Ukraine war latest: Russia drones downed over Kyiv as Poland sends more troops to border

Hi, and thanks for joining us on the liveblog, as the Bank of England’s latest announcement on interest rates looms.

The central bank is widely expected to raise its base rate by a further 0.25 per cent on Thursday morning – in what would mark the 14th consecutive rise to the cost of borrowing.

The rise to 5.25 per cent would mark the highest level interest rates have hit since February 2008.

Poland has issued a protest against Belarusian actions near its border, deputy foreign minister Pawel Jablonski has said, after the country accused Belarus of violating its airspace with military helicopters.

Speaking after the Belarusian charge d’affaires was summoned to Warsaw’s foreign ministry, Mr Jablonski said: “Poland has issued a firm protest against Belarus’ actions, which we perceive as provocations.”

The Belarusian military has denied any such violation took place.

Russia has claimed it is ready to return to the Black Sea grain deal once it believes Moscow’s interests will be upheld as part of the accord.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told reporters that President Vladimir Putin was holding a call on Wednesday morning with Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey and the United Nations brokered the Black Sea grain deal last summer. Moscow exited the deal last month, complaining that the international community had failed to ensure that Russia could also freely export its grain and fertiliser as part of that deal.

But analysts have told The Independent that Moscow could seek to ensure a mechanism is in place in time for this month’s Brics summit in South Africa, and on Tuesday Washington’s envoy to the United Nations said there were “indications” Moscow might be interested in returning to negotiations.

Poland has rushed more troops to its border with Belarus, after accusing Minsk of violating its airspace with military helicopters.

It comes after Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko joked that Poland should thank him for keeping in check Wagner mercenaries who, without his leadership, “would have seeped through and smashed up Rzeszow and Warsaw in no small way”.

An unspecified number of the Wagner fighters moved to Belarus since the mercenary group’s aborted mutiny and have begun training Lukashenko’s army.

Polish premier Mateusz Morawiecki warned on Saturday that a group of 100 Wagner fighters had moved closer to the Belarusian city of Grodno near the Polish border, describing the situation as “increasingly dangerous”.

Warsaw’s defence ministry said on Tuesday it was sending “additional forces and resources, including combat helicopters”, and has informed Nato of the border violation – denied by Belarus.

Ukraine‘s defence ministry said on Wednesday a grain silo was damaged in the latest Russian attack on the Ukrainian port of Izmail on the Danube river.

“Another elevator in the port of Izmail, Odesa region, was damaged by Russians. Ukrainian grain has the potential to feed millions of people worldwide,” the ministry wrote on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Russian forces shelled the city of Kherson, Ukraine, on Tuesday 1 August, damaging a medical facility, according to local officials.

A young doctor was killed and a nurse was also injured in the morning attack.

Tetyana Karchevich, head of the Kherson regional health department, said the victim was “a young talented doctor” who was “on his first day of work after an internship.”

“Psychologists from the crisis centre are working with the people who have been affected,” she added.

Photos shared by officials showed the bloodied floor of a balcony and a gaping hole in a roof with debris strewn over the ground.

Ukraine and Poland called in the ambassadors from each other’s countries on Tuesday as a dispute escalated after a foreign policy adviser to Poland’s president said Kyiv should show more appreciation for Warsaw’s support in its war with Russia.

The adviser, Marcin Przydacz, also said the Polish government must defend the interests of the country’s farmers – a reference to a ban on imports of Ukrainian commodities which will expire next month.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr issued a plea for unity amid the diplomatic manoeuvring, saying there could be no “crack” in the shield that solid Polish support had provided for Ukraine.

Kyiv and Warsaw have been firm allies throughout the conflict that erupted with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. But the exchanges reflected contentious issues.

Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko said the Polish ambassador was told in the meeting that statements about Ukraine‘s alleged ungratefulness for Poland’s help were “untrue and unacceptable”.

“We are convinced that Ukrainian-Polish friendship is much deeper than political expediency. Politics should not call into question the mutual understanding and strength of relations between our peoples,” a Ukrainian statement said.

Poland also called in the Ukrainian ambassador to Warsaw in response to the “comments of representatives of Ukrainian authorities,” Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

Russia‘s overnight drone strikes caused “serious” damage at the Ukrainian port of Izmail on the Danube river, an industry source told Reuters.

Russia stepped up attacks on Ukrainian agricultural and port infrastructure after Moscow refused last month to extend the Black Sea grain deal that had allowed for exports of Ukrainian grain.

“Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia – to its symbolic centres and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process,” he said in a video address from the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk.

Russia’s defence ministry conceded on Sunday (30 July) that a 50-storey building containing the offices of a number of government agencies and a shopping precinct in the capital’s western Moskva-Citi business district were both hit by drone strikes it blamed on Ukraine, claiming to have brought down three more devices.