Live blog: Dozens of Belgium-based Leopard 1 tanks will be sent to Ukraine

Tuesday, August 8

1932 GMT — Tens of second-hand Leopard 1 tanks that once belonged to Belgium have been bought by another European country for Ukrainian forces fighting Russia, the arms trader who struck the deal has said.

Freddy Versluys, CEO of defence company OIP Land Systems, bought the tanks from the Belgian government more than five years ago.

He told Reuters news agency he had now sold all 50 tanks to another European government, which he could not name due to a confidentiality clause. He said he also could not disclose the price.

Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Tuesday evening that arms maker Rheinmetall had acquired the tanks and would prepare most of them for export to Ukraine.

A defence source told Reuters that the German government was paying for 32 of the Leopard 1 tanks to be restored and sent to Ukraine and that this was part of a support package for Ukraine that Germany announced at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.

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1944 GMT — UN: Russian overnight strikes must be investigated for violating humanitarian law

The UN has voiced extreme concern about overnight Russian air strikes against Ukraine that left at least seven dead and dozens injured, calling them a violation of international law.

Spokesperson Farhan Haq said the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, was "profoundly disturbed by the latest Russian strikes yesterday that hit residential buildings and other civilian places" in the Donetsk region.

"The same location was hit twice in the space of minutes, causing the death and injury of people who had quickly come to help the survivors, including rescue workers from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine," said Haq.

Brown said the raid "adds to the very long list of attacks in Ukraine, including many over the past few days, that must be investigated as they violate international humanitarian law," according to Haq.

1928 GMT — Russia: Ukraine shelling kills three in Donetsk city

Russia-backed Donetsk Mayor Alexei Kulemzin accused Ukraine in a social media post of shelling the city of Donetsk, killing three people on Tuesday.

Ten people were wounded, including a boy born in 2012, Kulemzin said on his Telegram channel.

Kulemzin also said that a number of buildings were damaged in several city districts, including a bus stop, a hospital, a store and some residential buildings.

1517 GMT - Ankara will continue its efforts for the resumption of Black Sea Deal - Erdogan

Türkiye is "key country" in settlement of Russia-Ukraine crisis, President Erdogan says, adding Ankara will do its part for resumption of Black Sea grain deal.

On July 17, Russia suspended its participation in the Black Sea grain deal, saying the Russian part of the agreement was not implemented.

The agreement, signed in July 2022 in Istanbul by Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine, was aimed at resuming grain exports from Ukrainian ports halted due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022.

1446 GMT - Ukraine will mirror Russian attacks in Black Sea - Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in a video that Ukraine would fight back against Russia in the Black Sea to ensure its waters were not blockaded and it could import and export grain and other goods.

The comments, published on the president's website, come days after Ukrainian maritime drones packed with explosives damaged a Russian warship near a major Russian port and struck a Russian tanker.

"If Russia continues to dominate the Black Sea, outside its territory, blockading or firing at us again, launching missiles at our ports, Ukraine will do the same. This is a just defence of our opportunities, of any corridor," Zelenskiy said.

"We don't have that many ships. But they should clearly understand that by the end of the war, they will have zero ships, zero."

He called on Russia to stop firing missiles and drones at Ukrainian ports and to allow trade to take place, in comments made at a briefing with reporters from Latin American countries.

1432 GMT - Russia's free grain offer to six African nations 'laughable' - US

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sharply derided Russia for its offer to supply six African nations with free grain, saying the proposal is "laughable."

"What Russia was proposing was to get grain to a half dozen countries, about 50,000 tons," Blinken said in an interview with British broadcaster BBC.

"The Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) delivered 20 million tons to lower and middle-income countries. In other words, what the Russians were proposing in compensation for getting out of the agreement is a drop in the bucket of what countries were getting and what they need," he added.

More than 50 percent of all exports that were processed under the agreement were going to Africa, including about two-thirds of all wheat that left Ukraine, said Blinken.

