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Ukrainian forces were advancing in the southern front and inflicted more than 260 losses on the battlefield, a top general said on Tuesday. "In the Tavria sector, there has been an advance by the defence forces," Ukrainian general Oleksander Tarnavskyi said in a Telegram post, using the military’s name for the southern front. He did not provide more details of the territorial feats. This came as president Volodymyr Zelensky visited troops on one of the hottest fronts of the war with Russia and discussed the situation with the leading commanders in the country’s northeast. Mr Zelensky also discussed the winter preparations in Kharkiv as Kyiv expected an escalation of Russia’s strikes on energy infrastructure. General Tarnavskyi is leading the military operations in southern Ukraine – one of the two theatres of the counteroffensive to push back Russia’s invading forces. He said his troops conducted 1,198 assignments in the past 24 hours, with Russian forces sustaining losses of 261 men and a further 10 being taken prisoner. Tavria has seen consistent Russian losses in the past month, with more than a thousand Russian troops killed, injured, and captured alive in just last week, general Tarnavskyi said. The gains on the battlefield were further corroborated by the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces who said offensive operations were proceeding in the east and south. It reported Russian airstrikes in southeastern Zaporizhzhia region as Kyiv’s forces aimed to advance on their drive from south to the Sea of Azov. Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks in areas of Donetsk region already recaptured by Kyiv and around the long-contested town of Maryinka further west, the latest battlefield report added. “It is extremely important that Kharkiv, despite everything, not only holds on but helps to keep our entire east strong," Mr Zelensky said. Kharkiv, a key target for Russia and Ukraine’s second largest city, has not fallen to Russian control since the invasion began in February last year. Mr Zelensky said he had been near Kharkiv and heard from Oleksandr Syrskyi – the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces – on defence in the area and on offensive actions further south, near Bakhmut. He also met brigades fighting near the northeastern towns of Kupiansk and Lyman, he said. "We met with brigade and battalion commanders to discuss the battlefield situation, pressing issues, and needs," he said. Photos showed him meeting soldiers in a poorly lighted room. Video footage shared by Kyiv showed Mr Zelensky shaking hands with troops, inspecting equipment supplied by Western countries as he sat at a long table with commanders and being briefed by an officer standing in front of a map. According to the military analysts, Ukrainian forces have consolidated positions and gained ground around the village of Verbove on their southward drive. The drive in the east has focused on recovering land around the devastated town of Bakhmut, seized by Russian forces in May after months of heavy fighting. The Institute for the Study of War mentioned the offensive operations in the Melitopol direction and military offensive in the Bakhmut direction. “Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces continued ground attacks near Klishchiivka (7km southwest of Bakhmut) and Andriivka (10km south of Bakhmut) south of Bakhmut and on the Kopani-Robotyne-Verbove line (11-18km southwest to southeast of Orikhiv) in western Zaporizhia oblast,” the institute said, hinting at similar encounters recorded by Russia. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin suffers loss of 261 troops in 24 hours as Kyiv offensive gains momentum Abandoned by Russian ‘peacekeepers’, Armenia is crying out for our help Russia facing ‘functional defeat’ in the Black Sea – but Kyiv allies warn they are running out of ammunition Putin’s ‘punishment battalions’ full of convicts and drunk recruits: ‘They’re just meat’ Elon Musk’s mockery of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky ‘unhelpful’

It is thought to be the largest number of people ever to arrive in the Spanish archipelago in one go.

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Ankur Banerjee The "will-they-won't-they" discussion over yen intervention

