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The war in Ukraine, which broke out in February 2022 with Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor, shows no sign of ending as both sides intensify attacks to gain control of contested regions.
Read our latest updates here. For all our coverage, visit our Ukraine war page.
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Note: Nikkei Asia decided in March 2022 to suspend its reporting from Russia until further information becomes available regarding the scope of the revised criminal code. Entries include material from wire services and other sources.
Here are the latest developments:
Monday, Aug. 14 (Tokyo time)
5:00 a.m. A Russian warship on Sunday fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the southwestern Black Sea as it made its way north, the first time Russia has fired on merchant shipping beyond Ukraine since exiting a landmark U.N.-brokered grain deal last month. In July, Russia halted participation in the Black Sea grain deal that allowed Ukraine to export agricultural produce via the Black Sea. Moscow said it deemed all ships heading to Ukrainian waters to be potentially carrying weapons. On Sunday, Russia said in a statement that its Vasily Bykov patrol ship had fired automatic weapons on the Palau-flagged Sukru Okan vessel after the ship’s captain failed to respond to a request to halt for an inspection.
Sunday, Aug. 13
8:20 p.m. Russian air defenses have shot down at least four Ukrainian drones over western regions of Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry says. Three were downed over the Belgorod region and another over the Kursk region, according to the announcement.
6:30 p.m. A Russian warship fired warning shots at a Palau-flagged dry-cargo ship on its way to Ukraine in the southwestern Black Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry says in a statement. This marks the first time that Russia has fired on merchant shipping beyond Ukraine since exiting a landmark United Nations-brokered grain deal last month, Reuters reports.
3:15 p.m. There is “a realistic possibility” that the Kremlin no longer funds the Wagner mercenary group, the U.K.’s Defense Ministry says in its public daily intelligence update on Ukraine. “If the Russian state no longer pays Wagner, the second most plausible paymasters are the Belarusian authorities,” it says.
Saturday, Aug. 12
2:00 p.m. Russian forces destroyed 20 Ukrainian drones launched onto the Crimean Peninsula early on Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry says. There were no casualties and no damage as a result of the attempted attack, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app. It said 14 drones were destroyed by air defense systems and six were suppressed by electronic warfare. It was not immediately clear what was targeted in the reported attacks on the Russian-annexed peninsula.
This residential building in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, was struck by a Russian missile on Aug. 8.
© Reuters
9:00 a.m. Russia’s latest missile strikes, which killed a child in western Ukraine, constitute “war crimes and must not go unpunished,” France’s Foreign Ministry says in a statement. “These attacks have once again targeted civilian infrastructure, including a residential zone, which is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian rights,” the statement reads. Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians. Russia on Friday launched four hypersonic missiles into the western Ukrainian region of Ivano-Frankivsk. Three landed near a military airfield.
12:50 a.m. The U.S. is imposing sanctions on four prominent members of Russia’s financial elite who have served on the supervisory board of the Alfa Group Consortium, one of the largest financial and investment conglomerates in Russia, the State Department says.
The U.S. will continue to take all appropriate action to hold accountable those who enable and profit from Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to the press statement.
Oil pump jacks outside Almetyevsk in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.
© Reuters
Friday, Aug. 11
9:20 p.m. Russia earned $15.3 billion from oil exports in July, up $2.5 billion from the previous month and the highest in eight months, according to data released by the International Energy Agency.
2:09 p.m. Two Ukrainian drones were destroyed by air defenses as they approached the Russian city of Kursk late on Thursday, TASS news agency said on Friday, citing Roman Starovoit, the regional governor.
6:59 a.m. U.S. President Joe Biden asked Congress to approve about $40 billion in additional spending on Aug.11, including $24 billion for Ukraine and other international needs, $4 billion related to border security and $12 billion for disaster relief. A senior administration official said the needs were great, and the White House was hopeful an agreement could be reached with Congress on the request, which covers only the first quarter of the current 2024 fiscal year. But the request could face opposition there. Some far-right Republicans — especially those with close ties to former President Donald Trump — want to pare back the billions in assistance Washington has sent to Kyiv since Russian troops invaded in February 2022.
A Magnit grocery store in Moscow: The Russian retailer has bought back shares from Western investors including in Australia, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S.
2:41 a.m. Russian retailer Magnit said on Thursday that it had completed a deal to buy back blocked shares from Western investors, the first deal of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The offer to buy back shares at a 50% discount, a requirement demanded by the Kremlin, is the first proposal of its kind by a Russian company since sweeping Western sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Russian countermeasures deprived many foreign investors of the ability to trade in Russian securities. Magnit said it had bought back about 16.6% of all issued and outstanding shares at an amount of around 37.4 billion rubles ($388.25 million). “Approximately 200 orders have been fulfilled — including those from investors from the USA, UK, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Scandinavian countries, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Australia and other jurisdictions,” Magnit said in a statement.
Thursday, Aug. 10
11:50 p.m. Ukraine’s navy says that it has established a humanitarian corridor to let stranded civilian cargo ships leave ports on the Black Sea.
The ships have been stuck at port since the outbreak of the war in February 2022. Ships not covered by a United Nations-brokered grain agreement are expected to be among the vessels given priority access to the corridor.