1324 GMT - Repeated Russian attacks on residential buildings intensify 'heinous nature' of war - EU

"Attacks in Pokrovsk show again how Russia targets residential buildings, even stepping up the heinous nature of Putin's war with repeated attack when rescuers arrived to the site," Peter Stano, the lead spokesperson for the EU's diplomatic service, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"This cynical pattern underscores the criminal nature of aggression," Stano said and underscored that "there will be no impunity."

1225 GMT - China reiterates need for political solution to end Ukraine crisis

China has doubled down on its position that seeks political solution to end the war in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in a phone call.

Wang “emphasised that China will uphold a fair position on any multilateral occasion, make objective and rational observations, actively promote peace and encourage talks and seek political solutions,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

1209 GMT - Ukraine's 2023 grain crop may reach 50-55 mln metric tons

Ukraine's 2023 grain crop may reach 50 million to 55 million metric tons compared to 53 million tons in 2022, a senior Ukrainian agriculture official said.

A higher than expected grain yield was the main reason for the new outlook, first deputy agriculture minister Taras Vysotskiy said.

"Farmers are harvesting more wheat than expected, so there will be a certain revision (of crop forecast) in a positive direction and now such a moderate forecast says that grain may be harvested more than 50, even up to 55 million tons," Vysotskiy told national television.

"At the same time, domestic consumption is about 18 million tons, so production will be three times higher than domestic consumption."

1114 GMT — Russia struck rescue workers with 'double tap' missile - Ukraine

Ukrainian officials accused the Kremlin’s forces of targeting rescue workers as the death toll from two overnight Russian missile strikes climbed to seven.

The dead in the Monday evening strikes in the city of Pokrovsk were five civilians, including two children, one rescuer and one soldier, Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

Emergency crews were still removing rubble at the scene. The Iskander missiles, which have an advanced guidance system that increases their accuracy, hit within 40 minutes of each other, according to Kyrylenko.

It’s a tactic, called a “double tap” in military jargon, that the Russians also used in Syria’s civil war.

All of (the police) were there because they were needed, putting their efforts into rescuing people after the first strike, Chief of Ukraine’s National Police Ivan Vyhivskyi said.

“They knew that under the rubble were the injured — they needed to react, to dig, to retrieve, to save. And the enemy deliberately struck the second time.”

1010 GMT - Zelenskyy warns Russia may end up with no ships in the Black Sea

Zelenskyy has said that Russia may be left without a ship in the Black Sea if the country’s attacks on Ukraine and blockade of its territorial waters continue.

"If Russia continues to dominate the Black Sea and block it with missiles, then Ukraine will do the same, which is a fair defence of our capabilities. If they keep firing, we don't have many weapons, but if they keep firing, they might be out of ships by the end of the war,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Argentinian daily newspaper La Nacion.

Expressing that Ukraine has to prove it has the right to import and export products through its territorial waters, Zelenskyy further said that Russia intends to push the situation into a "stalemate" because it is "not capable of winning."

"That is why Ukraine will surely respond to any attack against our civilian population, against our grain corridors. We want to show that they are not the ones who should influence everyone," Zelenskyy added.

0917 GMT — Russia pins recruitment office arson attacks on Ukraine

Moscow has accused Ukraine of inciting Russians to set fire to military recruitment offices following a recent uptick in the number of arson attacks.

Since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine last year many military recruitment offices across Russia have come under attacks.

The General Prosecutor's Office linked the attacks to the "successful advance of the Russian armed forces" in Ukraine.

"All these crimes were committed by Russian nationals following the so-called 'instructions' received by phone from Ukraine," the General Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.

0141 GMT — Deadly Russian missiles hit eastern Ukraine, officials say

Russian missiles have struck the centre of Ukraine's Pokrovsk twice killing eight people, including five civilians, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a statement.

The second missile hit the Ukraine-controlled town near the frontline 40 minutes after the first, the governor said. It killed and injured first responders, witnesses of the strikes told a Reuters cameraman at the scene.

Two rescuers and one military person were among the dead. Nine policemen and one military person were wounded, but most of the 31 injured were civilians, including a member of the local city council, Ukrainian officials said.

