The US electoral campaign is in full swing and the Russia – Ukraine question is one of the topics covered by the candidates or aspiring candidates. Donald Trump has announced the need to improve relations with Russia due to its large stockpiles of nuclear weapons. At a rally in Pennsylvania, the former US president said, when he said he knows Russian President Vladimir Putin well, that the media that publishes “fake news, they hate”. “They hate that I get along with him. No, getting along is fine. They [Russian Federation] have more nuclear weapons than we do. About the same, but a little more. imagine it? (…) Nobody ever talks about it,” Trump said. He stressed that the United States is in a “very stupid and dangerous position” because of the conflict in Ukraine.
From Moscow, the deputy chairman of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev said: “The United States could intensify the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict during the 2024 elections”. “This is a very dangerous situation, because the Americans do not hesitate to use foreign policy in the interests of their inter-party struggle. If one or the other party needs to escalate in the Ukrainian leadership to win additional votes in the election, they will. Hence the fact that the US presidential campaign, and its culmination in 2024, could be a very unfortunate, if not fatal, circumstance. I can’t say that there will be an escalation, but there is such a risk, it is obvious to me. The unpredictability of American behavior will increase, the tail may start wagging again,” the senator said in an interview with aif.ru, answering a question about the impact of the US presidential election on the course of the conflict.
Even the mood of the Russian opposition is beginning to waver regarding the victory of Kiev. Radio Liberty, recognized by Moscow as a foreign agent, was told in a radio broadcast that in order to conclude peace with Russia, Ukraine may have to officially accept the loss of part of its territories: “The fact that Ukraine is managed to defend its independence and will obviously not return today to vassal dependence on Moscow. However, it remains under discussion whether the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be able to return all the territories occupied by the Russian Federation: a precarious balance has been maintained at the front for some time. It has happened more than once in history that in such situations the victims of aggression had to bear some territorial losses to a stronger enemy in order to preserve the main thing – their independent existence, and hence their future as a sovereign state.” .
The Ukrainian premier Volodymyr Zelensky, unable to join NATO, is pushing to join the European Union but not all Ukrainian parliamentarians are in favor. And President Zelensky thought of “intimidating” the “opposing” Ukrainian deputies who will not support the laws necessary for the country’s entry into the EU: “All the laws necessary to open negotiations with the European Union must be adopted. If someone is not ready to work positively in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, he must understand that they will feel the consequences of their negativity in their communities.And they must feel the appropriate attitude towards themselves: either they are for Ukraine, or it will be difficult for them to stay in Ukraine,” he said. At the same time, Zelensky did not specify what kind of consequences those Rada deputies who do not vote “yes” could expect.
As part of the preparation of new sanctions against Moscow, the European Union will focus on creating a legal framework for the confiscation of frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia. A deputy of the European Parliament told Izvestia, while acknowledging that such a decision would be a serious step towards escalating the conflict. Brussels has repeatedly stated that these funds will be used to restore Ukraine. The Kremlin has already stated that by its actions the European Union violates the norms of both its own legislation and international law
The British authorities have postponed the issue of adding Wagner PMCs to the list of terrorist organizations after the attempted rebellion by Wagnerians at the end of June. According to The Times newspaper, citing sources, data on the group’s budgetary financing forced the kingdom’s government to reconsider the legal consequences of such a step. The publication noted that under the new circumstances, the recognition of PMC “Wagner” as a terrorist organization entailed more significant diplomatic and legal risks, since in reality it was to include a “Russian government agency” in the banned list. However, according to the newspaper, the British Home Secretary Swella Braverman still intends to find a way to include the Wagner PMC in the list of terrorist organizations.
And on 31 July Wagner’s number one also returned to speak to the media. Evgeny Prigozhin said: “ Today we are defining our next tasks, the outline of which is becoming more and more clearly traced. Undoubtedly, these are tasks that will be performed in the name of Russia’s greatness. Most of our fighters are on vacation, as there was a long period of hard work before that.” “‘The Wagner Group’ continues its activities in Africa, as well as in training centers in Belarus. Neither I nor the council of commanders have established any restrictions on the transfer of our former and current comrades to other power structures of the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, few have agreed to move from the Wagner group. Until there is a shortage of staff, we do not expect to make any new hires. However, we will be extremely grateful if you stay in touch with us, and as soon as the Motherland needs to create a new (additional) “group” that will be able to protect the interests of our country, we will definitely start recruiting”. Meanwhile, in Belarus the mechanized brigades of the Belarusian Armed Forces have begun maneuvers with the instructors of the Wagner Group.
