Ukraine war: West calls for restrictions on long-range missiles to be lifted

Russian forces have captured two villages in eastern Ukraine, Russian news agencies have claimed, citing the Kremlin defence ministry.

They cited Stelmakhivka in Luhansk region and Mykolaivka in Donetsk region as having fallen.

The Independent was not able to verify these claims and Moscow has a habit of prematurely reporting the takeover of a Ukrainian town.

Ukraine‘s General Staff in a morning update said that Ukrainian forces were repelling attacks in the area of Stelmakhivka, which sits right on the frontline.

DeepState, a Ukrainian open-source intelligence group that tracks developments on the frontline, and which is known to have close ties to the Ukrainian military, reports that both towns remain under Ukraine’s control.

European Union ministers have arrived in Brussels for a meeting to discuss support for Ukraine after refusing to hold the event in Hungary despite Budapest holding the bloc’s presidency.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, was pictured in Brussels this morning with Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba.

The informal council usually takes place in the country chairing the rotating presidency of the EU. But following tensions between Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban and the EU, the EU’s informal foreign and defense ministerial meetings on 29-30 August, respectively, will take place in Brussels instead of Budapest.

After assuming the presidency on 1 July, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban went on a tour of Kyiv, Moscow, Beijing and later Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, urging Ukraine to the negotiating table.

EU states denounced the trip, saying Orban did not speak on behalf of the bloc, before reaffirming their support for Ukraine.

Russia’s Monday drone and missile attack forced Ukraine to disconnect several nuclear power units from the grid, a Ukrainian mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Thursday.

The mission said in a note to the IAEA that Russia continued to target Ukraine‘s energy infrastructure, intending to disrupt the operation of its nuclear power plants and posing a significant risk to the stable operation of nuclear facilities.

A Belarusian fighter jet has been forced to shoot down a Russian attack drone fired at Ukraine after it veered off course.

The “Shahed” drone, an Iranian model, crossed into Belarusian airspace from northern Ukraine at around 3.30am local time.  It flew into the Yelsk border district some 200 miles south of the Belarusian capital of Minsk.

Russia and Belarus are key allies but several Russian drones, which are lethal, have accidentally endangered Belarusians.

This morning’s episode, however, was the first time a fighter jet was forced to take off and take out the drone.