Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin’s troops ‘targeted rescue workers’ in deadly ‘double-tap’ attack in Pokrovsk

Ukraine has accused Russian forces of aiming a “double tap” missile strike on the eastern city of Pokrovsk.

Seven people have died and a reported 88 have been injured in the event on Monday night that saw two blasts, forty minutes apart, in a residential area.

Kyiv has claimed Russia’s intention was for responders to arrive at the scene of the residential flats and then be hit by a second missile.

"All of (the police) were there because they were needed, putting their efforts into rescuing people after the first strike," Ivan Vyhivskyi, chief of Ukraine's National Police, said Tuesday.

"They knew that under the rubble were the injured — they needed to react, to dig, to retrieve, to save. And the enemy deliberately struck the second time."

This “double tap” tactic was used by Russia in its campaign in Syria.

Elsewhere, the US has announced the first of its promised Abram tanks will be in Ukraine in September to help bolster the country’s defence while Vladimir Putin has ordered more attack drones for Russia.

Key Points

• Ukraine detains woman accused of spying on Zelensky for Russia

• Independent TV: Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska’s interview with Bel Trew

• Ukraine and Russia confirm Kyiv hits Chonhar bridge to Crimea

• Russian retaliation threat sees up to 70 air assault weapons used overnight

• Volodymyr Zelensky condemns Russian attack on blood transfusion centre

Ukraine says Russia targeted rescue workers with a 'double tap' missile strike

14:15 , William Mata

Ukraine has said that the second of two missiles aimed at a residential area in Pokrovsk was intended to ‘target’ rescue workers.

The dead in the Monday evening strikes in the city of Pokrovsk were five civilians, one rescuer and one soldier, Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko has said.

Dozens more were wounded, most of them police officers, emergency workers and soldiers who had rushed to the scene to assist residents.

Russia has since the start of the war aimed artillery and missiles at the exact same spot it struck around 30 minutes earlier, often hitting emergency workers who had deployed at the scene.

It is called a “double tap” in military jargon and a tactic the Russians also used in Syria’s civil war.

“All of (the police) were there because they were needed, putting their efforts into rescuing people after the first strike,” Ivan Vyhivskyi, chief of Ukraine’s National Police, said Tuesday.

“They knew that under the rubble were the injured — they needed to react, to dig, to retrieve, to save. And the enemy deliberately struck the second time.”

Russia says it hit Ukrainian command post in Pokrovsk region - reports

13:50 , William Mata

Russia’s defence ministry on Tuesday said that the Kremlin’s forces had hit a Ukrainian command post in Pokrovsk, the Interfax news agency reported.

The eastern region was hit by missiles twice on Monday night, killing at least seven people and injuring 88. In the attack, flat blocks and apartments were destroyed.

It is understood that rescue efforts are continuing into Tuesday afternoon.

Britain provides more detail on the sanctions it is giving out

13:30 , William Mata

Britain has said its 25 sanctions to Russian and Belarusian individuals will aim to stop Vladimir Putin accessing foreign military supplies.

Earlier on Tuesday, the foreign office said it was giving 19 Russian sanctions and six to Belarus in addition to those already in place.

The Foreign Office said those sanctioned include businesses based outside Russia but said to be supplying drones, microelectronics and attempting to supply arms to Russia.

Three Russian companies operating in the electronics sector have also been sanctioned, the department added.

British foreign secretary James Cleverly said: “Today’s landmark sanctions will further diminish Russia’s arsenal and close the net on supply chains propping up Putin’s now-struggling defence industry.

“There is nowhere for those sustaining Russia’s military machine to hide.”

Death and injury toll update

13:10 , William Mata

Ukrainian authorities have said that the two explosions in Pokrovsk have now led to seven deaths and 88 injuries.

It had previously been reported by Ukrainian authorities that eight had died - but this figure had been widely downscaled by all reports to seven by Tuesday lunchtime.

Rescue efforts are continuing to be made.

‘Putin has equipped Russian guard with heavy weaponry’ - says UK

12:50 , William Mata

Russia has reportedly signed a law to allow the Russian National Guard to be equipped with heavy weaponry.

British intelligence has stated on Tuesday that the decision was made following the aborted Wagner mutiny - although it is disputed as to what role the Russian guard played in that incident.

“President Putin signed into law a measure which will allow Rosgvardia, the Russian National Guard, to be equipped with heavy weaponry,” the UK Ministry of Defence said on Twitter.

“A sprawling organisation of up to 200,000 frontline personnel, Rosgvardia was created in its modern form in 2016 and is led by Putin’s former bodyguard Viktor Zolotov. The decision to strengthen the force follows the abortive Wagner mutiny of June 2023.

“Despite Zolotov’s claim that his force performed ‘excellently’ during the mutiny, there is no evidence that Rosgvardia carried out any effective action against Wagner: exactly the sort of internal security threat it was designed to repress.

“ With Zolotov previously suggesting that heavy equipment should include artillery and attack helicopters, the move suggests that the Kremlin is doubling down on resourcing Rosgvardia as one of the key organisations to ensure regime security.”

‘This is the most difficult time of the war’ - Western allies say of Ukraine situation

12:41 , William Mata

Western officials are reportedly braced for what they consider to be the “most difficult time of the war” for Ukraine.

US representative Mike Quigley said “our briefings are sobering,” and that they “remind us of the challenges we face”.

“This is the most difficult time of the war,” he told reporters.

“They’re still going to see, for the next couple of weeks, if there is a chance of making some progress,” an unnmaed diplomat told CNN.

