Ukraine reports attacks on seven Russian command posts. In addition, 13 “objects where Russian forces are concentrated” were attacked, according to the Ukrainian military in its regular situation report. Where these goals lie remains an open question. In addition, Russian attacks on several cities in the Donetsk region in the east, including Bakhmut, were repelled. Earlier, a senior pro-Russian separatist in Donetsk said Ukrainian forces had attacked the Russian military-held town of Balakliia in the Kharkiv region. Should Balakliia fall, Russian forces at Izyum would be vulnerable on their northwestern flank, Daniil Bessonov explained on Telegram. Balakliia is located between Kharkiv and Izyum, a city with an important railway junction for Russian supplies.
+++ 07:37 Lavrov demands more details on the IAEA report on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant +++
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is demanding further explanations on parts of the IAEA report on the situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Russia has already sent a corresponding request to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reports the Russian news agency Interfax, citing the minister. On Tuesday, the UN agency IAEA called for the establishment of a security zone around the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, in the vicinity of which fighting has been going on for weeks. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on both warring parties to set up a demilitarized zone around the nuclear power plant. As a first step, they would have to undertake not to undertake any military activities towards or from the nuclear power plant, Guterres told the UN Security Council.
+++ 07:04 Russian expert: Ukraine will have the upper hand in winter +++
The Ukrainian army will have the upper hand over the Russian armed forces in winter, says analyst at the independent Russian investigative organization Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), Kyrylo Mykhailov, in an interview with NV radio. According to Mykhailov, intercepted telephone conversations between Russian troops indicate that Moscow’s mobilized “volunteer” force is struggling with an acute shortage of proper winter equipment. “I don’t think the Russian army is able to solve this problem fast enough,” says Mykhailov. Any combat missions are more difficult to conduct in winter, Mykhailov adds. However, the Ukrainian army receives winter equipment “both from international partners and from Ukrainian civilians” and has a “certain advantage” over the Russian armed forces.
+++ 06:35 Ukrainian weapons coordinator: German equipment is not enough for another month +++
The Ukrainian arms coordinator Rustem Umerov is demanding new arms deliveries from Germany. “The German equipment that has been delivered so far isn’t even enough to last another month,” he told Der Spiegel. “We need at least ten times as much, of everything. The combat intensity is extremely high, and this intensity is deadly. We have now been promised that the industry will reproduce, but financiers must still be found who will then pay for the defense industry .” Ukraine needs more howitzers and infantry fighting vehicles, as well as air defense weapons. According to Umerov, Germany is “working on a mechanism to deliver”.
+++ 06:02 Russian court also revokes the license for the magazine of the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” +++
Russia revokes the license of a magazine published by the country’s main independent newspaper. A court in Moscow revoked the license of “Novaya Rasskas-Gazeta”, the medium announced in the online networks. The day before, the Russian authorities had already revoked the newspaper’s printing license, triggering international criticism. None of the two offers may be printed without a license. The decision follows a complaint from Russia’s media regulator. According to them, too much time has passed between the registration of the magazine name in 2009 and the publication of a first issue in July 2022. The authority did not say why it had waited so long to file its complaint, Novaya Gazeta said. “Novaya Gazeta” had already ceased publication in print and online in March as part of the campaign against critics of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Independent Russian media have been under great pressure for years.
+++ 05:15 100 ships with food have left Ukraine +++
Since the resumption of grain exports from Ukraine, around 100 ships with 2.5 million tons of agricultural products on board have left the country. According to the Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, the state news agency Anadolu said. Agricultural exports via Ukraine’s Black Sea ports were blocked for months because of the Russian war of aggression. War opponents Ukraine and Russia then signed an agreement separately with Turkey on July 22, with UN mediation, to allow grain exports from Ukraine from three ports.
+++ 04:04 Balts warn Germans against giving in to Putin +++
Against the background of rising energy prices and an imminent gas shortage in winter, the Baltic states have warned the Germans against giving in to Russia. “The fact that some say you have to give in to the blackmailer is extremely dangerous,” Latvia’s Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins told the newspaper “Welt” according to the preliminary report. “The energy crisis will be a problem this winter, maybe next. Then not anymore.” According to the newspaper, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said the only solution was to push Russia back into its borders. “Anything else means that the aggression has paid off for him.” That would be an invitation and no state could feel safe anymore.
