Here is the situation on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.
Fighting
- Six people were killed and 75 wounded in Kryvyi Rih following a Russian attack on the southern Ukrainian city, officials said. Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian minister of internal affairs, posted pictures on social media of a mother and her 10-year-old daughter killed in the attack.
Mom and daughter killed by a Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih today. RIP.
Search and rescue operation in Kryvyi Rih is finished – head of National Police.
6 people died and 75 wounded by the missile strike.#RussiaIsATerroristState pic.twitter.com/vHFCxvVbgY
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 31, 2023
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At least two people were killed by Ukrainian shelling of the city of Donetsk, the Russian-installed head of the region said.
- The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said that Ukraine fired at settlements multiple times. Vyacheslav Gladkov said 12 artillery shells were fired at the village of Shchetinovka and that mortar shells also landed on the villages of Novaya Tavolzhanka, Krasnoe and Leninsky.
- The governor of Russia’s Bryansk region said a Ukrainian drone hit a police station overnight but there were no casualties.
- Ukraine said it carried out “successful” offensives against Russia in the southern Zaporizhia region over the past week.
- Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow intensified strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure in retaliation for attacks on Russian-controlled territory.
- Ukraine’s foreign ministry said Russian air strikes destroyed an estimated 180,000 metric tonnes of grain crops in the space of nine days this month.
- Shoigu said Western weapons are only prolonging the war and not leading to success on the battlefield, the Russian TASS news agency reported.
- Ukraine’s deputy defence minister said Ukrainian forces took back land from Russian troops in the east and south of the country over the past week.
Diplomacy
- The Russian foreign ministry said Moscow will continue dialogue for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine crisis with China, Brazil and African partners, state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported.
- Ukraine and Croatia agreed on the possibility of using Croatian ports on the Danube River and Adriatic Sea for the export of Ukrainian grain, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said after talks with his Croatian counterpart.
- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called for an end to the “irrational” war in Ukraine and urged upcoming peace talks in Saudi Arabia to include Russia. Lopez Obrador said Mexico would only take part in the talks if both sides were present.
Politics
- The United Kingdom sanctioned Russian judges and officials involved in the trial of opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, calling a decision to reject his appeal against a jail sentence “unjustifiable”. Kara-Murza, who holds Russian and UK citizenship, lost an appeal against his 25-year jail sentence for treason and other offences.
- Analysts said export prices for Russian wheat remained at elevated levels last week after spiking a week earlier due to Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal. According to the IKAR agriculture consultancy, the price of 12.5 percent-protein Russian wheat scheduled for delivery in the second half of August was $241 per tonne last week, down from $242 per tonne a week earlier.
