Summary
Thank you for joining us for today’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
We will be pausing our live reporting overnight and returning in the morning.
In the meantime, you can read our comprehensive summary of the day’s events below.
- The strategic Antonivskiy bridge in the Russian-occupied region of Kherson has reportedly been struck by Ukrainian forces hoping to disrupt Russia’s main supply route into the southern Ukrainian city. Multiple, yet unconfirmed, suggest Ukrainian forces conducted new strikes late on Tuesday night. “Explosions in the Antonivskiy Bridge area,” Ukraine’s armed forces said in a Telegram update just before midnight alongside a video purportedly showing the strikes.
- Russian forces continued to strike civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and the surrounding region in the country’s northeast. Regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said the strikes on the city resumed around dawn Tuesday. “The Russians deliberately target civilian infrastructure objects hospitals, schools, movie theatres. Everything is being fired at, even queues for humanitarian aid,” Syniehubov told Ukrainian television.
- Russia’s defence ministry plans to hold strategic military exercises in the east of the country from 30 August to 5 September. Interfax reported that the militaries of unspecified other countries will be taking part in the regular ‘Vostok’ exercises, citing the defence ministry.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will hold a one-day visit to the Russian resort of Sochi on 5 August, his office announced. It is anticipated that he will meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
- The EU has been forced to water down its plan to ration gas this winter in an attempt to avoid an energy crisis generated by further Russian cuts to supply. Energy ministers from the 27 member states, except Hungary, backed a voluntary 15% reduction in gas usage over the winter. Ministers agreed opt-outs for island nations and possible exclusions for countries little connected to the European gas network.
- Zelenskiy has accused Russia of deliberately cutting supplies of natural gas to impose a “price terror” against Europe. “Using Gazprom, Moscow is doing all it can to make this coming winter as harsh as possible for the European countries. Terror must be answered - impose sanctions,” he said in a late-night video address.
- A joint coordination centre (JCC) for Ukrainian grain exports under a UN-brokered deal will be opened in a ceremony in Istanbul on Wednesday, Turkey’s defence ministry said. Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations signed the accord last week to resume Ukraine’s grain exports.
- Insurance uncertainty poses the biggest obstacle to grain ships leaving Ukraine’s Black Sea ports this week, exporters say. Questions remain over whether insurance companies will be willing to insure the vessels as they navigate the mined waters, while buyers are hesitant to make new orders given the risk of Russian attacks.
- The first train with sanctioned goods has arrived from Russia to Kaliningrad via Lithuania in the first such trip since the EU said Lithuania must allow Russian goods across its territory. Russian news agency Tass cited regional governor Anton Alikhanov as saying: “It is indeed the first train to have arrived after the EU decision ... [it is] quite an important achievement.” The train reportedly consisted of 60 freight cars with cement.
- Russia will pull out of the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 and focus on building its own orbiting outpost, the country’s space chief said. Yuri Borisov said Russia would fulfil its obligations to its partners on the ISS before leaving the project. “The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made,” Borisov said, to which Putin responded: “Good.”
- Ukraine aims to strike a deal for a $15-$20bn programme with the International Monetary Fund before year-end to help shore up its war-torn economy, the country’s central bank governor, Kyrylo Shevchenko, told Reuters.
- The Russian economy appears to be doing better than expected despite western sanctions. On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund upgraded Russia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimate for this year by 2.5%, although its economy is still expected to contract by 6%. “That’s still a fairly sizeable recession in Russia in 2022,” IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told AFP, adding that rising energy prices are “providing an enormous amount of revenues to the Russian economy”.
- Boris Johnson compared Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s leadership of Ukraine to the war-time exploits of Sir Winston Churchill. The British prime minister said he believed “Churchill would have cheered and probably have wept too” when the Ukrainian president insisted he needed “ammunition, not a ride” out of Kyiv when Russia invaded in February.
- A British citizen who video blogs pro-Kremlin material from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine has been added to a UK government sanctions list. Graham Phillips – the first UK citizen to be added to the growing sanctions list – has been accused of being a conduit for pro-Russian propaganda, receiving medals from the Russian state for his reporting.
Updated
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has defended his country’s relationship with Russia, as Moscow’s top diplomat toured Africa to rally support over the war in Ukraine.
“How can we be against somebody who has never harmed us,” the Ugandan leader said alongside Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov at a press conference in the town of Entebbe, according to Agence France-Presse.
“If Russia makes mistakes, we tell them. When they have not made mistakes, we can’t be against them,” he added, hailing Russia for backing anti-colonial movements in Africa.
Uganda was one of 17 African nations to abstain during a vote in March on a UN resolution that overwhelmingly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
🇷🇺🇺🇬 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni held a meeting in Entebbe.#RussiaUganda #RussiaAfrica pic.twitter.com/aAojBveWLl
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) July 26, 2022
As Russia’s relations with the west have collapsed over the conflict, Lavrov said Africa would play a greater role in Russia’s foreign policy.
Museveni also said Uganda would cooperate with Moscow in a range of fields including space, energy, agriculture and vaccines.
“Our interest with Russia is when there is progress with Russia, we (Africa) benefit,” he added.
Lavrov continued in Ethiopia later on Tuesday on the latest leg of his four-day trip.
Ukraine shells Kherson's Antonivskiy bridge - reports
In the Russian-occupied region of Kherson in southern Ukraine, there are multiple, yet unconfirmed, reports of Ukrainian forces conducting new strikes on the strategic Antonivskiy bridge across the Dnieper River.
“Explosions in the Antonivskiy Bridge area,” Ukraine’s armed forces said in a Telegram update just before midnight alongside a video purportedly showing the strikes.
Kviv Independent defence reporter, Illia Ponomarenko, tweeted late Tuesday night: “Reportedly, we have another heavy Ukrainian strike upon the Antonivsky Bridge, the key Russian supply line in occupied Kherson.”
Pending official confirmation: the Russian-held Antonivsʹkyy Bridge next to Kherson has been reportedly destroyed by the #Ukrainian #army. #HIMARSoCLOCK.
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) July 26, 2022
The Antonivskiy Bridge is the main supply route for Russian troops and if damaged, Moscow’s forces would potentially be trapped in Kherson with little ammunition and little supplies - part of Ukraine’s plan to re-take the city.
Kherson, captured in early March, has long been a focus for the Ukrainians, with the defenders making limited gains in the countryside between Mykolaiv and the target city since April. But, apparently helped by the longer-range weapons, with an effective firing distance of up to 50 miles (80km), the Ukrainians are growing more confident.
The city is accessed by four key bridges. Ukraine’s goal appears is not want to destroy the bridges as food supplies are still needed to cross into the city but rather to damage them to the point where the Russians cannot transport heavy equipment across them.
Ukraine aims to strike a deal for a $15-$20bn programme with the International Monetary Fund before year-end to help shore up its war-torn economy, the country’s central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko told Reuters.
Battered by Russia’s invasion, Ukraine faces a 35%-45% economic contraction in 2022 and a monthly fiscal shortfall of $5bn and is heavily reliant on foreign financing from its western partners.
Shevchenko, 49, speaking during his visit to London, also said he hoped to agree on a swap line with the Bank of England “within weeks”, though he did not specify the amount.
Kyiv had already submitted its request to the IMF, the governor said, and was now in consultation with the fund over the new financing that he hoped would provide as much as $20bn over two or three years in form of a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) or an Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
It was the first time Ukraine has put a number on the fresh financing it needs from the Washington-based lender. A $20bn programme would be the second largest currently active loan from the IMF after Argentina.
“The IMF has always acted as Ukraine’s partner during the war,” Shevchenko told Reuters. “My hope is to start the programme this year.”
First Russian train reaches Kaliningrad, governor says
The first train with sanctioned goods has arrived from Russia to Kaliningrad via Lithuania in the first such trip since the European Union said Lithuania must allow Russian goods across its territory, according to the regional governor.
