In a rare public address in Prague, the head of MI6 accused China of being “absolutely complicit” in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
My colleague Helen Davidson reports that the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin signed a “no limits” partnership between their countries shortly before the Russian invasion. After the war began, China refused to publicly censure or discourage Russia, and senior officials often expressed direct support.
The intervention by Sir Richard Moore, who has been chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service since 2020, came as veteran US diplomat Henry Kissinger met today with Xi in Beijing’s park-like Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, with Chinese senior diplomat Wang Yi also in attendance, the Associated Press reports.
“The US policy toward China requires the diplomatic wisdom like that of Kissinger and political courage like Nixon’s,” Wang said, according to the foreign ministry.
The ministry said the two sides also discussed the war in Ukraine, as well as artificial intelligence and other economic issues. Wang told Kissinger that it was “impossible” to transform, encircle or contain China.
Kissinger also held talks with the defence minister, Li Shangfu, who is barred from visiting the US over arms sales he oversaw with Russia.
It’s Mattha Busby here, taking over the blog from Martin Belam. I’m on Twitter here or email mattha.busby@theguardian.com
Ukrainian sources have confirmed that two people have been killed and at least 27 injured in Russia’s overnight attacks, which have targeted Odesa and Mykolaiv for a third successive night. Ukraine’s military claimed to shoot down five cruise missiles and 13 attack drones out of 19 cruise missiles and 19 drones launched by Russia in total.
Suspilne reported that in Mykolaiv a three-storey building was struck, and residential buildings and about 15 garages were damaged in the city. 19 victims are known, with two of them hospitalised, including a child. In Odesa, due to the attack four people were injured and a security guard was killed. An administrative building was destroyed, and houses were damaged by the blast wave. Warehouses were hit in the region. Odesa’s governor has reported that the Chinese consulate in the city was damaged. Another person was killed in an attack in Kharkiv region.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy offered condolences to the victims, saying “Odesa. Mykolaiv. Russian terrorists continue their attempts to destroy the life of our country. But the evil state has no missiles that are more powerful than our will to save lives, support each other and win.”
After the attacks, Ukrainian presidential adviser Andriy Yermak made another appeal for tougher sanctions against Russia and more air defence supplies for Ukraine, tweeting: “We must unite against Russian evil. Russia’s economy should suffer a devastating sanctions blow, the military-industrial complex should be limited in its ability to produce weapons, and Ukraine should receive more weapons for defence of the sky and offensive actions.”
A teenage girl has died in a Ukrainian drone attack on north-west Crimea, the Moscow-back governor of the occupied peninsula has said. Authorities in Crimea, which Russia unilaterally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, have declared a municipal state of emergency in the area.
Russia likely made the decision to quit the Black Sea grain deal “some time ago because it decided that the deal was no longer serving its interests”, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update on the war.
Russia is responsible for a major global food supply crisis, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on Thursday, some days after the Kremlin announced it would suspend an agreement for Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea.
Grain prices have jumped after Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian ports. On Wednesday Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes had destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain awaiting export.
Germany is working with allies to ensure that Ukrainian grain is not left to rot in silos, and will intensify work on getting the grain out by rail, foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said on Thursday.
Yevgeny Balitsky, head of the Russian-imposed administration of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine has described the situation on the frontline there as “stabilized”, claiming “the enemy is not taking active actions. Our command understands that this lull is just an attempt by the enemy to recuperate after significant losses of equipment and manpower.”
The Belarus Red Cross has sparked international outrage after its chief told Belarusian state television that the organisation is actively involved in bringing Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied areas to Belarus. Both Ukraine and the Belarusian opposition have labelled the transfers unlawful deportations, and there have been calls for international war crimes charges for the authoritarian Belarus leader, similar to the charges against Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Russian media sources are reporting that Russian president Vladimir Putin will address the Brics summit in South Africa remotely on 23 August. Earlier this week it was announced that by “mutual consent” between South Africa and Russia, Putin would not travel to the summit, as South Africa might be obliged to act on the ICC warrant for the Russian leader’s arrest.
Britain has added individuals and groups with links to Russia’s Wagner group and operating in Central African Republic and Mali to its sanctions list. Britain named Vitalii Viktorovitch Perfilev as head of the Wagner group in the CAR and said he would be subject to an asset freeze and travel ban. Russia’s foreign ministry has summoned the British interim charge d’affaires in Moscow.
Odesa governor: Chinese consulate in port city damaged after Russian attack
Odesa’s governor has reported that the Chinese consulate in the city was damaged in the overnight strike by Russia.
