Live blog: Ukraine drone attacks 'not possible' without US, NATO — Russia

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

1618 GMT — Moscow has said that Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory would "not be possible" without help from the United States and NATO, after reporting it had downed five drones near the capital.

Ukraine meanwhile said 43 people, including 12 children, were injured in a Russian strike on the town of Pervomaisky in the eastern Kharkiv region.

Moscow accused the West of enabling Ukraine to carry out the drone attacks, after earlier condemning what it called a "terrorist act".

"These attacks would not be possible without the help provided to the Kiev regime by the US and its NATO allies," the Russian foreign ministry said, claiming the West was "training drone operators and providing the necessary intelligence to commit such crimes."

It marks the latest in a series of recent drone attacks, including on the Kremlin and Russian towns near the border with Ukraine, that Moscow has blamed on Kiev.

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1728 GMT — Russia rejects bank compromise as Black Sea grain expiry looms

Russia has restated a demand for its state agricultural bank to be reconnected to the global SWIFT payments system to avert the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal, and said it would not accept a reported compromise proposal.

With 13 days remaining until the expiry of the deal, which has allowed Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports despite Russia's offensive, Moscow said there had been no progress on any of its key demands, including the banking issue.

1642 GMT — Pope envoy working on 'mechanism' to return children to Ukraine

Pope Francis' peace envoy for Ukraine, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, has said he is working on a "mechanism" that could ensure the return of children who according to Kiev have been abducted to Russia.

"We'll see how we can start the mechanism for the children (and) help as we have said on the humanitarian front, particularly the children that must be able to return to Ukraine", Zuppi said at a book presentation in Rome.

He said he had personally discussed the issue with Francis.

Speaking to Italian public broadcaster RAI on Sunday, Zuppi clarified he was not working on a "peace plan" or a "mediation" between Kiev and Moscow, saying he was focusing on "humanitarian aspects".

1636 GMT — Kiev bids farewell to writer killed in Russian strike

Inside Kiev's St Michael's cathedral, mourners gathered to bid farewell to Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina, who died of her wounds suffered in a Russian missile strike on a restaurant.

The coffin of the rising star in Ukrainian literature was placed at the centre of the cathedral, draped with the blue-and-yellow national flag.

The 37-year-old was dining at the Ria Pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk, popular with journalists, the military and aid workers, when a Russian strike hit last week.

She was seriously wounded and died in hospital four days later, one of 13 people, including three children, killed in the strike.

1525 GMT — Russia's Medvedev: 185,000 new contract soldiers joined armed forces this year

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that 185,000 new recruits had joined the Russian army as professional contract soldiers since the start of the year, as Moscow tries to beef up forces that have suffered big losses in Ukraine.

"According to the Ministry of Defence, from January 1 to July 4, more than 185,000 people were accepted into the ranks of the Armed Forces, of which about 109,000 are in the reserve, as well as other categories of citizens who are called up to serve under contract," Medvedev said.

In a video posted on Telegram, he said that almost 10,000 new recruits had joined up in the last week since a brief mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group, whose fighters were given the option of signing on as regular soldiers.

Last year Russia announced a plan to boost the size of its armed forces by more than 30 percent to 1.5 million combat personnel, an ambitious task made harder by its heavy but undisclosed casualties in the conflict.

1231 GMT — Deaths, injuries reported in Russian strikes on Kharkiv

Ukraine has said that 31 people, including nine children, were hospitalised following the latest Russian strike on the town of Pervomaisky in the eastern Kharkiv region.

Of the nine children, two were babies aged one year and ten months, the head of Kiev's presidential office Andriy Yermak said, adding that they were wounded after "the Russians fired a high-explosive shell."

Officials said the latest strike on Kharkiv had hit a parking lot outside a residential building in the town of some 28,000 people.

The governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinegubov, posted a video from the scene, showing smoke rising from burnt cars near a Soviet-era housing block. Pervomaisky is around 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the regional capital Kharkiv.