Russian news agency Tass cited regional governor Anton Alikhanov as saying:
It is indeed the first train to have arrived after the EU decision ... [it is] quite an important achievement.”
The train reportedly consisted of 60 freight cars with cement.
Wedged between Lithuania and fellow EU and Nato member Poland, Russia’s heavily militarised exclave of Kaliningrad depends on mainland Russia for a sizeable portion of its supplies. But these must transit through Lithuanian territory.
The region has found itself increasingly isolated since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February.
Updated
Russia to pull out of International Space Station
Russia will pull out of the International Space Station after 2024 and focus on building its own orbiting outpost, the country’s new space chief has confirmed.
The announcement throws into question the future of the 24-year-old space station, with experts saying it would be extremely difficult to keep it running without the Russians.
Nasa and its partners had hoped to continue operating it until 2030.
“The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made,” Yuri Borisov, head of Russian space agency, Roscosmos, said during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
He added: “I think that by that time we will start forming a Russian orbiting station.”
Nasa officials said they had yet to hear directly from their Russian counterparts on the matter. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson issued a statement saying that the agency was “committed to the safe operation” of the space station through 2030 and continues “to build future capabilities to assure our major presence in low-Earth orbit.”
US state department spokesman Ned Price called the announcement “an unfortunate development” given the “valuable professional collaboration our space agencies have had over the years.”
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the US is “exploring options” for dealing with a Russian withdrawal.
Summary
The time in Kyiv is around 1am on Wednesday July 27. Here is a round-up of the day’s top headlines:
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia was deliberately cutting supplies of natural gas to impose a “price terror” against Europe, and he called for more sanctions on Moscow. “Using Gazprom, Moscow is doing all it can to make this coming winter as harsh as possible for the European countries. Terror must be answered - impose sanctions,” he said.
- Despite damaging Western sanctions imposed on Moscow in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s economy appears to be weathering the storm better than expected as it benefits from high energy prices, the International Monetary Fund said. The IMF’s World Economic Outlook upgraded Russia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimate for this year by a remarkable 2.5%, although its economy is still expected to contract by 6%.
- EU member states have agreed to ration gas this winter, in an attempt to avoid an energy crisis generated by further Russian cuts to supply. Energy ministers from the 27 member states mostly backed a plan for a voluntary 15% reduction in gas usage over the winter, but added in several opt-outs for island nations and countries unconnected or little connected to the European gas network, which will blunt the overall effect.
- Russia’s defence ministry plans to hold strategic military exercises in the east of the country from 30 August to 5 September, news agencies reported on Tuesday. Interfax reported that the militaries of unspecified other countries will be taking part in the regular “Vostok” exercises, citing the defence ministry.
- A British citizen who video blogs pro-Kremlin material from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine has been added to a UK government sanctions list. Graham Phillips, who has been accused of being a conduit for pro-Russian propaganda, is one of 42 new designations added to the UK’s Russia sanctions list.
- Boris Johnson has compared Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s leadership of Ukraine to the war-time exploits of Sir Winston Churchill. The British prime minister said he believed “Churchill would have cheered and probably have wept too” when the Ukrainian president insisted he needed “ammunition, not a ride” out of Kyiv when the Russian invasion was renewed in February.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will hold a one-day visit to the Russian resort of Sochi on 5 August, his office has just announced. Reuters reports that no further details were immediately available, but it is anticipated that he would meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
- Worries over insurance are the biggest obstacle to grain ships leaving Ukraine’s Black Sea ports this week, exporters say. Questions remain over whether insurance companies will be willing to insure the vessels as they navigate the mined waters, while buyers are hesitant to make new orders given the risk of Russian attacks.
- A joint coordination centre (JCC) for Ukrainian grain exports under a UN-brokered deal will be opened in a ceremony in Istanbul on Wednesday, Turkey’s defence ministry said. Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations signed the accord last week to resume Ukraine’s grain exports, which had stalled after Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.
- The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it believes former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is in Moscow and did not rule out possible contact with him. “As far as we know, he is in Moscow,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked if the Kremlin was aware of reports that Schroeder had travelled to Moscow on Tuesday.
- Russia’s armed forces destroyed eight Ukrainian missile and artillery arms depots in the southern Mykolaiv region and in the eastern Donetsk region, the defence ministry said in its daily briefing on Tuesday. Ukrainian officials said earlier on Tuesday that Russia launched a “massive missile strike” against the south of the country overnight, including hits against infrastructure in the black sea port of Mykolaiv.
- A major fire broke out at an oil depot in the Budyonnovsky district of the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine after Ukrainian troops shelled the province, according to local media reports. No casualties or injuries have been reported so far, but the occupying forces of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic issued photographs which showed train tank cars on fire.
Your United States blogger today now hands over the war news baton to Australia, where our colleagues will continue to bring you developments as they happen.
Russian forces continued to strike civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and the surrounding region in the country’s northeast, the Associated Press writes.
Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said the strikes on the city resumed around dawn Tuesday and damaged a car dealership.
The Russians deliberately target civilian infrastructure objects hospitals, schools, movie theaters. Everything is being fired at, even queues for humanitarian aid, so we’re urging people to avoid mass gatherings,” Syniehubov told Ukrainian television.
Here are some images from the region.
Chuhuev, Kharkiv oblast, Jul.26. Cat sitting in the rubble of his house ruined by a russian missile.
— Stratcom Centre UA (@StratcomCentre) July 26, 2022
Photo: Vyacheslav Madievsky#russiaisateroriststate #RussianWarCrimes pic.twitter.com/RHrvVBHjbf
More damage.
Some of the people affected in the region.
More.
Sorting through rubble, where people were trapped.
More from the bombed Chuhuiv cultural centre.
Zelenskiy accuses Russia of using rising gas prices to terrorise Europe
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday said Russia was deliberately cutting supplies of natural gas to impose a “price terror” against Europe, and he called for more sanctions on Moscow, Reuters reports.
“Using Gazprom, Moscow is doing all it can to make this coming winter as harsh as possible for the European countries. Terror must be answered - impose sanctions,” he said in a late-night video address.
Meanwhile, a deal agreed by EU states to curb their gas use should yield enough gas savings to last through an average winter, if Russia were to fully cut supplies in July, the bloc’s energy chief Kadri Simson said.
The Kremlin said a repaired gas turbine for Nord Stream 1, Russia’s biggest gas pipeline to Europe, had not yet arrived after maintenance in Canada, and that a second turbine was showing defects.
Russian gas giant Gazprom has sharply increased pressure in the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline that delivers Russian gas to Europe without prior notice, the Ukrainian state pipeline operator company said.
Such pressure spikes could lead to emergencies including pipeline ruptures, according to the Ukrainian company.
The Guardian’s Jennifer Rankin reports from Brussels and has written an explainer tackling the question ‘How does the EU plan to cut gas usage by 15% this winter?’
EU member states have agreed a plan for gas savings to avoid a winter energy crisis, but loaded with exemptions. Said to be overwhelming consensus in favour, but one member state objected — Hungary.
— Jennifer Rankin (@JenniferMerode) July 26, 2022
Updated
Russian economy better than expected despite sanctions - IMF
Despite damaging Western sanctions imposed on Moscow in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s economy appears to be weathering the storm better than expected as it benefits from high energy prices, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday, Agence France Presse reports.
The sanctions were meant to sever Russia from the global financial system and choke off funds available to Moscow to finance the war.
But the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook upgraded Russia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimate for this year by a remarkable 2.5%, although its economy is still expected to contract by 6%.
That’s still a fairly sizable recession in Russia in 2022,” IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told AFP in an interview.
