The Russian parliament on Tuesday extended the right to conscription for military service by at least five years – for high-ranking officials – up to 70 years. On Tuesday, Russia and Ukraine gave very different accounts of the fighting in northeastern Ukraine, with Moscow reporting an advance of its troops and Kyiv saying it had seized the initiative in the region. Ukraine says the counteroffensive launched early last month is in progress, while Moscow says it has restricted any advance by Kyiv’s forces.

SUMMARY OF THE LAST 24 HOURS OF THE WAR

• Russian President Vladimir Putin transferred GROM, the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, to the National Guard of Russia (Rosgvardiya), which will allow it to be deployed at the front in Ukraine.

• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has asked the International Criminal Court for permission not to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit, as that would mean a declaration of war.

• Ben Wallace: Putin ‘didn’t dare join NATO’ / ‘Russia is much more fragile’ than he admits. “An increasingly aggressive President Putin, with constant threatening red lines that then usually melt away, has not dared to get closer to NATO,” he said.

• “Summer, sea and sun!” Russian state television continues to urge people to rest in Crimea

• Russia’s defense ministry said on Tuesday it had struck two Ukrainian port cities in what it called a “massive retaliation” a day after the Kursk Bridge attack, which it blamed on Kyiv. The ministry claims that they struck “objects where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared using unmanned boats.”
• On Tuesday, Russia and Ukraine gave very different accounts of the fighting in northeastern Ukraine, with Moscow reporting progress by its troops and Kyiv saying it had seized the initiative in the region. Ukraine says the counteroffensive launched early last month is in progress, while Moscow says it has restricted any advance by Kyiv’s forces.
• The head of USAid accused Putin of making a “life-and-death decision” affecting millions of the world’s poorest people by pulling out of the Black Sea grain deal. Samantha Power promised to allocate an additional 250 million dollars for the creation and expansion of alternative ways of exporting Ukrainian grain from the country.
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan ways to export Russian grain via routes “that would not be susceptible to sabotage by Kyiv and the West,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
• The Russian parliament has extended conscription for military service by at least five years – for senior officers – up to 70 years.
• Russian air defense shot down 28 Ukrainian drones over Crimea on Tuesday morning, RIA reports with reference to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The drone strikes did not cause any losses or damage, the ministry said.

Highlights of the war in Ukraine, day 511, LIVETEXT:

07:36A fire at a military base in Crimea blocks an important road – the governor is supported by Russia. A fire broke out at a military base in the Kirovsk region of the Crimean peninsula, the Moscow-backed governor of Crimea said on Wednesday, Reuters quoted. Due to the fire, the Tavrida highway, which runs nearby, was closed, Serhiy Aksyonov, the governor of Crimea appointed by Russia, reported in Telegram. Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported that explosions occurred on the territory of the military training base.

07:32Australia to the UN: The war must end on Ukraine’s terms. Australian representative Fiona Webster, speaking at the UN General Assembly debate on the situation in the Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by Russia, said that Ukraine should end the war on its own terms and in accordance with international law. Australia is working with partners to hold Russia accountable, Webster said

07:13The air defense forces of Ukraine destroyed all the kamikaze drones that Russia launched over the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, on Wednesday night. They were shot down near the city, reports Ukrinform with reference to the Military Administration of the city of Kyiv.

06:45 An official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Anton Korynevych, does not rule out that in the future the Special Court may punish the leadership of Belarus for participating in the war against Ukraine.

01:05 Zelensky: defeating Russian aggression and punishing Russia for terror is a historic mission of the current generation of world leaders

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for his “very clear, unambiguous and strong” statements. “Overcoming Russian aggression and punishing Russia for terror is the historic mission of the current generation of world leaders. And the world will fulfill this mission. Ukraine will win!” Zelensky emphasized.

00:57Two people were killed during shelling from Ukraine in the Russian-occupied areas of Donetsk region, a Moscow-backed official said

“Today, as a result of shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, two people died – [câte una] in the Kirovsky District of Donetsk and Volodymyrivka Volnovakha,” the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) Denys Pushylin reported in Telegram.

00:07“Summer, sea and sun!” Russian state television continues to urge people to rest in Crimea