“But for them to really make progress that would change the balance of this conflict, I think, it’s extremely, highly unlikely.”

Britain adds 19 Russian designations to sanctions list and six to Belarusian list

12:30 , William Mata

Britain has reportedly added almost 20 designations to its Russia sanctions list and six to its Belarus sanctions regime.

The government said on Tuesday that it would be adding the 19 Russian firms to the list and it has also released a new map showing that Ukraine is trying to push back.

The graphic, released via Twitter, has shown that Kyiv forces are pushing back in Orikhiv and Vuhledar.

US announces first of its Abram tanks will arrive in Ukraine by September

12:30 , William Mata

The US has announced its first set of its Abram tanks will arrive in Ukraine by September.

Army acquisition chief Doug Bush said on Monday that the first shipment has been signed off - with the US having pledged in January it would send 31 Abrams to Ukraine.

Mr Bush said in a briefing: “They have to get to Europe, and then to Ukraine, along with all of the things that go with them.

“Ammunition, spare parts, fuel equipment, repair facilities. So you know, it’s not just the tanks, it’s the full package that goes with it. That’s still on track.”

Russian students to get pro-Putin take on invasion in new school coursebook

12:10 , William Mata

Russian students will be reading a coursebook that praises Valdimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on their national curriculum when they return to school next month – as the Kremlin seeks to control the historial narrative around its war provided to young people.

The Kremlin is said to have ordered the rapid writing of the coursebooks, which will be aimed at 17-year-olds, with Ukraine’s Western allies seeking to make Moscow a global pariah over the invasion of its neighbour.

The full article is here.

Zelensky makes statement on anniversary of conflict in Georgia

11:50 , William Mata

Volodymyr Zelensky has shared a video message on the 15h anniversary of the Russo-Georgian War.

In the five day conflict in 2008, Russia was able to set up bases in South Ossetia and Abkhazia .

Mr Zelensky tweeted: “Every year on this day, the world remembers Russian aggression against Georgia.

“Fifteen years have passed. The Russian occupation remains - this wound on the body of the Georgian state remains. Many words have already been said that if the world had been decisive back in 2008, many things would have been different.

“Back then already Russia should have realised that the aggressor pays the highest price for aggression. It must definitely realise this now.”

Poland to send additional troops to Belarus border

11:30 , William Mata

Poland has committed to sendig additional troops to the border with Belarus, the country’s PAP news agency has reported on Tuesday.

Around 1,000 more personnel could be sent to counter attempts to cross the frontier illegally, the deputy interior minister told PAP.

“Due to the dynamic situation on the Polish-Belarusian border... the Minister of National Defence ordered that the request be implemented and that additional soldiers be assigned to patrol the Polish-Belarusian border,” a defence ministry statement read.

In recent weeks, soldiers from the Wagner mercenary group have appeared near the border.

Pictures: Rescues made in the rubble

11:10 , William Mata

Further details about missile attack in Pokrovsk

10:45 , William Mata

Here are the facts of the missile attack in Pokrovsk:

- Two missiles were fired into a residential area in Pokrovsk, in Donesk region to Ukraine’s east, on Monday night.

- The strikes came 40 minutes apart and a hotel as well as a residential flat block were hit directly while a pizzaria was also struck.

- President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia used Iskander ballistic missiles while it has also been reported that responders to the first blast were killed in the second.

- Interior minister Ihor Klymenko said seven people, including five civilians, were killed. But other reports have claimed that the death toll is now eight.

- As of Tuesday morning, emergency services have resumed attempting to clear the rubble.

Accounts from the scene: ‘My window fell on me'

10:23 , William Mata

Pokrovsk residents have shared their accounts of the Russian missile strike on a flat block which has killed two people and injured many more.

Among those killed in the second blast have been reported to be first responders to the initial one which struck 40 minutes or so before.

Kateryna, a 58-year-old resident of Pokrovsk, told Reuters: “A flame filled up my eyes. I fell down on the floor, on the ground. My eyes (hurt) a lot.”

Another resident, 75-year-old Lidia, said: “Suddenly this [a curtain] flew out and wrapped me up. Then the window fell on me.

"My back has cuts. I just got back from the hospital... My knee and my thigh have cuts."

Search continues for survivors in rubble after attack in Pokrovsk

10:09 , William Mata

Rescuers are searching for survivors amid the ruins afer Russian missiles hit a residential building in Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, on Monday.

Ukrainian Emergency Services were out in force on Tuesday morning to try and find any hope in the rubble after the attack which has killed at least eight people.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of Donetsk's military administration, said on Telegram that at least 67 people have been confirmed to be injured.

“Today we are overwhelmed with pain, anger, tears,” the Pokrovsk military administration wrote on Facebook.

Putin orders increased production of “very effective” drones

09:49 , William Mata

Vladimir Putin has ordered the increased production of “kamikaze” attack drones as the war escalates.

The Russian president was seen in television footage on Monday night asking the head of state-owned defence conglomerate Rostec to increase the number of these weapons.

Drone warfare is becoming an increasing part of the battle with Ukraine and Mr Putin is looking specifically for Kub and Lancet drones which have proved difficult for Kyiv forces to counter.

Mr Putin has called the drones “very effective”.

At least eight dead after missile strike on flats in Pokrovsk

08:47 , William Mata

At least eight people have died and many more could be wounded after two Russian missile strikes on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk.

Rescue efforts are currently ongoing and president Volodymyr Zelensky has commented that the flat block at the centre of it was an “ordinary residential building”.

A hotel that is popular with journalists covering the war was also hit as was a pizzeria.

