Ukraine war briefing: Sea of Azov emptied of Russian warships, says Ukrainian navy

Russia has pulled all its vessels out of the Sea of Azov, a body of water connected to the Black Sea, according to Ukraine’s navy. “There are no longer any Russian naval vessels in the Sea of Azov,” said Dmytro Pletenchuk, a Ukrainian navy spokesman. Ukrainian naval officials have said in recent months that successful attacks on targets in Russian-annexed Crimea and elsewhere in the Black Sea have forced the Russian navy to rebase its ships elsewhere. Russia did not immediately respond to the claim.

Russia fired ballistic missiles at Kharkiv on Wednesday, damaging the office of a Swiss mine-clearing NGO , local officials said. Six people were injured when an industrial area was hit, said the Kharkiv mayor, Ihor Terekhov. Volodymyr Tymoshko, the Kharkiv police head, told the national broadcaster Suspilne that Russian forces used a “double-tap” attack to target rescuers who arrived after an initial strike. “It is a miracle that both the rescuers and the policemen left this object 10 minutes before the second strike,” he said, but other people nearby were injured.

Heavy Russian attacks are creating “tense” and difficult conditions around the town of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, Ukraine’s army has said. “The servicemen of the brigade continue to courageously hold the defence in the direction of Progress, Lozuvatskyi, Ivanovka and Vozdvizhenka.” Russian forces recently advanced near Vovchansk, Siversk, Toretsk and Donetsk city, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Pokrovsk has been described as the hottest point along the frontline.

Russian forces recently made a marginal advance north of Kharkiv city amid continued positional fighting in northern Kharkiv oblast, according to the ISW. “Geolocated footage published on July 23 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced westward to Polova Street in western Hlyboke,” the US-based thinktank said. In Donetsk oblast, Russian forces made a confirmed advance north-west of Avdiivka amid continued ground attacks in the Avdiivka direction, said the ISW. Elements of the Russian 114th motorised rifle brigade advanced into central and western Novoselivka Persha, north-west of Avdiivka, from the south-east.

The ISW said Russia would face “significant” problems keeping up troop numbers and replacing heavy losses of tanks and equipment in the medium to long term. “Ukrainian authorities have noted that Russia is currently not producing enough to cover its current equipment losses in Ukraine.” ISW cited a British assessment that Russia can continue until about 2026–27 by refurbishing Soviet-era stocks. “It is unclear if the Russian defence industry will be able to produce enough vehicles to sustain a high level of equipment losses even with further economic mobilisation … [which] will likely be deeply unpopular among Russians who are largely apathetic towards the war so long as it does not impact their daily life.”

Russia must be ready to negotiate in “good faith” before Ukraine will agree to talks, the Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has told his counterpart, Wang Yi, in China. “Currently there is no such readiness on the Russian side ,” said Ukraine’s foreign ministry in a statement. Kuleba said in video address that Ukraine could only “engage in any discussions and seek any solutions” if they upheld Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, which China had “unshakeably” affirmed.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told a regular press conference in Beijing that “conditions are not yet ripe” for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. After the talks, Russian media attempted to portray Kuleba as having said Ukraine was ready to negotiate – a characterisation that Ukraine’s foreign ministry immediately rejected.

Britain’s new Labour prime minister, Keir Starmer, has assured his Conservative predecessor, Rishi Sunak, of continued support for Ukraine . In the House of Commons, Sunak said: “Can I ask that he [Starmer] continues to be responsive to Ukraine’s new requests so that they don’t just stand still but can decisively win out against Russian aggression?” Starmer replied: “I can assure him that we are of course talking to Ukraine about how they deal with the Russian aggression that they are facing, have been facing for many, many months, and I will continue to try to do that in the way that he did , which is to reach out across the House to share such information as we can to maintain the unity that is so important.”

Sunak said he “very much welcomes” words committing the UK government to Ukraine’s “irreversible path” to Nato membership and urged Starmer to confirm “fatuous Russian claims on Ukrainian territory must not act as a block to Ukraine joining the Nato defensive alliance”. Starmer replied: “It is for Nato allies to decide who is a member of Nato … it was really important at the summit that we were able to say there is now this irreversible path to membership [for Ukraine].”

A shooting among Ukrainian soldiers left three dead and four others seriously wounded after a personal dispute, Ukraine’s army said on Wednesday. “In one of the units, soldiers used firearms on the basis of personal relationships. As a result of the shooting, three soldiers were killed and four others were injured,” the Khortytsia regional grouping of the Ukrainian army said. Law enforcement officials were at the scene, it said. Violence among fellow soldiers is a sensitive issue in both Russia and Ukraine. In May, a 57-year-old Russian soldier recruited from a penal colony was reported to have shot dead six of his fellow troops in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.