Here’s the latest on the conflict and its ripple effects across the globe.
U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said millions of people are at risk of hunger because of Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal, raising global grain prices and tensions in the Black Sea. Brokered by Turkey and the United Nations last year, the agreement had allowed the safe passage of ships carrying grain from Ukraine, a major exporter.
UNESCO condemned Russian attacks on the “historic center of Odessa,” which is protected under the World Heritage Convention. The U.N. cultural organization reported damage to sites including the Odessa maritime and literature museums.
Zelensky said the Crimean Bridge “is the road used to feed the war with ammunition,” in comments at the Aspen Security Forum. “And any target that is bringing war, not peace, has to be neutralized,” he said. Monday’s explosions on the bridge to Crimea — which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014 — killed two people. Russian officials condemned it as a “terrorist attack.”
A drone attack in Crimea caused an explosion at an ammunition depot, the Russian-backed head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said Saturday, blaming Ukraine. He said on Telegram that there were no initial reports of casualties or major damage, and that authorities had asked people near the site to evacuate temporarily.
Radar imagery appears to show newly arrived vehicles and equipment in Belarus, at a rumored base for fighters from the Wagner Group. The images, provided to The Washington Post by Maxar Technologies and Umbra, show that “dozens, if not hundreds, of vehicles and equipment have recently arrived at the facility,” according to Stephen Wood, senior director at Maxar. The images show an increase in materiel compared with previous imagery gathered on July 16.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive operations are expected to “gain pace,” Zelensky told attendees at the Aspen Security Forum, as Ukrainian forces try to retake ground from entrenched Russian troops. “We are already going through some mines’ locations and we are demining these areas,” Zelensky said.
Ukraine has become the world’s most mined country in a year and a half of conflict. Land mines — along with unexploded bombs, artillery shells and other deadly byproducts of war — have contaminated a swath of Ukraine roughly the size of Florida or Uruguay, The Post reports.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Ukraine’s use of cluster munitions was “having an impact” on Russian defenses. Human rights groups have criticized the U.S. provision of the widely banned munitions, and some NATO allies said they disagreed with the move. The Post reported this week that Ukraine has begun using the U.S.-provided munitions in the southeast.
Russia and China are conducting naval drills in the waters between South Korea and Japan that conclude Sunday. The exercises involve anti-submarine warfare maneuvers, “ensuring the security of communications in the waters and airspace” and joint artillery firing, according to Russian news agencies.
President Biden elevated CIA Director William J. Burns to his Cabinet. The symbolic move does not give Burns new authority, but it will be read as a victory for the CIA and it reflects the central role the spy chief has played in the administration’s foreign policy and his key role as a messenger to Russia, The Post’s Shane Harris reports.
China’s deputy U.N. ambassador called for the flow of grain exports to resume, urging the warring factions to work with the United Nations. At a U.N. Security Council meeting Friday on the halted grain deal, Geng Shuang said a solution was necessary to maintain “international food security and alleviating the food crisis in developing countries in particular.”
Russia arrests Igor Girkin, ex-security officer who led operations in Ukraine: Girkin, a former Russian commander in Ukraine, was detained on charges of promoting extremism. This marks the first time Moscow has taken action against a supporter of the war, but one who has voiced criticism of the top brass and their often botched military strategy, Mary Ilyushina reports.
Girkin is an ex-officer of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, and played a role in Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. He is now being accused of “public calls for extremist activities” online, Russian state news agencies reported.
David Stern and Natalia Abbakumova contributed to this report.
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