- Russia claims to have repelled an overnight Ukrainian naval drone attack targeting its patrol boats in the Black Sea.
- A Moscow skyscraper was struck by an overnight drone attack for the second time in three days in what Russia described as a Ukrainian “terrorist attack”.
- Drones struck populated areas in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv overnight, destroying two floors of a college dormitory, according to local officials.
- Ukraine says it thwarted an attempt by a Russian saboteur group to cross its northern border.
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‘Situation tense in Donetsk’: AJ correspondent
Reporting from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem says the situation in the region is tense.
“The shelling is continuous. You can hear explosions every now and then. This comes as a pattern over the past few days. Several attacks hit the city. Yesterday, an attack left four people dead,” he said.
“So the situation is tense and more tense around the front line between Ukraine and Russia,” he added.
Ukraine does not attack civilian vessels, says Podolyak
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told Reuters that Kyiv did not attack and would not attack civilian vessels or any other civilian objects in the Black Sea, calling Russian statements “fictitious”.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had thwarted an attack from Ukrainian drones overnight on civilian transport vessels in the Black Sea, according to the Interfax news agency.
“Undoubtedly, such statements by Russian officials are fictitious and do not contain even a shred of truth. Ukraine has not attacked, is not attacking and will not attack civilian vessels, nor any other civilian objects,” Podolyak said.
Ukraine claims that Russia is behind military coup in Niger
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak has said that Russia is behind the military coup in Niger.
“It is a standard Russian tactic: to divert attention, seize the moment and expand the conflict,” he said in a tweet.
Russia says it thwarted Black Sea attack on civilian vessels: Ifax
Russia’s defence ministry has said it thwarted an attack from Ukrainian drones overnight on civilian transport vessels in the Black Sea, according to a report by the Interfax news agency.
The ministry earlier said three Ukrainian sea drones had attacked two Russian Black Sea navy ships 340km (211 miles) southwest of Sevastopol and were destroyed.
Ukraine says Russia is ‘barraging Kherson’
Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine has said that the Russia is barraging Kherson by targeting residential areas and medical centres.
“As a result of the Russian shelling of the city of Kherson, the surgery department of the Kherson City Clinical Hospital was damaged. A doctor died, a nurse was injured,” he said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
‘Threat exists’, says Kremlin, after the latest drone attack on Moscow
The Kremlin has said it was clear that a threat existed after the latest drone attack on Moscow, in which a high-rise building in Moscow’s business district was struck for the second time in three days.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined further comment.
Russia’s defence ministry called the latest incident an attempted Ukrainian “terrorist attack”.
Meanwhile, Kyiv typically does not claim responsibility for specific incidents on Russian territory.
Ukraine’s first lady meets with the prime minister of Qatar
Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska met Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
At the meeting in Ukraine, the first lady invited Qatar to participate in the projects of the Olena Zelenska Foundation, which was established in September 2022 to attract foreign donors for humanitarian aid, support for education and healthcare in Ukraine.
Russian economy ministry staff working remotely after drone strikes: adviser
An adviser to Russia’s economy minister has said that the ministry’s employees were continuing to work remotely after drone strikes at the heart of Moscow’s financial district, with experts assessing the damage to infrastructure there.
The Russian military said its anti-aircraft units had thwarted a Ukrainian “terrorist attack” and downed drones targeting Moscow, but one drone, sent out of control by its units, struck the same high-rise tower hit earlier in the week.
UK says Russia is ‘highly likely’ struggling with battle fatigue in southern Ukraine
The UK’s defence ministry says that as fighting between Ukraine and Russia intensifies in southern Ukraine, Moscow’s 58th Combined Arms Army (58 CAA), is “highly likely struggling with battle fatigue”.
“Across the south, common problems for Russian commanders are highly likely to include shortage of artillery ammunition, a lack of reserves and problems securing the flanks of units in the defence,” the ministry added in a tweet.
Ukraine claims to have thwarted Russian saboteur group from crossing border
Ukraine has thwarted an overnight attempt by a Russian saboteur group to cross its northern border, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“Last night, in the Chernihiv region, border guards stopped an attempt by an enemy saboteur-reconnaissance group to cross the state border of Ukraine within the Semenivka community,” he said.
Serhiy Naev, commander of the joint forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that four armed people attempted to cross the border but were repelled by Ukrainian fire.
Klymenko said the four people were detected moving from Russian territory.
He added that reserves of the State Border Guard Service and Ukraine’s armed forces were deployed to strengthen the area.
Ukraine has strengthened its northern military sector following the arrival of Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in Belarus.
Two floors of college dormitory in Kharkiv ‘destroyed’ in drone attack
Drones have struck populated areas in the city of Kharkiv overnight, destroying two floors of a college dormitory, according to local officials.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov claimed there were three attacks in Ukraine’s second largest city.
“One of the drones destroyed two floors of a dormitory,” Terekhov wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “A fire broke out, and emergency services are attending.”
Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne reported that half the college building was destroyed.
Chief of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces visits front lines
Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces, visited Russian troops in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, the Russian defence ministry says.
It said Gerasimov inspected a command centre and underscored the importance of preemptive strikes against Ukrainian forces. An accompanying video showed him poring over a map, receiving briefings and climbing into a helicopter.
Gerasimov was for many months the target of savage criticism from Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and some Russian military bloggers over Russia’s failings in the war.
After Wagner staged a brief mutiny against the defence establishment on June 24, there were questions as to whether Gerasimov would keep his job. More than two weeks elapsed before he was first seen again in public on July 10.
Tuesday’s statement and video seemed designed to show that he not only remains in his post but is actively engaged with troops on the front line.
The Zaporizhia region has seen some of the fiercest fighting of recent weeks since Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in early June.
Ukrainian naval drones ‘destroyed’ in attack on Black Sea patrol boats: Moscow
Russia said on Tuesday that it had repelled an overnight Ukrainian drone attack targeting its patrol boats in the Black Sea.
“During the night, Ukrainian armed forces tried without success to attack with three drones, the ‘Sergei Kotov’ and ‘Vasily Bykov,’ patrol boats of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
“The three naval enemy drones were destroyed”, it said, adding that the boats were attacked 340 kilometres (210 miles) southwest of Sevastopol, the base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet on the annexed Crimea peninsula.
Last week, Russia said it had repelled another drone attack on the Sergei Kotov patrol boat.
Hostilities around the Black Sea have escalated after Russia pulled out of an agreement that had allowed the safe export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.
Moscow skyscraper struck in overnight drone attack
The Russian military said its anti-aircraft units had thwarted a Ukrainian “terrorist attack” early on Tuesday and downed drones targeting Moscow, but one drone, sent out of control by its units, struck the same high-rise tower hit earlier in the week.
“On the night of August 1st, an attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime with lethal drones on targets in Moscow and Moscow region was thwarted,” the defence ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
Two drones, the ministry said, had been downed in suburbs west of the city centre.
“Yet another (drone) was hit by radio-electronic equipment and, having run out of control, crashed on the territory of the complex of non-residential buildings at Moskva Citi,” the ministry said, referring to a business centre in the capital.
Vnukovo airport, one of three major airports serving the capital, briefly shut down but later resumed full operations.
Earlier, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said one of the drones targeting the capital had flown into the same tower at Moscow that had been struck earlier in the week.
“One flew into the same tower at the Moskva Citi complex hit previously. The facade has been damaged on the 21st floor. Glazing was destroyed over 150 square metres.”
Sobyanin said no injuries were reported.
Source:-Aljazeera