Pokrovsk is 43 miles from Donetsk and 30 miles from the battle frontline.

Mr Zelensky tweeted: “The city of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region. Donbas, from which Russia is trying to leave only broken and scorched stones. Two missile strikes. An ordinary residential building was hit.

“Unfortunately, there are victims. Rescuers and all necessary services are on the scene. The rescue of people continues.”

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk region, said the number wounded is now 31.

“Among them are 19 police officers, five rescuers and one child,” he added on Telegram.

Putin arming national guard to protect his regime, says UK MoD

07:06 , Arpan Rai

The Kremlin is likely bolstering its efforts to resource the Russian National Guard, Rosgvardia, with heavy weapons to built it as one of the key group to protect Vladimir Putin’s regime, the British Ministry of Defence said today.

It pointed to president Putin signed into law a measure which will allow Rosgvardia, the Russian National Guard, to be equipped with heavy weaponry last week.

“A sprawling organisation of up to 200,000 frontline personnel, Rosgvardia was created in its modern form in 2016 and is led by Putin’s former bodyguard Viktor Zolotov. The decision to strengthen the force follows the abortive Wagner mutiny of June 2023,” the ministry pointed out.

It added: “Despite Zolotov’s claim that his force performed ‘excellently’ during the mutiny, there is no evidence that Rosgvardia carried out any effective action against Wagner: exactly the sort of internal security threat it was designed to repress.”

“With Zolotov previously suggesting that heavy equipment should include artillery and attack helicopters, the move suggests that the Kremlin is doubling down on resourcing Rosgvardia as one of the key organisations to ensure regime security,” the MoD said in its latest intelligence update.

Ukrainian foreign minister requests tactical ballistic missiles from US

07:01 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine’s foreign minister has requested ATACMS long-range missiles from the United States.

Dmytro Kuleba said on Monday that he made the request for the tactical ballistic missiles, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, during a phone call with his US counterpart Antony Blinken

“In our call, [Mr Blinken] and I discussed further steps to broaden global support for the Peace Formula and solutions to expand grain exports,” Mr Kuleba wrote on social media.

“I thanked the U.S. for all the assistance provided and stressed the need to enhance Ukraine’s long-range capabilities by providing ATACMS.”

Ukrainian lost ‘a lot’ of men early in counter-offensive, says commander

06:28 , Arpan Rai

A lot of men deployed by Ukraine’s marines were killed in the early days of the country’s anticipated counter-offensive, a battalion commander said.

Oleksandr, 28, the battalion commander of the 37th Marine Brigade confirmed to the New York Times that he “lost a lot”.

He added that some of the newly added men in the brigade are “mentally broken”, confirming the massive toll of the continuing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

After building up its arsenal in spring and some of Summer, Ukraine fired its first stage of counter-offensive to throw Russian forces out of its territory in eastern and southern areas.

While Ukraine does not publish figures for its losses, a Western official had claimed that Kyiv had suffered “more than 100,000 casualties” since the start of the war.

US says China’s presence at Jeddah talks is productive

06:03 , Andy Gregory

The United States has said it was productive that China attended talks in Saudi Arabia aimed at laying the groundwork for a peaceful settlement of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and deputy secretary of state Victoria Nuland held a brief separate meeting with China’s special envoy for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, Li Hui, at the talks in Jeddah.

Russia’s foreign ministry has criticised the talks as not having “the slightest added value” because Moscow was not invited.

Ukraine detains woman accused of spying on Zelensky for Russia

05:06 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency said that it had detained a woman who it accused of gathering information about President Volodymyr Zelensky’s itinerary ahead of a trip and also trying to pass information about military facilities to Russia.

The Ukrainian security service SBU did not give the name of the alleged agent. A dark-haired woman in a black-and-white dress surrounded by two servicemen was seen in a picture published by the agency. All of the faces in the image were blurred.

The suspect was arrested in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, the security service said. Mr Zelensky last visited the city on July 27, his media channel reported.

The SBU also accused the alleged agent of trying to establish the locations of Ukrainian electronic warfare systems and ammunition depots near the port town of Ochakiv, 30 miles (48 km) from Mykolaiv.

“Members of the SBU caught the traitor red-handed when she was trying to pass intelligence to the invaders,” the SBU said, adding that additional security measures were taken during the presidential visit.

The woman is from Ochakiv and used to work at an army store selling goods to soldiers at one of the local Ukrainian military units, the SBU said. A court approved her arrest and, if convicted, she would face a prison term for up to 12 years, according to the statement.

ICYMI: Russia’s torture chambers in Kherson ‘tip of the iceberg’, investigators warn

05:06 , Andy Gregory

Harrowing new accounts of Ukrainians being tortured during Russia’s eight-month occupation of Kherson are “just the tip of the iceberg”, an international team investigating the alleged war crimes has warned.

The acts described by those detained in dozens of makeshift detention centres – including the use of sexual violence as a common tactic among Russian guards, and genital electrocution – are “evocative of genocide”, the team of lawyers and prosecutors said this week.

The UN’s special rapporteur on torture, Dr Alice Jill Edwards, told The Independent that similarities in the accounts of victims across several different regions of Ukraine “expose a deeper concern that torture and intimidation are a policy and strategy of the Russian state”.

You can read the full report here:

Inside Russia’s torture chambers as investigators warn Kherson ‘tip of iceberg’

US to send Kyiv first $200m of arms freed by $6.2bn ‘accounting error’

04:18 , Arpan Rai

Joe Biden’s administration will announce $200m (£156m) of new weapons aid for Ukraine as soon as today, US officials told Reuters.

