Moscow appears to be the target of several Ukrainian drone attacks again. According to Russian information, two of the drones were shot down, and at least one more hit an office building in the city center. An eyewitness films the impact with his cell phone.
+++ 08:45 Wagner does not want to recruit any new mercenaries “indefinitely” +++
The Wagner group says it is suspending the recruitment of new members “indefinitely”. The reason given by the mercenary army is that it has sufficient personnel, like the “Kyiv Independent” reported. “Due to the presence of large personnel reserves in the private military company Wagner (PMC), there is currently no need to recruit new members,” writes the group’s press service on Telegram. “The work of the regional recruitment centers of the PMC Wagner is suspended indefinitely.” After the aborted putsch by Wagner boss Prigozhin at the end of June, the group had already announced that it would not recruit any new members for the time being. It is unclear whether this only applies to Russia or also to Belarus, where the group is currently based.
+++ 07:50 ISW sees “Turning point in Russian war reporting” +++
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Kremlin is increasingly intervening in the war coverage of Russian military bloggers and prohibiting them from reporting on certain events. As evidence, the US institute in its current management report the lack of response to the recent Ukrainian attack on the Chonhar Bridge, which connects Kherson Oblast with the Crimean Peninsula. This is a “remarkable turning point in Russian reporting on the war in Ukraine,” it says. It could indicate that the Kremlin has ordered Russian military bloggers not to cover certain topics. When the bridge was attacked earlier, the military bloggers responded with widespread outrage and concern, it said. In addition, the bloggers would otherwise report on both successful and allegedly unsuccessful Ukrainian attacks on Russian logistics.
+++ 07:19 Russian Minister: Economy will grow by more than two percent in 2023 +++
According to the Russian news agency TASS, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has announced that the Russian economy will grow by more than two percent this year. New debt will be 2 to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product. The finance minister said the recent weakness of the ruble was due to the trade balance.
+++ 06:48 Ukrainian hides Russian tank in his garden for a year +++
After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the end of February 2022, there were numerous reports of broken Russian tanks. A Ukrainian man has been hiding one of the tanks, a working T-80, in his yard for more than a year, Ukrainian authorities have reported. A spokesman for the Ukrainian Volunteer Army said he saw the vehicle as a “trophy”. Telegram with. The tank has now been handed over to the authorities and is to be made available to the army.
The T-80 is now to be handed over to the army.
(Photo: Screenshot / t.me/Bratchuk_Sergey/48533)
+++ 06:23 Ukraine: Russia attacks Kharkiv with S-300 missiles +++
According to Ukrainian sources, Russia launched rocket attacks in the city of Kharkiv during the night. According to the Kyiv Independent, the head of the region’s military administration reported on Telegram that the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system was used. It is said that a fire broke out in a department store. According to the military administration, one person was injured.
+++ 04:45 Head of agricultural machinery manufacturer Claas “frustrated” by stopping the grain agreement +++
The agricultural machinery manufacturer Claas continues to deliver harvesting machines such as combine harvesters to Russia. These are exempt from the sanctions – unlike tractors, which can be used as auxiliary vehicles in war. “We cannot and do not want to withdraw from one of the world’s most important agricultural regions,” says CEO Jan-Hendrik Mohr, justifying the deal. Mohr said it was “frustrating” that Russia stopped the grain agreement. This changes “the flow of goods and prices” and hits the “poorest of the poor”. “Russia is the least affected, there is an abundance of wheat,” says Mohr. “It also affects us less in Europe because we have the purchasing power to buy food from others.” Mohr sees this as “a humanitarian dilemma”.
+++ 01:57 Ukraine: Talks in Saudi Arabia include Zelenskyj’s peace plan +++
Ukraine confirms that representatives of several countries are preparing a meeting in Saudi Arabia. The head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, said that the focus should be on President Zelenskyy’s peace plan, which envisages the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine. The plan will be discussed in three phases, which will culminate in a meeting of the heads of state and government. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that the meeting in Saudi Arabia was scheduled to take place in Jeddah on August 5-6.
+++ 22:32 Russian Embassy in Moldova suspends consular appointments +++
The Russian Embassy in Moldova announces that it will temporarily no longer make appointments for consular matters. According to the government in Moldova, the decision is related to the order to reduce staff. A statement from the Russian embassy, on the other hand, said that consular appointments would be suspended “for technical reasons” from August 5. Recently there have been tensions between Russia and the former Soviet republic. A few days ago, Moldova’s pro-European government summoned the Russian ambassador “because of numerous unfriendly actions” and expelled 45 Russian diplomats and embassy employees from the country.
+++ 21:53 Ukraine: Talks with the USA about security guarantees will start shortly +++
According to Ukraine, talks with the United States about promised security guarantees will begin in the coming days. These are concrete, long-term commitments that will ensure Ukraine’s ability to quell Russian aggression in the future, writes the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, on Telegram. The guarantees would last until Ukraine is a NATO member. This is part of the pledges made by countries after the NATO summit in Lithuania.
+++ 21:18 Kiev: Almost 500 children killed by “Russian aggression” +++
Almost 500 Ukrainian children have been killed by “Russian aggression”. According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office, 498 children have been killed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, as reported by “Sky News”. More than 1,578 children were injured, the statement said. “These numbers are not definitive. Recording in temporarily occupied and liberated areas is still ongoing,” the report says in the message on Telegram. Accordingly, most children in Donetsk Oblast were killed or injured.
+++ 20:57 Green politician Wagener calls for cruise missiles for Kiev – SPD contradicts +++
A new dispute over arms deliveries to Ukraine could flare up at the traffic light: As the “Spiegel” reports, the Green politician Robin Wagener is demanding that Taurus cruise missiles be handed over to Kiev. “Especially in the current phase, it is clear that Ukraine needs precise weapons with longer ranges in order to be able to eliminate ammunition depots, command posts, launch sites and logistics centers,” says the coordinator for intersocietal cooperation with the southern Caucasus, Moldova and Central Asia at the Federal Foreign Office .
Objection comes from the SPD. “I take a critical view of the delivery of cruise missiles,” SPD foreign policy expert Ralf Stegner told the magazine. SPD defense politician Joe Weingarten says: “In helping Ukraine, we are concentrating on what we can best help with: artillery, logistics, air defense and armored vehicles.” With the Taurus missiles, on the other hand, there are “a large number of technical and logistical questions,” according to Weingarten. “They would not fundamentally improve Ukraine’s military position either,” he stressed.
+++ 20:03 military official: Russia fires cluster munitions at city in Donetsk region +++
According to a Ukrainian military official, Russia is firing cluster munitions at a city in eastern Ukraine. As “Sky News” reports, citing the Ukrainian news agency Suspilne, the city of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region came under fire in the afternoon. At least two people were injured, says Olesksiy Roslov, head of the regional military administration, according to the report. “This afternoon the Russians launched a rocket attack with cluster munitions on Kostyantynivka,” he says. A total of eight houses were damaged. Cluster munitions are internationally outlawed and banned in more than 100 countries. Most recently, however, Ukraine has also used cluster munitions supplied by the USA.
+++ 19:01 Russian military unit destroyed in “sabotage operation” in Mariupol +++
Ukrainian partisans destroy a Russian military unit in Mariupol with a “sabotage operation”. This is reported by “Sky News”, citing a state civil protection organization. According to the attack, three military trucks were destroyed and a building was damaged “considerably”. “Partisans carried out a sabotage operation in Mariupol,” writes the National Resistance Center on Telegram, according to the report.
You can read more about the events of the previous day here.