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Morning Headlines
AP News: The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim and Shoigu talked Wednesday in the capital, Pyongyang, and reached a consensus on unspecified “matters of mutual concern in the field of national defense and security and on the regional and international security environment.”
The Guardian: Ukrainian forces have stepped up their counteroffensive after two months of gruelling, incremental gains, mounting a new push in the south of the country while edging closer to the fiercely contested eastern city of Bakhmut.
AP News: The declared deployment of the Russian weapons on the territory of its neighbor and loyal ally Belarus marks a new stage in the Kremlin’s nuclear saber-rattling over its invasion of Ukraine and another bid to discourage the West from increasing military support to Kyiv.
WSJ: Ukrainians are knocking out $1 million Russian tanks with drones that cost about $400.
AP News: In an escalation of Russia’s anger at Ukraine and its Western backers, Russia refused to speak at a U.N. Security Council meeting called to discuss Moscow’s recent devastating attacks on the key port of Odesa immediately following its refusal to extend the Black Sea grain deal.
ISW: Ukrainian forces launched a significant mechanized counteroffensive operation in western Zaporizhia Oblast on July 26 and appear to have broken through certain pre-prepared Russian defensive positions south of Orikhiv.
Bloomberg: Ukraine will probably cut official borrowing costs for the first time since Russia invaded the country, in a step toward easing an emergency monetary regime erected to shield the economy from the war.
POLITICO: Italy's Giorgia Meloni used to support Putin's strongman politics while in opposition. Now, as a pragmatic conservative, she's willing to do business with a grateful international mainstream.
Bloomberg: Putin is hosting African leaders 10 days after ending the Ukraine grain-export deal — and a lower turnout this year highlights Russia's diminishing power.
More News
Reuters: U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered his administration to begin sharing evidence of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the Hague-based International Criminal Court, a U.S official said on Wednesday.
AFP: Italian senators on Wednesday voted to recognise as "genocide" the 1930s starvation of millions in Ukraine under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, a move welcomed by Kyiv.
Meduza: A “German” political ad showing German officials confiscating a family’s property to send to Ukraine and saying “Heil Zelensky” is actually full of Russian actors and was likely filmed in Russia.
NATO said on Wednesday it was stepping up surveillance of the Black Sea region as it condemned Russia's exit from a deal assuring the safe passage of ships carrying Ukrainian grain. The announcement came after a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, a body established earlier this month to coordinate cooperation between the Western military alliance and Kyiv.
The Moscow Times: Secret diplomatic talks are ongoing between former senior U.S. national security officials and high-ranking members of the Kremlin, a U.S. official directly involved in the talks has confirmed to The MT.
Meduza: Speaking at a stamp ceremony on Wednesday, Ukrainian Security Service head Vasyl Malyuk said that the explosion on the Crimean Bridge in October 2022 was “one of the implementations” carried out by the agency, according to the outlet RBC Ukraine.
CNN: Western officials believe the Russian government has silenced dissent by detaining up to seven people following Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny last month.
The Moscow Times: Russian lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation banning the use of foreign email accounts when registering on websites, drawing criticism from the country’s IT industry.
Reuters: The European Union on Wednesday agreed to ban exports of battlefield equipment and aviation parts to Belarus, expanding sanctions on the Kremlin ally for its involvement in Russia's war against Ukraine.
Newsweek: The Russian government has approved a six-month extension of a self-imposed deadline for repairing the Kerch Strait Bridge, which was damaged earlier this month by a Ukrainian naval drone attack.
Reuters: Sweden is the target of a disinformation campaign by "Russia-backed actors" intended to hurt the image of the NATO-candidate country by implying it supported recent burnings of the Koran, its Minister for Civil Defence said on Wednesday.
AFP: International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach on Wednesday formally invited 203 countries, but not Russia and Belarus, to participate in the Paris Olympics which begin in a year's time.
The Ukrainian government plans to invest 40bn hryvnia ($1.08bn) this year into domestic drone manufacturing, the prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, has announced.
AP News: A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced the head of one of the country’s top cybersecurity companies to 14 years in prison for high treason.
POLITICO: Moldova asked 22 Russian diplomats and 23 members of the Russian embassy's technical staff to leave the country by Aug. 15, Deschide reported on July 26, citing Igor Zaharov, an advisor to Moldova's foreign minister.
Meduza: Based on the case of a contract serviceman, who was found guilty of killing two in a traffic accident, the Russian Supreme Court has decided that participation in the war can be grounds for exemption from punishment.
Bloomberg: Danone says it remains the legal owner of its Russian dairy operations even after the government of that country took control of the business.
Reuters: The visiting dignitaries, which include Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Li Hongzhong, are expected to be presented with one of North Korea's signature events: a massive military parade showcasing its latest weaponry.
worth mentioning
FT Film (26-min video): Ukraine tech sector goes to war
Russia and Ukraine are battling for influence in Africa
Images Show More Military Equipment Gathered At 'Wagner Camp' In Belarus
Western Companies in Russia Fear Further Asset Grabs by the Kremlin
Russia Gas Output Down 13% in First Half After EU Exports Cut
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