The tranche is coming out of $6.2bn (£4.8bn) of funds discovered in an accounting error by Pentagon which over-valued billions of Ukraine aid, two US officials said.

Washington is currently working on a supplemental budget request to continue to aid Kyiv, the U.S officials said.

This will be the first tranche of the $6.2bn windfall of previously authorised Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), the officials said.

Washington is packing mine clearing equipment, TOW and AT4 anti-tank weapons, guns and ammunition, air defense interceptors made by Lockheed Martin Corp for the Patriot system, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets and Javelin anti-tank missiles made by a joint venture between Lockheed and RTX Corp, along with other equipment in this tranche of military aid.

Ukraine needs weaponry that can be shipped from US stocks in a matter of days or weeks so it can keep up its fight to repel Russia’s invasion - the accounting error worked to Kyiv’s benefit because more equipment can be sent.

How to watch Independent TV on your smart TV

04:02 , Andy Gregory

You can now watch The Independent’s documentary about Ukraine, Body in the Woods, and our exclusive interview with Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska on your smart TV:

How to download the Independent TV onto your smart TV

Survivors describe fiery blasts in Donetsk that killed 8

03:51 , Arpan Rai

Survivors in a deadly Russian missiles attack that struck the centre of Ukraine’s Pokrovsk said they heard a “bang” during twin strikes which left them with multiple injuries.

A 58-year-old resident of Pokrovsk, Kateryna, was at her home when she heard the first blast and thought that the attack spared her.

She even told someone who called to check on her that she was alright but at this moment the place was hit for the second time.

“That’s it, bang – and that’s all. A flame filled up my eyes. I fell down on the floor, on the ground. My eyes (hurt) a lot…,” Ms Kateryna said pointing at multiple scratches around her eyes. She had bandages on her forehead.

Another resident, 75-year-old Lidia, said she was also on the phone at the moment of the second blast. She had picked up from the floor a torn white curtain covered with broken glass.

“Suddenly this flew out and wrapped me up. Then the window fell on me,” she said sitting on her sofa.

“My back has cuts. I just got back from the hospital… My knee and my thigh have cuts. I had glass here,” she said pointing at her head.

The death toll includes five civilians, two rescuers and one military person. Officials said the second missile hit the Ukraine-controlled town near the frontline 40 minutes after the first. The explosion killed and injured first responders, witnesses said.

Nineteen police officers wounded in Russian missile strikes, officials say

03:10 , Andy Gregory

Nineteen police officers are among 31 people wounded in Russian missile strikes which have killed at least five people, according to Ukrainian officials.

Two Russian missile strikes hit the city centre of the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region on Monday, officials said.

Ukraine’s interior minister Ihor Klymenko said one of the strikes killed four civilians, and the other killed the deputy head of the regional branch of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

At least 31 people – including 19 policemen, five rescuers and one child - have been wounded in the attack, Mr Klymenko said. The strikes damaged a hotel, residential buildings and other civilian structures, according to Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

Video report: Moment Russian drone nearly hits Ukrainian evacuation car

02:11 , Andy Gregory

Zelensky hails prisoner swap freeing 22 Ukrainians

01:05 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has celebrated the return of 22 Ukrainian troops in a prisoner swap with Russia, some of whom are wounded.

The 20 soldiers and sergeants, and two officers, were captured in different areas of the front, Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address, adding: “We will do everything to bring back to Ukraine all our people who are now in Russian captivity. We remember everyone and are looking for everyone on the list of missing persons.

He added that every Ukrainian who captures Russian troops on the frontline “speeds up freedom for Ukrainians”, saying: “It is important to remember this.”

Watch: Ukraine’s First Lady criticises other countries for circumventing Russian sanctions

Tuesday 8 August 2023 00:08 , Andy Gregory

Belarus begins military exercises near border with Poland and Lithuania

Monday 7 August 2023 23:14 , Andy Gregory

Belarus has initiated military exercises close to its border with Poland and Lithuania, amid existing tensions with the two Nato powers over Minsk’s decision to host Wagner mercenaries.

Both Poland and Lithuania have increased border security since thousands of Wagner fighters arrived in Belarus, with the leaders of both nations warning last week at a meeting near the Suwalki Gap – a region close to their nations’ borders with Belarus and Russia – that they are braced for further provocations.

The Belarusian defence ministry said the drills that began on Monday are based on experiences from Russia’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine, and includes the “use of drones as well as the close interaction of tank and motorised rifle units with units of other branches of the armed forces”.

The war games were taking place near the Suwalki Gap.

UK government ‘echoes frustrations’ of Ukraine’s first lady on sanctions intervention

Monday 7 August 2023 22:32 , Andy Gregory

The UK government “echoes the frustrations” of Ukraine’s first lady over sanctions-busting efforts by Russian allies, a spokesperson for the foreign secretary has said.

To combat Putin’s regime the world must impose hefty sanctions, and “terminate the possibility of circumventing these sanctions,” Olena Zelenska told Independent TV from the heart of the presidential compound in Kyiv, in an interview now available to watch in full here.

The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, immediately backed the first lady’s call. A spokesman for Mr Cleverly told The Independent that the assessment the government has “echoes the frustrations the first lady has expressed about the use of third countries to circumvent sanctions”.

