Ukraine

Thirty months into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, human suffering continues to worsen amid alarming reports of attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including nuclear facilities, a senior UN political affairs official told the Security Council on Wednesday.

[…] In its 35-page draft review, seen by Euractiv, the EU’s diplomatic service recommends a two-year extension until November 2026, of the bloc’s European Union Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM), which has trained 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers on European soil.

Ukraine's parliament voted on Wednesday to ratify the Rome Statute, officials said, allowing the country to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a step Ukrainian leaders have cast as central to Kyiv's European aspirations.

[…] "Ukraine is separated from halting the advance of the Russian Army on the front by only one decision we await from our partners: the decision on long-range capabilities," Zelenskiy said in a speech to Ukrainian ambassadors on August 19. The United States and other allies of Ukraine have placed restrictions on the use of the weapons over concerns that it could escalate the war.

During the past week, Ukraine has launched an offensive in Kursk in the most significant cross-border attack since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. The Kursk region, located in western Russia and bordering Ukraine, has a population of about 1.2 million.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Matthias Schmale of Germany as the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, with the host Government’s approval, starting on 11 August.  

Russia was battling a major cross-border incursion from Ukraine for a second day on Wednesday, with authorities evacuating several thousand civilians due to fighting, officials said. … President Vladimir Putin accused Kyiv of attacking civilian buildings and said he was meeting security service chiefs to discuss a response.

European Union governments approved on Tuesday (6 August) the first regular payment to Ukraine of €4.2 billion ($4.58 billion) of the €50 billion the EU has set aside as financial support for Kyiv. 

Disinformation and propaganda, long mainstays of war, have been digitally supercharged in the battle for Ukraine, the biggest conflict the world has seen since the advent of smartphones and social media.

A potential meeting between Chinese and Ukrainian leaders comes to the forefront as Ukraine on Tuesday invited the Chinese foreign minister for bilateral talks. The invitation comes after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba went to China last week, the first such visit since Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine in 2022.