Here is the situation on Wednesday, July 31, 2024.

Fighting

• Russia claimed to have captured the eastern Ukrainian village of Pivdenne, on the southeastern fringes of Toretsk in the Donetsk region.
• The Ukraine army’s General Staff made no reference to Pivdenne in its late evening report but said Russian forces had tried to breach Ukrainian defences near Pokrovsk, a key Ukrainian transport hub about 70km (43 miles) west of Toretsk, 15 times in the past 24 hours. Three skirmishes were continuing, it added.
• The Ukrainian military said it struck an oil depot in Russia’s Kursk region, as it targets Russia’s oil storage and producing facilities. The General Staff said the attack caused a fire. The Kursk region’s acting governor said on Telegram that air defences had destroyed four Ukrainian missiles over two districts.

Politics and diplomacy

• At least seven Russian political prisoners, convicted over their criticism of the war in Ukraine, were reported to have been moved from jails and prison colonies in recent days, raising speculation of an imminent prisoner exchange. Opposition politician Ilya Yashin, artist Alexandra Skochilenko and rights campaigner Oleg Orlov were among those their lawyers reported as having been moved. Russia and the United States have said they are actively discussing an exchange for US journalist Evan Gershkovich, convicted of spying in a fast-track trial this month.
• A Russian military court sentenced a man to 14 years in prison on treason charges for allegedly planning an attack after joining a banned pro-Ukrainian militia unit. Artem Sanzharaev was accused of joining the Freedom of Russia Legion, a pro-Kyiv unit made up of Russian citizens which has claimed responsibility for armed incursions into Russian border regions.
• Russia’s Investigative Committee, which investigates major crimes, said it had charged eight minors with offences including attempted “terrorism” for trying to set fire to trains and sabotage railway infrastructure in the Urals region of Sverdlovsk. The committee alleged the group was promised money by a “person in Ukraine”.
• Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Kyiv had invited China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit the country amid growing dialogue. Spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said work towards a possible future meeting between Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Xi Jinping, who have spoken only once by telephone since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, was constant. Beijing says it is neutral in the war but has not condemned Moscow for its invasion and has deepened ties with Russia in the years since.
• US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told a Senate hearing that he expects word soon that India is becoming more engaged with Ukraine, after being asked about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow earlier this month.

Source

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Al Jazeera and news agencies