He explained a key reason that the downturn was not as bad as expected:
The Russian central bank and the Russian policymakers have been able to stave off a banking panic or financial meltdown when the sanctions were first imposed , [while rising energy prices are] providing an enormous amount of revenues to the Russian economy,” he said.
After starting the year below $80 a barrel, oil prices spiked to nearly $129 in March before easing back to under $105 on Tuesday for Brent, the key European benchmark, while natural gas prices are rising again and approaching their recent peak.
Major economies including the United States and China are slowing, the report said. But
Russia’s economy is estimated to have contracted during the second quarter by less than previously projected, with crude oil and non-energy exports holding up better than expected [but] there is no rebound [ahead]. In fact [IMF is] revising down the Russian growth in 2023,” he said, 1.2 points lower than the April forecast, for a contraction of 3.5%.
The penalties already in place, as well as new ones announced by Europe, mean:
The cumulative effect of the sanctions is also growing over time,” he said.
Gourinchas noted overall that the world may soon be on the edge of recession.
World may soon be on edge of recession, says IMF's top economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas @moneycontrolcom https://t.co/NXRgD7AwUe
— Shounak Banerjee (@shounak1985) July 26, 2022
Appeal for IMF funds:
LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) - Ukraine aims to strike a deal for a $15-$20 billion programme with the International Monetary Fund before year-end to help shore up its war-torn economy, the country's central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko told Reuters.
— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) July 26, 2022
Updated
Ukraine’s Naftogaz has become the first Ukrainian government entity to default since Russia’s invasion of its smaller southern neighbour five months ago, after the state-owned energy firm failed to make payments due on international bonds before the expiry of a grace period on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
The company said in a statement that it had failed to get creditors’ support for a proposal to freeze payments on some of its bonds for two years which it had launched last week.
Naftogaz has not received consent from the cabinet of ministers of Ukraine to make the necessary payments. Certain events of default have or will occur as a result of the resolution and the resulting failure to pay,” the company said in a statement.
Naftogaz also said that it was working with relevant parties to launch a fresh proposal for debt treatments that had been drafted by the Cabinet.
While some details are yet unclear (and a lot of finger pointing is ongoing), Naftogaz says that the default endangers the company’s ability to raise funds necessary for the purchase of imports of gas for the heating seasons 2022/23. That’s not good… /end
— Mattia Nelles (@mattia_n) July 26, 2022
Naftogaz, which accounted for almost 17% of Ukraine’s public revenue last year, had submitted two requests to the government to approve payments to creditors and avoid a hard default, though both were rejected.
The firm - which had been overdue to transfer US $335 million in principal and interest payments, as well as a separate interest installment on another bond that runs up to 2024 by Tuesday - issues its bonds through its financing arm Kondor Finance.
Updated
While Ukrainian officials have spoken of a possible counteroffensive in the south, the British Defense Ministry said on Tuesday there was no indication a Ukrainian warship and a stockpile of anti-ship missiles were at Odesa’s Black Sea port, as Moscow claimed when it struck the site over the weekend, the Associated Press reports.
The British ministry said Russia sees Ukraine’s use of anti-ship missiles as “a key threat” limiting its Black Sea Fleet.
This has significantly undermined the overall invasion plan, as Russia cannot realistically attempt an amphibious assault to seize Odesa. Russia will continue to prioritize efforts to degrade and destroy Ukraine’s anti-ship capability.
Russia’s targeting processes are highly likely routinely undermined by dated intelligence, poor planning, and a top-down approach to operations,” the ministry said.
NEW: UK Defense Intel finds “no indication” Russian strikes hit a Ukrainian warship & stockpile of anti-ship missiles in Odesa.
— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) July 26, 2022
🇷🇺 “almost certainly” believes 🇺🇦 anti-ship missiles - which prevented an amphib assault on Odesa - are limiting effectiveness of Black Sea Fleet.
In other military developments, Russian shelling over the previous 24 hours killed at least three civilians and wounded eight more in Ukraine, the Ukrainian president’s office said Tuesday.
In the eastern Donetsk region, where the fighting has been focused in recent months, shelling continued along the entire front line, with Russian forces targeting some of the region’s largest cities, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Toretsk, the presidential office said.
The US State Department commented today on Russia’s announcement that it plans to pull out of the International Space Station, calling it an “unfortunate development,” reported Reuters.
“I understand that we were taken by surprise by the public statement that went out,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price during a regular news briefing.
“It’s an unfortunate development, given the critical scientific work performed at the ISS, the valuable professional collaboration our space agencies have had over the years, and especially in light of our renewed agreement on spaceflight cooperation,” said Price.
Russia’s new space chief announced earlier today that Moscow plans to pull out of the two-decade-old orbital partnership by 2024, but a Nasa spokesperson said that Russia has not communicated its intent to withdraw.
Russia’s targeting of Ukraine’s southern Black Sea regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv on Tuesday resulted in hits on private buildings and port infrastructure with missiles fired from long-range bomber aircraft, the Ukrainian military said, and the Associated Press reports.
In the Odesa region, buildings in coastal villages were hit and caught fire, Ukraine’s Operational Command South said on Facebook. A Ukrainian air force spokesman said long-range Russian Tu-22M3 bombers and Su-30 and Su-35 fighter jets launched the strikes from the Black Sea.
In the Mykolaiv region, port infrastructure was targeted despite agreements intended to allow grain grain shipments to resume from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
Hours after the strikes, a Moscow-installed official in southern Ukraine said the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions would soon be “liberated” by Russian forces, just like the already occupied Kherson region further east.
The Kherson region and the city of Kherson have been liberated forever,” Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted the region’s Russia-appointed official, Kirill Stremousov, as saying.
On the diplomatic front, Russia’s top diplomat repeated his insistence that Moscow was ready to hold talks with Ukraine on ending the war, though he once again claimed that Kyiv’s Western allies oppose a deal.
We never refused to have talks, because everybody knows that any hostilities end at the negotiating table,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday during a trip to Uganda.
He said negotiations have gone no further since a meeting between the two sides in Istanbul at the end of March.
The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, has defended meeting a Russian oligarch with a KGB past, saying “as far as I am aware” no government business was discussed at the 2018 get-together, the Associated Press writes.
Johnson, who quit as Conservative party leader on 7 July after months of ethics scandals, is facing questions about his relationship with the Russia-born newspaper owner Evgeny Lebedev and his father, Alexander.
The older man is a businessman and former cold war-era KGB officer who has been put under sanctions by Canada for his alleged role in enabling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In April 2018, Johnson went to a party at Evgeny Lebedev’s Italian mansion that was also attended by Alexander Lebedev. Johnson, who was British foreign secretary at the time, was not accompanied by any officials.
Johnson told a committee of senior lawmakers that his meeting with Alexander Lebedev “was not a formal meeting, nor something that was pre-arranged”. He said it was normal for Britain’s top diplomat to attend a “private, social occasion” without officials or security staff.
He said in a letter published on Tuesday by parliament’s liaison committee that “as far as I am aware, no government business was discussed” at the party.
Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the opposition Labour party, said Johnson’s “mealy-mouthed statement raises more questions than it answers.”
She said Johnson “apparently still cannot recall whether he discussed government business or not.
This letter suggests the prime minister has something to hide.”
Boris Johnson has finally admitted meeting a former KGB agent while Foreign Secretary.
— Angela Rayner 🌹 (@AngelaRayner) July 26, 2022
The secret meeting came in the wake of an attack on British soil and after a crucial NATO summit.
But this mealy-mouthed new statement on Lebedev raises more questions than it answers. 1/5 pic.twitter.com/LBVJcvEMDT
Evgeny Lebedev owns Britain’s Evening Standard and Independent newspapers. In 2020 was given a noble title Lord Lebedev of Siberia and a seat in the House of Lords by Johnson’s government.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Johnson’s government has passed sanctions on hundreds of wealthy Russians and moved to clamp down on money laundering through London’s property and financial markets.
