Ukraine war – live: Russian informant detained over Zelensky assassination plot, Kyiv says

At least eight 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’. It came as the UK’s Foreign Office told The Independent it was reviewing its sanctions on Russia after a dramatic intervention from Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska condemning loopholes that allow Moscow to fund its invasion. Speaking to Independent TV from Kyiv’s presidential compound, Ms Zelenska called for an urgent crackdown on such trade to strangle Moscow’s funds. Key Points Independent TV: Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska’s interview with Bel Trew Ukraine and Russia confirm Kyiv hits Chonhar bridge to Crimea Russian retaliation threat sees up to 70 air assault weapons used overnight Volodymyr Zelensky condemns Russian attack on blood transfusion centre Russian informant detained over Zelensky assassination plot, Kyiv says Monday 7 August 2023 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 detains woman accused of spying on Zelensky for Russia 05:06 , Arpan Rai Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency said that it had detained a woman who it accused of gathering information about President Volodymyr Zelensky’s itinerary ahead of a trip and also trying to pass information about military facilities to Russia. The Ukrainian security service SBU did not give the name of the alleged agent. A dark-haired woman in a black-and-white dress surrounded by two servicemen was seen in a picture published by the agency. All of the faces in the image were blurred. The suspect was arrested in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, the security service said. Mr Zelensky last visited the city on July 27, his media channel reported. The SBU also accused the alleged agent of trying to establish the locations of Ukrainian electronic warfare systems and ammunition depots near the port town of Ochakiv, 30 miles (48 km) from Mykolaiv. ‘Members of the SBU caught the traitor red-handed when she was trying to pass intelligence to the invaders,’ the SBU said, adding that additional security measures were taken during the presidential visit. The woman is from Ochakiv and used to work at an army store selling goods to soldiers at one of the local Ukrainian military units, the SBU said. A court approved her arrest and, if convicted, she would face a prison term for up to 12 years, according to the statement. ICYMI: Russia’s torture chambers in Kherson ‘tip of the iceberg’, investigators warn 05:06 , Andy Gregory Harrowing new accounts of Ukrainians being tortured during Russia’s eight-month occupation of Kherson are ‘just the tip of the iceberg’, an international team investigating the alleged war crimes has warned. The acts described by those detained in dozens of makeshift detention centres – including the use of sexual violence as a common tactic among Russian guards, and genital electrocution – are ‘evocative of genocide’, the team of lawyers and prosecutors said this week. The UN’s special rapporteur on torture, Dr Alice Jill Edwards, told The Independent that similarities in the accounts of victims across several different regions of Ukraine ‘expose a deeper concern that torture and intimidation are a policy and strategy of the Russian state’. You can read the full report here: Inside Russia’s torture chambers as investigators warn Kherson ‘tip of iceberg’ US to send Kyiv first $200m of arms freed by $6.2bn ‘accounting error’ 04:18 , Arpan Rai Joe Biden’s administration will announce $200m (£156m) of new weapons aid for Ukraine as soon as today, US officials told Reuters. The tranche is coming out of $6.2bn (£4.8bn) of funds discovered in an accounting error by Pentagon which over-valued billions of Ukraine aid, two US officials said. Washington is currently working on a supplemental budget request to continue to aid Kyiv, the U.S officials said. This will be the first tranche of the $6.2bn windfall of previously authorised Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), the officials said. Washington is packing mine clearing equipment, TOW and AT4 anti-tank weapons, guns and ammunition, air defense interceptors made by Lockheed Martin Corp for the Patriot system, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets and Javelin anti-tank missiles made by a joint venture between Lockheed and RTX Corp, along with other equipment in this tranche of military aid. Ukraine needs weaponry that can be shipped from US stocks in a matter of days or weeks so it can keep up its fight to repel Russia’s invasion – the accounting error worked to Kyiv’s benefit because more equipment can be sent. How to watch Independent TV on your smart TV 04:02 , Andy Gregory You can now watch The Independent ‘s documentary about Ukraine, Body in the Woods , and our exclusive interview with Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska on your smart TV: Survivors describe fiery blasts in Donetsk that killed 8 03:51 , Arpan Rai Survivors in a deadly Russian missiles attack that struck the centre of Ukraine’s Pokrovsk said they heard a ‘bang’ during twin strikes which left them with multiple injuries. A 58-year-old resident of Pokrovsk, Kateryna, was at her home when she heard the first blast and thought that the attack spared her. She even told someone who called to check on her that she was alright but at this moment the place was hit for the second time. ‘That’s it, bang – and that’s all. A flame filled up my eyes. I fell down on the floor, on the ground. My eyes (hurt) a lot…,’ Ms Kateryna said pointing at multiple scratches around her eyes. She had bandages on her forehead. Another resident, 75-year-old Lidia, said she was also on the phone at the moment of the second blast. She had picked up from the floor a torn white curtain covered with broken glass. ‘Suddenly this flew out and wrapped me up. Then the window fell on me,’ she said sitting on her sofa. ‘My back has cuts. I just got back from the hospital… My knee and my thigh have cuts. I had glass here,’ she said pointing at her head. The death toll includes five civilians, two rescuers and one military person. Officials said the second missile hit the Ukraine-controlled town near the frontline 40 minutes after the first. The explosion killed and injured first responders, witnesses said. Nineteen police officers wounded in Russian missile strikes, officials say 03:10 , Andy Gregory Nineteen police officers are among 31 people wounded in Russian missile strikes which have killed at least five people, according to Ukrainian officials. Two Russian missile strikes hit the city centre of the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region on Monday, officials said. Ukraine’s interior minister Ihor Klymenko said one of the strikes killed four civilians, and the other killed the deputy head of the regional branch of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. At least 31 people – including 19 policemen, five rescuers and one child – have been wounded in the attack, Mr Klymenko said. The strikes damaged a hotel, residential buildings and other civilian structures, according to Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. Video report: Moment Russian drone nearly hits Ukrainian evacuation car 02:11 , Andy Gregory Zelensky hails prisoner swap freeing 22 Ukrainians 01:05 , Andy Gregory Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has celebrated the return of 22 Ukrainian troops in a prisoner swap with Russia, some of whom are wounded. The 20 soldiers and sergeants, and two officers, were captured in different areas of the front, Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address, adding: ‘We will do everything to bring back to Ukraine all our people who are now in Russian captivity. We remember everyone and are looking for everyone on the list of missing persons. He added that every Ukrainian who captures Russian troops on the frontline ‘speeds up freedom for Ukrainians’, saying: ‘It is important to remember this.’ Watch: Ukraine’s First Lady criticises other countries for circumventing Russian sanctions Tuesday 8 August 2023 00:08 , Andy Gregory Belarus begins military exercises near border with Poland and Lithuania Monday 7 August 2023 23:14 , Andy Gregory Belarus has initiated military exercises close to its border with Poland and Lithuania, amid existing tensions with the two Nato powers over Minsk’s decision to host Wagner mercenaries. Both Poland and Lithuania have increased border security since thousands of Wagner fighters arrived in Belarus, with the leaders of both nations warning last week at a meeting near the Suwalki Gap – a region close to their nations’ borders with Belarus and Russia – that they are braced for further provocations. The Belarusian defence ministry said the drills that began on Monday are based on experiences from Russia’s so-called ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, and includes the ‘use of drones as well as the close interaction of tank and motorised rifle units with units of other branches of the armed forces’. The war games were taking place near the Suwalki Gap. UK government ‘echoes frustrations’ of Ukraine’s first lady on sanctions intervention Monday 7 August 2023 22:32 , Andy Gregory The UK government ‘echoes the frustrations’ of Ukraine’s first lady over sanctions-busting efforts by Russian allies, a spokesperson for the foreign secretary has said. To combat Putin’s regime the world must impose hefty sanctions, and ‘terminate the possibility of circumventing these sanctions,’ Olena Zelenska told Independent TV from the heart of the presidential compound in Kyiv, in an interview now available to watch in full here . The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, immediately backed the first lady’s call. A spokesman for Mr Cleverly told The Independent that the assessment the government has ‘echoes the frustrations the first lady has expressed about the use of third countries to circumvent sanctions’. Foreign Office fury at sanctions-busting by Russian allies – after Zelenska’s plea In pictures: Residential building in Donetsk hit by Russian missiles Monday 7 August 2023 22:00 , Maanya Sachdeva A view shows a building destroyed during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine (via REUTERS) A view shows a building destroyed during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine (via REUTERS) A view shows a building destroyed during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine (via REUTERS) Exclusive: Ukraine’s children ‘losing the will to live’, First Lady says Monday 7 August 2023 21:30 , Maanya Sachdeva From inside the heavily-guarded Ukraine presidential compound in Kyiv , First Lady Olena Zelenska has spoken in a rare and wide ranging interview with The Independent ‘s Chief International Correspondent Bel Trew . During their discussion Mrs Zelenska blasted countries for circumventing Russian sanctions , saying the conflict in her nation will drag on ‘endlessly until Russia ‘s ability to wage war is stopped.’ She also warned Ukraine’s children are ‘losing the will to live’ in an emotional plea for help, as she spoke of the struggle to retrieve the children disappeared into Russia. Watch the full interview here: Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska’s interview with Bel Trew Exclusive: Foreign Office to act over Ukraine first lady’s plea on sanctions Monday 7 August 2023 21:11 , Andy Gregory The government is reviewing its sanctions on Russia after a dramatic intervention from Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska condemning loopholes that allow Moscow to fund its invasion. The Foreign Office has expressed its fury over sanctions-busting efforts by Russian allies to use a third country to continue trading with Moscow despite the hefty economic measures imposed since Russian president Vladimir Putin launched his invasion. The government is weighing how it can act and hopes to move imminently, The Independent can reveal, after Ukraine’s first lady made the plea in an interview with Independent TV, which you can watch here . My colleagues Kate Devlin and Bel Trew have the full story here: Foreign Office fury at sanctions-busting by Russian allies – after Zelenska’s plea US Justice Department helping Ukraine in war crimes investigations Monday 7 August 2023 21:00 , Maanya Sachdeva The US Justice Department is cooperating with the International Criminal Court and supporting Ukrainian prosecutors carrying out war crime investigations, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday as he reaffirmed his department’s aid more than a year after the Russian invasion. Congress recently allowed for new US flexibility in assisting the court with investigations into foreign nationals related to Ukraine, and the Justice Department will be a key part of the United States’ cooperation, Garland highlighted. ‘We are not waiting for the hostilities to end before pursuing justice and accountability,’ he said in a speech to the American Bar Association in Denver. ‘We are working closely with our international partners to gather evidence and build cases so that we are ready when the time comes to hold the perpetrators accountable,’ he added. He appointed a prosecutor to serve at a center opened last month in The Hague to support nations building cases against senior Russian leaders for the crime of aggression. International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression will not issue indictments or arrest warrants for suspects but will instead support investigations already underway in Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The Justice Department is giving wide-ranging assistance to Ukraine, from training on prosecuting environmental crimes to help developing a secure electronic case-management system for more than 90,000 suspected atrocity crimes. Garland also touted the $500 million seized assets and over three dozen indictments the department has handed down to enforce sanctions. ‘Ukraine must do three things simultaneously: it must fight a war; it must investigate war crimes; and it must ensure that a just society co