Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,259
Fighting
Russian forces launched attacks on six settlements in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said, with three people killed and 10 injured in the village of Lyman and the town of Vovchansk.
Russian forces also shelled a railway station in the town of Lozova, killing a duty mechanic. Four other railway workers were among the 10 people injured, Syniehubov said.
Russian forces launched 431 air attacks on 16 settlements in Ukraine's Zaporizhia region, killing four people and wounding three others, Governor Ivan Fedorov said.
A Ukrainian drone attack killed four employees of the water utility in the district of Svatovsky, in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, according to the region's Russia-installed governor, Leonid Pasechnik. The head of the region's health service, quoted by Russia's state-run TASS news agency, later said that a fifth worker wounded in the strike had died in hospital.
TASS also reported that a 30-year-old man was killed and a 51-year-old woman was injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on a car near the Russian-occupied village of Nyzhnia Duvanka in the Svatovsky district on Monday.
Ukraine's military intelligence claimed that Ukrainian forces killed 334 Russian troops and wounded more than 550, in a failed attack on Ukraine's Sumy region. Al Jazeera was not able to verify the report.
Ukraine's presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on Telegram that Kyiv has found components from India in Russian drones used for attacks on Ukraine. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the information.
Military aid
Sweden, Norway and Denmark will together contribute about 5 billion Norwegian crowns ($486.16m) to buy US weapons for Ukraine, the Norwegian government said in a statement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged the promised funding, saying that Ukraine had secured an 'additional $500 million from our friends in Northern Europe: Sweden, Norway, and Denmark' for US weapons.
The US Department of State approved the potential sale of repair and sustainment support for M777 howitzer artillery guns, and transportation and consolidation services to Ukraine from BAE Systems and other United States contractors for an estimated total of $203.5m, the Pentagon said.
Regional security
The German air force will station five Eurofighter combat aircraft in Poland for several weeks, in response to a Polish request, an air force spokesman told Germany's DPA news agency. The Kyiv Independent news outlet reported that the move was a deterrent ahead of joint Russian-Belarusian military drills.
Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has written to the NATO military alliance asking it to help strengthen its air defences, after two military drones crossed into its territory from Belarus last month.
Ceasefire and sanctions
Zelenskyy said he had a 'productive conversation' with US President Donald Trump, 'with the key focus of course being ending the war'.
Trump told CNBC news that declining energy prices could pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt Moscow's war in Ukraine.
'If energy goes down enough, Putin is going to stop killing people,' Trump said. 'If you get energy down, another $10 a barrel, he's going to have no choice because his economy stinks.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Top Kremlin official: Putin, Trump to meet ‘in coming days'
Top Kremlin official: Putin, Trump to meet 'in coming days' NewsFeed A top Kremlin foreign policy aide said Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will meet 'in the coming days.' The White House has not confirmed such a meeting and a day earlier said a summit including Ukraine's president was on the table. Video Duration 01 minutes 44 seconds 01:44 Video Duration 02 minutes 09 seconds 02:09 Video Duration 00 minutes 41 seconds 00:41 Video Duration 00 minutes 35 seconds 00:35 Video Duration 01 minutes 17 seconds 01:17 Video Duration 01 minutes 06 seconds 01:06 Video Duration 00 minutes 30 seconds 00:30
Al Jazeera
9 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet in coming days, Kremlin aide says
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are preparing to meet 'in the coming days', a Kremlin official has said, as a United States deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire in its war on Ukraine or face economic penalties approaches. Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday that a Trump-Putin meeting could happen as early as next week. A location has been chosen, he added, though it would be revealed at a later stage. 'At the request of the American side, both parties have effectively agreed to hold a high-level bilateral meeting in the coming days,' Ushakov told reporters. The announcement follows Trump's remarks on Wednesday that he was hopeful of holding a joint meeting with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 'very soon'. Trump has warned Moscow that unless a ceasefire is reached by Friday, it will face broader sanctions. Ushakov said the prospect of a three-way summit came up during talks in Moscow with Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, who met Putin for the fifth time earlier this week. Russia offered no official comment on the potential trilateral meeting. Zelenskyy signalled support for such a summit, writing on X that 'Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side'. He added that discussions had included 'two bilateral and one trilateral' format, insisting Europe must be involved in efforts to end the war. Despite multiple visits to Moscow by Witkoff since Trump entered office in January after promising to end the war, no breakthrough has materialised. Trump acknowledged the lack of progress, saying: 'I don't call it a breakthrough … we have been working at this for a long time. There are thousands of young people dying … I'm here to get the thing over with.' The Kremlin described Witkoff's latest discussions as 'constructive' and said both sides had exchanged 'signals', though it provided few specifics. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy confirmed he had spoken with Trump about the meeting, alongside European leaders. Expectations remain low that a peace deal will be reached before Trump's deadline. Russia continues to launch air strikes across Ukraine, and Moscow's conditions for ending the war, such as Kyiv's demilitarisation, neutrality and renunciation of NATO membership, remain non-starters for Ukraine and its Western allies. Putin also demands Ukrainian withdrawal from Russian-occupied regions, the formal recognition of Crimea, and the lifting of international sanctions. Kyiv has consistently rejected those terms. Meanwhile, the White House has approved an additional $200m military aid package for Ukraine, including support for drone manufacturing. And in a separate move, Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday imposing 25 percent tariffs on Indian imports over its ongoing purchases of Russian oil.