Ukraine has made gains in the south, one of the country’s top generals has said. General Oleksander Tarnavskyi said in a Telegram post that Ukraine forces had advanced in the Tavria sector. Tarnavskyi, head of the southern group of forces, said his troops had conducted 1,198 assignments in the past 24 hours and that Russian forces had sustained losses of 261 men and a further 10 being taken prisoner. Earlier, a UK defence minister said Russian navy ships have been forced to disperse to ports where they “cannot have an effect on Ukraine” inwhat he described as a “functional defeat” for the Kremlin. James Heappey, speaking at a security event in Warsaw, said the Russian navy had been forced to disperse to ports from which “it cannot have an effect on Ukraine”. He added that, despite the disappointment among Ukraine’s Western allies about the pace of Kyiv’s land offensive, the naval success was “every bit as important” as the land breakthrough in Kharkiv Oblast region. Read More Russia facing ‘functional defeat’ in the Black Sea – but Kyiv allies warn they are running out of ammunition Putin’s ‘punishment battalions’ full of convicts and drunk recruits: ‘They’re just meat’ Elon Musk’s mockery of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky ‘unhelpful’

At least 21 people have been killed after a passenger bus plunged from a bridge near Venice in an “apocalyptic” accident, say Italian authorities. The vehicle, which was carrying people returning from work, was travelling from Venice to Marghera when the shocking accident took place at the bridge in Mestre on Tuesday. “It completely went off the road, it flew off the bridge. It was a bus; it was a highway. We are in mourning,” Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro told Italy’s national broadcaster RAI.

At least 21 people have been killed after a passenger bus plunged from a bridge near Venice in an “apocalyptic” accident, say Italian authorities. The vehicle, which was carrying people returning from work, was travelling from Venice to Marghera when the shocking accident took place at the bridge in Mestre on Tuesday. “It completely went off the road, it flew off the bridge. It was a bus; it was a highway. We are in mourning,” Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro told Italy’s national broadcaster RAI.

Ukraine has achieved the “functional defeat” of Vladimir Putin’s prized Black Sea fleet with intensified attacks in recent weeks, a UK defence minister has suggested – but warned that Western allies are running out of ammunition to help Kyiv repel Russia’s invasion. Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum from the Polish capital on Tuesday, James Heappey said the kneecapping of the major Russian naval force – including the recent strike on its Crimean headquarters – was “every bit as important” as Ukraine’s gains in Kharkiv last year. While “nobody can pretend otherwise” that Ukraine’s counteroffensive has progressed slowly, the UK’s armed forces minister told delegates it was “simply wrong” to suggest there has been no progress at all – with gains “every single day” after breaching Russia’s “enormous defensive belt and minefield”. But comparing Kyiv’s relatively minor gains to those achieved last year “diminishes the importance of what has happened in the Black Sea over the last couple of weeks, where a Russian submarine and a Russian ship have been put out of action, and the headquarters of the Black Sea fleet has been put out of action too”, he said. “The functional defeat of the Black Sea fleet – and I would argue that is what it is because it has been forced to disperse to ports from which it cannot have an effect on Ukraine – is an enormous credit. And [it is] every bit as important – every bit as much progress – as what was happening in the Kharkiv Oblast last year.” The Black Sea fleet, of huge symbolic value to Russia, has been an increasing target of Ukrainian drone attacks in recent weeks. Throughout the war, the fleet has been used to launch missile attacks on Ukraine and to threaten Kyiv’s vital shipped grain exports. With Russia finally pulling out of a UN-brokered grain deal in July, Kyiv has since sought to establish a new corridor hugging the coastline, through which two Marshall Islands and Cameroon-flagged vessels were said to be the latest ships to sail to the port of Odesa on Tuesday. And the UK’s Ministry of Defence said on Monday that the Black Sea fleet was “[struggling] to deal with concurrent threats”, with Russia resorting to using air power to “project force” over the area as fleet activities relocate from under-fire Sevastopol to Novorssiysk, some 322km (200 miles) east. But Mr Heappey and Nato’s most senior military official, Admiral Rob Bauer, were among those to warn that Kyiv’s allies are running out of ammunition, with the latter lamenting that “the bottom of the barrel is now visible” and urging nations to “ramp up production in a much higher tempo”. “We need large volumes,” the admiral said. “The just-in-time, just-enough economy we built together in 30 years in our liberal economies is fine for a lot of things – but not the armed forces when there is a war ongoing.” Also warning that Western stockpiles are “looking a bit thin”, Mr Heappey said: “If it’s not the time when there is a war in Europe to spend 2 per cent on defence, then when is?” Underscoring such warnings, US president Joe Biden – who is struggling to pass a package of aid for Ukraine through Congress – convened a phone call of G7 and Nato leaders on Tuesday in which he expressed determination to secure the funding, with Rishi Sunak also vowing to support Kyiv for “as long as it takes”. The comments came as Ukraine’s airforce claimed to have destroyed 29 of 31 drones launched by Russia and one cruise missile, most of them targeting the regions of Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk in the south and east, in an overnight barrage of attacks lasting three hours. With counteroffensive operations continuing in Zaporizhzhia and near Bakhmut, president Volodymyr Zelensky also visited troops and commanders in the northeast near Kupiansk, where the Ukrainian military says Russian forces have also been staging attacks. Meanwhile, a report alleged that hundreds of drunk, insubordinate and mutinous Russian soldiers have been pressed into penal units known as “Storm-Z” squads and sent to the frontlines as punishment for their behaviour. “If the commandants catch anyone with the smell of alcohol on their breath, then they immediately send them to the Storm squads,” one soldier told a Reuters investigation, which cited 13 people with knowledge of the matter, including five fighters in such units. Read More ‘Keep an eye on Crimea’: Ukraine’s costly battlefield gains ‘prelude battle to retake peninsula’ How Ukraine’s forces have surged back against Russia Putin’s ‘punishment battalions’ full of convicts and drunk recruits: ‘They’re just meat’ Elon Musk’s mockery of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky ‘unhelpful’

