Latest Developments:
- Poland has detained another suspected member of a Russian spy network, bringing the total number of people detained as part of an investigation to 16, Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Friday.
- The direct channel between the Russian Agricultural Bank and JPMorgan, as part of the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal, was closed on August 2, RIA news agency said, citing Russia's foreign ministry on Friday.
- U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie met Friday with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and toured ravaged villages. He said seeing the "cruelty" and "inhumanity" of war impressed upon him the need for continuing U.S. support of Ukraine against Russia.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency was granted access to the roofs of reactors three and four of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and found no mines or explosives there, agency chief Rafael Grossi said Friday.
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Ukrainian forces are breaking through the Russian southern front line of defense, moving to the "intermediate one," Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported Friday.
According to Maliar, Ukraine is prioritizing its counteroffensive operations in the country's south, while for Russia, the focus is the east.
Most Russian resources are currently concentrated near Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, as Moscow seeks to retake the territories liberated by Ukrainian forces last fall, Maliar said. "It is important for them both from a morale and a military point of view."
Meanwhile, around Bakhmut, Ukrainian troops are "slowly but persistently" moving forward on the southern flank, Maliar told reporters. Russia is attacking the city's northern flank, trying to regain positions previously retaken by the Ukrainian army.
"Fierce battles" also continue near Avdiivka and Marinka, Donetsk Oblast, she said.
Jeddah summit
Chinese Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui will participate in the Saudi Arabia-initiated Jeddah talks on the peaceful settlement in Ukraine, China's foreign ministry said on Friday.
"China is willing to work with the international community to continue to play a constructive role in promoting a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine," Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson at the Chinese ministry, said in a statement.
Ukraine and Western diplomats hope the meeting this weekend in the port city of Jeddah will be an opportunity for officials to agree on key principles to inform any peace agreement that would end Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.
About 40 countries are set to be represented at the session, but the biggest diplomatic prize would be an endorsement from China, which has kept close economic and diplomatic ties with Russia — and so far has rejected international calls to condemn the invasion.
China was invited to a previous round of talks in Copenhagen in late June but did not attend.
Ukraine and its allies are optimistic the Jeddah summit will help ramp up global support for a peace plan in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy formula
In his nightly video address Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hope the discussions in Jeddah would lay the groundwork for an upcoming “peace summit” with leaders from around the world this fall. The aim is to endorse the principles based on Zelenskyy’s 10-point formula for a peace settlement.
“It is very important that the world sees: a fair and honest end to Russian aggression will benefit everyone in the world. Everyone!” said Zelenskyy. “Liberating Ukrainian land from the occupiers means restoring full respect for international law and the U.N. Charter. Eliminating all threats created by Russia to Ukrainian and global security means returning peace to international relations and stability to global life. I am grateful to everyone who supports the peace formula and has already joined the joint efforts for the full implementation of the formula.”
The main discussions at the Jeddah summit will take place Saturday and Sunday.
Russia says it will not be involved in this weekend's talks or the summit planned for the fall.
Beyond its Western backers, Ukraine hopes to garner diplomatic support from more Global South countries, including Brazil, India, South Africa and Turkey.
Part of Ukraine's strategy to gain support from Global South countries will reportedly be to emphasize how food prices have risen after Russia quit the U.N. brokered Black Sea grain deal last month and began attacking Ukrainian port facilities.
That facet of the conflict has been a top priority for U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who on Thursday pressed all countries at the United Nations to tell Moscow to stop using the Black Sea as blackmail after Russia killed the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Russian warships
A Russian warship was seriously damaged in an overnight Ukrainian naval drone attack on Russia's Black Sea navy base at Novorossiysk, in the first Ukrainian naval show of power so far from its base.
A Ukrainian intelligence source said the Olenegorsky Gornyak, a Russian navy landing ship with about 100 Russian servicemen on board, had been hit by a sea drone carrying 450 kilograms of TNT.
"As a result of the attack, the Olenegorsky Gornyak received a serious breach and currently cannot conduct its combat missions," a source told Reuters, adding that the operation had been carried out by Ukraine's Security Service and the navy. "All the Russian statements about a 'repelled attack' are fake," the source said.
Video footage verified by Reuters showed the Olenegorsky Gornyak being towed to shore by a tug, listing heavily to its port side.
Earlier, Russia's Defense Ministry said the two Ukrainian sea drones had been repelled in the waters outside the base and that the drones had been destroyed. It made no mention of any damage in its short statement.
The port, which handles 2% of the world's oil supply and exports grain, temporarily interrupted maritime traffic before resuming normal operations, according to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium which operates an oil terminal there.
It is the first time a Russian commercial port has been targeted in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Navalny sentencing
In an interview Friday with VOA, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed strong discontent with the announcement by a Russia court Friday of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny's additional 19-year prison term on extremism charges.
"Sad but not surprised," the U.S. ambassador said. "It is clear that the Russian government, that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, that this authoritarian government will use any means to restrict the voices of the opposition, restrict the voices of criticism. Navalny represents that. He is being held in an unacceptable way. He should not have been in this court system, and we condemn the actions of the Russian government as it relates to him."
VOA U.N Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
