Putin says Ukrainian attacks have intensified in recent days
Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Ukrainian attacks had intensified in recent days, primarily on the frontline running through Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, Reuters reports.
Speaking to Russian TV on the margins of the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, Putin said that Ukraine had not enjoyed success on any part of the front.
Key events
The news that Ukrainian troops may have recaptured the village of Staromaiorske comes a day after a Ukrainian armed forces spokesperson said its troops had gained ground in the vicinity of the village.
Andrii Kovalev, the spokesperson for the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine, also said at a briefing earlier today that Ukrainian troops had gained certain success near Staromaiorske on the southern front, reinforcing positions they had previously captured.
He added that that heavy fighting was going on, and that Russian forces were suffering losses and pulling up their reserves.
A video from Staromaiorske, geolocated by CNN, showed Russian fighters leaving positions and retreating.
Ukrainian forces say they have recaptured Staromaiorske
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has posted a video showing Ukrainian soldiers saying they have recaptured the village of Staromaiorske.
The soldiers are heard saying:
35th Brigade and the volunteer Battalion “Arei” liberated the village Staromaiorske. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to Heroes!
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The village is close to the frontline of the Ukrainian counteroffensive near the border of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Here are some images from the newswires of a meeting between North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, who has leading a Russian delegation visiting Pyongyang this week.
Shoigu and Kim visited a defence exhibition that featured North Korea’s banned ballistic missiles, and state media reported that the pair reached a consensus on unspecified “matters of mutual concern in the field of national defense and security and on the regional and international security environment”.
During the meeting, Shoigu conveyed to Kim a “warm and good letter” signed by Russian’s president, Vladimir Putin, North Korean state media reported.
In the letter, released later by the Kremlin, Putin congratulated Kim on the anniversary of “the defeat of the enemy” in the Korean war and emphasised how important it was to “preserve and increase the glorious traditions of friendship, good neighbourliness and mutual assistance”.
Putin wrote, according to Russian state Ria news agency:
Strong support from the DPRK for the special military operation in Ukraine, (and) solidarity with Russia on key international issues further emphasise our common interest and determination to oppose the policy of the collective West, which prevents the establishment of a truly multipolar, just world order.
Summary of the day so far …
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Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared to attend the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, according to reports. Late on Wednesday, a close ally of Prigozhin posted a picture purportedly showing the Wagner group leader meeting African officials in St Petersburg. In the unverified photograph, Prigozhin is seen standing next to a senior official from Central African Republic (CAR), which has welcomed thousands of Wagner mercenaries over the last few years.
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The European Commission has no money to help Ukraine with extra transport costs after Black Sea deal collapse, sources have said. Sources told Reuters that the Commission had no immediate money in the budget and no clear way to help finance the extra transport costs Ukrainian grain exports will face with the end of the Black Sea deal.
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China is helping Russia evade western sanctions and is likely providing military technology, according to a US intelligence report. “The PRC is providing some dual-use technology that Moscow’s military uses to continue the war in Ukraine, despite an international cordon of sanctions and export controls,” the report said.
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Putin said Ukrainian attacks have intensified in recent days, primarily on the frontline running through Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. Speaking to Russian TV on the margins of the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, Putin said that Ukraine had not enjoyed success on any part of the front.
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Russia has granted debt relief on over $684m owed by Somalia in a deal finalised on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, Somali officials have said. “This step will play a big role in the completion of the country’s debt forgiveness process,” Somali Finance Minister Bihi Egeh said of the deal with Moscow in a post on the ministry’s Facebook page.
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Having pulled out of the Black Sea grain initiative, and accused by Ukraine of actively blocking ships reaching Ukrainian ports, Russian President Vladimir Putin has used the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg to announce that Russia can replace Ukraine as a supplier of grain to African nations. He said Moscow would be ready to start supplying grain for free to six African countries within three to four months, and named Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea as recipients.
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Russia again struck at the port city of Odesa overnight, with the Ukrainian air force reporting that eight Shahed drones and two Kalibr cruise missiles were fired over Ukraine. The air force reported a security guard was killed when a rocket hit the administration building of the port, and the equipment of one of the cargo terminals was damaged.
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Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command, said an overnight thunderstorm had helped Russia in the attack on Odesa. “The enemy took advantage of the weather conditions, and launched the missile during the thunder and wind and at an extremely low height in order to make spotting them more difficult,” she said.