Foreign Office fury at sanctions-busting by Russian allies – after Zelenska’s plea

In pictures: Residential building in Donetsk hit by Russian missiles

Monday 7 August 2023 22:00 , Maanya Sachdeva

Exclusive: Ukraine’s children ‘losing the will to live’, First Lady says

Monday 7 August 2023 21:30 , Maanya Sachdeva

From inside the heavily-guarded Ukraine presidential compound in Kyiv, First Lady Olena Zelenska has spoken in a rare and wide ranging interview with The Independent’s Chief International Correspondent Bel Trew.

During their discussion Mrs Zelenska blasted countries for circumventing Russian sanctions, saying the conflict in her nation will drag on “endlessly until Russia‘s ability to wage war is stopped.”

She also warned Ukraine’s children are “losing the will to live” in an emotional plea for help, as she spoke of the struggle to retrieve the children disappeared into Russia.

Watch the full interview here:

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska’s interview with Bel Trew

Exclusive: Foreign Office to act over Ukraine first lady’s plea on sanctions

Monday 7 August 2023 21:11 , Andy Gregory

The government is reviewing its sanctions on Russia after a dramatic intervention from Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska condemning loopholes that allow Moscow to fund its invasion.

The Foreign Office has expressed its fury over sanctions-busting efforts by Russian allies to use a third country to continue trading with Moscow despite the hefty economic measures imposed since Russian president Vladimir Putin launched his invasion.

The government is weighing how it can act and hopes to move imminently, The Independent can reveal, after Ukraine’s first lady made the plea in an interview with Independent TV, which you can watch here.

My colleagues Kate Devlin and Bel Trew have the full story here:

Foreign Office fury at sanctions-busting by Russian allies – after Zelenska’s plea

US Justice Department helping Ukraine in war crimes investigations

Monday 7 August 2023 21:00 , Maanya Sachdeva

The US Justice Department is cooperating with the International Criminal Court and supporting Ukrainian prosecutors carrying out war crime investigations, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday as he reaffirmed his department’s aid more than a year after the Russian invasion.

Congress recently allowed for new US flexibility in assisting the court with investigations into foreign nationals related to Ukraine, and the Justice Department will be a key part of the United States’ cooperation, Garland highlighted.

“We are not waiting for the hostilities to end before pursuing justice and accountability,” he said in a speech to the American Bar Association in Denver.

“We are working closely with our international partners to gather evidence and build cases so that we are ready when the time comes to hold the perpetrators accountable,” he added.

He appointed a prosecutor to serve at a center opened last month in The Hague to support nations building cases against senior Russian leaders for the crime of aggression.

International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression will not issue indictments or arrest warrants for suspects but will instead support investigations already underway in Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

The Justice Department is giving wide-ranging assistance to Ukraine, from training on prosecuting environmental crimes to help developing a secure electronic case-management system for more than 90,000 suspected atrocity crimes.

Garland also touted the $500 million seized assets and over three dozen indictments the department has handed down to enforce sanctions.

“Ukraine must do three things simultaneously: it must fight a war; it must investigate war crimes; and it must ensure that a just society comes out on the other side of the war,” he said.

The Justice Department is “honored to stand with them.”

Ukraine says Russian missile strikes on apartment buildings kill five in east

Monday 7 August 2023 20:12 , Maanya Sachdeva

Two Russian missile strikes killed five people and injured 31 when they hit residential buildings in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Monday.

Videos and pictures released by Ukrainian officials showed people sorting through the rubble including a badly damaged five-story apartment building. An ambulance was on the scene treating the wounded.

According to Klymenko, four civilians died in the first attack and Donetsk emergency official was killed during the second attack.

Search and rescue operations were ongoing, Klymenko said.

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine‘s presidential administration, later reported two more victims of Russian strikes in Kruhliakivka village in Kupiansk district.

Russia blasts peace talks in Saudi Arabia as ‘pointless’

Monday 7 August 2023 20:07 , Maanya Sachdeva

Russia‘s foreign ministry on Monday criticised efforts by international officials meeting in Saudi Arabia to find a peaceful settlement for the war in Ukraine, saying the talks don’t have “the slightest added value” because Moscow - unlike Kyiv - was not invited.

Senior officials from around 40 countries gathered on Sunday in Jeddah for a two-day meeting that aims to agree on key principles about how to end the conflict that has raged for more than 17 months.

But without Russia‘s participation and without taking into account Moscow’s interests, the meeting was pointless, a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said.

It repeated previous assurances that Russia is open to a diplomatic solution on its terms that ends the war and is ready to respond to serious proposals.

But Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, ruled out Moscow’s previous demands that would give Russia time to dig in deeper in the parts of Ukraine it has occupied.

He said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Russian forces must fully withdraw from the occupied areas and there would be no Kyiv compromise on that.

Restaurant frequented by journalists was ‘target of Donetsk attacks'

Monday 7 August 2023 19:35 , Maanya Sachdeva

A Ukrainian journalist, Denys Kazansky has shared more footage from outside the residential building that was hit by Russian rockets in the eastern city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk.

He claimed “Corleone”, a restaurant on the ground floor of the apartment complex, “was the target” since it was frequented by journalists and volunteers.

Two dead after Russian missiles hit residential building in east Ukraine, Kyiv says

Monday 7 August 2023 19:09 , Maanya Sachdeva

Two people were killed in two Russian missile strikes on a residential building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine‘s presidential administration, said on Monday.

“As of now, it is known about two dead people - a woman and a man. The four wounded were taken away by an ambulance. Rescuers and medics are working,” Yermak said in his Telegram channel.

‘There are victims’: Russian missiles ‘hit residential building’ in Donetsk

Monday 7 August 2023 18:51 , Maanya Sachdeva

Two Russian missile strikes hit a residential building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.

