UN secretary-general calls on Russia to return to Black Sea grain deal The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, called on Russia on Monday to return to a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain in line with a proposal he made to president Vladimir Putin. Russia quit the agreement a week ago, saying that demands to improve its own food and fertiliser exports had not been met, and that not enough Ukraine grain had reached the poorest countries under the Black Sea deal, Reuters reports. At the Food Systems summit in Rome on Monday, Guterres said: With the termination of the Black Sea Initiative, the most vulnerable will pay the highest price. When food prices rise, everybody pays for it. This is especially devastating for vulnerable countries struggling to feed their people. Guterres had written to Putin on 11 July in a final effort to save the deal. He proposed Russia extend it – with a daily limit of four ships traveling to Ukraine and four ships leaving – in return for connecting a subsidiary of Russia’s Agricultural Bank, Rosselkhozbank, to the SWIFT global payments system, which the EU cut off in June 2022. Guterres added: I call on the Russian Federation to return to the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative, in line with my latest proposal. I urge the global community to stand united for effective solutions in this essential effort. I remain committed to facilitating the unimpeded access to global markets for food products and fertilisers from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and to deliver the food security that every person deserves. The Russian embassy in Moldova’s capital, Chişinău, has 28 “spy antennas” installed on its rooftop, which can be used for signals intelligence purposes, according to a Moldovan outlet. These devices can “capture” signals between a transmitter and a receiver, and can modify them before releasing them again, experts told Jurnal, the Kyiv Independent reported. These signals can come from radio, television, mobile networks, or satellite communications, it said, adding that the devices could be used for either military or civilian purposes. The outlet said the satellite dishes on Chisinau’s embassy are likely connected to a command centre inside the building. satellite dishes on Chisinau’s embassy are likely connected to a command center inside the building, it said. White House says it does not support attacks inside Russia The White House has said it does not support attacks inside Russia in response to a reporter’s question about two drones from Ukraine that damaged buildings in Moscow this morning. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, during a press briefing, said: As a general matter we do not support attacks inside of Russia. Russian officials said two drones crashed into non-residential buildings in Moscow in the early hours of Monday morning, with one crashing close to the defence ministry in the city centre. Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said there were no casualties. As Vladimir Putin hosted Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, his close ally, in Russia, the crackdown on opposition and dissent in Belarus has worsened. Belarusian security forces are rounding up opposition figures, journalists, lawyers and even people committing minor offences such as commenting on social media memes or walking a dog without a leash, according to a New York Times report. The country’s security forces are particularly focused on finding and punishing the people who took part in the 2020-2021 anti-Lukashenko protests. In Belarus, red and white are the colours of the protest movement against its president and Belarusians are being arrested for wearing red and white, sporting a tattoo of the protest movement’s symbol of a raised fist, or being seen in photographs of the anti-government demonstrations. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said his country is “fully prepared” to start talks on joining the European Union. In his nightly video address, the Ukrainian leader said he had spoken with military leadership in a meeting that focused on frontline issues “where we are moving forward and those where Ukrainian forces are on the defensive”. He said: In all areas, the first task is to destroy the occupiers, their equipment, supplies, warehouses, and headquarters as much as possible. Russia must lose every day - that’s fair. Water at the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant has dropped to a critical level, threatening the station’s full operational capacity, according to the state-owned energy company Ukrhydroenergo. The water level is at 12.05 metres, while the plant requires 12-12.5 metres to function fully, the company wrote on Telegram. In June, the strategically important Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine was breached in what Ukraine said was an attack by Russian forces. The incident led to a sharp drop in the water level in the lower reservoir of the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant, according to Ukrhydroenergo. Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, visited the Valaam Monastery in Karelia, Russia on Monday. Ukrainian boys are faced with a potentially life-or-death decision as they approach the age of 18: should I stay in Ukraine or leave? Under Ukrainian martial law, which has been in place since Russia’s invasion in February last year, men aged 18 to 60 are prohibited from travelling abroad and are potentially subject to conscription into Ukraine’s armed forces (AFU). Although the AFU for the most part have filled ranks with volunteers, young Ukrainian men coming of age face an uncertain, according to a Kyiv Post report. One 17-year-old boy, Ruslan, decided to leave Ukraine in February. He told the paper: The main reason was that I don’t want to fight and none of my relatives want me to either. I am a patriot of Ukraine, but I’m definitely not ready to die, especially at such a young age. I am ready to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine as soon as I earn enough money. Others have decided to stay in Ukraine despite worries about potentially being conscripted. Dmytro, 17, said: It seems to me that they give [call up papers] to guys at the age of 20-21 and those who aren’t studying at university. So I hope that the war will end in a few years. But in any case, everything will already be as it will be. Child killed and six people wounded, says governor of Donetsk A child was killed and six people wounded in a Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, according to the region’s governor. Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, wrote on Telegram that Russian forces had fired Smerch rockets at “a local pond, where people were resting”. Three children were among the injured, he added. It is not possible to independently verify his claim. AFP journalist wounded in drone attack near Bakhmut A journalist working for Agence France-Presse news agency was wounded by a Russian drone attack while reporting from a Ukrainian artillery position near the battle-torn eastern city of Bakhmut on Monday, according to AFP reporters who witnessed the attack. Dylan Collins, 35, a US citizen based in Lebanon but on assignment in Ukraine, sustained multiple shrapnel injuries in the attack in a forested area near Bakhmut. He was evacuated to a nearby hospital where he was being treated. Doctors have said his condition was not life-threatening. He is conscious and speaking to colleagues, AFP said. FP’s Europe director Christine Buhagiar said in a statement: We are investigating the full circumstances behind this incident. Our thoughts are with Dylan and his loved ones. Collins has been working for the international news agency since 2018 and is currently its video coordinator for Lebanon and Syria. He has made regular trips to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-fledged invasion in February last year. In May, AFP video journalist Arman Soldin was killed aged 32 in a Russian rocket strike near Bakhmut. Spain’s ministry of defence said four Leopard 2 battle tanks and 10 armoured carriers are en route to Ukraine. In a statement published today, the ministry said a ship with military and humanitarian material bound for Ukraine had left the port of Santander, and were expected to be delivered to Ukraine’s armed forces by early August. The latest batch of assistance included four Leopard 2A4s, which will join the six Leopard 2s that have already been delivered to Ukraine, it said. Also included in this shipment are 10 M-113 armoured vehicles, ten Navy trucks, one multipurpose armoured vehicle, three civil ambulances, one BMR armoured ambulance, and one armoured civilian ambulance, it said.