A summary of today's developments
A group of 100 soldiers from the Russian Wagner group moved closer to the Belarusian city of Grodno near the Polish border, the Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said, raising fears of a potentially “dangerous” situation.
Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the main intelligence directorate of Ukraine’s defence ministry, raised the prospect of Ukrainian forces “soon” entering Crimea in an effort to retake the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has criticised Russia’s “handful of donations [of grain] to some countries” which he said does not offset the consequences of the end of the Black Sea initiative.
South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, called for the reopening of the Black Sea grain initiative at a summit with Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian soldiers have been observed firing North Korean rockets that they said were seized by a “friendly” country before being delivered to Ukraine, it was reported.
A Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant engineer has been held illegally by Russia since his “abduction” last month and is being subjected to torture, the Ukrainian state nuclear energy company claimed.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visited Ukrainian troops in “advanced positions” near the eastern Bakhmut frontline.
Unesco representatives arrived in Odessa to assess the damage to cultural and religious sites caused by Russian strikes on 19 to 23 July.
A nine-year-old girl and her 10-year-old brother in Russia have been called as witnesses in a criminal case against their mother after she was accused of repeatedly “discrediting” the Russian army.
Russia has received around 30 peace proposals on Ukraine through official and unofficial channels, the country’s foreign ministry spokeswoman said. Maria Zakharova insisted Moscow has never refused negotiations on the war, the TASS state news agency reported.
Volunteers have donated 24 drones to Ukraine’s military, the head of Donetsk’s regional administration said.
Pavlo Kyrylenko said the batch was made up of Kamikaze drones, Sky News reported.
The weapons have been produced by a military support project called Time X.
“Our defenders have now received 24 drones, and this is just the beginning,” Kyrylenko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“Everyone understands the importance of quality drones on the front line, and that’s why we put a lot of effort into keeping such drones on the front lines.”
