The recent successful drone strike against a Tu-22M3 bomber in Russia's Novgorod Oblast "adds weight to the assessment" that some drone attacks against Russian targets are launched from within Russian territory, the U.K. Defense Ministry said on Aug. 22.

The U.S. is willing to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets if European partners do not have enough capacity to train as many as Kyiv wants, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Aug. 21.

About a million Ukrainians are experiencing water supply interruptions due to the Russian terrorist attack at the Kakhovka HPP

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed that Russian air defense forces shot down two attack drones on the night of Aug. 22, damaging a 25-story building.

Greece wants to help Ukraine rebuild Odesa's historic urban center, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a joint press conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Athens on Aug. 21.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Aug. 22 that Russia had lost 258,340 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 last year.

Russian forces launched a strike against a village near Kherson on Aug. 18, killing an elderly man and injuring two other civilians, local officials reported.

Key developments on Aug. 9: * Germany transfers 2 Patriot launchers in latest aid package * Minister: Ukraine will need at least $42 billion in foreign financial aid in 2024 * Russian media claims explosion at industrial plant outside Moscow * Poland to deploy additional 2,000 soldiers to Belarusian border * MP investigated for

<img src="https://kyivindependent.com/content/images/2023/07/3-4.jpg" alt="Mayor: No one killed in Russian missile strike against Dnipro"><p>Nobody was killed in the Russian missile strike against Dnipro on July 28 that injured five people, the city's Mayor Borys Filatov <a href="https://t.me/borys_filatovv/1142"><strong>reported</strong></a>.</p><p>Russian forces launched Iskander missiles against an empty building of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and a residential building with no tenants, the mayor said.</p><p>Earlier today, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/update-5-injured-in-dnipro-strike/"><strong>reported</strong></a> that at least five people sustained injuries in the attack: four men aged between 18-53 and a 77-year-old woman.</p><p>Klymenko said that the victims were wounded "during the attack on a high-rise building" but did not specify whether they were inside the structure at the moment of the attack.</p><p>The city was hit at around 8:30 p.m. local time following an air raid siren. A high-rise residential building and a regional headquarters of the SBU were <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/zelensky-11/"><strong><strong>damaged</strong></strong></a> in the attack.</p><p>The State Emergency Service of Ukraine <a href="https://t.me/dsns_telegram/19436?single"><strong><strong>clarified</strong></strong></a> that the upper floors of the 12-story building were damaged, and a fire was put out in the second building.</p><p>According to Ukrainska Pravda, the residential building that <strong><a href="https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2023/07/28/7413311/"><strong>sustained</strong></a></strong> the hit was new and many of its flats were still unoccupied. The SBU building had been empty for some time, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing its sources.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-bookmark-card"><a href="https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-war-latest-july-27/" data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-container"><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-content"><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-title">Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian forces liberate Staromaiorske village in southeast, reportedly ramp up counteroffensive</div><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-description">Key developments on July 27: * Ukrainian forces advance south of Bakhmut, and reportedly ramp up counteroffensive southeast * In southeast, Staromaiorske village is liberated * Ukraine’s parliament extends martial law, mobilization * Russia strikes Kharkiv Oblast, killing 1, injuring 4 Ukr…</div><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-metadata"><img src="https://kyivindependent.com/content/images/size/w256h256/format/png/2023/03/K-new.svg" alt="Mayor: No one killed in Russian missile strike against Dnipro" data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-icon"><span data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-author">The Kyiv Independent</span><span data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-publisher">Alexander Khrebet</span></div></div><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-thumbnail"><img src="https://kyivindependent.com/content/images/2023/07/GettyImages-1550382155.jpg" alt="Mayor: No one killed in Russian missile strike against Dnipro"></div></a></figure>