1111 GMT — Russia claims Ukraine disconnected main power line to Zaporizhzhia plant

Russia has accused Ukraine of disconnecting the main power line connected to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Ukraine turned off the 750 kilovolt Dnieper line early on Tuesday, Renat Karchaa, an adviser to Rosenergoatom, a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom, said on Russian state television channel Rossiya-24.

Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the claim, and independent verification of Russia's claims is difficult due to the ongoing conflict.

A day earlier, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was reconnected to the only available backup power line, but that the situation remained “extremely fragile.”

0939 GMT — Russia: 134 people hospitalised in Kakhovka dam breach

Russia has said 134 people were hospitalised after an explosion in Ukraine's Kakhovka dam last month.

"According to the updated data, 134 people were hospitalized with various injuries," Russia's state-run TASS news agency reported.

At least 48 people were killed, Russia said earlier, when the dam exploded on June 6 unleashing the contents of Europe's largest reservoir earlier this month.

Ukraine and Russia have both blamed each other for carrying out strikes which led to the destruction of the walls of the dam, resulting in flooding of nearby areas.

0854 GMT — Death toll from Russian drone attack in Ukraine’s Sumy rises

The death toll from a Russian drone attack in the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine has risen to three, a local official said.

“Today in Sumy is the day of mourning. Three dead. 21 wounded. Four remain in hospitals as a result of yesterday's enemy attack,” Sumy Mayor Oleksandr Lysenko said on Telegram.

Initial reports by the Sumy Regional Military Administration said that at least one person was killed and 16 injured due to the attack.

It said four Shahed 136-type drones hit Sumy's urban centre on Monday and damaged an administrative building and two apartment buildings.

0823 GMT — Putin: Russia will resist 'sanctions and provocations'

Russia will stand up against Western sanctions and "provocations", President Vladimir Putin told a virtual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a group that also includes China and India.

"Russia is confidently resisting and will continue to resist external pressure, sanctions and provocations," the Russian leader said, thanking the alliance for their support during a recent armed mutiny in Russia.

Putin also said Moscow planned to boost ties with the group and supported the transition to settlements in local currencies in foreign trade.

He also warned that the potential for conflicts and the risk of a global economic crisis were on the rise.

0547 GMT — Russian military says downed five Ukrainian drones

Russia's defence ministry has said it had downed five Ukrainian suicide drones in the Moscow region and said there was no damage or casualties.

"This morning, we prevented a bid by the Kiev regime to commit a terrorist act with five drones", the defence ministry said.

0501 GMT — Ukraine drone attacks on Moscow thwarted: Russian mayor

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said that Ukraine launched another drone attack on the Russian capital and its region, temporarily disrupting flight operations at the Vnukovo airport.

"At this moment, the attacks have been repelled by air defence forces," Sobyanin said on his Telegram messaging channel.

"All detected drones have been eliminated."

There were no casualties or injuries reported, Sobyanin added.

At least three drones were intercepted in the skies over the Moscow region, Russian news agencies reported citing emergency services, and one in the neighbouring Kaluga region.

Two drones were shot down near the village of Valuevo, the RIA news agency reported. The village is about 30 km (19 miles) southwest of the Kremlin. One was in the Kaluga region, which borders the Moscow region.

Another drone was shot down in the area of the town of Kubinka, some 63 km (40 miles) west of Moscow, RIA reported. A Russian air base is near Kubinka.

0439 GMT — Moscow's Vnukovo airport temporarily restricts landings and takeoffs

Landings and takeoffs at Moscow's Vnukovo airport were restricted "for technical reasons beyond the control of the airport," Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency, or Rosaviatsiya, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Restrictions were in place until 8 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), the agency said. It added that a number of flights were diverted to other airports.

It also said that other Moscow airports were functioning normally.

It was not immediately known whether the changes were related to a number of drones being intercepted early on Tuesday near Moscow.