Liveblog: ++ FSB reports traces of explosives on grain ship ++

The Russian secret service FSB has discovered traces of explosives on a ship that is said to have been sailing from Turkey to Russia. Ukraine reports Russian attacks on Odessa. The developments in the live blog.

A year after Pope Francis’ failed meeting with the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Cyril I in Jerusalem, there is new speculation about a possible meeting between the two church leaders. According to an alleged middleman, Francis is said to have suggested a meeting in about six weeks at an airport in Moscow to Cyril I.

The head of the World Union of Old Believers Leonid Sevostyanov told Russia’s state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti on Sunday that the pope had told him in a phone call that he could stop in Moscow on August 31 on his flight to Mongolia or on his way back on September 4 and meet with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church at the airport if he was ready. So far, there has been no confirmation from the Vatican.

According to official information, another ammunition depot was hit in a drone attack on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which has been annexed by Russia since 2014. Eleven drones were shot down over Crimea or caused to crash by radio jamming, said Moscow’s governor Sergey Aksyonov on his Telegram channel. However, there was an “impact in the ammunition depot in the Dschankoj district”. Videos with a large cloud of smoke can be seen on social networks. In addition, a residential building in the south of the peninsula was damaged.

Dzhankoy is a district in northeastern Crimea. Many camps and depots for supplying the Russian occupying forces in southern Ukraine are housed here. The most important supply line for these units runs through the Crimea. Aksyonov did not provide any specific information about the impact of the hit in the ammunition depot. Rail and vehicle traffic on the route between Dzhankoy and the regional capital Simferopol was suspended. The neighboring towns are to be evacuated. Two ammunition depots in Crimea were hit in attacks last week.

According to a media report from the EU leadership, several members of the European Parliament around the German MP Udo Bullmann (SPD) are calling for better protection for Russian conscientious objectors. In a cross-party open letter, which is available to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”, they demand more commitment to protect soldiers who refuse to take part in the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.

In the letter, which is addressed to EU Council President Charles Michel, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the signatories stress “that it is the duty of the European Union and its member states to protect Russian conscientious objectors and to grant them asylum”. More than 600 Russians who refused to take part in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine are being held in 13 illegal detention camps in the occupied Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

According to official information, three people were injured in new Russian drone attacks on the Ukrainian port region of Odessa on the Black Sea. The air defense repelled some drones, but there were also hits in Danube ports, said the Army Office South. Three dockers were injured, spokeswoman Natalya Humenyuk said. A grain silo and several other warehouses in the port were damaged.

After the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain expired, Russia increasingly attacked the Odessa region with drones and rockets. The metropolis itself also comes under fire again and again. On the night of Sunday there were hits in the old town, which has been declared a World Heritage Site, and the Russian Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration was badly damaged. At least one person was killed and more than 20 were injured.

As the British Ministry of Defense reports in its daily update with reference to intelligence sources, Russian schoolchildren are to be taught the basics of using combat drones. Russian Senator Artem Sheikin announced that the lessons would include terrain reconnaissance and ways to combat enemy unmanned aerial vehicles.

The lessons concern tenth and eleventh grades from September. Britain spoke of an “attempt to cultivate a culture of militarized patriotism rather than developing real skills.”

The Russian state-run news agency Tass reported, citing the Russian secret service FSB, that it had found traces of explosives on a ship that was heading from Turkey to the port of Rostov-on-Don to collect grain. The FSB was quoted as saying the ship was docked in Ukraine’s port of Kiliya in May and may have been used to deliver explosives to Ukraine.

A week ago, Russia pulled out of the United Nations-Turkey-brokered deal to export grain from Ukraine.

The Swiss lawyer and corruption fighter Mark Pieth is demanding more action from his home country against Russian helpers. Switzerland is a global hub in commodities trading, but the industry is acting completely uncontrolled, Pieth told the dpa news agency. “This can now be seen in the context of the sanctions against Russia. The Geneva commodity trading center plays a major role in circumventing the sanctions.”

Western countries have been dissatisfied with the Swiss mission since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began. They criticize the refusal to pass on Swiss armaments to Ukraine or – in their opinion – insufficient search for oligarch funds that could be blocked.

According to Russian information, Moscow was attacked by two drones during the night. No one was injured and there was no major damage, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, according to the state news agency TASS. On Telegram he spoke of two buildings that had been hit. These are not residential buildings.

The Russian Defense Ministry said an attempt by Ukraine to carry out a terrorist attack in Moscow using two drones had been foiled. A drone was spotted in the center of the capital, and another hit an office building in the south of the city, said an emergency services employee. An explosion was heard.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, drones had already been shot down over the Moscow area in early July. The Ministry of Defense blamed Ukraine for the drone strikes. There were also drone attacks on the capital Moscow in May. According to the authorities, houses were also damaged and people were injured in an attack at the end of May.

A few days after Moscow halted the grain deal, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was ready to replace Ukrainian grain supplies. “I want to assure that our country is able to replace Ukrainian grain on both a commercial and gratuitous basis, especially as we expect another bumper harvest this year,” he wrote in an article published on the Kremlin’s website for African media on the occasion of a Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, starting Thursday. Despite the sanctions imposed by the West, Russia will continue to work “vigorously” to supply African countries with grain, food, fertilizers and more, it said.

Russian President Putin has described the Ukrainian counter-offensive as a “failure”. Rheinmetall wants to start delivering new ammunition for the “Gepard” tank to Ukraine in the coming days. The developments from Sunday to read.