Ukraine war briefing: Long-range strikes a must against Russian aggression, says EU’s Borrell

• Western suppliers should let Ukraine fire their powerful long-range weapons at targets in Russia, Josep Borrell said on Wednesday. Borrell – who, as the EU’s foreign policy chief, counts as its top diplomat – argued for “lifting restrictions on the use of capabilities vs the Russian military involved in aggression against Ukraine, in accordance with international law”. It would “strengthen Ukrainian self defence by ending Russia’s sanctuary for its attacks” as well as saving lives and advancing peace efforts.

• Borrell said the matter would be on the agenda for discussions during back-to-back meetings of EU foreign and defence ministers taking place on 29-30 August in Brussels, involving Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister. After speaking with Kuleba, Borrell also said Ukraine’s Kursk counteroffensive had dealt a “severe blow” to Vladimir Putin’s war narrative.

• Ukrainian drones appear to have hit the Russian airfield of Marinovka in Volgograd oblast in the early hours of Thursday morning. Explosions were heard in the adjacent town of Kalach-na-Donu, Telegram channels said, while Nasa’s satellite fire detection system, Firms, confirmed fires both at the airfield and nearby. There was no other official or independent confirmation but videos online showed a fire geolocated to the airfield.

• Ukraine said on Wednesday that to defend the frontline of its Kursk invasion it had destroyed Russian pontoon bridges with US-made Himars rockets. Video posted by Ukrainian special forces showed strikes on several pontoon crossings in Kursk region, where Russia has reported that Ukraine has destroyed at least three permanent bridges over the Seym river as it seeks to hold the pocket of captured land. More on that from the Guardian’s Luke Harding and Dan Sabbagh.