Ukraine Update…880 Days of the Russian Conflict….Zelensky reaches out to Harris….

• Ukraine said its drones attacked a Russian ship used for military cargomoored at Kavkaz in Russia’s Krasnodar region, across the Kerch Strait from illegally occupied Crimea. Ukraine’s armed forces said “the occupiers’ ship is severely damaged in the Kavkaz port” and posted a picture of black smoke rising from a vessel on fire. Russia “used this ship to transport railway carriages, vehicles and containers for military purposes”, Ukraine said. Russian authorities said the attack on what it called a cargo ship killed one person and wounded four. Slavyanin is a Russian-flagged rail and vehicle carrier that departed from a port in Bulgaria in May, according to global tracking service MarineTraffic.

• Ukraine has once again asked the Pentagon to lift restrictions on firing US weapons at military targets on Russian soil. The Ukrainian defence minister, Rustem Umerov, and his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, on Tuesday held their first talks since Joe Biden’s announcement that he was ending his presidential re-election bid. “During the call, the secretary reaffirmed the unwavering support of the United States for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression,” said the Pentagon’s press secretary, Maj Gen Pat Ryder. A statement from Umerov said: “I once again highlighted the importance and urgency of lifting the bans on long-range fires.”

• Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has spoken by phone with Phil Gordon, national security adviser to Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for US president. The Ukrainian president’s office said they discussed the situation at the front and Russia’s campaign of aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure. Zelenskiy highlighted in his nightly video address that Harris had represented the US at the June peace summit in Switzerland.

• Zelenskiy has praised Vatican efforts in seeking peace and securing the release of prisoners of war after the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, visited four cities in Ukraine. Zelenskiy said talks with the pope’s second in charge focused on “what can be done this year to bring closer a just peace for Ukraine”.

• Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said after arriving in Beijing that it was “important” for Ukraine and China – an ally of Russia – to have “direct dialogue and an exchange of positions” about plans to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. “Ahead are extensive, detailed, substantive talks with [my] Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on ways to a just peace,” Kuleba said.

• A Spanish court has sentenced a pensioner to 18 years in prison over letter bombs sent to Spain’s prime minister, the US and Ukrainian embassies and an arms maker in 2022. Pompeyo Gonzalez Pascual – who opposed western support for Ukraine following Russia’s February 2022 invasion – was found guilty of terrorism and manufacturing explosives in Spain’s top criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional.

• A court in Moscow said it had found Russian journalist Mikhail Zygarguilty in absentia of knowingly distributing false information and sentenced him to eight-and-a-half years in prison. Zygar had written about war crimes committed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, near Kyiv.

• Hungary has said it is blocking European Peace Facility funding for Ukraine until the government in Kyiv allows Russian oil to resume flowing through its territory. Slovakia and Hungary said this month that they had stopped receiving oil from Lukoil through the Druzhba pipeline after Ukraine imposed a ban. Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said only that Moscow was working to ensure Russian oil supplies via Ukraine continued but would not comment on supply interruptions.

• Estonia’s incoming prime minister, Kirsten Michal, has pledged continued support for Ukraine until “victory” against Russia. Michal, 49, has replaced Kaja Kallas, who resigned to become the EU’s foreign policy chief. Michal said Estonia would also increase its own defence expenditure: “The message to our enemies is that Estonia is well defended.”……

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The Russian State Duma proposed an amendment that would allow commanders to punish subordinates for using personal communications and navigation devices at the frontline, prompting significant milblogger backlash and highlighting how Russian forces continue to struggle with command and control (C2) issues and overreliance on insecure technologies to conduct combat operations in Ukraine. The Russian State Duma Defense Committee announced its support on July 23 for an amendment that will make wearing “gadgets” (personal phones and electronic devices) in the combat zone a “gross disciplinary offense” and will allow Russian commanders to arrest servicemembers in violation of such offenses without a court order and detain violating servicemembers for up to 10 days.