Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,250

On Monday, July 28th, 2018, this is how things are going.

Fighting

• According to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration, Russian forces attacked Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, early on Monday, inflicting five injuries and causing damage to a residential building.
• Three people were killed and 19 others were hurt when a Russian drone hit a Ukrainian bus carrying 39 evacuees on Sunday in the eastern Sumy region, close to the Ukrainian border with Russia, according to the regional governor.
• According to officials, two more were killed in Russian attacks on the front-line Donetsk region on Saturday, adding at least six more deaths from attacks across Ukraine on that day.
• Ukraine’s forces also launched drone attacks on Russia on Sunday, with the Leningrad region governor reporting that at least 10 unmanned Ukrainian aircraft were shot down over St. Petersburg’s airports. A woman was hurt by falling debris, according to Governor Alexander Drozdenko.
• According to a statement, 57 flights were delayed at Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg, and 22 were diverted to other airports as a result.
• The Kremlin confirmed, however, that the opulent, security-related televised Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg had been postponed. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, was still in St. Petersburg’s naval headquarters to watch naval drills involving 150 vessels and 15, 000 military personnel in the Pacific, Arctic, and Baltic and Caspian Seas.
• A total of 291 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones were downed on Sunday, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, which is less than the previous 524 drones that were downed in attacks on May 7 ahead of Russia’s Victory Day parade on May 9.

diplomacy and politics

• In response to the country’s parliament’s decision to revoke the autonomy of two anticorruption agencies, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen requested that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy uphold independent anticorruption bodies.
• After speaking with Zelenskyy, von der Leyen stated in a post on X that “Ukraine has already accomplished a lot on its European path.” It must expand upon these solid foundations and maintain independent anti-corruption organizations, which are the foundation of Ukraine’s legal system.
• Zelenskyy thanked the EU and stated that it was crucial that the bill be “adopted without delay” after submitting draft legislation to restore the two agencies’ independence.
• The first flight between the cities in decades, reportedly at 16:25 GMT on Sunday, was made possible by Russia’s regular air service between Moscow and Pyongyang, according to the website of the Sheremetyevo airport. According to the Russian Ministry of Transport, the route will be served once per month.
• After decades of being neutral, Austrian Foreign Affairs Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger declared readiness to start a “national debate” about joining NATO.