Russia has launched massive naval drills involving the majority of its fleet and personnel after it was forced to pull back resources from the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.
The exercises are set to involve more than 300 vessels from four different fleets and flotillas, as well as around 20,000 navy personnel, Russian state news agency Tass reported.
It comes after repeated Ukrainian strikes forced Russia to withdraw its Black Sea Fleet warships from bases in occupied Crimea and all of its vessels out of the Sea of Azov, a body of water connected to the Black Sea, in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky visited the frontline in Kharkiv on Monday to pay tribute to Kyiv’s special forces, which have been engaged in bitter fighting with Putin’s forces in the region since May.
And Germany has hit out at Vladimir Putin for warning of a brewing Cold War-style missile crisis in Europe, saying it would “not be intimidated” by Putin’s threat to station long-range missiles in striking distance of the West.
The Independent’s war correspondent Kim Sengupta dies aged 68
Andy Gregory30 July 2024 17:28
Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin moved from prison to unknown destination, lawyer says
Ilya Yashin, a prominent Kremlin critic who is serving an eight and a half year jail sentence for criticising Russia’s war in Ukraine, has been moved from his prison to an unknown destination, his lawyer has said.
The statement by Tatyana Solomina noted that several other figures imprisoned for criticising the military or for alleged extremist activity because of their work with the organisation of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny also were moved.
Among them are Oleg Orlov, chair of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group Memorial, musician Alexandra Skochilenko, who is serving seven years for replacing price tags in a supermarket with messages decrying civilian deaths in Ukraine, and former Navalny regional coordinators Lillia Chanysheva and Ksenia Fadeyeva.
Memorial also said Germany-born Russian citizen Kevin Liik – who was sentenced to four years for allegedly providing information to German special services – has been removed from his prison.
The movements prompted speculation on social media about whether they were in preparation for some kind of a prisoner swap. Kremlin critics and rights advocates have previously called for exchanges that would release Russian political prisoners.
Mr Yashin is one of the few well-known Kremlin critics to stay in Russia after the start of the war.
He was arrested in June 2022 in a Moscow park, convicted of spreading false information about Russian soldiers, and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. The charge stemmed from a YouTube livestream in which he talked about civilians slain in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.
Andy Gregory30 July 2024 16:30
Ukraine says it hit oil depot in Russia’s Kursk region
The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday it had successfully hit a Russian oil depot in the Kursk region overnight.
“According to intelligence data, as a result of the attack, a fire broke out at the enemy facility,” the General Staff said on Facebook.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain30 July 2024 15:32
What is in Putin’s ‘nuclear doctrine’ that could trigger a Russian attack?
On Day 1 of the war, President Vladimir Putin said “whoever tries to impede us, let alone create threats for our country and its people, must know that the Russian response will be immediate and lead to consequences you have never seen in history.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain30 July 2024 14:29
Australia’s foreign minister says Russia-North Korea defense deal is ‘risky for the world’
Australia’s foreign minister said Tuesday the recent defense deal between North Korea and Russia was “destabilizing” and “risky for the world,” after she visited the tense border village shared by North and South Korea on Tuesday.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain30 July 2024 14:00
A diplomatic spat erupts between Hungary and Poland over conflicting views on Russia
A diplomatic spat has erupted between Poland and Hungary that lays bare the deep tensions within Europe over how to deal with with Russia when it is waging war on Ukraine.
Poland, like Germany, France and most other European nations, is a staunch ally of Ukraine while Hungary’s populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is widely considered to have the warmest relations with the Kremlin among all EU leaders.
The Polish government has been openly critical of Hungary for its stance. The spat erupted when Orbán lashed out at Poland over the weekend.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain30 July 2024 13:30
Volodymyr Zelensky presented medals on a frontline visit to Ukrainian special forces base.
Zelensky presents medals on frontline visit to Ukrainian special forces base
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday 29 July travelled to the frontline area of Vovchansk, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, where Russian forces have been trying to break through. Moscow’s troops opened a new front in the north of the region in May, rapidly making inroads up to 10 km (6 miles). Ukraine’s military later halted the offensive, one of the main thrusts of which had pushed towards the town of Vovchansk. On Monday, President Zelensky was shown presenting state awards to soldiers and shaking their hands in a video posted on social media. Though attacks in the eastern Donetsk region remain Moscow’s main offensive thrust, the assault into Kharkiv region has stretched Ukraine’s outmanned defenders and forced Kyiv to send in reinforcements.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain30 July 2024 13:09
Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be worse global crisis than Ukraine war or Covid, warns president
Mr Lai was speaking on Tuesday during the largest ever gathering of foreign lawmakers and dignitaries in Taipei, at a summit chaired by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. The coalition, with hundreds of members from parliaments in more than 35 countries, is focused on monitoring Beijing’s threats to democracy and human rights.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain30 July 2024 12:39
Russia says its forces took control of Pivdenne in eastern Ukraine
Russia‘s defence ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had taken control of the settlement of Pivdenne in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.
The ministry in its statement called the settlement by the name Russia uses to describe it – Leninskoe.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain30 July 2024 12:17
Kyiv invites Chinese foreign minister to visit Ukraine
The Ukrainian government has invited Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Ukraine and Beijing indicated it was “interested” in the proposal, a spokesman for Kyiv’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
“We are ready to welcome Minister Wang Yi in Ukraine to see first-hand the consequences of the Russian aggression against our country and hold deeper bilateral talks with him on a number of bilateral, regional and international issues,” foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi told a briefing in Kyiv.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain30 July 2024 11:43
