A Russian missile struck a shopping centre in the frontline town of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region on Friday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 43.Ukrainian authorities said a fire had broken out. Images and videos posted by authorities showed thick black smoke rising from the destroyed building. The interior minister later said the blaze had been extinguished. “Russian terrorists attacked an ordinary supermarket and a post office,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. “There are people under the rubble.” Rescue teams continued to search the rubble for survivors.
“No situation on the battlefield can justify targeting civilians,” said Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin. The latest was from Kostyantnyivka, about 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the fighting front line in eastern Ukraine. There was no immediate comment from Moscow. Ukrainian regional governor Vadym Filashkin said Russia used Kh-38 air-to-surface missiles in the attack. Homes, shops and more than a dozen cars were also damaged. Ukraine’s largest private postal company, Nova Poshta, said a cargo office inside a supermarket was damaged.
Ukrainian forces ambushed a Russian convoy overnight 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, prompting the Kremlin to declare a federal state of emergency. The four-day invasion had seriously damaged its credibility, Dan Sabbagh and Peter Sauer A video circulated by a Russian military blogger showed a wrecked convoy with bodies visible inside the truck on the E38 East-West highway in Oktyabrskoye, deeper inside Russia than any fighting seen so far since Ukrainian forces crossed the border on Tuesday.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday it was sending rocket launchers, artillery pieces, tanks and heavy trucks to bolster defenses in the Kursk region.Moscow said the initial attack involved around 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers and more than 20 armoured vehicles and tanks, but later claimed to have destroyed much more equipment.
Moscow said The attack targeted Ukrainian military positions on the western edge of the town of Suzha, about eight kilometers from the border. The area believed to be the focus of the Kiev attack was reported by Russian media, who shared a video of Suzha residents pleading with President Vladimir Putin for help and warning that many people were unable to evacuate. Russia ran extra trains from the region’s capital, Kursk, to Moscow, and thousands of people were evacuated from the border area. At a Moscow train station, an AFP reporter saw families with children getting off the train.
Rafael Grossi, head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, on Friday urged Ukraine and Russia to show “maximum restraint” in the fighting. The incident occurred in the Kursk region, home to one of Russia’s largest nuclear power plants. Russia’s diplomatic mission in Vienna, quoted by Russian news agencies, said it had told the International Atomic Energy Agency that it had found what appeared to be debris from a downed missile at the plant but there was no evidence of a direct attack.
Ukraine has expanded its own exemption zone into the Sumy region, just across the border from Kursk.Ukrainian police said “about 20,000 people need to be evacuated” from 28 settlements. Ukraine also announced a major airstrike on a Russian military base in Lipetsk Oblast, about 280 kilometers from the Russian-Ukrainian border, saying the strikes hit “a warehouse storing guided bombs and a number of other facilities.” Online videos showed large explosions.
Russia introduced anti-terrorism measures in three areas on the Ukrainian border early Saturday.Russian news agencies quoted officials as saying the governors of the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions and the National Anti-Terrorism Committee that the special measures would apply to the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions. RIA news agency reported that the measures include forced evictions of residents, traffic restrictions in certain areas, increased security around key facilities, and wiretapping of telephone and other communications.
Ukrainian special forces conducted an amphibious assault on the Russian-occupied Kinburn Spit in the northwestern Black Sea. According to Ukrainian military intelligence, Russian forces attacked on Friday, destroying six Russian armored vehicles and about 30 personnel. Moscow’s military superiority is seen as one of the reasons why Ukraine cannot reopen the ports of Mykolaiv and Kherson and export goods from them via the Black Sea maritime transport corridor. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the attack was repelled and that some of the Ukrainian forces were sunk by mines and the rest were shot down, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported. There was no independent confirmation.
Russian forces have occupied the village of Vesele near Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine.Russian news agencies quoted the defence ministry as saying on Friday. Pokrovsk is along a key road that serves as a vital supply route to other Ukrainian government-controlled towns, including Khashiv Yar and Kostyantynivka.
Last month was the deadliest for Ukrainian civilians since October 2022.As Russia stepped up its bombing campaign, the U.N. human rights monitor in Ukraine said “July’s high casualties are a continuation of a worrying trend of rising civilian casualties since March 2024.”
The United States has announced a $125 million military aid package for Ukraine that includes Stinger missiles, artillery shells and anti-armor systems.The White House national security spokesman, John Kirby, said the military aid marks the 10th shipment of equipment to Ukraine since President Joe Biden signed a supplemental national security package in April.
US, UK and Canada announce comprehensive sanctions against Belarus The sanctions were imposed on Friday to mark the fourth anniversary of the presidential election in which Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected president. The Treasury Department announced sanctions against 19 individuals, 14 companies and one aircraft for evading existing sanctions and supporting Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine. Earlier, the UK announced new sanctions against four individuals and three companies, while Canada announced sanctions against 10 individuals and six entities.
