Russia-Ukraine war – live: Putin orders more drones as five killed in missile attack on Donetsk

At least five people have died after two Russian missiles hit a residential building in east Ukraine, on the same day Vladimir Putin has ordered the state-owned defence conglomerate to produce more attack drones. Five people, including four civilians and one emergency official, were killed after the rockets hit an apartment complex in the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region on Monday, Ukrainian interior minister Ihor Klymenko said. At least 31 more have been injured, as videos from outside the building show emergency services rescuing people trapped under the rubble and treating the wounded. Writing on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky vowed ‘Russia will be held accountable for everything it has done in this terrible war’. Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, later reported two more victims of Russian strikes in Kruhliakivka village in Kupiansk district. As news of the attack in Donetsk broke, Putin ordered the head of Rostec, Sergei Chemezov, to increase the production Russian drone models like Kub and Lancet, in televised footage. Key Points Ukraine and Russia confirm Kyiv hits Chonhar bridge to Crimea Ukraine says Western weapons seeing ‘significant results’ Russian retaliation threat sees up to 70 air assault weapons used overnight Zelensky condemns Russian attack on blood transfusion centre Russia planning ‘false flag’ attack in Belarus, Ukraine warns Russia attacks eastern Ukraine over 9,000 times in recent days, deputy defence minister says Russian missile strikes on apartment buildings kill five in east Ukraine, Kyiv says Russian informant detained over Zelensky assassination plot, Kyiv says 14:44 , Eleanor Noyce A Russian informant has been detained over a plot to assassinate Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Kyiv has said. The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said it has detained a Russian informant ‘who was preparing a Russian airstrike in the Mykolaiv region during the visit of the President of Ukraine.’ The alleged informant ‘on the eve of the recent trip of the President of Ukraine to Mykolaiv region, was gathering intelligence about the planned visit,’ the service said, referencing a trip Zelensky made to the region in July. In a statement, the SBU said that the individual ‘tried to establish the time and list of locations of the approximate route of the Head of State in the territory of the region’, but agents had obtained information about the ‘subversive activities of the suspect’ and subsequently introduced additional security measures. Monitoring the communications of the woman – who has not been named, but is understood to be a resident of Ochakov in southern Ukraine – the service established that she had been tasked with locating electronic warfare systems and warehouses with ammunition of the armed forces. The individual allegedly travelled around the district and filmed the locations of Ukrainian objects. Zelensky attends an event on the Day of Ukrainian Statehood held on Mykhailivska Square in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, 28 July 2023 (EPA) Ukraine says Russian missile strikes on apartment buildings kill five in east 20:12 , Maanya Sachdeva Two Russian missile strikes killed five people and injured 31 when they hit residential buildings in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Monday. Videos and pictures released by Ukrainian officials showed people sorting through the rubble including a badly damaged five-story apartment building. An ambulance was on the scene treating the wounded. According to Klymenko, four civilians died in the first attack and Donetsk emergency official was killed during the second attack. Facade of the residential apartment that was hit by Russian rockets on Monday (Ihor Klymenko/Telegram (obtained by Kyiv Independent)) Search and rescue operations were ongoing, Klymenko said. Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, later reported two more victims of Russian strikes in Kruhliakivka village in Kupiansk district. Russia blasts peace talks in Saudi Arabia as ‘pointless’ 20:07 , Maanya Sachdeva Russia’s foreign ministry on Monday criticised efforts by international officials meeting in Saudi Arabia to find a peaceful settlement for the war in Ukraine, saying the talks don’t have ‘the slightest added value’ because Moscow – unlike Kyiv – was not invited. Senior officials from around 40 countries gathered on Sunday in Jeddah for a two-day meeting that aims to agree on key principles about how to end the conflict that has raged for more than 17 months. But without Russia’s participation and without taking into account Moscow’s interests, the meeting was pointless, a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said. It repeated previous assurances that Russia is open to a diplomatic solution on its terms that ends the war and is ready to respond to serious proposals. But Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, ruled out Moscow’s previous demands that would give Russia time to dig in deeper in the parts of Ukraine it has occupied. He said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Russian forces must fully withdraw from the occupied areas and there would be no Kyiv compromise on that. Restaurant frequented by journalists was ‘target of Donetsk attacks’ 19:35 , Maanya Sachdeva A Ukrainian journalist, Denys Kazansky has shared more footage from outside the residential building that was hit by Russian rockets in the eastern city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk. He claimed ‘Corleone’, a restaurant on the ground floor of the apartment complex, ‘was the target’ since it was frequented by journalists and volunteers. Two dead after Russian missiles hit residential building in east Ukraine, Kyiv says 19:09 , Maanya Sachdeva Two people were killed in two Russian missile strikes on a residential building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, said on Monday. ‘As of now, it is known about two dead people – a woman and a man. The four wounded were taken away by an ambulance. Rescuers and medics are working,’ Yermak said in his Telegram channel. ‘There are victims’: Russian missiles ‘hit residential building’ in Donetsk 18:51 , Maanya Sachdeva Two Russian missile strikes hit a residential building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday. He wrote on his Telegram channel: ‘Two missile strikes. An ordinary residential building was hit. Unfortunately, there are victims. ‘Rescuers and all necessary services are on the scene. The rescue of people continues.’ Kyiv troops ‘hold initiative’ over Putin’s forces on frontline 18:26 , Maanya Sachdeva Ukrainian troops are creating conditions to advance forward step-by-step and have the initiative on the battlefield, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief said on Monday. Kyiv’s defensive lines are stable with troops repelling Russian attempts to counter-attack and distract Ukrainian forces from other parts of the front, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. ‘Heavy fighting is underway, and step-by-step, Ukrainian troops are continuing to create the conditions to advance. The initiative is on our side,’ Zaluzhnyi said after a telephone call with US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley. Ukraine launched a counteroffensive at the start of the summer, attempting to retake swathes of territory captured by Russia in the south and east of the country. Officials have brushed aside criticism that they are advancing slowly, saying they are trying to avoid high casualties as they attack well-fortified Russian lines that are strewn with landmines. ICYMI: 17:31 , Eleanor Noyce Point-of-view footage shows the moment a camera operator had to run for cover during what a Russian official said was Ukrainian shelling on Russian-controlled Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, 5 August. The camera was following firefighters as they approached a university building in the city, which was burning after what Russian-installed mayor Alexei Kulemzin called a Ukrainian attack. Moments later, a loud blast is heard and the camera operator runs away whilst crouching down. Kulemzin said initial reports indicated the cause of the fire was an attack by Ukrainian forces using cluster munitions – this has not been independently verified. Ukraine says Jeddah talks ‘huge blow’ to Russia, new meeting agreed 17:05 , Eleanor Noyce A senior Ukrainian official said on Monday that the weekend’s talks in Saudi Arabia about the war in Ukraine dealt a ‘huge blow’ to Russia, and that the participants agreed to hold another meeting of political advisers within about six weeks. More than 40 countries, including China, India, the United States, and European countries, but not Russia, took part in the talks that were seen as an attempt by Kyiv to build a broader coalition of powers to support its vision of peace. ‘We will hold another meeting within a month, month-and-a-half and we will move towards (holding) a summit,’ presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak told reporters at a briefing in Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has promoted a set of 10 principles that Kyiv wants to serve as the basis for peace to end the full-scale war launched by Moscow in February 2022. The principles include the withdrawal of all Russian troops and the return of all Ukrainian territory to its control. Yermak said all the countries present at the talks in Jeddah fully supported Ukrainian independence and territorial integrity, and that only peace initiatives put forward by Ukraine were discussed at the meeting. Ukrainian troops creating conditions to advance – commander-in-chief 16:45 , Eleanor Noyce Ukrainian troops are creating conditions to advance forward step-by-step and have the initiative on the battlefield, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said on Monday. Zaluzhnyi also said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that the Ukrainian defence was stable with troops repelling Russian attempts to counter-attack and distract Ukrainian forces from other areas of the front. China tells Russia it will uphold ‘impartial’ position on Ukraine 16:30 , Eleanor Noyce China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in a phone conversation on Monday that China would uphold an independent and impartial position on Ukraine as it strives to find a political settlement to the issue. Wang’s comments to Lavrov were announced in a Foreign Ministry statement on Monday that said China would be an ‘objective and rational voice’ at any international multilateral forums and ‘actively promote peace talks’. The statement came after the ministry said earlier on Monday that international talks in Saudi Arabia at the weekend on finding a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine crisis had helped ‘to consolidate international consensus’. More than 40 countries, including China, India, the United States and European countries, but not Russia, took part in the Jeddah talks that ended on Sunday. China sent its Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs and former ambassador to Russia, Li Hui, who in May toured six European capitals to try to find common ground for an eventual political settlement of the conflict, now in its 18th month. Beijing has refused to condemn Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine it launched in February 2022. It has offered its own peace plan, which received a lukewarm response in both Russia and Ukraine, while the United States and NATO were sceptical. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi poses as he meets Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, 26 July 2023 (via REUTERS) 16:15 , Eleanor Noyce Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Monday chided efforts by international officials meeting in Saudi Arabia to find a peaceful settlement for the war in Ukraine, saying the talks don’t have ‘the slightest added value’ because Moscow – unlike Kyiv – wasn’t invited. Senior officials from around 40 countries gathered Sunday in Jeddah for a two-day meeting that aims to agree on key principles about how to end the conflict that has raged for more than 17 months. Ex-FBI agent accused of working for Russian oligarch may change plea 16:05 , Eleanor Noyce A former FBI agent accused by U.S. prosecutors of working for sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska may change his plea in relation to criminal charges of evading U.S. sanctions and money laundering, court records showed on Monday. Charles McGonigal had previously pleaded not guilty. A change of plea hearing before U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rearden in Manhattan has been scheduled for 15 August. McGonigal’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, which brought the case, declined to comment. Prosecutors in January said McGonigal, who led the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York before retiring in 2018, received concealed payments from Deripaska in exchange for investig