Ukraine war latest: Number killed in fire at Russian former research centre

Russia’s southern region of Dagestan held the first of three days of mourning Monday following a rampage by Islamic militants who killed 19 people, most of them police, and attacked houses of worship in apparently coordinated assaults in two cities.

Sunday’s violence was the latest that officials blamed on Islamic extremists in the predominantly Muslim region in the North Caucasus, as well as the deadliest in Russia since March, when gunmen opened fire at a concert in suburban Moscow, killing 145 people.

The March attack was claimed by an affiliate of the Islamic State group. but no one has stepped forward to take responsibility for Sunday’s attacks in Dagestan’s regional capital of Makhachkala and nearby Derbent, both adjacent to the Caspian Sea.

Polish President Andrzej Duda met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping Monday on a visit to Beijing that brought the head of state of a NATO member to a country that has backed Russia in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

At the meeting at the Great Hall of the People accompanied with a full honor guard and 21-gun salute, Duda told Xi that relations between the former Russian-allied nation, which inspired democratic movements with its push for democracy, and China, which remains under single-party Communist Party rule, remain strong.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict was on the agenda for talks, but no remarks on the issue were delivered before journalists were ushered from the vast carpeted meeting room.

Despite war-time restrictions, Ukrainians marked midsummer with festivals that featured frenetic folk dancing, flower decoration and jumping over bonfires.

The festival of Ivana Kupala on Sunday was held as Ukrainians start their third summer at war, with Kyiv and other cities hit by regular blackouts and remaining under nightly curfew.

An hour’s drive south of the capital, several thousand joined the summer festival, many wearing shirts and dresses embroidered with traditional patterns.

Two people jumped to their death from the top floors of a burning eight-storey former Russian electronics research institute in Moscow on Monday.

At least six other people have died in the fire as people became trapped on the top floors and were unable to escape, the state-run TASS news agency reported.

One man was shown jumping from the upper floor of the building by the Baza Telegram channel. Another, with serious burns, fell from the upper floors, footage published by Shot Telegram channel showed.

It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.

A Hungarian legal team in Brussels is looking for ways of challenging an EU decision to use proceeds from frozen Russian assets by circumventing Budapest’s opposition, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on his Facebook page on Monday.

Earlier, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the EU had found a way to use the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to buy arms for Ukraine despite hold-ups from Hungary.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Monday during a visit to Beijing that he hoped China would help find a solution for peace in Ukraine that respects international law.

Diplomats told Reuters this month that China had been lobbying governments with an alternative peace plan for Ukraine.

“I presented our point of view on the security situation in Europe and the world, above all in our part of Europe,” Duda told reporters after a meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

“I hope that China will… support efforts to strive for a peaceful end to the war waged by Russia in Ukraine,” he said, adding that any such peace must respect international law and Ukraine‘s internationally recognised borders.

China and Russia proclaimed a “no limits” partnership just days before President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Russia‘s smaller neighbour. Beijing says it is neutral in the conflict and has not supplied Moscow with weapons or ammunition.

Xi told Duda that China supported all efforts to bring the war in Ukraine to a peaceful end and that China would continue to play a role in finding a political solution to the crisis, Chinese state television reported.

Russia‘s foreign ministry reacted to a fresh wave of European Union sanctions on Monday by saying any unfriendly Western actions would be met with “the necessary response”.

The ministry called the sanctions illegal and said in a statement it had “significantly” expanded its black list of people barred from entering Russia. It provided no further details.

Earlier, EU countries adopted a 14th package of sanctions on Russia that aims to close some loopholes and hits Russia‘s gas exports for the first time.

The sanctions were part of trade restrictions, including asset freezes, against 11 entities in five countries, including China, Kazakhstan, UAE, and Uzbekistan, on Friday.

This is the first time Japan has imposed sanctions on an Indian company since 1998 and the first time for China-based firms in connection with the war in Ukraine.

The European Union has approved a plan to use a first tranche of profits from frozen Russian assets for military aid to Ukraine, getting around a Hungarian block, diplomats said on Monday.

Earlier in the day, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc had found a way to use the funds to buy arms and other aid for Ukraine without needing Hungary’s consent.

Borrell said the first tranche of the profits of “around 1.4 billion euros” is expected to be available next week.

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the American ambassador on Monday to protest what it says was the use of U.S.-made advanced missiles in a Ukrainian attack on Russian-annexed Crimea that reportedly killed four people and wounded more than 150.

Washington “has effectively become a party” to the war on Ukraine’s side, the ministry said in a statement, adding, “Retaliatory measures will certainly follow.” It did not elaborate.

There was no immediate comment from U.S. or Ukrainian officials. The Associated Press could not independently verify Russia’s claims about the missiles used.