[Korrespondent] 23:02 For the third time, the Russians attacked the empty building of the SBU in Dnipro with Iskanders, and today they attacked a residential building nearby, Mayor Boris Filatov said. According to him, there were no tenants in the residential building, "because it was the second stage for sale."
22:36 Ukrainska Pravda reports that a new residential complex in Dnipro was damaged by a Russian strike, where many apartments have not yet been occupied. UP sources also reported that the building of the SBU has been empty for a long time. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, five people were injured as a result of the strike.
22:18 The Russians launched a missile attack on the Dnieper, hit a high-rise building and an administrative building, said the head of the OVA, Sergei Lysak. A fire broke out in an area of ​​100 sq. m, previously known about the three victims. Zelensky specified that the enemy hit a multi-storey residential building and the building of the SBU.
20:35 Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin claims that Ukraine now has the highest level of production of lethal, ground and swimming drones in the world: "Today, more than 40 companies are involved in deliveries, more than 100 companies are producing something that "flies, travels on land and floats on water. In this regard, Ukraine will definitely become a Mecca for people who want to understand the specifics of UAVs. No other country in the world has such a level of production of lethal, ground and swimming drones as in Ukraine."
20:29 NATO plans to build a repair and logistics center in Rzeszow, Poland, which, thanks to its strategic location, has become an important transport hub for helping Ukraine, reports The Globe and Mail, citing Canadian and Polish officials.
20:14 Chairman of the African Union Azali Assoumani said after the Africa-Russia summit in St. Petersburg that "we must achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine." According to him, Putin "showed his readiness to conduct a dialogue on Ukraine, now we need to convince the other side."
19:20 The Russians have kidnapped another employee of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Energoatom reported. More than a month ago, on June 23, the occupiers kidnapped Sergey Potyng, an engineer for labor protection of the ZNPP thermal automation and measurement shop, who remained in Energodar and worked at the station. He was seen at the police station where the Russians are holding city residents and ZNPP workers. There he is tortured, and after torture each time he is sent to the hospital so that he does not die. At the same time, no charges have been brought against the engineer.
Energoatom appeals to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and the entire world community with an appeal to make every effort to free all ZNPP workers who are being held captive by Russian terrorists.
19:14 Zelensky said in an evening video message that "our international officials are preparing quite significant decisions for Ukraine, for our soldiers. We are doing our maximum now non-publicly - so that the results of our soldiers, which everyone will see, can also become maximum."
19:11 Russian media report a blow to the building of the "Ministry of Internal Affairs of the DPR" in Donetsk.
19:09 In the Russian Samara, there was an explosion at the Kuibyshev oil refinery, there were no serious damages and no casualties, deputy Alexander Khinshtein said. According to him, an explosive device was planted, and the alleged organizer of the explosion, allegedly a native of Ukraine, was detained while trying to leave Russia.
18:58 Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Alexei Danilov called the events in Taganrog "absolutely illiterate actions of operators of Russian air defense systems."
18:46 Zelensky said that during a meeting with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, they discussed further steps to ensure global food security and continue the safe operation of the grain corridor, the Formula of Peace, in particular the return of children illegally deported by Russia, Qatari investments.
18:27 Experts believe that the Ukrainian counter-offensive has reached its first culmination - the assault on the first line of defense of the invaders. About where the Armed Forces of Ukraine can direct the main blow - in the material Found a weak spot .
18:10 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that Ukraine made a second attempt to attack with an anti-aircraft missile of the S-200 air defense system converted into a strike version. The rocket was allegedly intercepted near the city of Azov in the Rostov region, the wreckage fell in a deserted area.
17:39 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that Ukraine allegedly attacked the "residential infrastructure" of the city of Taganrog with an anti-aircraft missile of the S-200 air defense system converted into a strike version. According to Moscow, the Ukrainian missile was detected and intercepted in the air by Russian air defense systems, fragments of the downed missile fell on the territory of Taganrog.
The governor of the Rostov region, Vasily Golubev, said that the epicenter of the explosion allegedly fell on the territory of an art museum, its wall, roof, garages and outbuildings were destroyed, nine people were taken to hospitals.
17:16 Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk said that the Constitution does not prohibit holding elections during martial law. He explained that such a norm is contained in the law on the legal regime of martial law. According to the speaker, this may be a matter of discussion, "and I think that it will be updated in the near future."