<img src="https://kyivindependent.com/content/images/2023/07/putin.jpg" alt="Putin attempts to bribe African leaders with free grain after pulling out of grain deal"><p>Russian dictator Vladimir Putin told African leaders at the Africa-Russia Summit on July 27 that Russia is ready to offer their countries free grain to replace Ukrainian grain exports that are now virtually blocked after Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative earlier this month.</p><p>Russia is expecting a record grain harvest and "will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic, and Eritrea with 25-50,000 (metric tons) of free grain each in the next three to four months," Putin told the summit, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-tells-african-leaders-ill-give-you-free-grain-despite-hypocritical-west-2023-07-27/">reports</a>.</p><p>The Kremlin leader also promised free delivery to consumers and stressed that in 2022, Russia exported 60 million metric tons of grain, including 48 million metric tons of wheat.</p><p>Reacting to Putin's proposal, Zimbwabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that he is grateful for the offer but his country is "not in any grain deficit at all," Sky News <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-russia-war-latest-possible-reason-putin-is-letting-wagner-boss-sit-easy-attacks-near-nato-border-worrying-putin-to-visit-china-12541713?postid=6221883#liveblog-body">reported</a>.</p><p>U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-russia-war-latest-possible-reason-putin-is-letting-wagner-boss-sit-easy-attacks-near-nato-border-worrying-putin-to-visit-china-12541713?postid=6221946#liveblog-body"><strong>commented</strong></a> that a "handful of donations to some countries" will not mitigate the fallout of the grain deal's collapse.</p><p>Other leaders were more receptive to Putin's offer. Uganda's Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo reportedly said that Russia's decision to withdraw from the deal was "understandable."</p><p>Sawadogo Mahamadi, the head of Burkina Faso's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, appreciated the offer of Russian grain, saying that "Africa needs these vital products today," according to Sky News.</p><p>Russia <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/grain-deal-to-expire-as-russia-opposes-prolongation/"><strong>withdrew</strong></a> from the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17, effectively terminating the deal. The agreement, brokered in July 2022 by Turkey and the U.N., allowed Ukraine to export its agricultural products through its Black Sea ports. </p><p>The move sparked fears of food insecurity worldwide as prices of grain products began to <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/wheat-prices/"><strong>rise</strong></a> following the deal's collapse.</p><p>According to Deputy Chairman of Ukraine's National Bank Serhii Nikolaichuk, the country <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkreeRLKEck"><strong>expects</strong></a> to lose $2 billion in profits from grain exports this year unless the grain deal is revived.</p><p>Nikolaichuk also said that it is unlikely that the initiative will be restarted before the war ends, Sky News <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-russia-war-latest-possible-reason-putin-is-letting-wagner-boss-sit-easy-attacks-near-nato-border-worrying-putin-to-visit-china-12541713?postid=6221680#liveblog-body"><strong>reported</strong></a>. He stressed that alternative export corridors, such as the EU's <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/von-der-leyen-eu-to-assist-ukraine-with-grain-exports-after-grain-deal-collapse/"><strong>solidarity lanes</strong></a>, are now vital for Ukraine.</p><p>Putin sought to justify the decision to terminate the initiative in a <strong><a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/07/26/the-world-should-not-let-vladimir-putin-abandon-the-grain-deal">letter</a></strong> published ahead of the summit. The dictator claimed that the deal only served to enrich Western businesses and that promises about facilitating Russia's grain and fertilizer exports had not been met.</p><p>Ukraine's grain exports are vital to the world's food supply. Before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine was the fifth-largest wheat exporter globally. The grain deal had allowed for nearly 33 million metric tons of food to be exported through Ukrainian ports while it was in force, according the the U.N.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-embed-card"><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7nJyanuFYmQ?start=1302&amp;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen title="Black Sea grain deal is dead. What can Ukraine do? | This Week in Ukraine Ep. 17" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe></figure><p>Prior to the deal's collapse, the Kremlin said that Russia's demands regarding logistics, insurance, and movement of money when paying for Russian products had not been addressed by the West.</p><p>The two-day Africa-Russia summit <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/african-leaders-arrive-in-russia-for-summit/"><strong>started</strong></a> in St. Petersburg on July 27. The Kremlin is looking to tighten economic cooperation with African countries amid deepening isolation from the West.</p><p>According to Russian officials, 49 out of 54 invited countries have confirmed participation. Only 17 of them will be represented by their heads of state, however. This is significantly less than during the inaugural Sochi summit in 2019, where 43 heads of state took part in the event.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-bookmark-card"><a href="https://kyivindependent.com/russias-influence-on-africa-exaggerated-experts-say/" data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-container"><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-content"><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-title">Russia’s influence on Africa exaggerated, experts say</div><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-description">When Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine, it received nearly universal condemnation for its aggression. Yet, while most Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia, most African states were mute. Many African countries chose to remain silent on the war – and became a major destinat…</div><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-metadata"><img src="https://kyivindependent.com/content/images/size/w256h256/format/png/2023/03/K-new.svg" alt="Putin attempts to bribe African leaders with free grain after pulling out of grain deal" data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-icon"><span data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-author">The Kyiv Independent</span><span data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-publisher">Anna Romandash</span></div></div><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-thumbnail"><img src="https://kyivindependent.com/content/images/2023/07/GettyImages-1248381081.jpg" alt="Putin attempts to bribe African leaders with free grain after pulling out of grain deal"></div></a></figure>