He wrote on his Telegram channel: “Two missile strikes. An ordinary residential building was hit. Unfortunately, there are victims.

“Rescuers and all necessary services are on the scene. The rescue of people continues.”

Kyiv troops ‘hold initiative’ over Putin’s forces on frontline

Monday 7 August 2023 18:26 , Maanya Sachdeva

Ukrainian troops are creating conditions to advance forward step-by-step and have the initiative on the battlefield, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief said on Monday.

Kyiv’s defensive lines are stable with troops repelling Russian attempts to counter-attack and distract Ukrainian forces from other parts of the front, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

“Heavy fighting is underway, and step-by-step, Ukrainian troops are continuing to create the conditions to advance. The initiative is on our side,” Zaluzhnyi said after a telephone call with US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley.

Ukraine launched a counteroffensive at the start of the summer, attempting to retake swathes of territory captured by Russia in the south and east of the country.

Officials have brushed aside criticism that they are advancing slowly, saying they are trying to avoid high casualties as they attack well-fortified Russian lines that are strewn with landmines.

ICYMI: Ukraine: Moment camera operator runs for safety during shelling in Donetsk

Monday 7 August 2023 17:31 , Eleanor Noyce

Point-of-view footage shows the moment a camera operator had to run for cover during what a Russian official said was Ukrainian shelling on Russian-controlled Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, 5 August.

The camera was following firefighters as they approached a university building in the city, which was burning after what Russian-installed mayor Alexei Kulemzin called a Ukrainian attack.

Moments later, a loud blast is heard and the camera operator runs away whilst crouching down.

Kulemzin said initial reports indicated the cause of the fire was an attack by Ukrainian forces using cluster munitions - this has not been independently verified.

Ukraine: Moment camera operator runs for safety during shelling in Donetsk

Ukraine says Jeddah talks 'huge blow' to Russia, new meeting agreed

Monday 7 August 2023 17:05 , Eleanor Noyce

A senior Ukrainian official said on Monday that the weekend’s talks in Saudi Arabia about the war in Ukraine dealt a “huge blow” to Russia, and that the participants agreed to hold another meeting of political advisers within about six weeks.

More than 40 countries, including China, India, the United States, and European countries, but not Russia, took part in the talks that were seen as an attempt by Kyiv to build a broader coalition of powers to support its vision of peace.

“We will hold another meeting within a month, month-and-a-half and we will move towards (holding) a summit,” presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak told reporters at a briefing in Kyiv.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has promoted a set of 10 principles that Kyiv wants to serve as the basis for peace to end the full-scale war launched by Moscow in February 2022.

The principles include the withdrawal of all Russian troops and the return of all Ukrainian territory to its control.

Yermak said all the countries present at the talks in Jeddah fully supported Ukrainian independence and territorial integrity, and that only peace initiatives put forward by Ukraine were discussed at the meeting.

Ukrainian troops creating conditions to advance - commander-in-chief

Monday 7 August 2023 16:45 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainian troops are creating conditions to advance forward step-by-step and have the initiative on the battlefield, Ukraine‘s commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said on Monday.

Zaluzhnyi also said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that the Ukrainian defence was stable with troops repelling Russian attempts to counter-attack and distract Ukrainian forces from other areas of the front.

China tells Russia it will uphold 'impartial' position on Ukraine

Monday 7 August 2023 16:30 , Eleanor Noyce

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in a phone conversation on Monday that China would uphold an independent and impartial position on Ukraine as it strives to find a political settlement to the issue.

Wang’s comments to Lavrov were announced in a Foreign Ministry statement on Monday that said China would be an “objective and rational voice” at any international multilateral forums and “actively promote peace talks”. The statement came after the ministry said earlier on Monday that international talks in Saudi Arabia at the weekend on finding a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine crisis had helped “to consolidate international consensus”.

More than 40 countries, including China, India, the United States and European countries, but not Russia, took part in the Jeddah talks that ended on Sunday.

China sent its Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs and former ambassador to Russia, Li Hui, who in May toured six European capitals to try to find common ground for an eventual political settlement of the conflict, now in its 18th month.

Beijing has refused to condemn Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine it launched in February 2022. It has offered its own peace plan, which received a lukewarm response in both Russia and Ukraine, while the United States and NATO were sceptical.

Russia blasts Saudi Arabia talks on ending war in Ukraine after Moscow gets no invitation to attend

Monday 7 August 2023 16:15 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Monday chided efforts by international officials meeting in Saudi Arabia to find a peaceful settlement for the war in Ukraine, saying the talks don’t have “the slightest added value” because Moscow — unlike Kyiv — wasn’t invited.

Senior officials from around 40 countries gathered Sunday in Jeddah for a two-day meeting that aims to agree on key principles about how to end the conflict that has raged for more than 17 months.

Read more:

Russia blasts Saudi Arabia talks on ending war in Ukraine after Moscow gets no invitation to attend

Ex-FBI agent accused of working for Russian oligarch may change plea

Monday 7 August 2023 16:05 , Eleanor Noyce

A former FBI agent accused by U.S. prosecutors of working for sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska may change his plea in relation to criminal charges of evading U.S. sanctions and money laundering, court records showed on Monday.

Charles McGonigal had previously pleaded not guilty. A change of plea hearing before U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rearden in Manhattan has been scheduled for 15 August.

McGonigal’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, which brought the case, declined to comment.

Prosecutors in January said McGonigal, who led the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York before retiring in 2018, received concealed payments from Deripaska in exchange for investigating a rival oligarch and unsuccessfully pushed in 2019 to lift U.S. sanctions on Deripaska.