Opposition politicians and anti-corruption campaigners say the Conservatives have allowed ill-gotten money to slosh into UK properties, banks and businesses for years, turning London into a “laundromat” for dirty cash.
Evgeny Lebedev’s most recent tweet was indirectly in support of Ukraine.
Proud, Dima! https://t.co/XjhrUmAvak
— Evgeny Lebedev (@mrevgenylebedev) June 21, 2022
Updated
Summary
The time in Kyiv is coming up to 9pm. Here is a round-up of the day’s top headlines:
- EU member states have agreed to ration gas this winter, in an attempt to avoid an energy crisis generated by further Russian cuts to supply. Energy ministers from the 27 member states mostly backed a plan for a voluntary 15% reduction in gas usage over the winter, but added in several opt-outs for island nations and countries unconnected or little connected to the European gas network, which will blunt the overall effect.
- Russia’s defence ministry plans to hold strategic military exercises in the east of the country from 30 August to 5 September, news agencies reported on Tuesday. Interfax reported that the militaries of unspecified other countries will be taking part in the regular “Vostok” exercises, citing the defence ministry.
- A British citizen who video blogs pro-Kremlin material from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine has been added to a UK government sanctions list. Graham Phillips, who has been accused of being a conduit for pro-Russian propaganda, is one of 42 new designations added to the UK’s Russia sanctions list.
- Boris Johnson has compared Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s leadership of Ukraine to the war-time exploits of Sir Winston Churchill. The British prime minister said he believed “Churchill would have cheered and probably have wept too” when the Ukrainian president insisted he needed “ammunition, not a ride” out of Kyiv when the Russian invasion was renewed in February.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will hold a one-day visit to the Russian resort of Sochi on 5 August, his office has just announced. Reuters reports that no further details were immediately available, but it is anticipated that he would meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
- Worries over insurance are the biggest obstacle to grain ships leaving Ukraine’s Black Sea ports this week, exporters say. Questions remain over whether insurance companies will be willing to insure the vessels as they navigate the mined waters, while buyers are hesitant to make new orders given the risk of Russian attacks.
- A joint coordination centre (JCC) for Ukrainian grain exports under a UN-brokered deal will be opened in a ceremony in Istanbul on Wednesday, Turkey’s defence ministry said. Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations signed the accord last week to resume Ukraine’s grain exports, which had stalled after Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.
- The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it believes former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is in Moscow and did not rule out possible contact with him. “As far as we know, he is in Moscow,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked if the Kremlin was aware of reports that Schroeder had travelled to Moscow on Tuesday.
- Russia’s armed forces destroyed eight Ukrainian missile and artillery arms depots in the southern Mykolaiv region and in the eastern Donetsk region, the defence ministry said in its daily briefing on Tuesday. Ukrainian officials said earlier on Tuesday that Russia launched a “massive missile strike” against the south of the country overnight, including hits against infrastructure in the black sea port of Mykolaiv.
- A major fire broke out at an oil depot in the Budyonnovsky district of the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine after Ukrainian troops shelled the province, according to local media reports. No casualties or injuries have been reported so far, but the occupying forces of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic issued photographs which showed train tank cars on fire.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. I’ll be back again tomorrow but, for now, my colleague Joanna Walters will be along shortly to continue bringing you all the latest news from Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Updated
Boris Johnson has compared Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s leadership of Ukraine to the war-time exploits of Sir Winston Churchill.
The British prime minister said he believed “Churchill would have cheered and probably have wept too” when the Ukrainian president insisted he needed “ammunition, not a ride” out of Kyiv when the Russian invasion was renewed in February.
He added he could imagine Sir Winston’s “spirit walking with you” and “jabbing the way ahead with his walking stick” throughout every ordeal, the Press Association reported.
Johnson’s comments came during a ceremony in 10 Downing Street in which he presented Zelenskiy, who appeared via video link, with the Sir Winston Churchill Leadership Award. Members of the Churchill family and the International Churchill Society attended the ceremony.
Zelenskiy said:
This is my extreme honour to receive this award for leadership.
He added:
Ukraine was not left alone after 24 February, we had those who were helping us, who remembered in the darkest times what is honour, and who have not thought of quitting the struggle - I’m talking about you Boris.
This award is yours as well and this is the manifestation of our joint leadership of Ukrainians, Britons and all those who will not give their freedom away to any tyrants.
Governments in the European Union have agreed to ration natural gas this winter in order to protect themselves against further supply cuts made by Russia.
Since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, EU leaders have accused Moscow of using their global gas supply as a political weapon.
Ukrainian soldier Mykola Zabavchuk planned to marry his girlfriend when he next returned home from the war against Russia, but never made it back.
Zabavchuk, who was 25, and two other soldiers were buried in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Tuesday after being killed in action, Reuters reported.
“He was a very good boyfriend, a sincere one. He loved and took care of me very much. He was very devoted to me and to his friends,” his fiancee, Oleksandra, told Reuters at the funeral.
“Before his departure, he proposed. We planned a wedding after the rotation. It was not destined [to come true].”
At the funeral, a uniformed soldier held a portrait of Zabavchuk, smiling and cradling a dog under his right arm.
“We have a little dog, Arei. It is in the picture. I will foster it, take care of it, he wanted this very much. He called it his son, [and] so it is.”
Led by one soldier carrying a cross and another holding the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag, mourners formed a procession behind Zabavchuk’s coffin and those of two other soldiers.
Updated
The Kremlin has insisted its decision to shut down the agency that processes Jewish migration to Israel should not be “politicised”, amid a widening rift between the two countries over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
Last week Russia’s justice ministry requested the liquidation of the Russian branch of the Jewish Agency, a private charity closely affiliated with the Israeli government that promotes migration to Israel.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Tuesday that the ministry’s request came after the organisation, which has several offices in cities across the country, violated Russian laws.
Updated
Russia’s defence ministry plans to hold strategic military exercises in the east of the country from 30 August to 5 September, news agencies reported on Tuesday.
Interfax reported that the militaries of unspecified other countries will be taking part in the regular “Vostok” exercises, citing the defence ministry.
A British citizen who video blogs pro-Kremlin material from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine has been added to a UK government sanctions list.
Graham Phillips, who has been accused of being a conduit for pro-Russian propaganda, is one of 42 new designations added to the UK’s Russia sanctions list.
Phillips – the first UK citizen to be added to the growing sanctions list – has long been a controversial figure, receiving medals from the Russian state for his reporting. He has consistently toed the Russian line on the war, suggesting in recent weeks that Ukraine is run by Nazis and that the massacre of Ukrainians in Bucha was staged.
In April, Phillips drew condemnation from Boris Johnson and others when he interviewed Aiden Aslin, a British member of the Ukrainian armed forces who had been captured by Russian forces during the siege of Mariupol. Aslin is facing the death penalty.
Aslin’s local MP, Robert Jenrick, said Phillips’ video showed his constituent “handcuffed, physically injured and being interviewed under duress for propaganda purposes”. Jenrick said the video was a breach of the Geneva conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war and that “the interviewer Graham Phillips is in danger of prosecution for war crimes”.
Read more of Peter Beaumont’s report here: British pro-Kremlin video blogger added to UK government Russia sanctions list
Updated
The Interfax news agency is now quoting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirming that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Sochi on 5 August.
Peskov said the two leaders will discuss regional problems and bilateral relations – relations which presumably got slightly worse after Russia struck the port city of Odesa with cruise missiles just hours after signing an agreement brokered by Turkey and Erdoğan to allow grain shipments from Ukraine out of the port.
Russia has not communicated to Nasa its intent to withdraw from the International Space Station in 2024, a senior agency official has told Reuters. Russia’s new space chief had claimed earlier that Moscow plans to pull out of the two-decade-old orbital partnership.
