Ukraine live briefing: Skyscraper struck again after more drones swarm Moscow, mayor says

Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.

Russian air defenses shot down several drones in Moscow, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Tuesday. He added that the building struck was the same one hit on Sunday, and that there was no information regarding victims. Ukraine’s operational armed forces on Tuesday shared videos showing the damage, though Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the recent drone attacks.

Russian drones struck Kharkiv and destroyed two floors of a dormitory and injured at least one person, Ukraine’s operational armed forces said early Tuesday, urging citizens to remain indoors. On Telegram, it shared a photo showing smoke rising from a gray building, with parts of its roof and upper two floors obliterated.

China will impose temporary export controls on some unmanned aerial vehicles starting Sept. 1, the Commerce Ministry said Monday. The controls apply to drones that are larger and more powerful, have longer ranges and are equipped with certain types of cameras. They will also affect drones that operators knowingly use for military purposes or “the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” the ministry said. DJI Technology, a Chinese company that is a globally known drone developer, said last year that it was pulling out of Russia and Ukraine to prevent its drones from being used in combat.

Ukraine’s foreign minister said he discussed the possibility of using Croatian ports to export grain during a meeting Monday with his Croatian counterpart. Ukrainian grain exports have faced roadblocks reaching global markets since Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative last month.

Britain sanctioned six Russian nationals involved in the trial of dual British national Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was sentenced to 25 years in a penal colony for treason and was recently denied an appeal. Kara-Murza has publicly denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and was sentenced on “bogus charges,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said. The sanctioned Russian citizens include three judges, two prosecutors and an expert witness.

The head of the Russian Security Council accused the United States of “sponsoring terrorism” by supporting Ukraine after its attack on the Crimean Bridge last month, Russia’s state-run Tass news agency reported. “By providing financial aid to the [Kyiv] regime and continuing arms supplies, the U.S. and its allies are factually the sponsors of terrorism,” said Nikolai Patrushev.

Ukraine is expected to discuss long-term security measures with the United States this week. The two countries are expected to negotiate security guarantees that would remain valid until Ukraine is able to join NATO, an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan is slated to attend a Ukrainian-backed peace summit in Saudi Arabia, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive planning.

An UNESCO committee added Ukrainian properties in Kyiv and Lviv to its list of endangered World Heritage sites, according to a document dated July 31. The sites include the Saint-Sophia Cathedral and its related monastic buildings.

For most of the youngest soldiers, the war with Russia in the eastern Donbas region seemed far away when they were growing up — a kind of simmering background music that occasionally touched relatives or friends. Now, however, they are on the front, fighting a powerful enemy that can strike anywhere, Fredrick Kunkle and Serhii Korolchuk write.

Lyric Li and Kelsey Ables contributed to this report.