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Russian strikes kill one, wound 15 in Ukraine's Kramatorsk
Russian strikes killed at least one person and wounded 15 others in Ukraine's eastern city of Kramatorsk, authorities said Thursday.
More than four years after the start of Russia's large-scale offensive against Ukraine, the two warring countries are ramping up long-range strikes, causing a growing number of civilian casualties.
"At least 1 person was killed and 15 wounded as a result of the evening strikes on Kramatorsk community," said Donetsk region governor Vadym Filashkin.
He said Russian forces attacked Kramatorsk and the village of Bilenke eight times on Thursday evening, with "strikes recorded on residential buildings".
Ukraine says Russian elections in occupied areas are illegal
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the results of Russian parliament elections next month in occupied areas of Ukraine would be invalid because the polls are illegal.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and annexed four regions of the country about seven months later, although it has not established full control over all of them. The regions were formally annexed after authorities staged referendums denounced by Western countries.
The Foreign Ministry statement coincided with the start of a mission of observers from ex-Soviet states to watch the election process and give an assessment on whether the procedures met accepted standards of being free and fair.
"Any vote organised by Russia on the sovereign territory of Ukraine is illegal and the results of such a vote are null and void and have no legal consequences," the ministry statement said.
It said the presence of international observers did not alter that the vote was illegal and suggested that Russia was "trying to use an international presence in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to legitimise the outcome".
🎥 Grain hub attacks raise fears over global food prices
Kyiv and Moscow have been trading attacks on each other's grain warehouses, as concerns mount that global food prices could rise as a result.
Russia struck Ukraine's largest grain shipment port on the Danube overnight, causing damage and setting off a fire. The attack came a day after Ukraine hit Novorossiysk, a major grain hub in Russia's part of the Black Sea.
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Ukraine offers Russia truce in Black Sea as food supply fears mount, source says
Ukraine has sent Russia an offer suggesting they both halt attacks on civilian targets in the Black Sea, a source said, as both countries warned about threats to global food supplies following weeks of intensified strikes on vessels and ports.
The offer to suspend attacks was transmitted by Kyiv via a third party, and Ukraine was still waiting for a response, the source who is familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Both Russia and Ukraine, major players on the world agriculture market, have accused each other of intensified targeting of vessels used for agricultural exports.
Kyiv was forced to turn to alternative shipment routes after many shipowners halted stops at ports in the southern region of Odesa – primary for grain exports – wary of Russian strikes on dozens of foreign-flagged ships and port infrastructure.
Russia did not immediately comment on the matter publicly.
🎥 Japan protests Putin's first visit to disputed islands
President Vladimir Putin visited Russia's far-eastern Kuril Islands for the first time on Thursday, prompting protests by Japan, which also claims the territory.
Poland says a Russian was arrested after officials thwarted plot to kill Ukrainian American citizen
A Russian citizen who was allegedly recruited by the Russian secret services sought to kill a Ukrainian American citizen in Warsaw but was thwarted by Polish authorities, Poland’s prime minister said Thursday.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk did not give further details about the incident during a news conference.
A government spokesman said the Russian citizen was taken into custody by Polish authorities on August 7. The American-Ukrainian citizen “was uncomfortable for the Putin regime”, Tusk said.
Japan protests Putin's first visit to disputed islands
President Vladimir Putin visited Russia's far-eastern Kuril Islands for the first time on Thursday, prompting protests by Japan which also claims the territory.
Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by the contested islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized by the Soviet Union in 1945.
The Kremlin posted a video of Putin on one of the Kurils' four main islands, with Russian media saying he visited a fish-processing plant and was given caviar.
It was the first visit by a Russian president since Dmitry Medvedev in 2010.
"The Northern Territories are an inherent part of Japan's territory, both historically and under international law," Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters.
Putin's visit "offends the sentiments of the Japanese people and is absolutely unacceptable", she said, adding that it "made it more difficult to restore relations in the medium to long term".
Russian officer killed in suspected assassination in Crimea, governor says
A Russian military officer was killed on Thursday in what authorities described as an assassination in Sevastopol, the largest city in Russian-annexed Crimea, regional governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.