Among the news that emerged from the network there is a growing panic in Poland due to the presence of Wagner PMC in Belarus. Given the presence of a hundred “PMC operators” on the western border, the Polish Prime Minister flew into a rage, and what is known in social networks as “uniform paranoia” began in the country. Now the fear of the Poles is for Wagner’s men to infiltrate Poland as refugees to create unrest.
And now a look at the contact line: at 00:54 Italian time on July 31st
Air-raid alert has been canceled across Ukraine; in different regions of the country it lasted from about half an hour to 1 hour and 45 minutes.
The artillery of the “South” group of the Russian Armed Forces hit the ammunition depot and a UAV launch platform of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of the settlements of Krasnoe and Belaya Gora in the DPR. This was reported by the head of the press center of the “South” group Vadim Astafiev.
On July 30, the Ukrainians once again attacked Moscow with three drones: one aircraft was shot down by air defense crews, the rest were suppressed by electronic warfare, after which they crashed into two towers in the business center of the city of Moscow . In addition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine again attempted to strike at the Crimean peninsula – 25 UAVs were shot down and destroyed near Cape Tarkhankut.
Also on July 30 in the night, Rostov region, an unmanned aerial vehicle crashed in Daraganovka, a western suburb of Taganrog. Damage to the roadbed, cars and a residential building. Two fatalities are reported, but not confirmed. At the moment the origin of the drone has not been ascertained: according to some sources it could be a Russian Forpost UAV.
On the front line, July 30 was a relatively calm day. Positional clashes in the area of Novoegorovka and Serebryansky forest in the Starobil’k direction continue. At the same time, the intensity of the fighting in the Orekhov sector decreased.
The daily shelling of Russia’s border areas continues. The settlements of Bryansk, Belgorod, Kherson regions, as well as the Donetsk People’s Republic, under states under the blows of Ukrainians recorded casualties and destruction of civilian housing
Two powerful explosions recorded on the night of July 31 in the Kharkiv region. Air raid alarms continued to sound throughout the city. For 45 minutes. According to preliminary data, the target of the raid was the international airport area south of the city. According to some social sources, it was from there that the Ukrainian armed forces launched drones against Moscow and other Russian cities.
Artillery clashes also recorded in Avdiivska Directorate, destroyed a tank. Clashes also in the direction of Soledar where for Russia the Cossack volunteer assault battalion “Skif” as part of the “Terek” brigade, blocks the offensive of the Ukrainian armed forces in the direction of Soledar.
Donetsk Directorate: “The Russian Armed Forces struck in the night of July 30-31, the area where the Ukrainian military is located, together with the vehicles parked in the landings and opposite houses occupied by Ukrainian military, it happened during aerial reconnaissance.
In the early morning hours of July 31, an ATGM hit a vehicle of the 1st Tank Army near Kupyansk, followed by the detonation of ammunition and the escape from the stronghold of the Ukrainian military.
According to another social source, in the night between 29 and 30 July, Russian troops launched several missile attacks on military facilities in the Sumy region. In the capital of the region, a school building was hit, which had been transformed into a deployment point of the Ukrainian forces.
In the Starobil’k direction, Russian units successfully launched an offensive on the Svatove sector of the front. In recent days Novojehorivka has been completely taken by the Russians and the nearby heights are also now under Russian control.
Over the past weekend, the intensity of shelling of front-line cities and villages of the Donetsk People’s Republic has not decreased. Residential buildings and infrastructure structures hit: at least eight people were injured.
Fighting continues in the Vremivka sector near Staromaiors’ke. Russian units maintain control over the outskirts of the village, preventing further Ukrainian advance attempts.
In the Orikhiv sector, the intensity of the fighting decreased due to the pouring rains. The parties take advantage of the operational pause to regroup and conduct artillery duels.
Graziella Giangiulio
