War in Ukraine: Recent Developments

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

The death toll in a Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on Thursday rises to 24 after a woman died in hospital from her burns, a Ukrainian official said.

Russia claims the strikes – hundreds of kilometers from the front – were aimed at a meeting between Ukrainian military officials and foreign arms suppliers. Kyiv has denied these claims and says three children were killed in the attack.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “appalled” by the attack, while the EU called it an “atrocity”.

Russia uses Europe’s largest nuclear power plant as a base to stockpile weapons including “missile systems” and bombard the surrounding areas of Ukraine, says the head of Ukraine’s nuclear agency Energoatom.

The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has been under Russian control since the first weeks of the Moscow invasion, although it is still operated by Ukrainian personnel.

Paul Urey, a Briton captured by pro-Russian forces in Ukraine, died in custody on July 10, Moscow-backed separatists say, claiming he died of diabetes.

NGOs describe Urey as a humanitarian who worked as a volunteer in Ukraine, while separatists say he was a “professional” soldier fighting for Ukraine.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says Russia bears “full responsibility” for the reported death.

Western finance ministers condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and accuse Russian officials of complicity in atrocities committed during the war at two-day G20 talks on the island of Bali.

“Russia is solely responsible for negative effects on the global economy,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Russian delegation at the opening session.

She is joined by Canada’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who tells the Russian delegation that they are responsible for “war crimes” in Ukraine because of their support for the invasion.

Moscow-backed troops in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine say they are moving closer to their next target after seizing control of the twin cities of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk.

“Siversk is under our operational control, which means the enemy can be hit by our aimed fire anywhere in the area,” a pro-Moscow rebel official was quoted as saying by Russia’s state news agency TASS.

The Russian Defense Ministry says a “final document” aimed at unblocking grain exports from Ukrainian ports will be ready “soon” after negotiations with Kyiv in Istanbul this week.

Russia’s invasion has disrupted grain exports from Ukraine, one of the world’s largest wheat producers, and exacerbated a global food crisis.

Germany’s national rail operator Deutsche Bahn is promising to speed up efforts to transport grain overland from Ukraine as sea exports are still stalled by the country’s war with Russia.

“We believe that we can ramp up the system significantly in the next few weeks” in order to get as much grain out of it as possible, says the head of the freight transport division.

The European Union executive is proposing to target Russian gold exports in an update to its sanctions packages, which will also tighten the screws of previous measures against Moscow.

The switch to gold, which fulfills a decision by the group of seven most industrialized nations at the end of June, will be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday.

The United States says it will resume flights to the International Space Station with Russia despite its attempts to isolate Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine.

“To ensure continued safe operations of the International Space Station, protect astronaut life, and ensure a continued U.S. presence in space, NASA will resume integrated crews on U.S.-crew and Russian Soyuz spacecraft,” the statement said a statement by the US space agency NASA.