- 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.
- Russian forces step up their attacks on the Pokrovsk front in eastern Ukraine over the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian military said, reporting the largest number of battles in the area in a single day in a week.
- Romania defuses stray mine on its Black Sea shoreRomania’s navy has carried out a controlled explosion of a mine that had drifted to its Black Sea shore.Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey have a joint task force to defuse stray mines, which began floating in the Black Sea after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.Romania’s defence ministry said the navy was alerted by local officials early on Tuesday about an unidentified object that had washed up on shore near Grindul Chituc in southeastern Romania.The area is part of the Danube Delta, which Romania shares with Ukraine.“By examining photographs taken on site, the object is most likely an anti-landing seamine of the YaRM type,” the ministry said in a statement. The mine was detonated at around 0950 GMT, the ministry added.Since the war started, more than 100 drifting mines have been discovered and destroyed, the Romanian navy has said.
- Russia cancels banking licence of American Express subsidiaryRussia’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. Ukrainian troops, tanks traverse Sumy region
Ukrainian servicemen operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024 [Roman Pilipey/AFP - ]
- Ukrainian servicemen wait in a military vehicle to head for a combat mission, in the Sumy region, August 13 [Roman Pilipey/AFP]
- [Roman Pilipey/AFP]
- This photograph shows the area of the destroyed border crossing point with Russia in the Sumy region on August 13, 2024 [Roman Pilipey/AFP]
- 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.
Russia-Ukraine war live news: Russia hits back at Ukrainian forces in Kursk
