Live blog: Russia foil overnight Ukrainian drone attacks in Moscow, Crimea

Sunday, July 30, 2023

At least one person was injured in Moscow early after drone strikes that Russia claimed was organised by Ukraine, along with another attack on the Crimean Peninsula.

"One Ukrainian UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) was destroyed in the air by air defence systems over the territory of the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region," the Russian Defence Ministry said on Telegram.

The statement claimed that two more drones were stopped by electronic warfare systems and later crashed on the premises of a non-residential building complex in the city.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said in a statement on Telegram that there were no casualties due to the fallen drones, while the facades of two towers in the city were damaged.

A security guard in one of the towers was injured, an official from Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said, according to state news agency TASS.

More updates 👇:

0807 GMT - Pope urges Russian 'brothers' to restore Black Sea grain deal

Pope Francis has called on Russia to reverse its decision to abandon the Ankara-brokered Black Sea grain deal, under which it had allowed Ukraine to export grain from its seaports despite the ongoing war.

"I appeal to my brothers, the authorities of the Russian Federation, so that the Black Sea initiative may be resumed and grain may be transported safely," Francis said during his weekly Angelus message.

Russia walked out of the Black Sea deal after saying its demands to ease sanctions on its own grain and fertilizer exports had not been met. Moscow also complained that not enough grain had reached poor countries.

0641 GMT - African leaders leave Russia summit without grain deal

African leaders are leaving two days of meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin with little to show for their requests to resume a deal that kept grain flowing from Ukraine and to find a path to end the war there.

Putin in a press conference following the Russia-Africa summit said Russia’s termination of the grain deal earlier this month caused a rise in grain prices that benefits Russian companies. He added that Moscow would share some of those revenues with the “poorest nations".

0420 GMT - Saudi Arabia will host a peace summit in August

Saudi Arabia will host a Ukrainian-organised peace summit in early August seeking to find a way to start negotiations over Russia's offensive on the country, an official said.

The kingdom and Kiev did not immediately acknowledge the planned talks. The summit will be held in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as no authorisation had been given to publicly discuss the summit.

Those taking part in the summit will include Ukraine, as well as Brazil, India, South Africa and several other countries, the official said.

A high-level official from US President Joe Biden's administration also is expected to attend, the official said.

Planning for the event is being overseen by Kiev and Russia is not invited, the official said.

Details regarding the summit, however, remain in flux and the official did not offer dates for the talks.

0130 GMT - Ukraine UAVs hit buildings in Moscow: mayor

A night-time Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow damaged two office blocks, the mayor of the Russian capital has said, adding that no one was injured.

An explosion erupted on one of the floors in the "IQ-Quarter" building located in the Moscow City business centre.

Separately, Russia imposed a temporary restriction on the presence of any aircraft in the Moscow air zone, the emergency services have told TASS.

"Staying in the Moscow air zone is temporarily prohibited," it said.

Vnukovo Airport in Moscow is closed for arrivals and departures, aviation services told TASS.

0059 GMT - Russia downs two drones in Moscow region — TASS

Two drones were shot down in the west of the Moscow region, they participated in the attack on the capital, TASS was told in law enforcement agencies.

"In the west of the Moscow region, air defence repelled an attack by two aircraft-type drones," the source said.

For our live updates from Saturday (July 29), click here.