Russia, which suspended its participation in the grain agreement, has threatened to consider all vessels entering or leaving Ukrainian ports as enemy ships. It is unclear whether Moscow with recognize the humanitarian corridor, and concerns about navigational safety remain.
“The corridor will be very transparent, we will put cameras on the ships and there will be a broadcast to show that this is purely a humanitarian mission and has no military purpose,” Oleh Chalyk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s navy, told Reuters.
U.S. airmen move 155-mm shells bound for Ukraine at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware in April 2022.
© AP
9:20 a.m. The Pentagon will provide Ukraine with $200 million in weapons and ammunition to help sustain Kyiv’s counteroffensive as troops on the front lines face significant hurdles against a well-entrenched Russian defense, according to AP, citing two U.S. officials. This latest package will include missiles for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and the Patriot air defense system, munitions for howitzers and tanks, Javelin rockets, mine-clearing equipment, 12 million rounds of small arms ammunition and demolition munitions. The aid comes as the U.S. funding for Ukraine is nearly all spent, and the Biden administration is expected to request a new package of supplemental aid from Congress to continue that support.
4:21 a.m. Two people were killed and seven injured in an apparent missile attack by Russia on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, reports Reuters, citing Ukrainian officials.
2:51 a.m. The U.S. and Canada issue new sanctions against Belarus, designating several entities and individuals over alleged human rights abuses and support for Russia amid the war in Ukraine, reports Reuters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko visit the Valaam Monastery in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, on July 24. (Sputnik/Pool via Reuters)
Wednesday, Aug. 9
2:30 p.m. Russia says it has shot down two Ukrainian drones near Moscow on Wednesday, one near a major airport to the south of the city and one to the west of the capital. “An attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack with unmanned aerial vehicles was prevented over the territory of the Moscow region,” the Defense Ministry said. “Two UAVs were destroyed by air defenses.” One was shot down near Domodedovo, where one of Russia’s biggest international airports is located, and another near the Minsk motorway, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
Members of security services investigate a damaged office building in Moscow following a reported Ukrainian drone attack in the Russian capital on Aug. 1.
© Reuters
2:30 a.m. Britain’s foreign secretary announces new sanctions meant to hinder Russia’s ability to procure foreign military equipment, calling the move “the biggest-ever U.K. action on military suppliers in third countries.”
Among the targets are two Turkey-based businesses that Britain alleges played a role in “exporting microelectronics to Russia that are essential for Russia’s military activity in Ukraine,” as well as a Dubai-based supplier of drones and related components.
Slovakian national Ashot Mkrtychev has been sanctioned for his alleged involvement in an attempted arms deal between Russia and North Korea.
Mkrtychev is also the subject of U.S. sanctions. He worked with North Korean officials “in an attempt to obtain more than two dozen different kinds of weapons and munitions for Russia in exchange for materials ranging from commercial aircraft to raw materials and commodities” for Pyongyang, the U.S. State Department said in March.
U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly says in a statement: “Unable to access Western components, the Russian military is struggling to produce sufficient top-end equipment and is now desperately searching for foreign armaments. Russia is already having to mobilize Soviet-era tanks and harvest kitchen freezers for low-grade chips.”
The flags of Russia and North Korea fly near a monument to Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin in Vladivostok.
© Reuters
2:05 a.m. Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency says a woman detained for allegedly gathering information on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travel plans was planning to give that information to Russian forces so they could attack Zelenskyy’s location.
Tuesday, Aug. 8
10:41 a.m. Russian missiles struck the center of Ukraine’s Pokrovsk twice on Monday night, killing eight people, including five civilians, Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko says in a statement. The second missile hit the Ukraine-controlled town near the front line 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.
7:39 a.m. Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency said on Monday that it had detained a woman who it accused of gathering information about President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s itinerary ahead of a trip and also of trying to pass information about military facilities to Russia. The Ukrainian security service, the SBU, did not name 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 SBU said. Zelenskyy last visited the city on July 27, his media channel reported.
Monday, Aug. 7
11:41 p.m. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi tells Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov by phone that Beijing will uphold an independent and impartial position on Ukraine as it strives to find a political settlement to the issue.
Wang’s comments to Lavrov are announced in a Foreign Ministry statement that says China will be an “objective and rational voice” at any international multilateral forums and “actively promote peace talks.” The statement follows international talks in Saudi Arabia over the weekend. Beijing has refused to condemn Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine it launched in February 2022.
Representatives from more than 40 countries — including China, India and the U.S. — attend talks on ending the war in Ukraine on Aug. 6 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Saudi Press Agency via Reuters)
© Reuters
6:28 p.m. China’s Foreign Ministry says international talks in Saudi Arabia over the weekend on finding a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine crisis had helped to “consolidate international consensus.” More than 40 countries — including China, India, the United States and European countries, but not Russia — took part in the Jeddah talks, which ended on Sunday.
China sent its special envoy for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, Li Hui, who in May toured six European capitals to find common ground for an eventual political settlement of the conflict, now in its 18th month.
4:57 a.m. A senior Ukrainian official said on Sunday that talks in Saudi Arabia to make headway toward a peaceful settlement of the war with Russia had been productive. But Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by state media on Sunday as saying the meeting was “a reflection of the West’s attempt to continue futile, doomed efforts” to mobilize the Global South behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s position.
For earlier updates, click here.
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