He said a woman had been arrested on suspicion of carrying out the attack on behalf of Ukrainian special services. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Razvozhayev did not identify the victim or the suspect. State news agency TASS quoted the FSB security service as saying the woman was a Russian national.
Russia has previously blamed Ukraine for a string of previous assassinations of senior military officials and people linked to Moscow's war effort.
Separately, Razvozhayev said five people were killed in Sevastopol overnight during an operation to dispose of an explosive device.
Ukraine confirms it exchanged bodies of killed soldiers with Russia
Ukrainian officials have confirmed the exchange of bodies reported earlier by Russian media.
"The bodies of 261 deceased persons have been returned to Ukraine, which, according to the Russian side, belong to Ukrainian servicemen," Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement.
Kyiv has previously accused Russia of including the remains of civilians and Russian soldiers in the exchanges.
Citing a Russian lawmaker, Moscow's RBC media outlet earlier said Ukraine had transferred the bodies of 24 Russian war dead.
Russian military official killed in blast in Crimea
A Russian military official was killed in an explosion in annexed Crimea, Russian news agencies have reported, citing the Federal Security Service (FSB).
Major Russian refinery out of action for six months after Ukrainian attack
A Ukrainian long-range attack on a major Russian oil refinery earlier this week has put the plant out of action for around six months.
Ukraine hit the refinery in Orsk – around 1,300 kilometres from the front line – triggering a massive fire at the site.
The governor of the Orenburg region, where the refinery is located, said Thursday it had been shut down and repairs would take months. "The equipment is imported, and given sanctions, repairs will take up to six months," governor Yevgeny Solntsev said on social media.
"The plant has been completely shut down," he added, warning: "We are preparing for the worst-case scenario."
Ukrainian munition blast kills five in Russian-controlled Crimea
Five people were killed while trying to defuse an explosive device in Sevastopol, the largest city in Russian-controlled Crimea, regional governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.
"Four pyrotechnicians and one security guard died in the line of duty," Razvozhayev said on social media. "Our guys were inspecting the area after a Ukrainian attack. An enemy munition detonated," he added.
Moscow returns 261 Ukrainian soldiers' bodies and gets back 24 of its own war dead, Russian media reports
Russia has handed over the bodies of 261 Ukrainian soldiers and received 24 of its own war dead in return, reports Russian outlet RBC, citing a senior Russian lawmaker.
The two sides have carried out such exchanges at intervals throughout the 4-1/2-year war.
Ukraine hits Russia's oil refinery in Bashkortostan, Kyiv says
Ukraine's military struck an oil refinery and petrochemical complex in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, causing a fire, said the Ukrainian General Staff, confirming Russian news reports of an attack on the facility.
The complex is located about 1,300 km (808 miles) from the Ukrainian border and was involved in supplying fuel to Russian troops, said the Ukrainian General Staff.
Russian strike on Ukraine passenger train kills 2
A Russian drone attack on a train carrying hundreds of passengers in southern Ukraine killed two people, according to officials.
"Today in the Odesa region, the Russians once again destroyed an ordinary passenger train locomotive with a jet-powered drone. There were 340 people on the train," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"Whoever was operating that drone certainly could not have been unaware that the target was entirely civilian," he added.
Two crew members were killed. None of the passengers were harmed, the CEO of the state railway operator said.
Civilian deaths in Ukraine in July hit highest level since May 2022, UN says
The number of civilians killed in Ukraine in July jumped to its highest level since the first months of the Russian invasion, according to the UN.
"At least 437 civilians were killed and 2,610 injured in Ukraine in July, a 30 percent increase compared with the previous month and a 70 percent increase compared with July 2025. The number of those killed is the highest recorded since May 2022," the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission said in a statement.
Ukraine's grain shipments for export down 76% in August, railway says
Ukraine's grain shipments for export have dropped 76 percent from a year earlier to 201,700 metric tons so far in August, as the blockade of key Black Sea ports continues to curb exports, state railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia said on Thursday.
"The pace of export shipments is extremely low because of the blockade of seaports," it said in a report.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
