These are the key events so far on Saturday 30 July. Get the latest updates here.
Militant
Ukraine’s southern command said more than 100 Russian soldiers and seven tanks were destroyed in the fighting in the southern regions of Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa. Russia and Ukraine have traded blame for the deaths of dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Donetsk region this week. Moscow-backed separatists said Kyiv targeted the facility with US-made rockets. Ukraine’s armed forces said Russian artillery had targeted the facility to cover up prisoner abuse. Ukraine said at least five people were killed and seven wounded in a Russian missile attack on the southeastern city of Mykolaiv, a port on the Black Sea. Two people were killed and 19 wounded by Russian shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, according to the regional governor. Authorities installed by Russia in the occupied territories in southern Ukraine may be preparing to hold referendums on joining Russia later this year and are “likely forcing the population to reveal personal information to draw up voter lists,” it said. British military intelligence.
Diplomacy
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held their first call since Russia’s invasion on February 24 to discuss a proposed US prisoner exchange. Blinken said the world expects Russia to fulfill its commitments under a deal with Ukraine to reopen grain and fertilizer exports. Lavrov said US sanctions have complicated the global food situation. He said Russia would meet the goals of its “special military operation” and that Western arms supplies to Kyiv were prolonging the conflict. Russia’s foreign ministry announced sanctions against 32 officials and journalists from New Zealand for supporting what it called the country’s “Russophobic agenda”. Russian gas producer Gazprom has announced it has stopped supplying gas to neighboring Latvia, accusing it of violating supply terms.