2239 GMT — Ukraine detains woman accused of spying on Zelenskyy for Russia

Ukraine's domestic intelligence agency has said that it had detained a woman who it accused of gathering information about President Zelenskyy's itinerary ahead of a trip and also trying to pass information about military facilities to Russia.

The Ukrainian security service, the SBU, did not give the name of the alleged agent. A dark-haired woman in a black-and-white dress surrounded by two servicemen was seen in a picture published by the agency. All of the faces in the image were blurred.

The suspect was arrested in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, the security service said.

2231 GMT — US to announce $200M in new arms aid for Ukraine

US President Joe Biden's administration is set to announce $200 million of new weapons aid for Ukraine as it begins to dole out $6.2 billion of funds discovered after a Pentagon accounting error over-valued billions of Ukraine aid, two American officials have said.

Washington is currently working on a supplemental budget request to continue to aid Kiev, the US officials said.

Tuesday's expected announcement of $200 million would be the first tranche of the $6.2 billion windfall of previously authorised Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), the officials said.

Included in this package were items like mine clearing equipment, TOW and AT4 anti-tank weapons, guns and ammunition, air defence interceptors made by Lockheed Martin Corp for the Patriot system, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets and Javelin anti-tank missiles made by a joint venture between Lockheed and RTX Corp, along with other equipment.

2022 GMT — Ukraine nuclear plants fully operational for winter

Ukrainian nuclear power plants located in territory held by Kiev will be fully operational by winter to provide electricity for the country, Ukraine's atomic energy operator has said.

"All the power at our disposal will be given to the electricity grid", after the servicing of some reactors before winter, Energoatom chief Petro Kotin, told journalists.

He was speaking at the Yuzhnoukrainsk plant in southern Ukraine to mark the recommissioning of one of its three reactors - each with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts.

Ukraine currently has three power stations with a total of nine reactors in the territory under its control.

2011 GMT — China attending Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia 'productive': US

The US has said it was "productive" that China attended Ukraine peace talks hosted by Saudi Arabia, but refrained from providing further details because it was a "private meeting."

"We did believe it was productive that China attended," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. "We have long said that it would be productive for China to play a role in ending the war in Ukraine if it was willing to play a role that respected Ukraine's territorial integrity and Ukrainian sovereignty."

Representatives from more than 40 countries, excluding Russia, took part in the talks.

Talks concluded Sunday with the participants agreeing on the importance of continuing consultations to pave the way for peace.

1055 GMT - Ukraine says it prevented Russian hacking of armed forces combat system

Ukrainian special services have foiled an attempt by Russian hackers to penetrate the Ukrainian Armed Forces' combat information system, the SBU security service said on.

Ukraine has reported an increase in Russian attempts to hack into computer systems of the Ukrainian government, armed forces and energy sector since the start of the conflict in February 2022.

Russia has repeatedly denied such accusations.

"As a result of complex measures, SBU exposed and blocked the illegal actions of Russian hackers who tried to penetrate Ukrainian military networks and organise intelligence gathering," SBU said on the Telegram messaging app.

The service said hackers tried to gain access to "sensitive information on the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the location and movement of the Defence Forces, their technical support".

SBU said the responsibility for the attack lay with a sophisticated Russian hacking team, known within the cyber security research community as Sandworm. Cyber specialists found that hackers planned to use Ukrainian military tablets to spread viruses in the battle system, SBU said.

1020 GMT - UK announces new sanctions targeting Russia's access to foreign military equipment

The British government announced "the largest-ever UK action" targeting Russia's access to foreign military supplies.

The package includes 22 new sanctions on individuals and businesses outside Russia, supporting its war on Ukraine, as well as three Russian companies importing electronics vital to Russia’s military equipment used on the battlefield, the UK Foreign Office said in a statement.

"Today's landmark sanctions will further diminish Russia's arsenal and close the net on supply chains propping up Putin's now struggling defence industry," Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in the statement.

The Foreign Office vowed to work together with international partners to prevent third parties from supplying weapons to Russia.

For our live updates from Monday (August 7), click here.