Live blog: No approval yet for ICRC to visit bombed Ukraine prison

Sunday, July 31, 2022

No green light for ICRC to visit site of Ukrainian POW attack

The International Committee of the Red Cross has said it has yet to receive approval to enter the Olenivka prison where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war died in a bombing strike.

"As of yet, we have received no official confirmation granting us access to visit the site or the prisoners of war affected by the attack, and, to date, our offer of material assistance has not been accepted," the ICRC said in a statement.

The Russian defence ministry said late Saturday it had invited the ICRC and the United Nations to visit the area. Kiev and Moscow have traded blame over the strikes on the jail in Kremlin-controlled Olenivka in eastern Ukraine.

South Ukraine city pounded, killing grain tycoon

Authorities in Ukraine's southern city of Mykolaiv have said that widespread Russian bombardments overnight had left at least two civilians dead, as Moscow continued to pummel the sprawling front line.

The authorities said leading Ukrainian agricultural magnate Oleksiy Vadatursky, 74, and his wife Raisa were killed when a missile struck their house.

Mykolaiv — which has been attacked frequently — is the closest Ukrainian city to the southern front where Kiev's forces are looking to launch a major counter-offensive to recapture territory lost after Russia's February offensive.

Several injured in drone attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet HQ

A drone-borne explosive device has detonated at the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, injuring six people, officials say.

The explosion at the headquarters in the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 caused cancellation of observances of Russia's Navy Day holiday.

The Black Sea Fleet's press service said the drone appeared to be homemade. It described the explosive device as “low-power” but Sevastopol mayor Mikhail Razvozhaev said six people were injured in the blast.

Ukraine denies carrying out drone attack 

Ukraine has denied carrying out the drone attack on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea fleet.

Sergiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the coastal Odessa military region, dismissed claims that Ukraine was behind the attack as "sheer provocation" on Sunday.

"Our liberation of Crimea from the occupiers will be carried out in another way and much more effectively," he wrote on Telegram.

Zelenskyy: grain harvest could be halved by conflict

Ukraine's president has said that the country's harvest could be half its usual amount this year due to the conflict in Ukraine.

"Ukrainian harvest this year is under the threat to be twice less," suggesting half as much as usual, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in English on Twitter.

"Our main goal — to prevent global food crisis caused by Russian invasion. Still grains find a way to be delivered alternatively," he added.

Gazprom's gas flows to Europe via Ukraine steady at 42.2 mcm 

Russian gas producer Gazprom has said its supply of gas to Europe through Ukraine via the Sudzha entry point was seen at 42.2 million cubic metres (mcm), up from 42.1 mcm seen a day earlier.

An application to supply gas via the Sokhranovka entry point was rejected by Ukraine, Gazprom said.

Russia invites UN, Red Cross experts to probe jail deaths

Russia has invited experts from the United Nations and the Red Cross to probe the deaths of dozens of Ukrainian prisoners in a jail held by Moscow-backed separatists, the Defence Ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry said it was acting "in the interests of conducting an objective investigation" into what it called an attack on the jail earlier in the week.

The separatists put the death toll at 53 and accused Kiev of hitting the prison with rockets. Ukraine's armed forces denied responsibility, saying Russian artillery had targeted the prison to hide the mistreatment of those held there.

For live updates from Saturday(July 30), click here