On Telegram, Oleh Kiper posted:
As a result of the Russian night attack, the building of the consulate general of the People’s Republic of China in Odesa was damaged.
The aggressor deliberately hits the port infrastructure. Administrative and residential buildings, as well as the consulate of the People’s Republic of China, were damaged. This suggests that the enemy does not pay attention to anything.
Britain has added individuals and groups with links to Russia’s Wagner group and operating in Central African Republic and Mali to its sanctions list.
Reuters reports that in its statement on Thursday, Britain named Vitalii Viktorovitch Perfilev as head of the Wagner group in the CAR and said he would be subject to an asset freeze and travel ban.
Reuters also reports that Russia’s foreign ministry has summoned the British interim charge d’affaires in Moscow.
Two dead and at least 27 injured after night of Russian attacks on Odesa, Mykolaiv and in Kharkiv
Ukrainian sources have confirmed that two people have been killed and at least 27 injured in Russia’s overnight attacks, which have targeted Odesa and Mykolaiv for a third successive night.
Nineteen people were wounded in the city of Mykolaiv, and a security guard was killed and at least eight others were hurt in Odesa, including a child.
Ukraine: footage shows burning buildings after Russian strike on Mykolaiv – video
Ukraine claims it shot down five missiles and 13 drones after Russia launched 19 of each.
Reuters reports one of the people was killed in Russian shelling in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv, regional authorities said.
Earlier this week Moscow said the attacks on Ukrainian port cities on Tuesday were meant as retaliation for blasts on a bridge used to transport Russian military supplies, which it blamed on Kyiv.
Ukraine’s president has used his social media channels to comment on the overnight attacks on Ukraine. On his Telegram channel, Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote:
Odesa. Mykolaiv. Russian terrorists continue their attempts to destroy the life of our country. Unfortunately, there are wounded and dead. My condolences to the families and friends.
But the evil state has no missiles that are more powerful than our will to save lives, support each other and win.
I thank everyone who defends our cities, our people, our sky. I am grateful to all our warriors, rescuers, doctors, local authorities, volunteers … to everyone involved in eliminating the consequences of Russian terror.
I am grateful to the port workers who do their best to preserve our infrastructure. To the builders and repair teams who help people restore normal living conditions.
Together we will make it through this terrible time. And we will withstand the attacks of Russian evil.
Germany is working with allies to ensure that Ukrainian grain is not left to rot in silos after Russia pulled out of an export deal, and will intensify work on getting the grain out by rail, the foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said on Thursday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Baerbock accused Russia of blackmail and trying to use the grain as a weapon at the expense of the world’s poorest.
“Hundreds of thousands of people, not to say millions, urgently need the grain from Ukraine, which is why we are working with all our international partners so that the grain in Ukraine does not rot in silos in the next few weeks, but reaches the people of the world who urgently need it,” Reuters reports Baerbock said.
Russian media sources are reporting that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will address the Brics summit in South Africa remotely on 23 August.
Earlier this week it was announced that by “mutual consent” between South Africa and Russia, Putin would not travel to the summit, as South Africa could be obliged to act on the ICC warrant for the Russian leader’s arrest.
Yevgeny Balitsky, head of the Russian-imposed administration of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, has posted on Telegram about the status of the frontline in the region, which Russia partially occupies. He wrote:
The situation has stabilized … the enemy is not taking active actions. However, our command understands that this lull is just an attempt by the enemy to recuperate after significant losses of equipment and manpower.
The message was accompanied by an image that purports to be from Vasylivka. Balitsky claimed:
Evidence of [Ukrainian armed forces’] difficulty and anger was yesterday’s chaotic shelling of peaceful Vasylivka by artillery pieces – three shells of cannon artillery, aiming at civilian infrastructure. The House of Culture was destroyed, residential buildings, roads were damaged, a gas pipe was broken, the glazing of apartments in an apartment building was damaged by a shock wave. One woman born in 1954 was injured, she received medical assistance, her life and health are not in danger.
The claims have not been independently verified.
An image posted by Yevgeny Balitsky which claims to show damage from Ukrainian military action in occupied Vasylivka Photograph: Yevgeny Balitsky/Telegram
Russia announced it would annex Zaporizhzhia in September 2022.
Here are a couple more images from Mykolaiv, which Russia struck overnight.
In an image released by Ukraine’s emergency services, firefighters work at a site of a residential building heavily damaged in Mykolaiv. Photograph: State Emergency Service Of Ukraine/Reuters
A person removes shards of glass from a window after a Russian missile attack on Mykolaiv. Photograph: Reuters
