Live Blog | Russia closes human rights center in Moscow

The Russian Ministry of Justice has formally closed the Moscow-based Sakharov Center following the court ruling. Earlier this year, the building housing the human rights organization was already locked. Dedicated to Russian physicist, human rights activist and Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov, the center has hosted hundreds of discussions, exhibitions and other events since 1996.

“It’s sad, but it reflects reality,” wrote Sergei Lukashevsky, director of the Sakharov Center, on Facebook. Everything happening today is the exact opposite of what Sakharov fought for. We continue our work. Heritage does not belong to the government, it belongs to the people. It belongs to all of us.’

According to US intelligence agencies, Ukraine will not be able to reach the main target of the current counterattack. The Washington Post newspaper wrote about it based on anonymous sources in the intelligence world.

But Boulder, affiliated with The Hague Center for Strategic Studies (HCSS), sees many sides to the story. He thinks what’s happening in the skies above Ukraine now will be decisive for how the coming months will play out.

Also Read | ‘Battle for airspace will determine outcome of counteroffensive’

After the completion of F-16 training for Ukrainian soldiers, the Netherlands and Denmark will be allowed to send fighter jets to Ukraine. After months of waiting, the US has given its approval. However, it may take more than a year before the fighter jets are dispatched. This is bad news for Ukrainians, and it will take longer and longer, says Patrick Boulder, a security expert at The Hague Center for Strategic Studies.

Also Read | Green light for delivery of F-16s to Ukraine: ‘little dip in the butter’

Ships of the Russian and Chinese navies are conducting a military exercise in the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Russian news agency TASS published images showing the two countries’ naval vessels in formation and lined up at shipyards.

As relations between Russia and the West have cooled since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the Russians have sought rapprochement with China. This bond between the two countries is reflected in regular exercises in which Russia, China and sometimes other countries are involved.

Outgoing Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren says US approval to send Dutch F-16s to Ukraine is ‘good news’. The minister said it was a ‘step by step’ process and it would take several months before the Netherlands actually took delivery of the F-16s.

“This is about a complex American weapons system. So it always starts with a green light from Washington. This signal, in that sense, is very welcome.’ The government has been debating sending F-16s to Europe for some time, and along with Denmark, the Netherlands is training Ukrainian pilots to fly the fighter jets.

The first cargo ship from Ukraine arrived in Istanbul, Turkey via a temporary sailing route across the Black Sea, Reuters reported, citing witnesses. Ship tracking websites show that the ship passed through the Bosphorus Strait and is south of Istanbul. The container ship Joseph Schuldt has been blocked in the Ukrainian port of Odessa since February 23, 2022, the day before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The temporary shipping lanes across the Black Sea are, according to Ukraine, a “humanitarian corridor” designed for ships stranded in Ukrainian ports due to the war. The replacement was announced after the grain deal between Ukraine and Russia expired last month and was not renewed. The agreement allowed the export of Ukrainian agricultural products through the Black Sea during the war.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the BRICS Leaders’ Meeting in South Africa from August 21 to 24, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is under an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will dial in via video link.

BRICS is a partnership of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In the case of South Africa, the current leader of the BRICS countries, around 40 countries also want to join. So expansion is high on the agenda at next week’s summit. Iran and Venezuela have been mentioned as possible entry countries.

The current five BRICS countries represent one-third of the global economy. In January, the group announced plans to create its own currency, aiming to break the dollar’s hegemony. Despite Western pressure, BRICS refuses to impose sanctions on Russia for its aggression in Ukraine.

According to the US intelligence services, Ukraine will not be able to reach the main target of the current counterattack, writes The Washington Post, based on anonymous sources in the intelligence world. They say Ukrainian troops will not be able to reach the southeastern city of Melitopol before winter sets in. The paper also spoke to Ukrainian and other Western intelligence sources. They expressed the same expectation.

Melitopol is key to Ukraine’s counteroffensive as it is considered the gateway to the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014. The city is located at the junction of two major highways and a railway line. Russia uses it to transport troops and equipment from Crimea to other occupied territories in southern Ukraine. Ukrainian forces are advancing towards Melitopol, 80 kilometers from the city of Robotyn and several kilometers outside the city.

The newspaper’s interviewees’ ‘harsh judgement’ was based on the apparent toughness with which the Russians rely on mines, trenches and heavy artillery to secure their territories in Ukraine.

The US has approved sending F-16 fighter jets from the Netherlands and Denmark to Ukraine after Ukrainian pilot training is completed. A US government official said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had notified both countries in a letter. The Netherlands and Denmark train Ukrainian pilots.

It could be another year before the F-16s are actually delivered. It was announced on Friday that the training of Ukrainian pilots will not be completed until the summer of next year.

Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra X said earlier on Twitter that he welcomed Washington’s decision. “We will now discuss this matter further with our European partners,” Hoekstra writes.

This live blog is based on reports from our own BNR reporters and editors from The Guardian, ANB, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Associated Press, CNN, BBC, CNBC, Sky News and Agence France-Presse. BNR also uses online reports from news agencies Tass, RIA Novosti and Interfax (Russia) and Belda (Belarus). Because reporting from these agencies is unverifiable and cannot be independently qualified, the source of the report in these cases is expressly stated.