Summary
It is now approaching 9pm in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. Here is a summary of the main stories from today:
Ukraine’s city of Odesa was hit by two waves of attacks overnight: a total of 15 drones, and 8 Kalibr missiles, according to the governor of the local region. The governor of the region on the Black Sea said falling rocket fragment had resulted in fires breaking out. “Windows in buildings were blown out by the blast wave,” Oleh Kiper wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited troops at brigade headquarters in the eastern Ukrainian frontline region of Donetsk on Monday, his website said. According to the site, Zelenskiy visited brigades involved in attacks on the section of the frontline facing Soledar, the Russian-held town north of Bakhmut, Reuters reports.
The rouble has fallen to its weakest point in almost 17 months as a collapse in export revenues and growing military spending increase pressure on Russia’s economy. The currency, which has been steadily losing value in a long fall since the beginning of the year, slid past the psychologically important level of 100 to the dollar on Monday morning.
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy promised justice after Russian shelling killed seven people – including a 22-day-old infant – and wounded at least 22 others Kherson on Sunday. Local officials in the southern region, which Kyiv liberated part of last year, have declared a day of mourning for Monday.
On Sunday, a Russian warship fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the south-western Black Sea as it made its way north, the first time Russia has fired on a merchant ship since exiting the UN-backed grain deal last month.
Christian Lindner, German’s finance minister, said his country stood “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine, as he arrived in Kyiv for his first visit since the start of the war. Lindner said he would hold “very concrete” talks with Ukrainian officials on how the German finance ministry can support Ukraine now and in the future, AFP reports.
The Ukrainian military said on Monday it had pushed Russian forces out of pockets of territory along frontlines in the east and south of the country, building on a gruelling counteroffensive launched two months ago.
The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said on Monday that Russian weapons were showing their effectiveness in Ukraine. In remarks shown on state television, Shoigu said that “much-hyped” western weaponry had shown itself to be “far from perfect” in the course of fighting in Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Mykhailo Fedorov, the minister of digital transformation of Ukraine, said that Russia lost 116 units of equipment, including 33 armoured vehicles, 29 trucks and 20 tanks last week. In a tweet, he said: “This hardware will no longer kill Ukrainians. My gratitude to the warriors who work for our victory 24/7.”
Russia’s seaborne oil product exports in July rose by 3.8% month on month to 10.533m metrictonnes as seasonal refinery maintenance slowed down, data from industry sources and Reuters calculations showed.
The Dutch defence ministry said it scrambled two F-16s early Monday when two Russian bombers were tracked flying toward Dutch airspace as Russia launched an overnight attacks against Odesa, Ukraine.
Britain said its Typhoon fighter jets intercepted two Russian maritime patrol bomber aircraft in international airspace north of Scotland on Monday, within Nato’s northern air policing area.
Twenty-two Russian diplomats flew out of the Moldovan capital of Chisinau on Monday, leaving behind a skeleton staff as relations between the two countries deteriorated after Moldova last month ordered Moscow withdraw most of its delegation. In a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry said: “This unfriendly step of official Chisinau will undoubtedly have consequences for Russian-Moldovan relations.”
22 Russian diplomats fly out of Moldova as relations between two countries deteriorate
Twenty-two Russian diplomats flew out of the Moldovan capital of Chisinau on Monday, leaving behind a skeleton staff as relations between the two countries deteriorated after Moldova last month ordered Moscow withdraw most of its delegation.
Moldovan officials have said the reduction of staff at the Russian embassy to 25 from 80 will establish parity with Moldova’s embassy in Moscow.
Moldovan media outlets published a video of two buses being escorted out of the Russian embassy by police and driving in the direction of the airport.
A source at Chisinau airport told Reuters that the plane carrying the embassy staff had left for the Russian city of Sochi, from where it would continue to Moscow. Twenty-three technical support staff and their families were also asked to leave along with the diplomats.
According to Moldova’s foreign ministry, no more than 10 Russian diplomats and 15 support staff can remain in Chisinau from Tuesday.
In a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry said:
This unfriendly step of official Chisinau will undoubtedly have consequences for Russian-Moldovan relations.
Updated
