Live blog: Poland moves troops to Belarus border after airspace 'violation'

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

2049 GMT — Poland has said it was rushing troops to its eastern border after accusing Belarus, Russia's closest ally, of violating its airspace with military helicopters.

The Belarusian military denied any such violation and accused NATO member Poland, one of Ukraine's most fervent backers in its conflict with Russia, of making up the accusation to justify a buildup of its troops.

Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko had earlier taunted Poland over the presence of Russian Wagner mercenaries near their joint border.

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1838 GMT — Poland, Ukraine spar over grain imports

Poland and Ukraine have summoned each others' envoys over an escalating row between the allies on grain imports from Kiev.

Polish presidential aide Marcin Przydacz on Monday said Warsaw was prioritising "the interests of Polish farmers" when it called on the EU to extend a ban on imports of Ukrainian grain.

"Ukraine received a lot of support from Poland, it would be worth it, if it started to appreciate the role Poland has played for Ukraine in recent months and years," Przydacz added.

1642 GMT — 'War for identity': Kiev pulls hammer, sickle from giant war WWII statue

Workers lowered a hammer and sickle from a towering sculpture overlooking Kiev in a campaign to remove Soviet icons that ramped up after Russia invaded last year.

The 62-metre-high steel figure of a woman holding a sword and shield bearing the USSR-linked symbols was unveiled in 1981 as a memorial to Soviet victory in World War II.

But since Russia's invasion, Ukraine doubled-down on the removal of references to Soviet history and Russian culture from geographical names, and a law on decolonisation came into force this summer.

1022 GMT — Russia thwarts Ukrainian attack on its Black Sea navy ships

Three Ukrainian sea drones attacked two Russian Black Sea navy ships 340 km southwest of Sevastopol and were destroyed, TASS has cited Russia's Defence Ministry as saying.

The ministry said the ships were in the area to control the passage of other vessels.

0949 GMT — Algeria's military chief arrives in Russia and will meet Shoigu

The chief of staff of Algeria's military has arrived in Russia and is due to meet Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, the TASS news agency cited the Algerian embassy in Russia as saying. It did not say what they would discuss.

Russia is interested in broadening military cooperation with non-Western countries as it faces a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the 17-month-old war.

Shoigu last week visited North Korea on what he said was a trip to strengthen defence ties but the United States said was likely aimed at securing weapons supplies.

0944 GMT — Russian shelling of hospital kills doctor in Kherson: Ukraine

A doctor has been killed and a nurse wounded in Russian shelling of a hospital in Ukraine's southern city of Kherson, regional officials said.

"Today at 11:10 (0810 GMT), the enemy launched another attack on the peaceful residents of our community," military administration head Roman Mrochko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Photos posted by officials showed the bloodied floor of a balcony and a gaping hole in a roof with debris strewn over the floor.

2049 GMT — Poland rushes troops to border, Belarus denies helicopter violation

0346 GMT — Russian chief of general staff visits troops in Ukraine

Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of Russia's armed forces, has visited Russian troops in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, part of which is controlled by Russia, the Interfax news agency cited the Russian Defence Ministry as saying.

It said Gerasimov inspected a command centre and underscored the importance of preemptive strikes against the Ukrainian forces.

0156 GMT — Drone hits office tower in Moscow

A drone hit an office tower in Moscow that was struck over the weekend, while at least one other drone was downed, the city's mayor said.

"Several drones were shot down by air defence systems while trying to fly to Moscow. One (drone) flew into the same tower in (Moscow) City as last time. The facade on the 21st floor was damaged," Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin posted on Telegram

"There is no information on casualties," he said, adding that emergency services were on the scene.

On Sunday, Russia said it had downed Ukrainian drones targeting the capital in an attack that damaged two office towers in Moscow-City, a business district.

Shortly after the drone attack, Moscow's Vnukovo international airport was briefly closed, TASS state news agency reported.

For our live updates from Monday (July 31), click here.