Key events
Russian-backed Donetsk leader pledges cooperation with North Korea
North Korea and the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine will develop “equally beneficial bilateral cooperation”, its self-appointed leader has said in a letter to Kim Jong-un, according to state media.
Denis Pushilin made the pledge in a message congratulating Kim on the 15 August Korean liberation day, North Korean state news agency KCNA reported, two days after reporting a similar message from Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to Kim.
“The people of the Donbas region, too, are fighting to regain their freedom and justice of history today just as the Korean people did 77 years ago,” the report cited Pushilin’s letter as saying.
“The message expressed the conviction that an equally beneficial bilateral cooperation agreeing with the interests of the peoples of the two countries will be achieved between the People’s Republic of Donetsk and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” KCNA added, using the official name of North Korea.
Pushilin has previously said he hoped for “fruitful cooperation” and increased trade with North Korea.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, 20,500 Jewish people are believed to have emigrated from Russia, according to Israeli Jewish agency Sokhnut.
The agency said around 165,000 people of Jewish origin lived in Russia before the Russian invasion, as cited by the BBC.
Moscow’s chief Rabbi, Pinchas Goldschmidt, resigned from the position on 6 July, a role he held for almost 30 years.
Two weeks after the start of the war, Goldschmidt and his family left Russia, first going to Hungary and then to Israel. He then resigned and opposed the war with Ukraine.
I felt that I had to do something to show that I had nothing to do with and did not agree with the invasion of Ukraine. But if I had done this while I was staying in Moscow, I would have put myself in danger,” Goldschmidt said.
UN chief to visit Ukraine for talks on grain and nuclear safety
The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, will travel to Ukraine to meet its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and Turkish president, Tayyip Erdoğan, on Thursday, it has been announced.
The leaders will review the UN-backed grain export deal and discuss “the need for a political solution to this conflict” as well as the situation at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Lviv in western Ukraine.
On Friday, Guterres will visit the Black Sea port of Odesa, where grain exports have resumed.
On Saturday, the top UN official will visit the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, which is made up of Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN. officials overseeing the Black Sea exports of Ukraine grain and fertiliser.
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments for the next short while. Whether you’ve been following our coverage overnight or you’ve just dropped in, here are the latest lines.
The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, will travel to Ukraine to meet its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and Turkish president, Tayyip Erdoğan, on Thursday. The leaders will review the UN-backed grain export deal and discuss “the need for a political solution to this conflict” as well as the situation at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
It is 7.30am in Ukraine. Here is everything you might have missed:
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Ukraine has hinted it was behind a series of mysterious and devastating strikes in occupied Crimea that destroyed a key railway junction used for supplying Russian troops and a military airbase. Several explosions on Tuesday appeared to have destroyed a Russian ammunition depot and an electricity substation about 125 miles (200km) from the frontline with Ukrainian forces. Russia blamed saboteurs for orchestrating the series of explosions.
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There could be more attacks in the “next two or three months” similar to the strikes in Crimea, a key adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in an exclusive interview with the Guardian. Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukraine is engaged in a counteroffensive aimed at creating “chaos within Russian forces” by striking at the invaders’ supply lines deep into occupied territories.
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The leaders of Ukraine, Turkey and the UN are set to meet to review the grain export deal in Lviv on Thursday. UN secretary-general António Guterres, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan will also discuss “the need for a political solution to this conflict” and the situation at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
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Ukraine’s nuclear operator reported what it called an “unprecedented” cyberattack on its website, but said its operations have not been disrupted. “On August 16, 2022, the most powerful cyberattack since the start of the Russian invasion occurred against Energoatom’s website,” the operator said, adding it “was attacked from Russian territory”.
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North Korea and the Russian-backed separatist Donetsk region of Ukraine will develop “equally beneficial bilateral cooperation”, Donetsk leader Denis Pushilin said in a letter to Kim Jong Un, North Korean state media reported on Wednesday.
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The first ship to depart Ukraine under a grain export deal docked in Syria on Tuesday, according to a shipping source and satellite data. Another ship carrying the first cargo of food aid bound for Africa also left Ukraine’s ports.
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Russia’s defence ministry has warned Britain against a planned spy plane flight over Russian territory, saying its air force has been given orders to prevent an intrusion. The ministry said the UK sent a notice informing about a planned flight of an RC-135 reconnaissance plane along a route that partly passes over Russian territory. “We regard this action as a deliberate provocation,” the ministry said.
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Estonian authorities removed a Soviet-era tank from its pedestal in the eastern city of Narva, the most significant removal yet out of an estimated 200 to 400 such monuments that the government has pledged to take down by the end of the year. “No one wants to see our militant and hostile neighbour foment tensions in our home,” prime minister, Kaja Kallas, said on Tuesday. Estonia will also this week close its border to more than 50,000 Russians with previously issued visas.
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Finland announced it will cut the number of visas it issues to Russians to 10% of current volumes from 1 September after Russian tourists begun using the country as a gateway to European holiday destinations. Finland will also join the Baltic states in jointly proposing the discontinuation of an EU visa facilitation agreement with Russia that makes it easier and cheaper for Russians to travel to and within the EU, foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, said.
