Our live coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine has moved here.
July 31, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news
By Kathleen Magramo, Brad Lendon, Joshua Berlinger, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Aditi Sangal, Mike Hayes, Elise Hammond and Maureen Chowdhury, CNN
Updated 12:29 a.m. ET, August 1, 2023
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Drone hits a building in Moscow, city's mayor says
From CNN's Josh Pennington
A drone has struck the same building in Moscow that was hit on Sunday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Tuesday.
"Several drones that were trying to fly into Moscow were shot down by [our] air defense. One flew into the same tower in [Moscow] City as last time. The facade at the 17th floor was damaged," the mayor said.
Some background: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that war is “gradually returning” to Russia after the Kremlin accused Kyiv of targeting Moscow with drones.
The Russian defense ministry said three drones were intercepted Sunday, but a business and shopping development in the west of the capital was hit. The fifth and sixth floors of a 50-story building were damaged, and no casualties were reported, state news agency TASS reported.
Videos showed debris as well as emergency services at the scene.
"Russians are attacking Kharkiv with drones," city's mayor says
From CNN's Maria Kostenko and Josh Pennington
Three explosions were heard in Kharkiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district, the city's mayor Ihor Terekhov posted to Telegram.
“Russians are attacking Kharkiv with drones,” he posted.
There were at least three strikes that hit "densely population areas" of the city center, Terekhov said.
"One of the drones damaged two floors of a dormitory. There is a fire there. State Emergency Service units are at work. Information about the victims is currently being clarified," he added.
Serhiy Melnyk, commander of the Ukrainian troops in the Kharkiv region, said Russia had used a Shahed drone.
“Information on casualties and damage is being updated. Stay in your shelters until the air raid alert is over!” Melnyk wrote in Telegram.
Kharkiv is a city in northeast Ukraine.
Putin will not survive even 10 more years, Zelensky says
From CNN’s Shirin Faqiri
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky predicted Russian President Vladimir Putin will not survive "even 10 more years."
In clips from the interview with Brazilian outlet Globo, posted to his Telegram page on Monday, Zelensky was asked if he thinks Ukraine is similar to the war in Syria and whether Ukraine could end up like Syria.
“No, it is not possible because Putin will not live that many years. He did not fight in Syria at the pace he is fighting us. The war in Syria is different,” Zelensky said.
The Russian president “will not survive even 10 more years, he is not the same character anymore,” Zelensky said, adding that the actions of the Russian troops on the battlefield “prove that today Russia is unable to occupy Ukraine completely and destroy us.”
Russia intensifies attacks after attempted drone strikes on Moscow and in Crimea. Here's what to know
From CNN staff
At least six people were killed, including one child, following Russian missile strikes on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to him and other officials.
Attacks were also reported early Tuesday by Ukrainian officials on the northeast city of Kharkiv.
The airstrikes come as Russia intensified attacks on Ukraine in response to attempted drone strikes on Moscow on Sunday, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Meanwhile, Kyiv's counteroffensive has gone slower than expected, with Russian troops putting up tough resistance as Ukrainian soldiers attempt to break through the front lines.
Here's what to know:
- Kryvyi Rih strikes: People in the central Ukrainian city said they did not hear any air raid sirens before two Russian missiles struck on Monday. One of the missiles hit an educational building, the acting director of the university said. At least six people were killed and 69 others were injured, according to Zelensky and other officials. Dozens are people are in the hospital and some are in critical condition, the president said.
- Elsewhere the front lines: Ukrainian authorities reported modest territorial gains around the front lines of the city of Bakhmut, which has seen some of the war's fiercest fighting. Russia's main efforts focused south of Bakhmut, attacking the small cities of Avdiivka and Mariinka, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said. Russian shelling of the city of Kherson killed at least four people and injured 17 others, said Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
- Attacks on Moscow: Kyiv attempted several attacks on Russian territory using unmanned aerial vehicles over the weekend. Russia said Sunday it had downed or intercepted three drones over Moscow and another 25 over the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula. A Kremlin spokesperson called said they are "acts of desperation."
Another nuclear threat: Former Russian president and current top official Dmitry Medvedev again said Russia may be forced to use nuclear weapons if Ukraine’s counteroffensive succeeds. The White House and other Western officials and analysts have criticized those comments as irresponsible and reckless.