The UK and Nato say ammunition production must be ramped up so Ukraine can defend itself against Russia.

By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) -HMD Global, which makes Nokia-branded phones, has become the first major smartphone company to manufacture

Pope Francis has opened the door for the first time to blessing same-sex unions in a cautious step away from the Catholic Church’s traditional attitude towards gay couples. Maintaining that the Church would crucially not recognise gay marriage, the Pope made his opinion known in answer to doctrinal questions from five conservative cardinals who challenged him to affirm teaching on homosexuality. His statement comes ahead of major Vatican meeting where LGBT+ Catholics are on the agenda, and at a time when several progressive priests in a number of countries have begun blessing same-sex couples in defiance of conservative archbishops. The Catholic Church considers homosexuality “intrinsically disordered” and the Pope has long opposed gay marriage, claiming marriage can only happen between a man and woman. However, his remarks could signal a change in trajectory with the potential for blessings of unions distinct from marriage. In a letter, published yesterday, he said: “We cannot be judges who only deny, push back, exclude.” Pope Francis was sent the set of formal questions known as “dubia“ or doubts ahead of the Vatican synod, which will begin on Wednesday to decide the future direction of the Church and the inclusion of LGBT+ Catholics. The Vatican subsequently published a letter Francis wrote to the cardinals on 11 July, where he suggested that such blessings could be considered if they didn’t confuse the blessing with marriage. Francis in his seven-point response said the Church was very clear that marriages could be only between a man and a woman and that the Church should avoid any other ritual that contradicted his teaching. He said "pastoral charity should permeate all our decisions and attitudes", adding that "we cannot be judges who only deny, reject and exclude". "For this reason, pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of benediction, requested by one or more persons, that do not transmit a mistaken conception of marriage," he wrote. "Because when a benediction is requested, it is expressing a request for help from God, a plea to be able to live better, a trust in a father who can help us to live better." He noted that there are situations that are objectively "not morally acceptable". The Church teaches that same-sex attraction is not sinful but homosexual acts are. The pope's response marks a reversal from the Vatican's current official position. In 2021 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said flat-out that the Church couldn't bless gay unions because "God cannot bless sin". New Ways Ministry, which advocates LGBT+ Catholics, said the letter "significantly advances" efforts to make the community welcomed in the Church and is "one big straw towards breaking the camel's back". Francis DeBernardo, executive director of the ministry, in a statement, said the pope's words implied "that the church does indeed recognise that holy love can exist between same-gender couples, and the love of these couples mirrors the love of God". With agency inputs Read More Catholic priests have held a ceremony blessing same-sex couples in defiance of a German archbishop 5 conservative cardinals challenge pope to affirm church teaching on gays and women ahead of meeting Women's voices and votes loom large as pope opens Vatican meeting on church's future Things to know about the Vatican's big meeting on the future of the Catholic Church Clergy abuse survivors propose new 'zero tolerance' law following outcry over Vatican appointment 5 conservative cardinals challenge pope to affirm church teaching on gays and women ahead of meeting