The charges against McGonigal came as U.S. prosecutors ramped up efforts to enforce sanctions on Russian officials and police their alleged enablers in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Deripaska, the founder of Russian aluminum company Rusal , was among two dozen Russian oligarchs and government officials blacklisted by Washington in 2018 in reaction to Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

He and the Kremlin have denied any election interference.

Japan raises concerns over Iran's nuclear enrichment and drone supplies to Russia for Ukraine war

Monday 7 August 2023 16:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Japan expressed concern on Monday over Iran‘s advancing uranium enrichment program and the Middle East country’s suspected supplying of combat drones to Moscow for Russia‘s war on Ukraine.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi raised the two issues during talks with his visiting Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, the foreign ministry in Tokyo said. A statement from the ministry said Hayashi appealed for Iran to act constructively in the matter but did not elaborate.

Read more:

Japan raises concerns over Iran's nuclear enrichment and drone supplies to Russia for Ukraine war

Ukraine says Jeddah peace talks 'huge blow' to Russia, new meeting agreed

Monday 7 August 2023 15:49 , Eleanor Noyce

The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff said on Monday that talks about the Ukraine war in Saudi Arabia at the weekend dealt a “huge blow” to Russia, and that the participants agreed to hold another meeting of political advisers within about six weeks.

Andriy Yermak told a briefing in Kyiv that no other peace initiatives were discussed at the meeting in Jeddah apart from Ukraine‘s, and that all countries present at the talks had fully supported Ukrainian independence and territorial integrity.

China's foreign minister Wang Yi holds call with Russian counterpart - ministry

Monday 7 August 2023 15:45 , Eleanor Noyce

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday spoke with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the phone, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

On the Ukraine crisis, Wang told Lavrov that China will uphold an independent and impartial position, actively promote peace talks and strive to find a political settlement to the issue, according to the statement.

Russian leftist dissident critical of war designated a "terrorist"

Monday 7 August 2023 15:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Prominent Russian sociologist and leftist political activist Boris Kagarlitsky was designated a “terrorist” on Monday, weeks after being arrested under an article that forbids public calls for terrorist activities using the Internet.

Since starting the war in February 2022, Russia has made it a crime to “discredit” its armed forces and cracked down on those who oppose what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Kagarlitsky, 64, known as a dissident since Soviet times, has repeatedly spoken out against the war in a magazine he edited and on his YouTube channel.

Kagarlitsky, who teaches at the private Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences, had already been designated a “foreign agent” since 2018, and on Monday he appeared on a list of registered “terrorists” on the website of Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service.

He was detained last month by the FSB security service and remanded in custody for two months in the city of Syktyvkar, 1,000 km (620 miles) northeast of Moscow.

Polish Border Guard asks for 1,000 more soldiers on Belarus frontier

Monday 7 August 2023 15:10 , Eleanor Noyce

Poland’s Border Guard has asked the defence ministry to send another 1,000 troops to the border with Belarus, the deputy interior minister said on Monday, amid an increase in attempts to illegally cross the frontier.

The head of the Border Guard, Tomasz Praga, said this year 19,000 people had tried to cross the Polish-Belarusian border illegally, up from 16,000 last year.

“The general (Praga) asked to move another 1,000 soldiers to the Polish-Belarusian border,” Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik said.

Poland has built a face on the border with Belarus, equipped with electronic protection.

In recent weeks, soldiers from the Wagner mercenary group have appeared near the border, which, according to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, is aimed at destabilising the situation on NATO’s eastern flank.

End of war only possible if Kyiv lays down arms, Russia says

Monday 7 August 2023 15:00 , Maanya Sachdeva

Russia has said the end of the war in Ukraine is only possible if Kyiv “stopped the hostilities and terrorist attacks” and western countries ceased supplying arms, according to a report.

Moscow was commenting on the two-day talks held in Jeddah over the weekend, when over 40 countries came together to discuss the peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict.

According to The Guardian, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “The original foundations of Ukraine’s sovereignty – its neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear status – must be confirmed.”

Russia also called on Ukraine to cede its occupied territories to Moscow, as per AFP.

Ukraine MP says key German lawmakers reach consensus on long-range missile supply

Monday 7 August 2023 14:45 , Eleanor Noyce

A senior Ukrainian lawmaker said on Monday that key parliamentary factions in Germany had “reached a consensus” to supply Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles with a range of 500 km (310 miles) but that an official decision was yet to come.

Germany’s defence minister said last week Berlin does not plan to supply the missiles for now and that the weapons are not the most urgent priority. A ministry spokesperson told Reuters on Monday that Berlin’s position had not changed.

However Yehor Chernev, a lawmaker who heads Ukraine‘s delegation at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, said: “My friends in the Bundestag just told me that key parliamentary factions have reached consensus regarding the transfer to Ukraine of long-range Taurus missiles.”

“We’ve worked for a long time with German parliamentarians to form a support group and now finally the ice has broken. We await an official decision,” he wrote on Facebook.

Ukraine is hoping to secure long-range weapons from the West to strike back at Russia which has used an array of missiles fired from hundreds of kilometres away to wreak damage on its infrastructure.

Russian informant detained over Zelensky assassination plot, Kyiv says

Monday 7 August 2023 14:44 , Eleanor Noyce

A Russian informant has been detained over a plot to assassinate Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Kyiv has said.

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said it has detained a Russian informant “who was preparing a Russian airstrike in the Mykolaiv region during the visit of the President of Ukraine.”

