WAR IN UKRAINE: August 1, 2022
The grizzly wreckage of a prison in Russian occupied eastern Ukraine where at least 50 Ukrainian POWs are said to have been killed by a missile strike. The United Nations says it is ready to investigate the deaths
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 159
The first flotilla of Ukrainian grain ships could set off across the Black Sea as early as today (Aug. 1). Turkey's presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin told Turkish media that the ships are ready to leave Odesa. “The probability of the first ship leaving tomorrow morning seems high," Kalin said. A Turkish boat captain was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying that movements could commence Monday. However a Russian cruise missile strike late Sunday put the entire operation into doubt. The strike hit near the 7km market outside Odesa but could be heard in the city centre and port area. A security expert told me that because a cruise missile travelling at supersonic speed was used it evaded air defenses and did not trigger air raid siren alarms.
According to the Odesa District State Administration, the missile strike on Odesa struck a quarry. There’s no report of casualties. Within the city life quickly resumed but an air raid siren later in the evening sent people heading once again into bomb shelters
One of Ukraine's richest businessmen has been killed with his wife in "massive" Russian shelling of the southern city of Mykolaiv, reports BBC News. Oleksiy Vadatursky, 74, and his wife Raisa died when a missile hit their home overnight, local officials said.
Meanwhile, Mykolaiv mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said his city was probably under the heaviest Russian bombardment of the city so far. There was damage to a hotel, a sports complex, two schools and a service station, as well as homes. Fires in the area sent smoke as far west as Odesa. A CNN team on the ground heard the explosions caused by the strikes and saw fires that broke out in the shelling. Residents interviewed by CNN also said it was the heaviest shelling in the city since the start of the war.
Russia cancelled Navy Day celebrations in occupied Crimea. The reason given by Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev was an alleged Ukrainian drone strike on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters. A senator in Russian-occupied Crimea later said a drone had been launched from within Sevastopol, and the perpetrators would be found by the evening. Ukraine denied any involvement - BBC
In a speech commemorating Russia's Navy Day in Saint Petersburg, President Vladimir Putin said delivery of the country's Zircon hypersonic cruise missile systems would begin in the coming months. Russia said in May that it successfully tested the Zircon missile over a distance of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) - CNN
In a decision causing many people here in Odesa to shake their heads, the National Bank of Ukraine has ordered money changers to switch off their outdoor rate exchange signs. The order came as the national currency, the hryvnia, headed into free fall- possibly as low as 50 to the US dollar.
Polish border authorities have said that 5.15 million people have fled war-ravaged Ukraine to Poland since Russia's invasion began on February 24.
Russia is recruiting thousands of volunteers to replenish its ranks in Ukraine. Prior experience isn't always required, reports CNN. From Murmansk in the Arctic Circle to Perm in the Urals and Primorsky Krai in the Russian Far East, the call has gone out, appealing to both the patriotism and the wallets of Russians. Read the full report here