16:55 Putin ignored Erdogan's request to negotiate the renewal of the grain agreement, writes The Wall Street Journal, citing diplomats and analysts. According to them, Ankara is trying to resolve the issue through channels of communication with the Kremlin, but Putin has not spoken to Erdogan on this topic. Interlocutors of the newspaper say that Erdogan "angered" the Russian authorities when he returned Azovstal commanders to Ukraine and allowed Sweden to join NATO.
16:26 Rheinmetall trains Ukrainians to repair Leopard tanks and plans to start repair work on the territory of Ukraine in a few weeks, said the head of the German concern Armin Papperger.
15:59 Romania intends to quickly expand one of the key transit routes for Ukrainian grain, said Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu. She said Romania could open new border crossings with Ukraine, increase staffing at existing crossings, and bring in retired and military pilots to speed up the transit of ships through the Danube canals.
Romania has already secured the transit of more than 20 million tons of grain from Ukraine, about half of the 41 million tons transported along the "corridors of solidarity" since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.
15:27 Qatar is allocating $100 million in humanitarian support to Ukraine, Prime Minister Muhammad bin Abdulrahman bin Jasim Al Thani said during a visit to Kiev. The funds will be used to restore medical care, education, humanitarian demining and other important social and humanitarian projects.
15:22 Zelensky signed a law to postpone the celebration of Christmas to December 25. The Day of Defenders and Defenders of Ukraine is also postponed to October 1, and the Day of Ukrainian Statehood to July 15.
15:16 The State Border Service published an interception in which a Russian warship threatens a civilian ship passing near the ports of Ukraine. The warship declares a ban on movement in the direction of Ukrainian ports and threatens war with the country under whose flag such ships sail.
Yermak stressed that such threats to civilian ships in the Black Sea are a violation of all norms of international maritime law: "These are the methods of terrorists. The effective tool against terrorism is force. The international community must condemn the actions of the Russians. We need a systematic position."
14:57 The African Union, which includes 55 countries, called on Russia to immediately renew the grain agreement through the mediation of the UN. Azali Assumani, head of the bloc, said he would raise the issue at a meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg.
14:34 The Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs, arrived in Ukraine, reports The Guardian. He is expected to meet with his Ukrainian counterparts - Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
14:09 Ukraine needs 10-12 Patriot complexes or similar to protect its entire territory, Podolyak said in an interview with The Guardian. According to him, the recent strikes on Odessa showed that the strengthening of air defense systems was right both economically and morally: "Fixing all this later will be much more expensive than providing a Patriot system to protect the south."
14:02 Putin said that all problems regarding the situation in Ukraine and NATO expansion should be resolved during negotiations, "but they refuse to talk to us, including issues of strategic security."
13:54 Germany handed over to Ukraine another package of military assistance, which included, in particular, six Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and 15,000 ammunition for them; ten all-terrain vehicles Bandvagn 206; 20 RQ-35 reconnaissance drones and 13 Vector reconnaissance drones; eight ambulances.
13:17 The Russians have begun transferring power unit No. 5 of the Zaporizhzhya NPP to a state of "cold shutdown", said Oleg Korikov, head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Commission. According to him, as of today, power unit No. 4 is in a "hot shutdown" state, and power unit No. 5 is cooling down. The remaining power units are in a stopped and cold state.
12:55 The Office of the Prosecutor General submitted to the court an indictment against the former General Director of the State Enterprise Antonov on the fact of official negligence. The investigation established that it was precisely because of his actions that the AN-225 Mriya aircraft was not transported from the danger zone in a timely manner. As a result of Russian shelling, the aircraft was destroyed, and the state suffered damage in the amount of almost UAH 8.5 billion. The accused is currently in custody.
12:36 The situation is very tense in the Bakhmut direction, but the Defense Forces are gradually moving forward, said Alexander Syrsky, commander of the Ground Forces. According to him, counter-battery combat has now come to the fore in the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To support their troops in the area of ​​Klescheevka, Kurdyumovka, Andreevka, the enemy concentrated a significant amount of artillery, the destruction of which is one of the main tasks of the Ukrainian troops.
On the Kupyansk and Limansk directions, the enemy is constantly attacking, using his most professional units. Every day, the Defense Forces repulse numerous assaults in these directions, not a single one of our positions is lost.
