WAR IN UKRAINE: August 2, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 525
The world wakes upon today to more instability in global food security - and higher grain prices - thanks to Russian attacks on a critical part of the global food supply chain. An overnight Russian drone strike targeted Izmail port in the Odesa region and dangerously close to the Romanian border. The Danube route has grown in importance as an alternative, via Izmail and Reni. The attack happened just as ships were testing Black Sea routes to evade the Russian blockade. Two buildings suffered substantial damage. The elevator, grain hangars, tanks of one of cargo terminals, production, storage & were also damaged.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the latest drone strike on the Odesa port infrastructure by Russia was an attack on “global food security” and called on the international community to intervene. “Russian terrorists have once again attacked ports, grain, and global food security,” Zelensky said in a Telegram post on Wednesday. “The world must react.” Zelensky added that "Russia can and must be stopped" in face of attacks that deliberately destroyed Ukrainian grain elevators in Odesa - CNN
The Polish Defense Ministry confirmed late on Aug. 1 that two Belarusian helicopters violated the country's airspace during exercises near the border.
U.S. government officials will attend a Ukraine peace summit in Saudi Arabia, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told a briefing on July 31 - RFE/RL
Nearly half of Ukrainians held in detention centers in Kherson by Russian forces were subjected to widespread torture including sexual violence, according to a new report published Wednesday. The report, compiled by the Mobile Justice Team, part of the UK, EU and US-sponsored Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA), and was set up by international human rights law firm and foundation, Global Rights Compliance, in April 2022, and is led by world-renowned British Barrister, Wayne Jordash KC. The team’s work is primarily funded by the EU. The new report reveals analysis of an initial pool of 320 cases of detention in Kherson, across more than 35 identified detention centers - CNN