Ukraine hands over proposals to US negotiators for a plan to end war
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine had turned over proposals to U.S. negotiators for a plan to end the more than four-year-old war with Russia.
"We have conveyed our proposals to the American side," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
"And the United States can help strengthen our defence, first and foremost with air defence, and put pressure on Russia so that its plans are different -- to prepare for an end to the war rather than prolonging it."
Trump claims chat with Putin led to release of ex-US marine
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin led to the release from prison of former US Marine Robert Gilman.
"After my discussions with President Vladimir Putin, Russia has agreed to release him, very much on a Humanitarian Basis," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding that "Russia asked for no one in return."
Death toll rises to seven with 24 injured after Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia
Seven workers were killed at a Ukrainian steel plant on Tuesday during a Russian attack on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia in which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow used North Korean ballistic missiles.
The Zaporizhstal plant was forced to suspend production after being hit as Russia pummelled Zaporizhzhia with Zircon hypersonic missiles, guided aerial bombs and ballistic missiles supplied by Pyongyang.
"The ballistic missile strike hit as employees were making their way to a shelter immediately after the air-raid alert was sounded," parent company Metinvest Group said in a statement that put the death toll at seven.
At least 24 people were injured. No damage was reported at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Ex-US marine held in Russia released, US state department says
Russia has released former US marine Robert Gilman, who is expected to land in Washington DC Tuesday evening.
Gillman spent more than four years in prison on disputed charges under abusive conditions and was said to be gravely ill and at risk of dying, a group advocating for him said Tuesday.
Gilman was on his way to a U.S. military hospital in Texas, where he will be medically and psychologically assessed and treated, said Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of Global Reach, a group that’s been working to free him and other American detainees abroad. Gilman’s family has flown to Texas to be with him, including his mother, who was in Russia attempting to see him at a hospital.
Gilman, a 32-year-old teacher detained since 2022, was initially handed a 3 1/2-year sentence when he was convicted of beating a police officer after being taken off a train for causing a disturbance. He later was convicted of attacking a prison inspector during a cell check, beating an investigator and assaulting a guard, and he was sentenced in October 2024 to eight years and one month.
His sentence was extended last year to 10 years after he was found guilty of assaulting prison guards.
Ukraine's Zaporizhstal plant suspends operations after Russian attack, Metinvest says
Ukrainian steel giant Zaporizhstal completely halted its operations following a Russian strike on its facilities, its parent company Metinvest said on Tuesday.
"The enemy attack damaged energy facilities and infrastructure at Metinvest's enterprises in Zaporizhzhia, as well as the main and auxiliary facilities used in coke and blast furnace production," the company said in a statement.
Syria base deal set to boost ties with Damascus, Russia says
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that a deal reached with Syria on the future of Moscow's military bases in the Middle Eastern country was an important step that would boost ties between the two countries, the state RIA news agency reported.
The Syrian foreign ministry was cited by Syria's state news agency on Sunday as saying that Syria and Russia had reached a memorandum of understanding to settle the future of Russian bases at Tartous and Hmeimim following 18 months of intensive negotiations.
Russian wheat exports fall to lowest levels in almost ten years
Russian wheat exports in August could fall to their lowest in nearly a decade, agricultural analysts said on Tuesday, as the world's top wheat exporter contends with low prices and security risks on vital Black Sea shipping routes.
Russia and Ukraine have increasingly targeted ships and ports during their 4-1/2-year war, but both countries are harvesting large crops that could add to already ample global supplies.
The Sovecon agriculture consultancy said wheat exports could fall to an estimated 3-3.4 million metric tons versus 4.5 million tons a year ago, the lowest level since the 2016/17 season.
"Low export rates are increasing pressure on the domestic market," Sovecon head Andrey Sizov said.
Russia says its troops took control of two more Ukrainian villages
Russia's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that Russian forces had taken control of two settlements in Ukraine – Shcherbakivka in the Kharkiv region, and Nove Pole in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.
Ukrainian military says it attacked an oil refinery in Orsk, Russia
The Ukrainian military said it attacked an oil refinery in the Russian city of Orsk, the second-largest city in the Orenburg region and an important industrial hub.
In a statement on Telegram, the Ukrainian military said it had targeted the Orsknefteorgsintez oil refinery, which has an annual crude oil capacity of 6 million tons. “Fire was recorded. Damages are being ascertained,” it said.
The Orsk refinery produces gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel, fuel oil, bitumen, and other petroleum products.
