Fighting
- At least eight people were killed and multiple others wounded after a Russian missile attack hit a popular hotel and apartments in the city of Pokrovsk, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, officials said. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said civilians and rescue workers were among those killed. According to witnesses, two missiles hit the centre of Pokrovsk within 40 minutes of each other.
- Russian-installed Donetsk Mayor Alexei Kulemzin accused Ukraine of shelling the city of Donetsk, killing three people and wounding 10.
- Russia’s defence ministry said Ukrainian troops were trying to regain positions in the Kupiansk direction but Moscow’s forces had repelled five attacks, the state news agency TASS reported.
Black Sea and grain exports
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces would fight back against Russia in the Black Sea to ensure its waters were not blockaded and it could import and export grain and other goods. “If Russia continues to dominate the Black Sea, outside its territory, blockading or firing at us again, launching missiles at our ports, Ukraine will do the same. This is a just defence of our opportunities, of any corridor,” Zelenskyy said.
- United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticised Moscow for its offer to supply six African nations with free grain, saying the proposal was “laughable” as the nations would receive an estimated 50,000 tonnes. “The Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) delivered 20 million tonnes to lower- and middle-income countries,” Blinken told the BBC, describing Moscow’s offer as “a drop in the bucket of what countries were getting and what they need”.
Cyberwar
- Ukraine’s intelligence service said it foiled an attempt by Russian hackers to penetrate the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s combat information system. The service, known as the SBU, said Russian hackers tried to gain access to “sensitive information on the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the location and movement of the Defence Forces, their technical support”.
Economy
- Ukraine’s 2023 milling wheat harvest could drop to 40 percent compared with 70 percent in previous years due to poor weather, the Ukrainian Agrarian Council (UAC) said. The volume of Ukrainian wheat with sufficient protein content for milling depends largely on weather conditions.
- Russia’s budget deficit for January-July widened to 2.82 trillion roubles ($29.3bn), or 1.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the finance ministry said.
Sanctions
- The United Kingdom has included individuals and businesses in Iran, Turkey, Dubai, Slovakia and Switzerland in its latest round of sanctions focused on cutting off Russia’s access to foreign military equipment.
