Saturday, August 5, 2023
2129 GMT – A university building in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine was in flames following Ukrainian shelling, the Russian-installed mayor of the city said.
"As a result of the latest attack on Donetsk, the first building of the University of Economics and Trade is on fire," Alexei Kulemzin, the Russian-installed mayor, said on Telegram.
He said preliminary information indicated the cause of the fire was an attack by Ukrainian forces using cluster munitions.
Ukraine, which received supplies of cluster munitions from the United States last month, has vowed to use them only to dislodge concentrations of enemy soldiers.
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2210 GMT – Russia deploys fighter jet to intercept US UAV above Black Sea
The Russian Defence Ministry said it deployed a Su-30 fighter jet after it detected an MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from the US approaching the above the Black Sea.
To identify the target and prevent any violations of state borders, the Russian Aerospace Forces launched the Su-30 fighter aircraft for air defence duties.
"The crew of the Russian fighter aircraft identified the airborne target as an MQ-9A Reaper reconnaissance UAV belonging to the United States Air Force," it said.
After the approach of the Russian aircraft, the UAV reportedly retreated from the border.
"The Russian fighter aircraft safely returned to its base, not allowing any violation of the Russian Federation's state border. The flight of the Russian aircraft was conducted in compliance with international rules governing the use of neutral waters in the airspace," it added.
2017 GMT – Zelenskyy says Russian bomb hits blood transfusion centre
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said a Russian-guided aerial bomb hit a blood transfusion centre in the town of Kupiansk in the eastern Kharkiv region.
"There are dead and wounded," he said on his Telegram channel.
Kupiansk is a railway hub fewer than 16 kilometres from the front.
Zelenskyy said rescue workers were extinguishing a fire at the scene and described the strike as a "war crime."
He did not say how many people were killed or wounded.
1848 GMT – Turkish foreign minister, Ukrainian counterpart discuss Black Sea grain deal
Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba have spoken over the phone and discussed steps that can be taken for the revival of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.
On July 17, Russia suspended its participation in the Black Sea grain deal, saying the Russian part of the agreement was not implemented.
It sought the loosening of banking restrictions and the ability to ship its fertiliser before returning to the agreement.
The agreement, signed in July 2022 in Istanbul by Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine, was aimed at resuming grain exports from Ukrainian ports halted due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022.
Türkiye has said that Western countries should try to address Russia's complaints and that it hopes Russia returns to the deal.
Russia says it would punish Ukraine for using sea drone to attack civilian tanker
Russia has said it would punish Ukraine for using a sea drone to attack a civilian tanker near the Kerch Strait in what it said was a "terrorist act" that threatened the lives of the crew and risked "a large-scale environmental disaster".
Both sides said that a Ukrainian sea drone full of explosives had struck a Russian fuel tanker overnight near a bridge linking Russia to occupied Crimea, the second such attack in 24 hours.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow would retaliate.
"The Kiev regime, meeting no condemnation from Western countries and international organisations, is actively applying new terrorist methods, this time in the waters of the Black Sea," Zakharova said in a statement.
"There can be no justification for such barbaric actions, they will not go unanswered and their authors and perpetrators will inevitably be punished."
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggested Moscow would launch more strikes against Ukrainian ports in response to Kiev's attacks on Russian ships in the Black Sea and threatened to hand Ukraine "an ecological catastrophe".
1812 GMT — Russian missile strike hits Ukraine aeronautics firm: Zelenskyy
A Russian missile strike has hit a facility of the Ukrainian aeronautics group Motor Sich, one of several companies requisitioned by the government since the war began, President Zelenskyy said.
"Today there was another Russian missile attack against our country. Kinzhals, Calibers. They hit Motor Sich" near Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine, around 300 kilometres southwest of Kiev, Zelenskyy said in his evening address.
1450 GMT — Thousands of buildings destroyed in Ukraine’s Nikopol: Mayor
More than 4,100 buildings, institutions and businesses have been destroyed in the Ukrainian city of Nikopol since the beginning of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, a local official said.
Some 20 civilians have lost their lives, while 143 residents have been injured so far due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022, Oleksandr Sayuk, the mayor of Nikopol, told Anadolu.
"In the pre-war period, 105,000 people had been living in Nikopol. Now only 50,000 people remained in the city. The rest have moved to other parts of the country or went abroad," Sayuk said.
The city faced water shortages after the explosion of the Kakhovka Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant in early June, he said.
"After the explosion of the power plant, the water level dropped to very low levels. The water is almost gone. There is water only in the Dnipro River. There was no water in Nikopol for a while. Now, the water shorta ge problem has been partially resolved," he added.
1156 GMT — Several Russian Black Sea ports in 'war risk area', Ukraine warns
Six Russian Black Sea ports are in a "war risk area", the Ukrainian agency for navigation and hydrographic services has warned.
The agency said in a statement on its website that the warning applied to the ports of Anapa, Novorossiysk, Gelendzhik, Tuapse, Sochi and Taman.
1108 GMT — Russia says its forces take control of village in eastern Ukraine
Russia's defence ministry has said its forces had taken control of the village of Novoselivske in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.
0551 GMT — Ukraine launches 'drone strike' on Russian tanker near Crimea
Ukraine has carried out a drone strike on a Russian tanker in the Kerch Strait, a source in the security service told AFP news agency, a day after one of Moscow's ships was hit in the Black Sea.
This is the latest of the increasingly frequent attacks in the Black Sea since Moscow exited a deal last month that had allowed Ukrainian grain exports there.
"Overnight the (Ukrainian Security Service) SBU blew up the 'SIG', a large oil tanker of the Russian Federation that was transporting fuel for Russian troops," the security source said.
It added that the "successful special operation", which involved a naval drone and explosives, was carried out jointly with the Navy on Ukrainian territorial waters.
The source said the targeted vessel "was well-loaded with fuel, so the 'fireworks' could be seen from afar."
Earlier, Russian authorities said the SIG tanker was hit around 2020 GMT (11:20 pm local time) on Friday south of the Kerch Strait.
0407 GMT — Ukraine expects difficult but successful talks in Saudi Arabia
Talks starting in Saudi Arabia this weekend to find a peaceful settlement to end Russia's war in Ukraine will be difficult, but Kiev is counting on persuading more countries to back its peace formula, the head of Kiev's delegation said.
"I expect that the conversation will be difficult, but behind us is truth, behind us — goodness," Andriy Yermak, head of President Zelenskyy's office and his key envoy for the talks, said in a television interview published on his Telegram messaging app.
0214 GMT — Saudi dives into Ukraine peace push with Jeddah talks
Saudi Arabia is set to host talks on the Ukraine war in the latest flexing of its diplomatic muscle, though expectations are mild for what the gathering might achieve.
The meeting of national security advisers and other officials in the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah underscores Riyadh's "readiness to exert its good offices to contribute to reaching a solution that will result in permanent peace," the official Saudi Press Agency said.
2334 GMT —Crimea residents report hearing loud blast 'near bridge'
Residents of Russian-occupied Crimea reported an explosion near the bridge linking the peninsula to the Russian mainland, but a Russia-backed official in the region denied the bridge had come under attack.
The engine room of a tanker was damaged in an attack by Ukraine in the Kerch Strait, an official from the Marine Rescue Coordination Center of Novorossiysk told TASS.
"The engine room was damaged but not significantly," the official said, adding that the crew of the tanker is safe.
Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the head of Crimea, stated that the loud sounds that were heard by the inhabitants of Kerch had nothing to do with the Crimean bridge, according to TASS.
For our live updates from Friday (August 4), click here.