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Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s minister for infrastructure, said that over the past nine days, 26 port infrastructure facilities and five civilian vessels have been damaged and partially destroyed by Russian attacks on Odesa. He also claimed that Russian is restricting shipping near Crimea and the territorial waters of Bulgaria, blocking the movement of ships in the direction of seaports of Ukraine.
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Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the city of Dnipro in southeastern Ukraine on Thursday and in a meeting with senior officials discussed supplies to the war front and air defences.
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Russian state-owned news agency Tass reports that two people were injured in the occupied city of Tokmak in Zaporizhzhia region by Ukrainian shelling.
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Russian-imposed authorities in Lysychansk in occupied Luhansk claim that a school was destroyed after being attacked by Ukraine with cluster munitions.
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Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, has given civilian casualty figures in the Ukraine-controlled portion of the region. On Telegram he stated that in the last 24 hours one person was killed and nine injured.
Julian Borger
Ukraine’s government has called on the International Fencing Federation (FIE) to reverse its decision to disqualify a Ukrainian fencer for refusing to shake hands with her defeated Russian opponent.
The country’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, called for Olha Kharlan to be reinstated in the fencing world championships in Milan, after she was excluded as a result of the aftermath of her victory over Anna Smirnova, a Russian competing as a neutral.
“Olha Kharlan won the fair competition and showed dignity,” Kuleba said on social media. “I urge [FIE] to restore Kharlan’s rights and allow her to compete.”
Mihailo Podolyak, an aide to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, asked: “Doesn’t Russian money smell of blood?”
After her defeat by Kharlan in the women’s sabre competition, Smirnova approached the Ukrainian to shake hands, but Kharlan, an Olympic champion, held up her sabre instead and walked away. Smirnova refused to move for about 50 minutes and sat on a chair on the fencing piste.
Her protest further angered Ukrainians, who saw it as a deliberate attempt to highlight the absence of a handshake so as to get Kharlan disqualified.
“Anna Smirnova lost the fair competition and decided to play dirty with the handshake show. This is exactly how [the] Russian army acts on the battlefield,” Kuleba said.
Reuters reports that Poland, Lithuania and Latvia could jointly decide to shut their borders with close Russian ally Belarus if there are serious incidents involving the Wagner group along their frontiers with the country, Poland’s interior minister said on Thursday.
“Undoubtedly, should there be serious incidents involving the Wagner group on the borders of Nato and EU countries, such as Poland, Lithuania or Latvia, we will undoubtedly take an action together,” the minister, Mariusz Kaminski, said.
“I do not exclude that if we decide that this is the right answer at the moment, we will lead to the complete isolation of Belarus.”
China helping Russia evade western sanctions and likely providing military technology, US intelligence says
Reuters reports that China is helping Russia evade western sanctions and likely providing Moscow with military and dual-use technology for use in Ukraine, according to an unclassified U.S. intelligence report released on Thursday.
The assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was released on Thursday by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
China has repeatedly denied sending military equipment to Russia since
Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“The PRC is providing some dual-use technology that Moscow’s military
uses to continue the war in Ukraine, despite an international cordon
of sanctions and export controls,” the ODNI report said.
“The customs records show PRC state-owned defence companies shipping
navigation equipment, jamming technology, and fighter jet parts to
sanctioned Russian Government-owned defence companies,” the report
said.
It also said China has become “an even more critical partner” of
Russia after Moscow invaded Ukraine last year.
ODNI said China and Russia had increased the share of bilateral trade
settled in China’s yuan currency, and both countries’ financial
institutions are expanding their use of domestic payment systems.
China has increased it importation of Russia energy exports, including
oil and gas rerouted from Europe, the report said.
ODNI cited much of the information to media reports. It added: “The
Intelligence Community lacks sufficient reporting to assess whether
Beijing is deliberately inhibiting US Government export
control end-use checks, including interviews and investigations, in
the PRC.”
Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron’s top diplomatic
adviser Emmanuel Bonne said China was delivering items that could be
used as military equipment to Russia, although not on a massive scale.
US officials have previously raised concern about transfers of
“dual-use equipment” from China to Russia. However, they have
repeatedly said they have yet to see evidence of the transfer of
lethal assistance for Russia’s use on the battlefield.