The alleged informant “on the eve of the recent trip of the President of Ukraine to Mykolaiv region, was gathering intelligence about the planned visit,” the service said, referencing a trip Zelensky made to the region in July.

In a statement, the SBU said that the individual “tried to establish the time and list of locations of the approximate route of the Head of State in the territory of the region”, but agents had obtained information about the “subversive activities of the suspect” and subsequently introduced additional security measures.

Monitoring the communications of the woman - who has not been named, but is understood to be a resident of Ochakov in southern Ukraine - the service established that she had been tasked with locating electronic warfare systems and warehouses with ammunition of the armed forces.

The individual allegedly travelled around the district and filmed the locations of Ukrainian objects.

‘Intense defensive and offensive operations underway’ on front line, Zelensky says

Monday 7 August 2023 14:30 , Maanya Sachdeva

Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelensky has said “intense defensive and offensive operations are underway” on the front line, as the war enters a pivotal, new phase on the 530th day since Russia launched a “special military operation in the country”.

Zelensky shared updates from his daily conference call with ministers on the situation in Ukraine, where at least three people were killed after Moscow launched a multi-wave overnight assault in retaliation for attacks on its naval vessels in the Black Grain sea last week.

Writing on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Zelensky said: “We heard a report from Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny on the situation at the front. Intense defensive and offensive operations are underway.”

He also reported “we understand the enemy’s immediate plans”, noting that he had received data from Russia that was provided by the Main Intelligence Directorate and the Foreign Intelligence Service.

What Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska wants the world to know

Monday 7 August 2023 14:00 , Eleanor Noyce

In a rare interview the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, has spoken to Independent TV about her work rebuilding Ukraine in the middle of war, the pressures on her family and concerns for the future of her country.

From the presidential palace, she told The Independent’s Bel Trew about the need to reconstruct cities despite the fighting raging on, about building cutting-edge facilities to treat the country’s’ war-wounded and fighting stigma on trauma around the country.

Watch the full interview on Independent TV, across mobile and connected TV from Monday 7 August.

What Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska wants the world to know

Ukraine: Moment camera operator runs for safety during shelling in Donetsk

Monday 7 August 2023 13:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Point-of-view footage shows the moment a camera operator had to run for cover during what a Russian official said was Ukrainian shelling on Russian-controlled Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, 5 August.

The camera was following firefighters as they approached a university building in the city, which was burning after what Russian-installed mayor Alexei Kulemzin called a Ukrainian attack.

Moments later, a loud blast is heard and the camera operator runs away whilst crouching down.

Kulemzin said initial reports indicated the cause of the fire was an attack by Ukrainian forces using cluster munitions - this has not been independently verified.

Watch:

Ukraine: Moment camera operator runs for safety during shelling in Donetsk

Russia attacks eastern Ukraine over 9,000 times in recent days, deputy defence minister says

Monday 7 August 2023 13:06 , Eleanor Noyce

Kyiv has pushed back Putin’s forces around Bakhmut despite “continuous” artillery fire, Ukraine has said.

Hanna Maliar, the deputy minister of defence of Ukraine, said that Russia has attacked eastern Ukraine over 9,000 times in recent days.

“The enemy spent almost half a million rounds of ammunition in the East last week alone”, Ms Maliar said, adding that “our fighters continued offensive operations on the Bakhmut front under such continuous artillery fire.”

The news comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that advanced air defence systems, including the US-built Patriot and Germany’s IRIS-T, were proving “highly effective” and had “already yielded significant results.”

Zelensky said Ukraine had shot down a significant part of Moscow’s attacks over the past week, which included 65 missiles of various kinds and 178 assault drones, including 87 Shaheds - despite waves of Russian air strikes that Kyiv says targeted residential buildings and civilians, leaving some dead.

Kyiv struck and damaged the Chonhar road bridge linking mainland Ukraine to Russian-occupied Crimea and a smaller bridge linking the town of Henichesk with the peninsula’s northeast coast on Sunday, Moscow-appointed officials and Ukraine’s armed forces said.

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Monday 7 August 2023 13:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine has been raging for one year now as the conflict continues to record devastating casualties and force the mass displacement of millions of blameless Ukrainians.

Vladimir Putin began the war by claiming Russia’s neighbour needed to be “demilitarised and de-Nazified”, a baseless pretext on which to launch a landgrab against an independent state that happens to have a Jewish president in Volodymyr Zelensky.

Read more:

Here’s why Putin really invaded Ukraine

ICYMI: Russia’s war with Ukraine has generated its own fog, and mis- and disinformation are everywhere

Monday 7 August 2023 12:30 , Eleanor Noyce

On the battlefields of Ukraine, the fog of war plagues soldiers. And far from the fighting, a related and just as disorienting miasma afflicts those who seek to understand what’s happening in the vast war.

Disinformation, misinformation and absent information all cloud civilians’ understanding. Officials from each side denounce devious plots being prepared by the enemy, which never materialize. They claim victories that can’t be confirmed — and stay quiet about defeats.

Jim Heintz has more:

Russia's war with Ukraine has generated its own fog, and mis- and disinformation are everywhere

In pictures: Serhiy Prytula crowdfunds for Ukrainian military

Monday 7 August 2023 12:06 , Eleanor Noyce

Serhiy Prytula, a former stand-up comedian whose crowdfunding campaigns for the Ukrainian military have made him a national hero, has been pictured alongside volunteers loading equipment for the army.

Crouching beside Ukrainian-made kamikaze drones on a runway, TV star Serhiy Prytula appears keen to taunt Moscow with a crowdfunded fleet that experts have linked with recent strikes inside Russia.