12:24 Russia now does not have the opportunity to strengthen the Black Sea Fleet at the expense of other fleets - the Baltic or the North, said the speaker of the Navy Dmitry Pletenchuk. He explained that such strengthening is impossible, in particular, because of the closed Bosphorus Strait by Turkey. According to Pletenchuk, usually in the Black Sea there are from seven to 11 warships of the Russian Federation and from one to three border guard ships. They pose a threat to Ukraine, in particular because of the "possibility of a direct military confrontation" at sea, the Navy spokesman added.
12:08 Explosions were heard near the Zaporozhye NPP on July 26 and 27, they were recorded by IAEA experts, said Oleg Korikov, head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
11:43 Peskov said that Russia "remains open to a settlement on Ukraine," and Kiev "even now, in a rather difficult situation for itself, rejects the possibility of dialogue."
11:29 Air Force Speaker Yuriy Ignat does not believe in the resumption of civil aviation flights in Ukraine before the end of the war. According to him, the practice of Israel cannot be applied here, since the area of ​​​​Ukraine is much larger, and it is very difficult to cover it with air defense. It is also not clear how passengers and aircraft will be insured during the war.
11:24 Rada canceled VAT and duties on the import of anti-drone guns and thermal imagers.
11:17 Shoigu visited the DPRK amid the Kremlin's difficulties in acquiring weapons, said US National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby: "It's not a secret ... Putin is turning to other countries for help and support in waging war in Ukraine. And this, as we know, includes some contact with North Korea." Kirby recalled that Pyongyang supports Moscow in the war against Ukraine and supplies weapons, including infantry rockets and shells.
10:55 The Verkhovna Rada appealed to UNESCO, the parliaments and governments of its member states on the need to deprive the Russian Federation of membership in the organization. The parliamentarians also ask UNESCO to immediately send a mission to Ukraine to assess the damage caused by Russian attacks on World Heritage sites in Lviv and Odessa, and parliaments and governments of foreign states to take all possible measures to investigate crimes, bring to justice and justly punish those responsible.
In addition, the Rada appealed to the UN, the parliaments and governments of countries, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Independent International Medical Humanitarian Organization Doctors Without Borders on the issue of ensuring the exchange and return of Mariupol POWs to Ukraine.
10:49 Poland is almost doubling the number of troops, said Deputy Prime Minister Yaroslav Kaczynski. In particular, the country's army used to consist of three divisions, now it will have six. One of the new divisions will appear soon enough. Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak added that today the Polish Army has 172,000 soldiers, and they plan to increase this number to 300,000.
10:45 The political movement Another Ukraine , headed by Medvedchuk and former Ukrainian journalist Denis Zharkikh, was officially registered in Russia , Radio Liberty reports. The register of legal entities of the Russian Federation indicates that the Other Ukraine movement was created in June. Its status is "public non-religious organization".
The organization has already started holding public anti-Ukrainian events in Russia. In particular, on July 19, a round table was held on the topic of "Ukrainian Russophobia" - the basis for discussion was Medvedchuk's article "Two Ukraines as a New Political Reality."
10:37 Belarus uses PMC Wagner mercenaries to escalate the situation, and their number and location in Belarus currently do not pose a threat to Ukraine, State Border Service spokesman Andrei Demchenko said. According to him, the situation on the border with Belarus remains under control, and calm directly along the state border.
According to the State Border Guard Service, at present the number of Wagnerites in Belarus is just over 5,000, and they are located at a considerable distance from the border with Ukraine. "Now we see that they are escalating the situation more, including in relation to the countries of the European Union. This is one of the factors of influence that they continue to use," Demchenko added.
09:58 Russia is accumulating forces to intensify attacks on the infrastructure and coastal zone of Ukraine, said Natalya Gumenyuk, spokeswoman for the Southern Defense Forces. "From the radio intercepts, we hear that the occupiers are warning civilian ships at sea that it is impossible to proceed to Ukrainian ports," she said.
Gumenyuk also spoke about the situation on the Kinburn Spit. According to her, the Russians hide their equipment there behind the houses of local residents, and also mine the surroundings of the villages so that the Ukrainians could not leave their settlements. "However, we are still successfully working on the artillery of the occupants when they bring their weapons to firing positions. The morale and psychological state of the Russians on the Kinburn Spit is extremely low. There is no rotation due to a lack of personnel. Therefore, they bought a ticket to one end," said Gumenyuk.
