Live updates on the war in Ukraine: Ukraine reportedly destroys a Russian supersonic bomber; Drones damage Moscow apartments

The BRICS group of major emerging economies – which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – is holding its 15th summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 22-24.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not personally attend the meeting “by mutual agreement”. said the South African PresidencyMoscow will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Putin for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children during the conflict in Ukraine, which likely would have forced the summit's host country, South Africa, to pursue the arrest of the Russian leader.

“While some of our critics prefer open support for their political and ideological decisions, we will not allow ourselves to be drawn into a competition between world powers,” said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on August 20th.

— Ruxandra Iordache

A Ukrainian drone attack has blown up a Russian long-range bomber, according to reports from Ukrainian media and the BBC.

“Images released on social media and analyzed by BBC Verify show a Tupolev Tu-22 on fire at Soltsy-2 airbase south of St. Petersburg,” the British newspaper wrote. The images show the front of one plane while the rest is surrounded by a massive cloud of flame and smoke.

The British Ministry of Defense wrote in a tweet that “a Russian Long-Range Aviation (LRA) Tu-22M3 BACKFIRE medium bomber was most likely destroyed at Soltsky-2 airbase in Novgorod Oblast, 650 km from the Ukrainian border.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said a drone “damaged” a plane before being shot down. Ukraine has not made any official comment.

The Russian ministry said that on Saturday morning there was an attack by a “drone-like drone” on “a military airfield in the Novgorod region” where the Soltsy-2 airbase is located. It added that there had been “no fatalities as a result of the terrorist attack”.

The Tu-22 supersonic bomber, which Russia has frequently used to bomb Ukrainian cities, can fly at twice the speed of sound.

— Natasha Turak

Russia shot down two drones over the Moscow region on Tuesday morning, the falling debris from which caused minor damage to the tiles and windows of an apartment building, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The ministry said the drone strikes came from Ukraine and that its forces also shot down two Ukrainian drones over the western Bryansk border region.

“Police had cordoned off the crime scene and investigators from the Russian security service FSB collected what appeared to be drone fragments,” Reuters reported reported.

The attack marks the fifth straight day of drone strikes in the Moscow region.

Kyiv has not commented on the drone strikes and rarely takes public responsibility for such events. Drone strikes in Russia have become much more frequent since May, when two drones, which Russian authorities say originated in Ukraine, tried to attack the Kremlin but were shot down.

— Natasha Turak

Ukraine consider using Its recently tested Black Sea export corridor for wartime grain shipments has been completed after the first successful evacuation of a ship along the route last week, a senior agriculture official said Monday.

Russia has blocked Ukrainian ports since invading its neighbor in February 2022 and has threatened to treat all ships as potential military targets after withdrawing from a United Nations-backed safe-passage deal for grain exports from the Black Sea last month had.

In response, Ukraine announced a “humanitarian corridor” that includes the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria. A Hong Kong-flagged container ship has been stranded in the port of Odessa since the invasion traveled the route last week without being shot at.

“Only one merchant ship has passed through so far, and this one has shown its willingness to move along alternative routes,” Denys Marchuk, deputy chairman of the Agrarian Council, Ukraine's largest agribusiness group, told national television.

“Also, should there be movement of possibly seven to eight more ships…then perhaps in the future these alternative routes will become a corridor for the movement of ships carrying cargoes of grain and oilseeds,” he said.

— Reuters

An Iranian military delegation visited Moscow for talks on increased cooperation between the two countries' ground forces, Russian state media reported, citing the country's defense ministry.

“The military delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, headed by the Brigade Commander of the Ground Forces, Brigadier General Kioumars Haydari, has arrived in Moscow to discuss issues of bilateral military cooperation,” the Russian Defense Ministry said, according to an English translation provided by state media TASS .

“The sides discussed issues of military cooperation and interaction aimed at implementing projects aimed at improving the combat readiness of the armed forces of both countries,” TASS wrote.

The ministry's statement quoted Russian Ground Forces commander General Oleg Salyukov as saying: “The Russian Federation considers Iran one of the key states in the Middle East – it is Russia's strategic partner, and ongoing intensive political dialogue is a hallmark of the present.” phase of our partnership.”

Iran supported Russia during its invasion of Ukraine and imposed western sanctions on its arms sales to Moscow.

— Natasha Turak