The relationship between Russia and Nasa has become strained, after earlier this year three Russian cosmonauts appeared to display the flags of the unrecognised breakaway states occupying eastern Ukraine while on the ISS. Nasa issued a statement, saying the agency “strongly rebukes Russia using the International Space Station for political purposes to support its war against Ukraine.”
Nasa went on to say the flying of the separatist flags “is fundamentally inconsistent with the station’s primary function among the 15 international participating countries to advance science and develop technology for peaceful purposes.”
Erdoğan announces visit to Russia on 5 August
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will hold a one-day visit to the Russian resort of Sochi on 5 August, his office has just announced.
Reuters reports that no further details were immediately available, but it is anticipated that he would meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
EU agrees plan to ration gas use over Russia supply fears
EU member states have agreed to ration gas this winter, in an attempt to avoid an energy crisis generated by further Russian cuts to supply.
Energy ministers from the 27 member states mostly backed a plan for a voluntary 15% reduction in gas usage over the winter, but added in several opt-outs for island nations and countries unconnected or little connected to the European gas network, which will blunt the overall effect.
The European Commission had suggested that a collective 15% gas savings target would reduce gas consumption by 45bn cubic metres. Once exemptions are taken into account the final bcm tally will be lower, after a revolt led by southern European countries that use less or no Russian gas.
The agreement comes less than 24 hours after Russia’s state-controlled energy firm, Gazprom, announced a steep reduction in gas supplies through the critical Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Wednesday. It came only days after Nord Stream 1 went back online at lower capacity, following summer maintenance.
EU leaders have accused the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, of attempting to blackmail European countries for supporting Ukraine. Russia has cut or reduced supplies to a dozen or so EU countries.
Worries over insurance are the biggest obstacle to grain ships leaving Ukraine’s Black Sea ports this week, exporters say.
Questions remain over whether insurance companies will be willing to insure the vessels as they navigate the mined waters, while buyers are hesitant to make new orders given the risk of Russian attacks.
Russian missiles struck the main port of Odesa on Saturday, just 12 hours after Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, signed an agreement in Istanbul guaranteeing safe passage for Ukraine’s exports. Russia later said it had targeted a Ukrainian vessel at the port carrying western weapons, but did not present evidence.
Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said on Monday that the first ships will leave their Black Sea ports this week, despite the attacks. Kubrakov, who signed on behalf of Kyiv, said that although Ukraine did not trust Russia, “it trusts its allies and partners, which is why the agreement … was signed with the UN and Turkey and not Russia”.
The UK has sanctioned Sarvar and Sanjar Ismailov, nephews of major Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov who has close ties to the Kremlin.
Sarvar Ismailov was previously a director at Everton Football Club and both have significant interests in the UK, the Foreign Office said.
The leaders of the Moscow-backed breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine have also been hit with sanctions.
Foreign secretary Liz Truss said:
We will not keep quiet and watch Kremlin-appointed state actors suppress the people of Ukraine or the freedoms of their own people.
We will continue to impose harsh sanctions on those who are trying to legitimise Putin’s illegal invasion until Ukraine prevails.
A joint coordination centre (JCC) for Ukrainian grain exports under a UN-brokered deal will be opened in a ceremony in Istanbul on Wednesday, Turkey’s defence ministry said.
Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations signed the accord last week to resume Ukraine’s grain exports, which had stalled after Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.
All parties will appoint representatives at the JCC to monitor the implementation of the plan, Reuters reported.
EU renews Russian sanctions until January 2023
The European Union has decided to renew its sanctions against Russia for a further six months, until the end of January 2023.
The decision, a formality taken by EU energy ministers, refers to sanctions that were first introduced in 2014 and significantly expanded after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February this year.
Ministers approved a draft European law meant to lower demand for gas by 15% from August through to March.
The new legislation entails voluntary national steps to reduce gas consumption and, if they yield insufficient savings, a trigger for mandatory moves in the 27-member bloc.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the move, saying that “the EU has taken a decisive step to face down the threat of a full gas disruption by [Russian president Vladimir] Putin”.
Updated
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it believes former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is in Moscow and did not rule out possible contact with him.
“As far as we know, he is in Moscow,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked if the Kremlin was aware of reports that Schroeder had travelled to Moscow on Tuesday.
“There is no meeting as such, but we do not rule out possible contact,” Peskov added.
He was speaking a day after Russia’s Gazprom said it would cut gas supply to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to just 20% of capacity from Wednesday because of a turbine that it said needed to be halted. Germany rejected that explanation, Reuters reported.
Schroeder has been a key figure in energy ties between the two countries, serving as chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005 before taking up a controversial position on the supervisory board of Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft.
Updated
Russia’s armed forces destroyed eight Ukrainian missile and artillery arms depots in the southern Mykolaiv region and in the eastern Donetsk region, the defence ministry said in its daily briefing on Tuesday.
Ukrainian officials said earlier on Tuesday that Russia launched a “massive missile strike” against the south of the country overnight, including hits against infrastructure in the black sea port of Mykolaiv.
Summary of the day so far …
- Russian forces have targeted the Odesa region, striking private buildings in coastal villages in the early hours of this morning, local officials are reporting.
- Russian shelling in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv has also been reported this morning. The head of the city council, Olexander Senkevich, said “A massive missile strike was launched in the south of Ukraine from the direction of the Black Sea, including with the use of aviation.”
- A residential area in Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv has also reportedly been hit this morning. Kharkiv mayor, Igor Terekhov, said the attack by Russian forces was made on the city centre.
- Russia is moving convoys of military equipment to Kherson, Ukraine’s military claims. In an operation update posted to the armed forces of Ukraine’s Telegram on Monday evening, the military said convoys of military equipment were seen moving through Melitopol, in the direction of Kherson.
- A major fire broke out at an oil depot in the Budyonnovsky district of the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine after Ukrainian troops shelled the province, according to local media reports. No casualties or injuries have been reported so far, but the occupying forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic issued photographs which showed train tank cars on fire.
- The Russian state-controlled energy company Gazprom has announced a drastic cut to gas deliveries through its main pipeline to Europe from Wednesday. The Russian gas export monopoly said it was halting the operation of one of the last two operating turbines due to the “technical condition of the engine”, cutting daily gas deliveries via the Nord Stream pipeline to 33m cubic metres a day – about 20% of the pipeline’s capacity. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on Europe to respond to Russia’s “gas war” by boosting its sanctions against Moscow.
- Russian gas giant Gazprom has also sharply increased pressure in the pipeline that delivers Russian gas to Europe without prior notice, the Ukrainian state pipeline operator company has said. Such pressure spikes could lead to emergencies including pipeline ruptures, and pipeline operators are obliged to inform each other about them in advance, the operator of gas transmission systems of Ukraine (OGTSU) said.
- The UK’s Ministry of Defence has issued its intelligence briefing on the situation in Ukraine for the day, in which it disputes Russia’s account of Sunday’s missile attack on Odesa, saying “The Russian MoD claimed to have hit a Ukrainian warship and a stockpile of anti-ship missiles. There is no indication that such targets were at the location the missiles hit.” Russia initially told Turkey that it was not responsible for the attack. Yesterday Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov contradicted this, and said that the attack was on military infrastructure.
- Ukraine says it hopes to start exporting grain from its ports this week with the first ships potentially moving from its Black Sea ports within a few days. Details of the procedures will soon be published by a joint coordination centre that is liaising with the shipping industry, deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said that Turkey expects Kyiv and Moscow to keep to their responsibilities under the recently signed grain export deal.
- Ukrainian forces have bombed a customs checkpoint in the Sevsky district of Russia’s Bryansk region using an explosive dropped from a quadcopter drone, according to the region’s governor.
- Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov has claimed that Russian forces are holding more than 5,000 people in a queue at the checkpoint in Vasylivka in Zaporizhzhia as they try to flee the region.
- Russian-imposed administrators in Ukraine’s occupied Zaporizhzhia claim to have issued 8,000 Russian passports in the area. Other members of the administration have previously said that a referendum on the region acceding to the Russian Federation will most likely be held in September.
- The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office has issued new casualty figures for children affected by the Russian attack on Ukraine. It says that 358 children have been killed and at least 690 injured since Russia’s latest invasion began on 24 February.
- The possibility that Moldova could become the next territory to be invaded by the Russian Federation “is still a hypothetical scenario,” prime minister Natalia Gavrilița told CNN, saying, “We are worried, of course. If the military actions move further into the southwestern part of Ukraine and toward Odesa, then of course, we are very worried.”
- British defence secretary Ben Wallace has condemned those who choose to “sit on the fence” with Putin, saying the Russian President will “in the end eat the fence and then eat you”. Wallace, who was on a visit to Bratislava on Monday, made the comments during a joint conference with Slovakian defence minister Jaroslav Nad in Bratislava.
- Russia’s top diplomat said Moscow’s overarching goal is to topple Zelenskiy’s government. Speaking to envoys at an Arab League summit in Cairo on Sunday, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow is determined to help Ukrainians “liberate themselves from the burden of this absolutely unacceptable regime”.
Updated
Russian-imposed administrators in Ukraine’s occupied Zaporizhzhia claim to have issued 8,000 Russian passports in the area.
The RIA Novosti agency quotes Yevgeny Balitsky, head of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian regional authority, saying:
To date, more than 8,000 passports of the Russian Federation have been issued, documents of 15,000 people have been accepted, and the preliminary registration has already exceeded 20,000 people.
Other members of the administration have previously said that a referendum on the region acceding to the Russian Federation will most likely be held in September.
Here are some of the latest images that have been sent to us over the newswires from Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces have bombed a customs checkpoint in the Sevsky district of Russia’s Bryansk region using an explosive dropped from a quadcopter drone, according to the region’s governor.
Alexander Bogomaz posted to Telegram to say that:
This morning, from the territory of Ukraine, an attack was made on the checkpoint “Troebortnoe”, located in the Sevsky district.
An explosive device was dropped from a quadrocopter at the customs post. As a result of the shelling, there are four injured, who are now receiving medical assistance. Emergency services are on site.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov has claimed that Russian forces are holding more than 5,000 people in a queue at the checkpoint in Vasylivka in Zaporizhzhia as they try to flee the region. On television, Fedorov claimed that Russian forces are only allowing up to 150 cars per day through, which is leading to a backlog. The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated
The self-proclaimed republic in Donetsk has claimed that one civilian was killed and five civilians injured in the territory it occupies in the last 24 hours. It claims Ukrainian forces shelled 13 of the 255 settlements it claims to control.
Updated
The Guardian’s defence and security editor Dan Sabbagh offers this analysis of whether Ukrainian forces can recapture Kherson from Russia:
Kherson, captured in early March, has long been a focus for the Ukrainians, with the defenders making limited gains in the countryside between Mykolaiv and the target city since April. But, apparently helped by the longer range weapons, with an effective firing distance of up to 50 miles, the Ukrainians are growing more confident.
Where the Himars – of which Ukraine has 12 with four more on their way – appear to be having an impact is that Kyiv’s forces can now target four key bridges leading into Kherson. The city, the only Russian stronghold west of the Dnieper river, is obviously strategically vulnerable if Ukraine can muster the force to push the occupiers out.
But the tale of the bridges partly illustrates some of the difficulties Ukraine faces in recapturing its population centres. Social media postings by Khlan make clear that Ukraine’s goal is not to destroy key bridges, in this case the Dariv Bridge across the Inhulets river east of the city, but rather to damage them to the point where the Russians cannot transport heavy equipment across them.
The Ukrainian military wants to ensure that food supplies can still cross into the city, and so, Khlan added, the country’s armed forces will “do everything possible not to destroy the structure”. That may be a difficult balance to strike, even allowing for the greater accuracy of the Himars – but more importantly it reveals a key constraint on the Ukrainians’ ability to strike back.
Read more of Dan Sabbagh’s analysis here: Can Ukrainian forces recapture Kherson from Russia?
Maria Avdeeva has posted a video clip of what she claims is the crater left after an overnight Russian attack on Kharkiv. She states that the attack hit civilian infrastructure including a playing field. Avdeeva is a researcher at the European Expert Association.
Two explosions got me out of bed at 4:40 am. Russia fired S-300 missiles at Kharkiv from Belgorod. One hit children's football field, the second near the entrance to the metro. Terrorist state is openly shelling civilian objects. pic.twitter.com/NcNln2D6xL
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) July 26, 2022
The video has not been independently verified.
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has issued two photos showing what it claims is the aftermath of a Ukrainian strike at an oil depot in the Budyonnovsky district of occupied Donetsk. The images, which have not been independently verified, appear to show trains on fire.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has posted to social media about Russia’s threats to Europe over energy supplies. He tweeted:
Putin’s gas war against Europe is a direct continuation of his war on Ukraine. Wherever he can bring harm, he will. He will use every dependence Europe has on Russia to ruin the normal life of every European family. The only way is to hit back hard and get rid of any dependence.
Putin’s gas war against Europe is a direct continuation of his war on Ukraine. Wherever he can bring harm, he will. He will use every dependence Europe has on Russia to ruin the normal life of every European family. The only way is to hit back hard and get rid of any dependence.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) July 26, 2022
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office has issued new casualty figures for children affected by the Russian attack on Ukraine. It says that 358 children have been killed and at least 690 injured since Russia’s latest invasion began on 24 February.
The statement says that the numbers are not finalised, and that the largest number of casualties was in the Donetsk region.
Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of Lviv, has posted to Telegram to say that despite an air raid alarm late last night, there were no strikes on his western region of Ukraine. He stated that 190 arrived in Lviv on evacuation trains from eastern Ukraine yesterday, and that 830 people moved from Ukraine into Poland.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has issued its intelligence briefing on the situation in Ukraine for the day, in which it disputes Russia’s account of Sunday’s missile attack on Odesa.
Russia initially told Turkey that it was not responsible for the attack. Yesterday Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov contradicted this, and said that the attack was on military infrastructure and would not impact on grain exports from the crucial port city. The British ministry writes:
On 24 July 2022, Russian cruise missiles hit the dock-side in Ukraine’s Odesa Port. The Russian MoD claimed to have hit a Ukrainian warship and a stockpile of anti-ship missiles. There is no indication that such targets were at the location the missiles hit.
Russia almost certainly perceives anti-ship missiles as a key threat which is limiting the effectiveness of their Black Sea Fleet. This has significantly undermined the overall invasion plan, as Russia cannot realistically attempt an amphibious assault to seize Odesa.
Russia will continue to prioritise efforts to degrade and destroy Ukraine’s anti-ship capability. However, Russia’s targeting processes are highly likely routinely undermined by dated intelligence, poor planning, and a top-down approach to operations.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 26 July 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) July 26, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/tudEgSjS5H
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/ddsfUTa1Gg
- This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com
Kazakhstan has increased its defence budget by $918m due to fears of a Ukrainian scenario on its territory, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
“Imagine if they didn’t have Ukraine. Will we be next?” the publication quoted one Kazakh official as saying.
Moscow has hit back at previous remarks made by US officials that Russia is being increasingly isolated due to its war on Ukraine.
The Russian embassy in Washington tweeted:
Attempts to present our country as isolated one are result of the ‘inflamed imagination’ of US officials who are increasingly losing touch with reality and its causes confusion among the American media as well.”