European Commission has no money to help Ukraine with extra transport costs after Black Sea deal collapse
The European Commission has no immediate money in the budget and no clear way to help finance the extra transport costs Ukrainian grain exports will face with the end of the Black Sea deal, sources have told Reuters, leaving an opportunity for Moscow to cash in.
Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest grain exporters, will now have to rely almost entirely on expensive routes through the EU and the cheapest alternative artery, the Danube River, may not be able to expand its volume as much as hoped after bombings.
In a letter dated 21 July and seen by Reuters, Ukraine’s agriculture ministry asked EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis for the Commission to provide financial aid for the extra transport cost of using alternate EU routes known as “Solidarity Lanes”. Ukraine estimates the extra cost to be $30-40 a tonne.
This week, EU agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said Russia could benefit by undercutting Ukraine unless the EU helped reduce the cost.
“We have not found a solution yet to support the grain transport. People have been scratching their heads since last year,” a source with knowledge of the Commission discussions said.
One diplomatic source said money was very short and substantial funds could only come after the mid-term budget review that could take several more months to hash out, even with the autumn corn harvest around the corner.
A Commission spokesperson confirmed receipt of the letter and said “we are currently assessing such requests and will reply in due course”.
Russia grants Somalia $684m debt relief
Reuters reports that Russia has granted debt relief on over $684m owed by Somalia in a deal finalised on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, Somali officials have said.
Emerging from decades of civil war, Somalia is seeking to secure sweeping external debt relief under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank’s Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.
“This step will play a big role in the completion of the country’s debt forgiveness process,” Somali Finance Minister Bihi Egeh said of the deal with Moscow in a post on the ministry’s Facebook page.
The agreement signed on Wednesday between Egeh and Russian deputy finance minister Timur Maksimov concerned Paris Club loans, Somali Deputy prime minister Salah Ahmed Jama told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
If Somalia continues to make steady progress on reforms, it could reach the completion point of the HIPC process by the end of 2023, which would allow it to pare its debt to around $550m from $5.2bn, the IMF said last October.
Somalia owed Moscow nearly $695m in 2019, according to the IMF.
Russia has placed a third official at the international criminal court (ICC) on its wanted list after it accused Vladimir Putin of war crimes in Ukraine, Reuters reports, citing the state news agency TASS.
Judge Tomoko Akane was listed as “wanted under an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation” in the online database of Russia’s interior ministry, but with no mention of her alleged crime.
The ICC issued arrest warrants in March for Putin and his children’s commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine, which is a war crime.
Russia acknowledges having transferred thousands of children out of Ukraine, but says this has been done exclusively to protect orphans and children abandoned in the war zone.
Russia responded to the ICC warrant three days later by opening criminal cases against ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan and judges who ordered Putin’s arrest, including Akane and the Italian Rosario Salvatore Aitala.
Khan and Aitala were placed on Russia’s wanted list in May and June respectively.
Shaun Walker
Shaun Walker is in Kyiv for the Guardian, and has spoken to presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak. Here is his report:
Ukraine cannot protect all of its main cities from Russian missile threats without a significant increase in the provision of air defence systems, according to a key adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Mykhailo Podolyak said the strikes on Odesa over the past week had shown clearly that the Russian strategy was to bombard Ukrainian cities, with the aim of overwhelming air defence systems.
“Russia’s tactics are clear: they use massive drone attacks to overload our anti-aircraft systems and then in parallel they have a window of opportunity to use ballistic missiles to target infrastructure,” he told the Guardian, in an interview at the presidential administration in Kyiv.
That strategy no longer works in Kyiv, where Ukraine has built a sophisticated multilayered air defence system using a range of equipment provided by western allies. However, in Odesa and other parts of the Ukrainian south, Russian missiles have caused chaos in the past week. There have been numerous hits on grain export infrastructure as well as multiple strikes that hit residential areas and even a cathedral.
Podolyak said: “We don’t have enough modern anti-aircraft systems like Patriot, that are able to hit the latest generation Russian missiles like Oniks and Kinzhal – the deficit of these systems means we can’t cover all the parts of the country.”
Ukraine has two Patriot systems, one provided by the US and another from Germany. Podolyak said Ukraine needed 10 to 12 Patriot or similar systems to be able to cover the whole country. He added that the recent strikes on Odesa showed that providing more air defence systems was the right thing to do economically as well as morally.
Read more of Shaun Walker’s report here: Zelenskiy adviser calls for big increase in air defence systems for Ukraine