Upcoming peace talks: Saudi Arabia is set to host Ukraine peace talks including Western and several developing countries, according to Yermak. Russia is not expected to be there, but the Kremlin said it will be "monitoring" the talks and that Russia doesn't have any “prerequisites” when it comes to ending the war, a Kremlin spokesperson said. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is expected to attend, US officials said.
Food exports: Ukraine and Croatia have agreed on the “possibility” of using Croatian ports on the Danube River to export Ukrainian grain, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. The announcement follows Russia’s withdrawal from the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative, sparking concerns from world leaders about a food crisis.
Child among those killed in Russian strikes on Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky says
From CNN's Josh Pennington
At least one child was killed in the Russian missile strikes that hit Kryvyi Rih on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his nightly address.
Overall, he said six people were killed and 69 others were injured. Dozens of people are being treated in the hospital and some are in critical condition, Zelensky said.
Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko posted to Telegram earlier confirming those numbers. The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region military administration, Serhii Lysak, reported six dead and more than 70 injured in the strikes.
The missiles were launched from the area of Dzhankoy in Russian-occupied Crimea, according to Zelensky.
The Ukrainian leader repeated his call for weaponry to defend against Russian attacks.
"For the protection of the normal life of Ukrainians and our children, our military must have sufficient long-range weaponry, the sufficient capacity to defeat terrorists," he said.
White House calls Russian defense official's comments on nuclear weapons "reckless and irresponsible"
From CNN's Arlette Saenz
The White House is criticizing senior Russian defense official Dmitry Medvedev’s comments suggesting Russia may resort to nuclear weapons if Ukraine is successful in its counteroffensive.
A National Security Council spokesperson called the rhetoric "reckless and irresponsible" on Monday. So far, the US has not seen any indications Russia is preparing to turn to nuclear weapons, the spokesperson added.
“The use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine — or anywhere — would be disastrous for the world and would have severe consequences for Russia," the spokesperson said.
“We continue to monitor this closely, but we have not seen any reason to adjust our own nuclear posture nor any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” they added.
Some context: Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, made the comments in a Telegram post. They are the latest in a series of nuclear threats made by Moscow since launching its war against Ukraine.
"Just imagine that the offensive… in tandem with NATO, succeeded and ended up with part of our land being taken away. Then we would have to use nuclear weapons by virtue of the stipulations of the Russian Presidential Decree,” Medvedev said in the post.
“There simply wouldn’t be any other solution,” he added. “Our enemies should pray to our fighters that they do not allow the world to go up in nuclear flames.”
US President Joe Biden said earlier this month that he does not believe Russia would deploy nuclear weapons.
Biden administration official expected to attend Ukraine peace talks in Saudi Arabia, US officials say
From CNN's Kylie Atwood
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is expected to attend peace talks on the war in Ukraine next week in Saudi Arabia, US officials said.
Ukraine is taking the lead on the effort which is expected to be attended by Western countries and developing nations. Russia is not expected to attend the talks.
Ukraine’s goal is that the talks work to identify shared principles for ending the war and that there is a peace summit later this year with global leaders signing up to support those principles, US officials said.
The talks hosted in Saudi Arabia are the second in a series of meetings organized by the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak. The first talks took place earlier this year in Copenhagen.
Saudi Arabia was picked for the talks in part because of the country’s relationship with China, one US official explained. While China is not expected to attend the talks, US officials have publicly encouraged China in recent months to play a constructive role in resolving the Ukraine war though there has been no signal of China taking any proactive steps towards a peaceful end.
“I reiterated that we would welcome China playing a constructive role along with other nations to work toward a just peace, based on the principles of the United Nations Charter,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Beijing in June.
At least 4 dead and 17 injured by shelling in Kherson, Ukrainian official says
From CNN's Maria Kostenko
Ukraine says Russian shelling of the city of Kherson has killed at least 4 people and injured 17 others, the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, Andrii Yermak posted on Telegram on Monday.
“The enemy is hitting residential areas,” Yermak wrote. “The Korabelny district and the central part of the city suffered the most. There are 4 dead and 17 wounded as of now.”
Local officials said Russia had intensified shelling on the city to provide cover for rotating troops.
“Such intensity of shelling is due to the rotation of enemy troops on the left bank [of the Dnipro river],” the head of Kherson region military administration Oleksandr Prokudin wrote in a telegram post on Monday. “Russia has replenished its forces that our Armed Forces had previously destroyed.”
