Russia hits back at Ukrainian forces in Kursk
- Russian forces attacked Ukrainian troops with missiles, drones and air strikes in actions that one senior commander said had halted Ukraine’s advance, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defence.
- Ukraine restricts movement of civilians within a 20km (12.4 mile) zone in a northeastern region bordering Russia, Kyiv’s general staff said, as its troops push further into Russian territory amid a week-old surprise offensive.
Russia cancels banking licence of American Express subsidiary
Russia’s central bank has cancelled the banking licence of American Express Co’s Russian subsidiary after the US lender’s unit filed a voluntary liquidation request.
Russian President Vladimir Putin decreed in May that American Express could liquidate its Russian business, a little over two years after the company had suspended all its operations in Russia in response to what the bank called Russia’s “unjustified attack on the people of Ukraine”.
The bank ranked 300th in Russia’s banking system in terms of assets, the central bank said.
Since mid-2022, foreign banks have required Putin’s approval to exit the market or sell stakes in their Russian business.
Russia’s corporate registry, SPARK, showed that the bank’s Russian unit filed a liquidation application in early July.
How much Russian territory does Ukraine control?
- As of Monday, Ukraine controlled at least 800 square kilometres (308 square miles) of territory in Russia’s Kursk region, according to an analysis by the news agency AFP using data provided by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
- Ukraine’s army chief, Oleksandr Syrskii, said Kyiv controls about 1,000sq km (386sq miles) of Kursk on Monday.
- Russia has admitted that Ukrainian units have driven deep into the country, saying on Sunday they had reached as far as 30km (20 miles) from the border.
- At least 28 Kursk villages are now under Ukraine’s control, the region’s governor reported on Monday.
- Kyiv was also in control of at least the western part of Sudzha, with the central and eastern parts contested “grey zones”, ISW reported in an assessment on Monday.
- Ukraine made its biggest gains in the first two days of the incursion, penetrating “at least two Russian defensive lines”, the ISW said on August 7. The ISW later reported that since Russia has rushed reinforcements to the area, the rate of Ukraine’s advance into the region has slowed.
UN rights office concerned about civilians after Ukraine offensive in Russia
The UN’s human rights agency spokesperson says it is concerned about the possible impact of recent military developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine in response to a question about Ukraine’s recent cross-border assault on the Kursk region.
“Wherever military operations are occurring by either side, the protection of civilians and civilian objects in accordance with international humanitarian law must be the top priority,” the spokesperson told a briefing.
The UN has unverified reports of four civilians killed, plus one male war correspondent and one female paramedic injured, she added.
It has not been able to establish under what circumstances the casualties occurred.
What’s behind Russia’s ‘soft power’ moves on Israel-Palestine?
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is in Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin. In their first face-to-face meeting since 2021, the pair are expected to discuss Israel’s war on Gaza.
The Kremlin has maintained relations with both Israel and Palestine, but experts say its actual sway over the conflict is limited, and the meeting has more of a symbolic nature.
Two killed by Ukrainian shelling in Lysychansk: Report
Russian state news agency TASS, citing Russian-appointed local authorities, reports that two people have been killed after Ukrainian forces shelled a bus with civilians onboard in the Russian-held city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine.
Russian-installed officials earlier said that more than 30 people had been wounded in the attack.
Russia steps up assaults on Pokrovsk front in Ukraine’s east
The Ukrainian military says that Russian forces have stepped up their attacks on the Pokrovsk front in eastern Ukraine over the last day, reporting the largest number of battles in the area in a single day in a week.
Russian forces have been trying to advance towards the Kyiv-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk for months, inching forwards incrementally and taking advantage of greater troop numbers.
In a daily read-out, the Ukrainian military’s general staff said there had been 52 battles on the Pokrovsk front, a visible increase from the figures of between 28 and 42 per day reported over the past week.
The Russian attacks in the last 24 hours were focused around the villages of Hrodivka and Zhelanne, located about 20km (12.4 miles) from Pokrovsk, the general staff said.
According to the Ukrainian read-out, the battles on the Pokrovsk front accounted for more than a third of all the battles reported along a 1,000km (620-mile) front.
Russian strikes wound 1, damage civilian facilities overnight: Ukrainian officials
Ukraine’s air force says Russia launched 38 attack drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight.
Thirty of the drones were destroyed over eight Ukrainian regions, it said on the Telegram app. It was not clear what happened to the weapons that were not destroyed.
Sumy regional authorities said the attack had injured one person and damaged a power line and a gas pipeline, leaving some residents of the city of Sumy without electricity and gas.
The authorities said a hospital building and several cars in the region were also damaged.
Ukraine restricts civilian movements in border area of Sumy region
Kyiv’s general staff says Ukraine is restricting the movement of civilians within a 20km (12.4-mile) zone in the northeastern region bordering Russia as its troops push further into Russian territory.
The measure was needed due to an “increase in the intensity of hostilities” and the activation of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the area, it said.
“The military command imposed restrictions on the movement of all categories of citizens in the twenty-kilometre border zone of the Sumy region,” it said in a statement on social media.
The general staff added that the measure was temporary and that residents of the newly restricted area could still access their homes by showing proof of registration.
Russian forces target Ukrainian troops with air strikes in Kursk region
Russia’s defence ministry has published footage of Sukhoi Su-34 bombers striking what it said were Ukrainian troops in the Kursk border region, and of infantry storming Ukrainian positions.
“The uncontrolled ride of the enemy has already been halted,” said Major General Apti Alaudinov, the commander of the Chechen Akhmat special forces unit, according to the Reuters news agency. “The enemy is already aware that the blitzkrieg that it planned did not work out.”
Ukrainian soldiers broke through the Russian border a week ago in a surprise attack that Russian President Vladimir Putin said was aimed at improving Kyiv’s negotiating position ahead of possible talks and slowing the advance of Russian forces along the front.
The incursion prompted Moscow to evacuate at least 200,000 people while it rushed into reserves and imposed a security lockdown.