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has suggested recent tweets by Elon Musk mocking Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky are “unhelpful”. The senior Cabinet minister made the comments at a Conservative Party conference fringe event in Manchester, hours after the billionaire entrepreneur used Twitter, now known as X, to take aim at Mr Zelensky’s repeated requests for Western support in the battle against Russia. Mr Shapps, an avid social media user himself, expressed reservations about the owner of X’s recent attitudes to the war. “I think it’s unhelpful, to be blunt,” he said. “I can’t speak for him or his motivations. He’s a free individual, we live in a free world. He can tweet or X what he likes.” “What Ukraine really needs is strong and steady friends who won’t waver,” he added. Mr Musk’s mockery has gone down badly in Ukraine, making it the latest controversial outburst by the high-profile businessman. Read More

The European Union (EU) promised Ukraine £4.3bn in military aid as part of its ongoing support in the war against Russia. The 27-nation bloc remained committed to help defeat a “brutal and inhumane” Moscow, said Josep Borrell, EU’s high representative for foreign affairs. It comes after the US Congress left Ukraine war aid out of its spending bill and a pro-Russian candidate won an election in Slovakia. Monday’s meeting in Kyiv was touted by Mr Borrell as a historic first for the EU but it comes at an awkward time for the Western countries backing Ukraine. With summer drawing to a close, Ukraine’s counteroffensive has failed to produce the victories that Kyiv’s allies had hoped to see before mud clogs the treads of donated tanks. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, quoted by his website, said he was sure "Ukraine and the entire free world are capable of winning this confrontation. But our victory depends directly on our cooperation with you". Mr Borrell told a news briefing with Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba that the EU remained united in its support for Ukraine. He had proposed an EU spending package for Kyiv of up to €5bn (£4.3bn) for 2024 which he hoped to have agreed by then. Mr Kuleba also brushed off concerns about faltering support on both sides of the Atlantic, amid the omission of Ukraine from the US spending bill. "We don’t feel that the US support has been shattered ... because the United States understands that what is at stake in Ukraine is much bigger than just Ukraine," he told reporters. Meanwhile, pro-Kyiv officials in the US are scrambling to find the best way to secure approval for further assistance on top of the $113bn (£93.6bn) in security, economic and humanitarian aid the US has provided since Russia invaded in February 2022. Leaders in the Senate, narrowly controlled by president Joe Biden’s fellow Democrats, promised to take up legislation in the coming weeks on continued support. But in the Republican-led House of Representatives, speaker Kevin McCarthy said he wanted more information from the Biden administration. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre urged Congress to act quickly. As for the election victory of pro-Russian Slovak former prime minister Robert Fico, Mr Kuleba said a new leader would still have to form a coalition and it was "too early to judge" the impact on politics there. German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock sought help to prepare Ukraine for winter, including air defence and energy supplies, after Russia bombed energy installations last year. "Last winter, we saw the brutal way in which the Russian president is waging this war," Ms Baerbock said. "We must prevent this together with everything we have, as far as possible." Moscow touted the congressional vote in the United States as a sign of increasing division in the West, although the Kremlin said it expected Washington to continue its support for Kyiv. The omission of aid for Ukraine was "temporary", Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. "But we have repeatedly said before that according to our forecasts fatigue from this conflict, fatigue from the completely absurd sponsorship of the Kyiv regime, will grow in various countries, including the United States," he said. Additional reporting from the wires Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin’s prized Black Sea fleet ‘struggling’ with threats on southern front Ukraine to build its first underground school in Kharkiv, official says Congress didn't include funds for Ukraine in its spending bill. How will that affect the war?