Ukrainian drone strike foiled near Moscow – Russia
Russia intercepted a Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow region on Friday, according to the Russian Defence Ministry.
The unmanned aerial vehicle caused no casualties or damage to buildings, it said, though the exact location of the strike remains unclear.
The Russian capital and wider region, located more than 500 km from Ukraine’s border, have previously been targetted by drones, including one that hit the Kremlin in May.
Back then, the US-based Insitute for the Study of War claimed Russia itself was behind the incident, calling it an attempt to “set the conditions for a wider societal mobilisation”.
On 4 July, five drones were shot down over the Moscow region, according to Russia. The attack disrupted one of the capital’s three major international airports, Vnukovo.
Kyiv claims success on southern front
Ukraine’s army has retaken a village from Russian troops in the south, its deputy defence minister Ganna Maliar announced.
“Staromayorské in the Donetsk region has been liberated. Our defenders are currently carrying out mopping up operations,” she wrote on Telegram.
This is one of the first tangible results of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in this sector since June, with Kyiv’s soldiers stepping up their efforts in recent days.
Kyiv previously liberated villages on the Vremivka salient, a difficult area for Russia to defend as it is several kilometres from their mainline of defence.
“Our South, our guys, glory to Ukraine!,” wrote Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram, releasing a video showing soldiers with a Ukrainian flag near a wall riddled with shrapnel in Staromayorské.
Furnished with Western equipment and training, Ukraine launched its counteroffensive in early June to dislodge Russian forces from its territory.
Their big push has so far only yield limited results, with deeply entrenched Russian soldiers mounting stiff resistance.
On Wednesday, Moscow claimed it has repelled a major Ukrainian assault, involving several hundred troops. This was near Orikhiv, another sector on the southern front.
Russian forces are on the offensive in the northeast, alleging they have gained ground towards Lyman.
UK MoD accidentally emails Russia ally
The UK Ministry of Defence has mistakenly sent classified information to a close ally of Russia due to a typo.
Intended of the US military, which uses the domain name “.mil”, the emails were sent to Mali, whose email domain is “.ml”, since officials missed out the letter i.
The MoD has claimed the messages did not contain information that could compromise operational security, and they have since launched an investigation.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that millions of US military emails had also been sent to Mali, because of the same error.
Some of those messages reportedly contained compromising information, including passwords, medical records and the itineraries of top officers.
Mali, a close ally of Russia, was one of the six African countries promised free grain shipments by Russian President Vladimir Putin, following the recent collapse of the Black Sea deal with Ukraine.