🔻
— Russian Embassy in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) July 26, 2022
💬: Attempts to present our country as isolated one are result of the "inflamed imagination" of US officials who are increasingly losing touch with reality and its causes confusion among the American media as well.
📎Read in full: https://t.co/qPand6bLDP pic.twitter.com/I5mopmhDoa
Moldova has voiced concern about a possible Russian invasion.
The possibility that Moldova could become the next territory to be invaded by the Russian Federation “is still a hypothetical scenario,” prime minister Natalia Gavrilitsa told CNN .
We are worried, of course. This is a risk, it’s a hypothetical scenario for now, but if the military actions move further into the southwestern part of Ukraine and toward Odesa, then of course, we are very worried.”
This is a very difficult position not just for Moldova but for any small country, any country that relies on the rules-based international order. If a country can start an annexation war without any regard for, you know, international law, then in this sense nobody is safe, and I think that a lot of countries are worried.”
The prime minister noted Moldova’s “troubled history in a complicated region” of the world, adding that the war has damaged its economy.
Moldova is the most affected country after Ukraine economically from this war. We saw already very high inflation. The inflation in June was at 32%.”
British defence secretary Ben Wallace has condemned those who choose to “sit on the fence” with Putin, saying the Russian President will “in the end eat the fence and then eat you”.
Wallace, who was on a visit to Bratislava on Monday, made the comments during a joint conference with Slovakian defence minister Jaroslav Nad in Bratislava
If you sit on the fence with President Putin he will in the end eat the fence and then eat you.
Asked by Sky News about whether Slovakia would consider giving its MIG-29 jets to Ukraine, the Slovakian defence minister said the 11 jets were set to stop being operated by the Slovakian Air Force from the end of August, with Czech and Polish aircraft expected to take over protecting Slovakia’s air space from the start of September.
“Immediately when we ground them and the Czech and Polish will take over air policing, we can discuss about the future of the MIG-29s,” Nad said.
“We are open to discussion to donate those MIG-29s to Ukraine but certainly this will require, I would say, a broader discussion about taking into account financial aspects and all other aspects of delivery so no decision has been made yet.”
The first six British Stormer HVM anti-aircraft missile systems and German-supplied Gepard air defence systems have arrived in Ukraine, according to officials.
Senior presidental advisor Anton Herashchenko posted a short video of the missile systems to twitter, writing: “I’m sure that our warriors will make very good use of them!”
The first six British Stormer HVM anti-aircraft missile systems have arrived to Ukraine.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 25, 2022
I'm sure that our Warriors will make very good use of them!
Source: "South" operational command pic.twitter.com/dCfrzZhmDJ
Herashchenko also noted that Germany has begun supplying Ukraine with Gepard SPAAG units.
“Today Ukraine received from Germany the first three Gepard air defence systems and several thousand ammunition for them,” Ukraine’s armed forces said in an update.
Our capabilities to protect our sky will be strengthened. Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft systems began to arrive in Ukraine. I would like to thank our German partners and personally #DefMin Christine Lambrecht for supporting our country. Looking forward to receiving IRIS-T pic.twitter.com/wew0lkX6hK
— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) July 25, 2022
Ammo from the US for #UAarmy.
— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) July 25, 2022
It’s always needed!
🇺🇦🤝🇺🇲
Photo by @DeptofDefense pic.twitter.com/XnISwFYQgV
Russian gas giant Gazprom has sharply increased pressure in the pipeline that delivers Russian gas to Europe without prior notice, the Ukrainian state pipeline operator company has said.
Such pressure spikes could lead to emergencies including pipeline ruptures, and pipeline operators are obliged to inform each other about them in advance, the operator of gas transmission systems of Ukraine (OGTSU) said.
In a statement issued on Monday night, the company said:
On 07/25/2022, dispatchers of the GTS Operator of Ukraine recorded a sharp increase in pressure on the main gas pipeline ‘Urengoi-Pomari-Uzhgorod’ on the section of the Russian Federation-Ukraine state border. The change in pressure occurred without warning from PJSC Gazprom.
OGTSU informed Gazprom that the untimely submission of information on the switching and change of regimes can lead to emergency situations on the main gas pipeline, and also reminded of the need to coordinate actions, according to the algorithm defined by the current interoperator agreement.”
General-director of OGTSU, Serhii Makogo, added:
Such uncoordinated actions of Gazprom cause concern. The Ukrainian GTS operator insists that the Russian GTS operator must provide information about the reasons for such behaviour within the framework of the standards of agreements between operators.
Late notification of the Operator carries potential risks for the full-time work of the Ukrainian GTS. Such a step looks especially dangerous for Europe, after Gazprom again reduced transit through Nord Stream-1 to 33 million cubic meters per day.”
Updated
Russia to make drastic cut to Europe’s gas supply
The Russian state-controlled energy company Gazprom has announced a drastic cut to gas deliveries through its main pipeline to Europe from Wednesday.
The Russian gas export monopoly said it was halting the operation of one of the last two operating turbines due to the “technical condition of the engine”, cutting daily gas deliveries via the Nord Stream pipeline to 33m cubic metres a day – about 20% of the pipeline’s capacity.
“We are monitoring the situation very closely in close exchange with the federal network agency and the gas crisis team,” the German economy ministry said in a statement on Monday after Gazprom’s announcement. “According to our information, there is no technical reason for a reduction in deliveries.”
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline resumed pumping last week, after a 10-day maintenance break, but the European Commission has warned that a complete gas shut down by Russia is likely.
The announcement came as EU governments sparred over a plan for a 15% gas savings target intended to avoid a winter crisis if the Kremlin turns off the taps to Europe. The EU’s goal is to use less gas now to build storage for winter.
The EU executive last week accused Moscow of using energy as a “weapon” and called on 27 member states to accept a voluntary 15% gas savings target, which could become mandatory if Brussels declares a supply emergency.
Zelenskiy calls on Europe to hit back against Russia's 'gas war'
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on Europe to respond to Russia’s “gas war” by boosting its sanctions against Moscow.
Today we saw another gas threat to Europe. Even despite the concession regarding the Nord Stream turbine, Russia is not going to resume gas supplies to European countries, as it is contractually obligated to do.
All this is done by Russia deliberately to make it as difficult as possible for Europeans to prepare for winter. And this is an overt gas war that Russia is waging against a united Europe - this is exactly how it should be perceived. And they don’t care what will happen to the people, how they will suffer - from hunger due to the blocking of ports or from winter cold and poverty... Or from occupation. These are just different forms of terror.
And that’s why it is necessary to hit back. Do not think about the way to return some turbine, but strengthen sanctions. Do everything to limit Russian revenues not only from gas and oil, but also from any remaining exports. And sever trade ties with Russia as much as possible, because every such tie is Russia’s potential tool of putting pressure.
The gas blackmail of Europe, which only gets worse every month, is needed by a terrorist state to make life worse for every European. And this can actually be perceived as an incentive for the EU’s eighth sanctions package to be significantly stronger than the recently approved seventh.”
Mykolaiv also hit by Russian missile strikes - reports
Russian shelling in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv has also been reported this morning.
The head of the city council, Olexander Senkevich, said in a Telegram post:
Powerful explosions are heard in Mykolaiv! Everyone is asked to stay in the shelters! Even after the curfew is over, the airstrike will continue!”
In a later post, the official added:
A massive missile strike was launched in the south of Ukraine from the direction of the Black Sea, including with the use of aviation.
The port infrastructure was attacked in the Mykolayiv region. At the same time, the Mykolaiv district was struck by an S-300 air defence system from the temporarily occupied Kherson region.”
Updated
Russia is moving convoys of military equipment to Kherson, Ukraine’s military claims.
In an operation update posted to the armed forces of Ukraine’s Telegram on Monday evening, the military said convoys of military equipment were seen moving through Melitopol, in the direction of Kherson.