+++ 02:56 Guterres calls for demilitarized zone around nuclear power plant +++
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling on Russia and Ukraine to draw a demilitarized zone around the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. As a first step, both sides would have to commit themselves not to undertake any military activities towards or from the nuclear power plant, he told the UN Security Council. The International Atomic Energy Agency has also called for the establishment of a safe zone around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
+++ 02:36 Biden does not want to classify Russia as a “terror supporter” +++
The government of US President Joe Biden rejects the classification of Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism”. This move is “not the most effective or strongest way” to “hold Russia accountable,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. Rather, a classification as a “terrorist state” is counterproductive, since it could impede the delivery of aid to war-ravaged Ukraine or impair United Nations mediation with Turkey on grain exports from blocked Ukrainian ports.
+++ 01:26 Selenskyj advisor: counter-offensives in two places in the east +++
According to security expert Oleksiy Arestovych, the Ukrainian army has launched a counter-offensive in two places in the east and south of the country attacked by Russia. The adviser in the Presidential Office in Kyiv did not name the locations. That is a matter for the general staff, he said in a video interview with an opposition Russian lawyer. The double attack is intended to tie up Russian reserves and prevent the Russian army from reinforcing one sector of the front at the expense of the other. His information could not be verified. However, war correspondents for Russian state television named the town of Balakliya in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv as a target. A Ukrainian counterattack has been underway in the Cherson region in the south of the country since last week.
+++ 00:44 Selenskyj: Shot down five Russian missiles +++
According to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, Ukrainian forces have shot down five Russian cruise missiles. “This morning alone, five out of six Russian X-101 missiles were shot down,” says Zelenskyj in his evening address. “This is a costly loss for Russia and saves many Ukrainian lives.” Reuters was unable to independently verify the information and there was initially no immediate response from Russia.
+++ 00:12 Selenskyj welcomes EU entry restrictions for Russians +++
The Ukrainian President welcomes the upcoming tightening of entry conditions for Russians in the European Union. “It is necessary to show the citizens of this terror state that they are morally responsible for their state’s aggression against Ukraine and the whole of Europe,” said Zelenskyy in his video address. The EU could suspend an agreement with Russia on easier visa issuance as early as next Monday. This makes it more difficult and expensive for Russians to obtain a visa to enter the EU. That is not yet a complete visa ban, said Zelenskyj. But he thanks the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for this step. The restrictions are not only about the moral side, but also about safety. “Russia has repeatedly sent killers to Europe under the guise of ordinary tourists.”
+++ 23:30 IAEA boss: “Something very, very catastrophic could happen” +++
After his trip to the endangered Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) raised the alarm before the Security Council. “We are playing with fire and something very, very catastrophic could happen,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told the UN Security Council in New York. The shelling of the building is extremely dangerous. Military vehicles in the facility’s buildings would have to be removed, Grossi said. The external power supply of the reactors must also be ensured in order to ensure, among other things, the cooling of the nuclear power plant. Russian forces are occupying the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in the south of the country. Kyiv and Moscow blame each other for shelling the facility.
+++ 22:47 Truss accepts invitation to Ukraine +++
The new British Prime Minister Liz Truss spoke to the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the evening. It was her first phone call with a colleague since her appointment, Truss’s office said. It was also said that she would soon visit Ukraine. She accepted a corresponding invitation from Zelenskyj. Selenskyj explained on Twitter that both had agreed to continue their close cooperation.
+++ 10:01 p.m. Extension of EU sanctions: Hungary threatens blockade +++
According to EU diplomats, Hungary is threatening to block the extension of sanctions against Russia. According to several officials, the country wants to use the action to force the punitive measures against three Russian oligarchs to be lifted. Specifically, these are Alisher Usmanov, Pyotr Aven and Viktor Rashnikov. EU diplomats point out that Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban still maintains a very good relationship with Putin and has already torpedoed punitive measures several times in the past few months. Because of Hungary’s resistance, the EU had to forego planned sanctions against the Russian Orthodox Church leader, Patriarch Kirill, and a complete oil embargo.
Earlier developments surrounding the Ukraine war read here.