An ‘extremely fierce battle’ in the eastern city of Bakhmut and explosions reported near key Crimean bridge
An “extremely fierce battle is going on” in the long-contested eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, has said, with Ukrainian forces advancing “slowly but confidently” south of the city while securing control of positions north of it. “The Russians are throwing huge numbers of forces into the Bakhmut area,” she said on national TV. “It has been important for us to establish ourselves on dominant heights in these areas.” Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had made air and artillery strikes on the key village of Klishchiivka south of Bakhmut and surrounding towns, knocking out Ukrainian vehicles and equipment.
Residents of Russian-occupied Crimea reported an explosion near the bridge linking the peninsula to the Russian mainland early on Saturday, but a Russia-installed official in the region denied the bridge had come under attack. Other pro-Russian officials in occupied areas of Ukraine said the explosions were linked to an attack by Ukrainian drones.
A Russian landing ship was struck and disabled in the country’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk by an unmanned Ukrainian boat, known as a sea drone, Kyiv said. The 112-metre Olenegorsky Gornyak from Russia’s Northern Fleet, which has been used to transport troops and military hardware into occupied Ukrainian ports, was said to have been sufficiently damaged to have been put out of combat action.
Onboard camera footage appeared to confirm the success of the night attack on the ship. Images of a Russian warship tilting to its side emerged shortly after the strike and footage was published by the Unian news agency from the head of the marine drone appearing to show it moving stealthily across the Black Sea towards the ship and hitting it at its centre. Satellite imagery also appeared to show a Russian landing ship leaking oil while docked at a Black Sea port.
US bank JP Morgan this week stopped processing payments for the Russian Agricultural Bank, Russia said on Friday. JP Morgan had handled some Russian grain export payments for the past few months with reassurances from Washington. However, that cooperation stopped this week, Russia’s foreign ministry said on Friday. “The direct channel between the Russian Agricultural Bank and JP Morgan … was closed on 2 August,” foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was quoted by Russian media as saying.
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, visited a combat zone in Ukraine to inspect a command post and meet senior military officers, the army said on Friday. Shoigu got an update on the situation on the front and “thanked commanders and soldiers … for successful offensive operations” in Lyman in eastern Ukraine, it said, without mentioning when the visit took place.
At the Russia-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, the UN nuclear watchdog said it had “finally” been granted access requested a month ago and that it had found no explosives after claims of mines being planted around the infrastructure.
A court in Russia has extended Alexei Navalny’s prison sentence by 19 years and sentenced him to a special regime with the harshest prison conditions in the country. Navalny was found guilty on six counts, including inciting and financing extremism, creating an illegal NGO, the rehabilitation of nazism and inciting children to dangerous acts. He and his supporters have rejected the charges as being politically motivated.
An associate of Navalny who worked for his YouTube channel also stood trial in a Moscow court on Friday. Daniel Kholodny, a TV technician, was found guilty of organising an extremist group and sentenced to eight years in prison, Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported.
