Russia Ukraine battle dwell: Kyiv ‘good points foothold’ in Zaporizhzhia as Putin snubs Prigozhin funeral

Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida stated he advised Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday that Japan deliberate to maintain on supporting Ukraine.

Mr Kishida advised reporters he had additionally condemned Russia‘s continued assaults on Ukraine throughout his cellphone name with Mr Zelensky.

Pope Francis didn’t intend to glorify Russian imperialism when he extolled tsars that expanded the Russian empire, the Vatican stated on Tuesday, after his remarks in a speech final week had been criticised by Ukraine.

Francis had advised Russian youths in unscripted remarks following a speech on Friday to do not forget that they’re the heirs of previous tsars comparable to Peter I and Catherine II.

The 2 monarchs expanded Russia‘s empire within the seventeenth and 18th centuries, together with conquering elements of Ukraine, and President Vladimir Putin has referred to their legacies in justifying his invasion and annexation of territory final yr.

“The pope meant to encourage younger individuals to protect and promote all that’s optimistic within the nice Russian cultural and non secular heritage, and positively to not exalt imperialist logic and authorities personalities, (which he) talked about to point some historic intervals of reference,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni stated in a press release.

Kyiv referred to as the remarks “deeply regrettable” whereas the Kremlin stated they’d been “very gratifying”.

Persistent wartime assaults on colleges in Ukraine imply that solely a couple of third of school-age youngsters there are attending courses absolutely in individual and lots of are falling behind, the UN youngsters’s fund (UNICEF) stated on Tuesday.

Past Ukraine, greater than half of the kids whose households have fled the battle to seven international locations aren’t enrolled in nationwide schooling programs, UNICEF stated, citing language obstacles and overstretched schooling programs.

Some colleges have suffered direct hits and others have closed down as a precaution since Russia‘s invasion 18 months in the past, which has concerned missile and artillery assaults on residential areas throughout the nation.

“Inside Ukraine, assaults on colleges have continued unabated, leaving youngsters deeply distressed and with out secure areas to study,” it stated.

The battle adopted earlier Covid disruptions, that means some Ukrainian youngsters had been going through a fourth consecutive college yr of disruptions as they return to courses this week after the summer season break, UNICEF stated.

“Not solely has this left Ukraine‘s youngsters struggling to progress of their schooling, however they’re additionally struggling to retain what they learnt when their colleges had been absolutely functioning,” stated Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia.

Round half of Ukraine‘s lecturers have reported a deterioration in college students’ talents in language, studying and arithmetic, it stated.

A Russian army jet destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday, Russia‘s defence ministry stated with out offering every other particulars.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to attend the funeral of Wagner mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Tuesday.

He advised reporters the Kremlin didn’t know concerning the deliberate funeral preparations, saying this was a matter for the household.

Prigozhin died when his enterprise jet crashed final week, two months after he and his Wagner mercenaries staged a mutiny towards Russian army commanders wherein they took management of a southern metropolis, Rostov, and superior in the direction of Moscow earlier than turning again 200 km (125 miles) from the capital.

The Kremlin has rejected as an “absolute lie” the suggestion by some Western politicians and commentators that Putin ordered Prigozhin to be killed in revenge.

Prighozin was killed in a airplane crash northwest of Moscow final Wednesday.

Prigozhin’s dying comes simply two months after the Wagner boss led an armed riot towards Putin, resulting in conjecture the Russian president had ordered Prigozhin’s dying.

Ukrainian troopers on Monday recaptured the Russian-occupied village of Robotyne and positioned the nationwide flag on a bombed-out constructing,

Robotyne was captured by Ukrainian troops final week as a part of the army‘s ongoing counter-offensive towards Russia.

Ukraine‘s army stated that this profitable operation was the breakthrough wanted to push deeper into Russian-held Ukrainian territory.

Russia is unlikley to hit its army recruitment targets regardless of wage hikes and engaging advantages, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has stated in its newest safety briefing.

The MoD on Tuesday stated army service within the Russian Armed Forces has turn out to be “more and more profitable” since president Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion on Ukraine final yr, noting that many junior ranks deployed within the nation are incomes over 200,000 rubles month-to-month.

Regardless of the incentivisation, Russia is “unlikely to satisfy its targets” for recruiting volunteers to its armed forces,

“On 4 February 2022 Russian President Vladimir Putin famous {that a} lieutenant obtained 81,200 rubles monthly. By October 2022, he introduced that even mobilised personal troopers would obtain 195,000 rubles monthly,” the ministry stated on X, previously Twitter.

“Many junior ranks serving in Ukraine are actually on over 200,000 rubles monthly. That is over 2.7 instances the Russian nationwide common wage of 72,851 rubles. By the use of comparability, 2.7 instances the common UK wage would equate to over £90,000 a yr.

“It’s extremely doubtless that the wage and extra advantages are a robust incentive for personnel to affix up, particularly to these from the poorer areas of Russia. Nonetheless, Russia remains to be unlikely to satisfy its targets for recruiting volunteers to the ranks,” the submit learn.

Alexei Volkov, president of the Nationwide Union of Hospitality Industries, stated in an interview that vacationer numbers in Crimea had been anticipated to be down 20-30 per cent this yr to between 6 and 6.5 million individuals.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, eight years earlier than it launched its full-scale invasion of the nation final February. Ukraine has vowed to reverse the annexation, which is thought to be unlawful by most nations. everse.

Different Russian Black Sea resorts, at much less danger of assaults, have seen elevated demand. Volkov stated lodge occupancy in Sochi was at 100 per cent, and even the port metropolis of Novorossiysk had seen a 6% uptick in guests.

The US has accused Russia of intimidating and harassing American staff after Russian state media reported {that a} former US consulate employee, Robert Shonov, had been charged by Russian safety providers with gathering details about the battle in Ukraine.

In accordance with the Russian safety service FSB, Mr Shonov, a Russian nationwide, offered data to US embassy employees in Moscow concerning the impression of Russia’s conscription marketing campaign on political discontent main as much as Russia’s 2024 presidential election.

The FSB has stated it plans to interrogate US embassy staff who had contact with Mr Shonov. Mr Shonov has been in custody since Might.

He had labored for over 25 years on the US Consulate Basic in Vladivostok till Russia ordered the termination of native employees affiliated with the US mission in 2021.

The US State Division spokesperson, Matthew Miller, reiterated that the allegations towards Mr Shonov lack credibility.

“Russia‘s concentrating on of Mr. Shonov below the ‘confidential cooperation’ statute solely highlights the more and more repressive actions the Russian authorities is taking towards its personal residents,” Mr Miller stated in a press release.

He added that Washington was conscious the FSB had additionally summoned two diplomats working on the US embassy in Moscow in connection to the case.