INTERNATIONAL
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Ukrainian officials have cheered apparent attacks on military bases in Russian-annexed Crimea and warned civilians to stay away from potential targets, shortly after Moscow on Tuesday said the explosions were the “result of sabotage”.
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Russian-installed officials have accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the city of Enerhodar, where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is located, according to Interfax news agency, with Ukraine accusing Russia of shelling the city of Nikopol across the Dnieper river
Two civilians killed and seven wounded in shelling: Donetsk governor
Two civilians have been killed and seven wounded in shelling by Russian forces in the last 24 hours in the Donetsk region, according to governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.
The deaths were reported in Adiivka and in Zaitseve.
The Washington, DC-based Institute for the Study of War has said Russia has launched offensive operations around Bakhmut, southwest of Avdiivka, and southwest of Donetsk City, in the Donetsk region in recent days.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its 175th day, Russia has blamed saboteurs for explosions at an ammunition depot in Crimea, a rare admission that armed groups loyal to Ukraine are damaging military logistics and supply lines in the territory it controls.
That comes as Western diplomats, facing weariness among some countries that the war continues to dominate global attention, have faced difficulty in trying to sustain international resolve to isolate Russia diplomatically.
Meanwhile, Russia’s economy will contract less than expected and inflation will not be as high as projected three months ago, economy ministry forecasts seen by Reuters news agency showed, suggesting Moscow is dealing with sanctions better than initially expected.
Read more about the latest events in the conflict here.
Satellite images show first grain shipment out of Ukraine in Syria
The first shipment of grain to leave Ukraine under a deal brokered by the UN and Turkey in late July, appears to have ended up in Syria, satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analysed by The Associated Press have shown.
The arrival of the ship in Syria has raised eyebrows, as Damascus remains closely aligned with Russia and has cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine. Syria had previously received Ukrainian grain taken from Russian-occupied areas in the wake of the February 24 invasion.
The arrival of the cargo ship Razoni in Syria comes after the government in Kyiv praised the ship’s initial departure from the port of Odesa as a sign that Ukraine could safely ship out its barley, corn, sunflower oil and wheat to a hungry world where global food prices have spiked since the invasion began.
But its arrival in Syria’s port of Tartous shows how complicated and murky international trade and shipping can be.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Ukrainians to stay away from Russian military bases and ammunition stores, after a series of explosions that Russia blamed on “sabotage”.
In his nightly address on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said the explosions could have a number of causes, including incompetence.
“But they all mean the same thing, the destruction of the occupiers’ logistics – their ammunition, military and other equipment, and command posts – saves the lives of our people,” he said in an evening address.
Donetsk separatist leader Denis Pushilin has expressed hope that his Moscow-backed republic and North Korea could achieve “equally beneficial bilateral cooperation agreeing with the interests” of their people, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday.
The message, sent to Pyongyang on Monday, comes as North Korea is believed to be considering sending labourers to work on restoration projects in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.
North Korea last month became one of the few nations in the world to recognise Donetsk and Luhansk, another Russian-backed separatist region in eastern Ukraine, prompting Kyiv to cut off diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.
Donetsk’s foreign ministry said its ambassador to Russia, Olga Makeeva, met with North Korean Ambassador to Russia Sin Hong Chol in Moscow on July 29 to discuss economic cooperation. According to the ministry, Sin said there would be “great potential” for bilateral cooperation in trade and the “field of labour migration” following North Korea’s easing of pandemic border controls.
North Korea is reportedly having similar discussions with Luhansk.
Source: Al Jazeera (live updates)