“The first convoy passed around 10am on Monday with up to 25 BMD recorded,” the update read.
At approximately 12pm a column of tanks and armoured personnel carriers passed through the nearby village of Novopylypivka, officials added.
A third column passed by Novy Melitopol at 2pm with ‘Wasp air defence systems.
Kharkiv also hit by Russian shelling - reports
A residential area in Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv has also reportedly been hit this morning.
Kharkiv mayor, Igor Terekhov, said the attack by Russian forces was made on the city centre.
Another nighttime shelling of the city. I flew to a part of Kharkiv closer to the centre. Traditionally a hit next to a building unrelated to military infrastructure,” he wrote.
The head of the Kharkiv regional state administration, Oleg Synegubov, said the attack occurred around 5am on Tuesday.
⚡️Mayor: Russian strike hits residential area in Kharkiv.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 26, 2022
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that a Russian strike hit a residential area close to downtown overnight on July 26. There are no information on casualties at the moment.
In a Telegram post written just after 7.30am, he said:
At around 5 o’clock in the morning, the occupiers attacked the civilian infrastructure of Kharkiv’s Slobid district.
As a result of the shelling, the roof of the car showroom was on fire. A few more shells hit open areas.”
The nearby city of Chuhuiv was also reportedly hit, Synegubov added.
At the same time, the occupiers struck Chuguiev again. There are hits on critical infrastructure.”
Updated
A major fire broke out at an oil depot in the Budyonnovsky district of Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine after Ukrainian troops shelled the province, according to local media reports.
No casualties or injuries have been reported so far due to the fire, which was tens of meters high, Russia’s Tass news agency reported on Tuesday, quoting a reporter at the scene.
Media also shared footage purported to be from the scene.
In temporarily occupied #Donetsk, an oil depot is burning in the Budyoniv district of the city. pic.twitter.com/CKgQt6khIc
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) July 26, 2022
More footage from occupied #Donetsk. No casualties are being reported. pic.twitter.com/wMSHtXKkeh
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) July 26, 2022
Updated
Ukraine hopes to start exporting grain this week
Ukraine says it hopes to start exporting grain from its ports this week with the first ships potentially moving from its Black Sea ports within a few days.
Details of the procedures will soon be published by a joint coordination centre that is liaising with the shipping industry, deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said.
Turkey’s President, Tayyip Erdogan, said that Turkey expects Kyiv and Moscow to keep to their responsibilities under the recently signed grain export deal.
Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, has said Ukraine would continue preparations to export grain and food, starting with Chornomorsk port, then the ports in Odesa and Pivdennyi along its south-western coast, which it still controls.
Ukraine signed the agreement with the United Nations and Turkey and requested Russia sign the same, but separate agreement.
Kubrakov, who signed on behalf of Kyiv, said although Ukraine did not trust Russia “it trusts its allies and partners, which is why the agreement … was signed with the UN and Turkey and not Russia”.
A little more detail is beginning to emerge surrounding the claimed Russian missile attack on Odesa province this morning.
The region’s military administration head, Serhiy Bratchuk, said the southern region surrounding was struck just after 6am this morning with Russian strategic aircraft.
The enemy launched a missile attack on Odesa.”
Ukraine’s armed forces said in a separate update that “several rockets were shot down by air defence”.
Updated
Russian missile attack strikes Odesa region - reports
Russian forces have targeted Odesa region, striking private buildings in coastal villages in the early hours of this morning, local officials are reporting. The region contains the port city of the same name.
The region’s military administration head, Serhiy Bratchuk, said he would release more details in a Telegram post just after 6am this morning.
Odesa missile attack using strategic aircraft,” he said.
On Saturday, barely 12 hours after Moscow signed a deal with Kyiv to allow monitored grain exports from Ukraine’s southern ports, Russia targeted Odesa city with cruise missile strikes.
Zelenskiy called the attack blatant “barbarism”, showing Moscow could not be trusted to implement the deal.
Shipments exporting Ukrainian grain would take place through Odesa.
Updated
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments for the next short while.
In a concerning new development this morning, Ukrainian officials are reporting that Russian forces have once again struck Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa.
The alleged attack comes as Ukraine says it hopes to start exporting grain from its ports this week with the first ships potentially moving from its Black Sea ports within a few days.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Gazprom is set to reduce gas supplies further after announcing a drastic cut to gas deliveries through its main pipeline to Europe from Wednesday.
It is 8am in Kyiv and here is where things stand:
- Ukraine says it hopes to start exporting grain from its ports this week with the first ships potentially moving from its Black Sea ports within a few days. Details of the procedures will soon be published by a joint coordination centre that is liaising with the shipping industry, deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said that Turkey expects Kyiv and Moscow to keep to their responsibilities under the recently signed grain export deal.
- Russia’s Gazprom is set to reduce gas supplies further after announcing a drastic cut to gas deliveries through its main pipeline to Europe from Wednesday. The company said it was halting the operation of one of the last two operating turbines due to the “technical condition of the engine”, cutting daily gas deliveries via the Nord Stream pipeline to 33m cubic metres a day – about 20% of the pipeline’s capacity.
- German group Siemens Energy disputed Gazprom’s reasoning, saying it saw “no link between the turbine and the gas cuts that have been implemented or announced” in a statement to Agence France-Presse. Siemens Energy has been charged with maintaining the turbine.
- Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Europe to hit back against Russia’s “gas war”. “This is an overt gas war that Russia is waging against a united Europe … And that’s why it is necessary to hit back,” he said, adding Europe should boost its sanctions against Moscow.
- Russia’s top diplomat said Moscow’s overarching goal is to topple Zelenskiy’s government. Speaking to envoys at an Arab League summit in Cairo on Sunday, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow is determined to help Ukrainians “liberate themselves from the burden of this absolutely unacceptable regime”.
- Lavrov arrived in Uganda on the third stop of a four-day tour of African countries. According to the Russian Tass news agency, Lavrov is due to hold talks on Tuesday with Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni.
- Ukraine said it destroyed 50 Russian ammunition depots using the US-supplied high mobility artillery rocket systems (Himars) on Monday. The systems, delivered late last month, have turned the war in Ukraine’s favour by dismantling Russia’s logistics and slowing down its offensive, say Ukrainian authorities. “This cuts [Russian] logistical chains and takes away their ability to conduct active fighting and hit our armed forces with heavy shelling,” Ukraine’s minister of defence, Oleksii Reznikov, said.
- The appeal of Ukraine’s first war crimes conviction was adjourned on Monday, as prosecutors keep pushing to hold Russia legally accountable for atrocities. Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old captured Russian soldier who pleaded guilty to killing a civilian and was sentenced in May by a Ukrainian court to life in prison, sat in a glass box in the courtroom as he faced news cameras.
- Two Americans who were killed while defending Ukraine earlier this month have been identified. Luke Lucyszyn and Bryan Young were the US citizens killed during an ambush by a Russian tank on 18 July, their Ukrainian commander Ruslan Miroshnichenko said on Facebook. Lucyszyn was reportedly knocked unconscious by an artillery strike and fatally shot by a Russian tank, Miroshnichenko said.
- Russian authorities briefly detained a 72-year-old liberal politician and Kremlin critic who recently returned to Moscow from abroad on Monday. Leonid Gozman was detained after the Russian interior ministry issued a warrant for his arrest alleging he failed to notify authorities about his Israeli citizenship within the required time, according to the Associated Press.
- The Eurovision song contest will be hosted in the UK next year after Ukraine’s public broadcaster dropped its objections and agreed to work with the BBC on the event. Ukraine won this year’s Eurovision with the song Stefania by Kalush Orchestra, earning the right to host the 2023 edition. However, organisers concluded this could not be done safely while the country was at war. The UK will produce a programme that – in the words of the BBC – has “glorious Ukraine at its heart”.