Al Jazeera
19 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Why Trump's secondary tariffs on Russia could bite the US, its allies too
Top United States diplomatic negotiator Steve Witkoff visited Moscow on Wednesday in a last-ditch push to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine before an August 8 deadline set by President Donald Trump. After Witkoff's meeting with Putin, the White House said that Russia had sought a meeting with Trump. The US president, the White House said, was open to meeting both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump, who during his re-election campaign had promised he would be able to end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours if he came to power, has so far failed to mediate a truce despite months of hectic diplomacy, direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv, and phone calls with Putin. Increasingly frustrated by Putin's unwillingness to agree to a pause in fighting without imposing conditions unacceptable to Ukraine or the West, Trump has threatened a new wave of economic measures punishing Russia if it does not accept a ceasefire. Since Russia's full-fledged invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US and its allies, including the United Kingdom and the European Union, have imposed more than 21,000 sanctions on Russia's economy. The new tariffs Trump has threatened are unlike any of those earlier sanctions, however. They target Russia by hitting out against its trading partners, in the hope that they will stop buying from or selling to Moscow. But these secondary tariffs also carry risks for the US and its allies. What are the secondary tariffs Trump is threatening? In mid-July, as peace talks stalled despite Trump's efforts, the US president threatened Russia with 100 percent secondary tariffs if it did not work towards a ceasefire. He gave the Kremlin a 50-day deadline to cooperate. After Moscow suggested that it wouldn't bow to US pressure, Trump moved up the deadline, which now expires on August 8. It is unclear if Trump's openness to talks with Putin and Zelenskyy following Witkoff's Moscow visit has changed that deadline. On Wednesday, Trump doubled the tariff rate on Indian imports from 25 percent – which he had announced in late July – to 50 percent, as punishment for New Delhi's refusal to stop buying Russian oil. That makes India the country facing the highest US tariffs at present – along with Brazil. If Trump's secondary tariffs go into effect, goods that the US imports from countries still trading with Russia would face duties of 100 percent on top of the tariffs Trump has already imposed on those nations. That would at least double the price of those products, making them less competitive in the US market. The idea behind these tariffs is to persuade Russia's trading partners to stop buying and selling with the country, isolating its economy and depriving it of revenue it earns from exports, especially from energy. Despite the sanctions it already faces, Russia has consistently earned more than 500 million euros ($580m) a day from energy exports since 2022. That will be disrupted if countries stop buying all oil and gas from Russia. Which countries could Trump's secondary tariffs hit? The countries most affected by such secondary tariffs would be: China: Russia's most important ally, China is by far the largest consumer of its northern neighbour's exports. In 2023, China bought almost a third of all Russian exports. It also bought almost half of Russia's oil exports. India: An old friend, India has been buying up large volumes of Russian crude since 2022, including almost 40 percent of Russia's total oil exports in 2023. That year, 17 percent of Russia's overall exports went to India. Trump had already imposed a 25 percent tariff on Indian goods. On Wednesday, he doubled that rate as punishment for India's continued oil purchases from Russia. Turkiye: The third-largest buyer of Russian energy, 8 percent of Russia's exports in 2023 went to Turkiye. It is a NATO ally of the US. Turkiye isn't the only ally that could be hit if Trump truly targets all those who trade with Russia. Could US allies be hit? Pushing back against Western threats over its ties with Russia, India has pointed to the EU's own trade with Moscow. And while that trade has plummeted since 2022, it is still substantial. According to the EU, its total trade with Russia was worth 67.5 billion euros ($77.9bn) in 2024. India's total trade with Russia in 2024-25, by contrast, was worth $68.7bn. The bloc still relies heavily on Russia for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies. In fact, its import of Russian LNG has been rising: In 2024, EU imports of Russian LNG were 9 percent higher than the year before. Europe has already been hit with a 15 percent tariff from Trump. Will Trump punish his closest supporters to pressure Russia to end the war? Could the US face risks, too? It is not just allies – secondary tariffs on those who trade with Russia carry risks for the US itself, too. Trump's team is currently working on a trade deal with China, and those talks have led to a pause in a tariff war between the world's two largest economies. That detente would break down if Trump imposes 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods simply because Beijing also trades with Russia. China, Europe and India are all major suppliers of goods to the US: If the cost of those products – from clothes to lamps to iPhones – doubles, American consumers will feel the pinch. The US also buys chemicals, including uranium hexafluoride – used in uranium enrichment – from Russia. Will India and China stop buying Russian energy? That looks unlikely. China continues to buy oil from Iran, despite US sanctions – and Russia is arguably its closest strategic partner. India has also shown no sign of loosening its ties with Russia. Witkoff isn't the only foreign envoy visiting Moscow at the moment. India's national security adviser, Ajit Doval, is also in the Russian capital. India's foreign minister, S Jaishankar, is expected to visit Russia later this month, and India has announced that it intends to host Putin later this year. On Wednesday, India described Trump's 50 percent tariff as 'unfair, unjustified and unreasonable', adding that its purchase of Russian oil was rooted in its desire for energy security for its 1.4 billion people.