Zelensky says Russia fired North Korean missiles in Zaporizhzhia
Zelensky said Tuesday that Russia fired North Korean missiles in an overnight attack that killed six and wounded 19 in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.
"The city was struck with North Korean ballistic missiles, Zircons, and guided aerial bombs," he said, referring to Russia's hypersonic cruise missile system, Zircon.
Aftermath of Russia's strikes on Ukraine
Residents stand at a site of a Russian missile and air strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. © Stringer, Reuters
A firefighter works at a compound of a warehouse hit by an overnight missile strike in Kyiv. © Handout via Reuters
An employee stands among debris at a compound of the City Children's Clinical Infectious Disease Hospital in Kyiv, which was hit by an overnight missile strike. © Valentyn Ogirenko, Reuters
Russia has lost 1,460,400 soldiers since 24 February 2022, according to Ukraine
Industrial enterprise on fire in Russia's Orenburg region after attack, governor says
An industrial enterprise was on fire in Russia's Orenburg region after an attack by "enemy drones", the local governor said on Tuesday. There had been no reports of casualties, Yevgeny Solntsev said.
Ukraine hits Wildberries facility in Voronezh again
Drone attack kills one in Russia's Voronezh region, sets warehouses ablaze
A drone attack killed one person and injured two others in Russia's Voronezh region overnight, while falling debris triggered fires at warehouse facilities, Alexander Gusev, the regional governor, said on Tuesday.
Russia's air defence units destroyed 15 drones over the city of Voronezh and five districts of the region, Gusev said on Telegram.
"A drone crash caused fires at two warehouses of a large company. At one facility, the fire has been contained to an area of 16,000 square meters, while at the other, a blaze covering 20,000 square metres is being extinguished. Emergency services are on scene," the governor said.
He did not identify the company whose warehouses were affected.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian online retailer Wildberries said its logistics facilities in the Voronezh region had been evacuated in accordance with safety requirements.
- Ukraine hands over proposals to US negotiators for a plan to end war
- Death toll rises to seven with 24 injured after Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia
- Russian missiles strike Kyiv, triggering fires in city centre
- Drone attack kills one in Russia's Voronezh region, sets warehouses ablaze
- Zelensky says Russia fired North Korean missiles in Zaporizhzhia
Ukraine accuses Russia of systematic torture of detainees
Former Ukrainian detainees and Ukrainian officials accused Russia on Monday of systematically torturing prisoners of war and civilian detainees, holding captives incommunicado and subjecting them to beatings, electric shocks and sexual abuse, with thousands still in captivity.
Russia rejected the allegations made at an informal UN Security Council meeting, with its Deputy UN Representative Maria Zabolotskaya calling it "a disinformation campaign" and alleging that Russian prisoners in Ukraine were subjected to "torture and degradation and moral and physical abuse".
Khuan Alberto Levya Garsiya, still an active member of the Ukrainian military, said his Russian captors subjected him to every imaginable form of torture during 1,183 days in captivity.
Trump-Putin diplomacy fades as Russia-Ukraine war escalates
In the year since Donald Trump hosted Vladimir Putin on US soil for a summit designed to broker an end to Russia's offensive on Ukraine, the diplomatic initiative has fizzled out and the conflict has escalated.
For months, Russian officials talked up the "spirit of Anchorage" – a supposed climate of détente, renewed dialogue with Washington and a framework for finding a way out of the deadliest European conflict since World War II.
Now there are few traces of that atmosphere. US mediation efforts are at a standstill, both Russia and Ukraine are ramping up attacks and more civilians are being killed than at any point since the first months of the war.
12 killed, 39 wounded in Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Nizhnekamsk
Kyiv mayor says Ukraine's capital is 'under ballistic missile attack'
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social media that the capital was "under ballistic missile attack".
He said emergency services had been sent to Shevchenkivsky district, while city authorities said at least one person had been wounded.
Air raid sirens had begun to sound shortly before the blasts were heard.
In Zaporizhzhia, Fedorov said earlier that Russian forces had struck industrial facilities and infrastructure.
"The Russians attacked industrial facilities and infrastructure," he said on Telegram. "A garage cooperative and residential buildings were damaged."
Yesterday's key developments:
• Russia intercepted 456 Ukrainian drones in overnight attacks targeting around 15 regions, including Tatarstan in central Russia and annexed Crimea.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that as many as 50,000 North Korean soldiers could be deployed to Russia, reflecting growing military cooperation between the two countries.
• Russian bomb strikes on Ukraine's northern city of Sumy injured at least five people and damaged a number of residential areas, according to regional governor Oleh Hryhorov.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)