09:36 In the battles for the southern approaches of Bakhmut, near Kleshcheevka, one of the main commanders of the "LPR" Artur Bogachenko was liquidated, Russian publics report. He led the Prizrak battalion, created in 2014, replacing its founder Alexei Mozgovoy, who was killed in 2015, in this position.
09:01 In the Nikolaev area last night Russians fired at Kutsurubsky community from artillery, two people, including the 15-year-old girl are wounded, the head of OVA Vitaly Kim reported.
08:57 In the Donetsk region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was killed (in Avdiivka), three more were injured. In the Kharkiv region, five were wounded, in the Kherson region - one, according to the OVA.
08:38 From August 9, Japan expands the list of cars that are prohibited from exporting to Russia, Kyodo reports. In 2022, the country stopped deliveries to the Russian Federation of new premium cars worth more than 6 million yen (43 thousand dollars), and now the ban will be extended to new and used cars with gasoline and diesel engines of more than 1.9 liters and tires for them as well as electric and hybrid cars.
08:32 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of July 28:
- personnel - about 244,830 (+560) people liquidated,
- tanks - 4190 (+4),
- armored combat vehicles - 8161 (+14),
- artillery systems - 4775 (+30),
- MLRS - 698 (+0),
- air defense systems - 458 (+1),
- aircraft - 315 (+0),
- helicopters - 311 (+0),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 4007 (+11),
- cruise missiles - 1347 (+0),
- ships/boats - 18 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 7240 (+11),
- special equipment - 709 (+1).
07:58 Over the past day, more than 30 clashes have occurred at the front, the General Staff said in the morning summary . In particular, in the Liman direction, the enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive operations in the Nadezhda area. In the Bakhmut direction, the Defense Forces repelled enemy attacks in the areas west and south of Kleshcheevka, Donetsk region, and in the Avdeevsky direction, in the Avdeevka area. In the Maryinsky direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to restrain the offensive of Russian troops in the Maryinka area. In the Shakhtyorsk direction, the Defense Forces liberated Staromayorskoye, and in the areas of Rovnopol and Makarovka, Donetsk region, the enemy made an unsuccessful attempt to restore the lost position.
06:43 In the occupied Shakhtersk, Donetsk region, after a missile attack, an oil depot caught fire at night, local publics write.
05:30 In Japan, a new white paper of defense is presented, in which Russia is called a direct threat to Europe, and the strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing is of great concern. It is also assumed that the DPRK may already launch a nuclear strike against Japan. According to the document, Japan intends to multiply its military spending in a number of areas.
04:54 The US Agency for International Assistance (USAID) will hand over nine autonomous Skydio drones to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine to document war crimes, Voice of America reports. The drones are equipped with 4K cameras that will be used for photography and video. This will help document more than 115,000 cases of destruction of civilian infrastructure and evidence of human rights violations in front-line and liberated territories.
To date, two Ukrainian human rights coalitions backed by USAID have documented more than 40,000 cases of Russian war crimes since the start of the full-scale invasion.
04:15 Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that at night an attempt was made to attack an "enemy drone", which was shot down by the forces of the Ministry of Defense, there were no damages or casualties.
03:19 The first American Abrams tanks may hit the battlefield in Ukraine in September, Politico writes, citing sources. It is assumed that in August several tanks will be sent to Germany, where they will undergo final repairs, and then the first batch of Abrams will be sent to Ukraine. According to the publication, the US will send older models of the Abrams M1A, and not the modern version of the A2, which would take a year to deliver to Ukraine.
The first batch will include from six to eight tanks, and the US plans to send 31 Abrams in total. According to a Defense Ministry official, the Ukrainian military should complete training on Abrams tanks in August.
02:20 The resumption of grain deliveries from Ukraine through the Black Sea is a global problem, not a regional one, said US State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel: “Of course, we strive to ensure that grain goes as much as possible to all countries in need. And this is not only a regional problem Eastern Europe, Africa, this is a global problem." He stressed that Ukrainian food and, in particular, grain products are "incredibly important", and the US continues to urge Russia to return to the grain agreement.