Ukraine war briefing: Villages locked down in Putin’s Belgorod ‘sanitary zone’

Russia has been forced to lock down 14 border villages in its Belgorod region due to the Ukrainian fightback against Russian attacks on the Kharkiv region across the border. “From July 23 we are restricting access to 14 residential settlements where the operational situation is extremely difficult,” said the Belgorod governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov. Vladimir Putin launched a May ground offensive on the north-eastern Kharkiv region that he said was intended to create a buffer or “sanitary zone” to protect the Belgorod region but it has instead come under continued shelling and drone attacks from Ukraine, with frequent fatalities, while Russian successes in the Kharkiv region have been limited.

The chief of Russia’s general staff, Valery Gerasimov, thanked Russian forces on Tuesday for capturing the village of Urozhaine in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russia’s defence ministry said. Ukraine has offered no official comment on the fate of Urozhaine, while unofficial Ukrainian bloggers have said Ukrainian forces have relinquished control there. Reuters could not independent verify accounts from either side. The Russian defence ministry said Gerasimov heard a report from a commander of the “east” group of forces “and set new tasks for further activity ”.

The European Council president, Charles Michel, has rebuked Viktor Orbán for declaring that the EU had a “pro-war” stance in Ukraine. “The rotating presidency of the [European Union] council has no role in representing the union on the international stage and received no European Council mandate to engage on behalf of the union,” Michel told the Hungarian PM in a letter seen by Reuters. Hungary currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, which represents the bloc’s member countries. Orban’s diplomatic freelancing with Russia, China and Donald Trump has infuriated other EU member states, which intend to boycott meetings organised by Hungary during its six-month presidential term.

Orban has written to European Council claiming that Donald Trump has “detailed and well-founded” plans for peace between Russia and Ukraine, Jennifer Rankin writes . Orban opposes EU assistance to Ukraine in defending itself, in the face of overwhelming support from the EU as a whole.

It is 10 years since civilian flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine by a Russian anti-aircraft missile , killing all 298 passengers and crew onboard the airliner.

Ukraine’s state company Ukroboronservice and the Czech gunmaker Sellier & Bellot plan to build an ammunition factory in Ukraine , the latter’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said on Tuesday. The agreement was signed as Shmyhal visited Prague.

Ukraine’s parliament has voted to scrap taxes and duties on imports of energy equipment such as generators, solar panels and power storage systems. Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities have left millions facing extended blackouts . Ukraine has lost about half of its available generation capacity.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have announced they are cutting their Soviet-legacy electrical grid ties with Russia and its ally Belarus . “In half a year, we will not only disconnect from the Russian and Belarusian electricity grid, but also dismantle the last remaining power lines,” said Rokas Masiulis, head of Lithuania’s state-run grid operator Litgrid. Latvian operator AST and Estonia’s Elering also announced the decision. The Baltic states will transfer to the European grid next February. They stopped buying Russian gas and electricity after Moscow invaded Ukraine.

An International Monetary Fund team began talks with Ukrainian officials on Tuesday. The IMF has released $3bn to Ukraine this year under a $15.6bn programme called the extended fund facility. Ukraine’s finance ministry said discussions would focus on a fifth review of the programme and unlocking the next $1.1bn tranche. Ukraine faces a budget gap of between 400bn hryvnias ($9.8bn) and 500bn billion hryvnias for this year, according to the head of the parliament’s budget committee.