesday 30 July 2024 07:21 , Shweta Sharma
A diplomatic spat has erupted between Poland and Hungary as the leaders of the two countries criticised each other over Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Hungary’s populist prime minister Viktor Orban, who is widely considered to have the warmest relations with the Kremlin among all EU leaders, has faced criticism from Poland, Germany, France and other European nations.
The spat erupted when Mr Orban lashed out at Poland over the weekend.
“The Poles are pursuing the most sanctimonious and the most hypocritical policy in the whole of Europe,” he said.
“They are lecturing us morally, criticising us for our economic relations with Russia, and at the same time they are doing business with the Russians and buying oil indirectly, and running the Polish economy with it.”
It triggered a denial and angry response from Polish deputy foreign minister Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski, who said on Sunday: “We do not do business with Russia, unlike Prime Minister Orban, who is on the margins of international society – both in the European Union and Nato.”
Poland was once dependent on Russian energy sources, but has been working for years to wean itself off Russian oil and gas.
The country has said it might still have some Russian oil in reserves from past deliveries, but that it no longer imports oil from Russia.
Massive fire at oil depot in Russia’s Kursk region put out after two days
Tuesday 30 July 2024 07:04 , Shweta Sharma
The acting governor of Kursk region in Russia has said that the fire caused by Ukrainian drones on Sunday has finally been put out, two days after the attack caused a blaze spanning 200 square metres.
Three tanks at the oil storage depot caught fire on Sunday after the aerial attack by Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine said the oil depot was being used to meet the needs of the Russian military, and contains 11 tanks with a total volume of 7,000 cubic metres, adding the attack prompted “powerful explosions and a fire … probably involving containers with oil products”.
Ukraine aid package valued at up to $200 million, White House says
Tuesday 30 July 2024 07:00 , Alexander Butler
The United States announced a new security assistance package for Ukraine on Monday that is valued at up to $200 million and includes air defenses and anti-tank weapons, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
Only six Ukrainian pilots trained to fly F-16 fighter jets
Tuesday 30 July 2024 06:45 , Shweta Sharma
Only six Ukrainian pilots are trained to fly the F-16 fighter jets set to be delivered to Kyiv next month by America, according to a report.
The F-16 fighter jets that Ukraine has been asking from its allies for months could not be immediately used on the frontlines as Russia is improving its air defences, the Washington Post reported, citing Ukrainian and Western officials.
The Nato member countries were involved in the programme to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s.
However, the programme was hit by delays, an official told the newspaper.
Ukraine is set to receive one squadron of F-16s — about 20 jets — this year, officials said.
More than 80 jets have been promised by Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. But most of those won’t arrive in Ukraine for years.
Only six pilots are expected to finish training on F-16s “because the programme has limited spots and has been marred by delays”, it said.
Italy’s Meloni says China’s support of Russian war efforts is source of ‘great friction’ during visit
Tuesday 30 July 2024 06:22 , Shweta Sharma
Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who is in Beijing to relaunch ties with China, has said Xi Jinping’s economic support of Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine is a source of “great friction”.
She is on her first trip to China since taking office and met premier Li Qiang on Sunday to sign a three-year plan to strengthen economic co-operation.
She said China was an “important interlocutor” in managing global tensions while Mr Xi hailed the “long-established friendly” ties with Italy.
Her comments come as China has been accused of supplying dual-use munitions to Russia that can end up being used in the Ukraine war amid its strong ties with Moscow. Russia and China have both denied the claims.
Ukraine military intelligence claims it was party to deadly Wagner ambush in Mali
Tuesday 30 July 2024 06:18 , Shweta Sharma
Ukrainian military intelligence agency has claimed it played a role in the deadly ambush in west African nation Mali in which fighters from Russia’s Wagner Group were killed.
Wagner on Monday said it suffered heavy losses during the attack in Mali last week, according to a post shared on a Telegram channel.
Wagner members and the Malian armed forces engaged in intense battles over a five-day period against a coalition of Tuareg separatist forces and jihadi groups, it said.
The separatist forces used heavy weapons, drones, and suicide bombers. Numerous Wagner fighters, including a commander named Sergei Shevchenko, were killed in the clashes, according to the channel.
On Monday, Andrii Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency, said: “The rebels received necessary information, and not just information, which enabled a successful military operation against Russian war criminals.”
He did not confirm if Ukrainian military personnel fought in the attack and said the agency “won’t discuss the details at the moment, but there will be more to come”.
Russian forces begin offensive in Zaporizhzhia Oblast from two fronts
Tuesday 30 July 2024 05:22 , Shweta Sharma
Ukrainian forces said Russian troops have begun attacks in the direction of Huliaipole in Zaporizhzhia Oblast after a “long pause” and from two different fronts.
Dmytro Lykhovyi, spokesperson for the Tavria group of Ukrainian forces, told national TV that the assault began from the village of Reshetylivske in the direction of Huliaipole.
“Some reports said that it could be a major offensive with the formation of an offensive group, but according to our intelligence, it is a continuation of the tactics of small assault actions, because the total numbers of the Russian group in Zaporizhzhia Oblast have not changed in terms of the number of troops,” he said.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Russian forces are making attempts to dislodge Ukrainian troops from positions in the Orikhiv and Huliaipole directions.
Debunked: Russia’s fake news campaign targeting the Olympics
Tuesday 30 July 2024 05:00 , Alexander Butler
US to send another $1.7bn in military aid to Ukraine
Tuesday 30 July 2024 04:56 , Shweta Sharma
The US will send another $1.7bn in military aid to Ukraine that will include anti-tank missiles and long-term contracts.
The latest tranche of aid will include an array of munitions for air defence systems, artillery, mortars and anti-tank and anti-ship missiles.
The package includes $1.5bn in funding for long-term contracts through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, and $200m in immediate military aid taken from Pentagon stockpiles.
It comes a bit more than two weeks after the Nato summit in Washington, where allies focused a significant amount of time on shoring up support for Ukraine as it fends off Russian forces.
However, the US defence department did not elaborate on which specific systems were being sent to Ukraine immediately, and which ones would be funded through contracts.
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