TOP HEADLINES

• At least two explosions rocked Kyiv and air raid sirens blared as African leaders including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in Ukraine as part of a delegation seeking to broker peace between Kyiv and Moscow, officials said.  

• Ukraine said it downed 12 Russian missiles and two reconnaissance drones. The chief of the Kyiv military administration Sergiy Popko said all were intercepted over the capital.

• The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin is still open to any contacts to discuss a resolution of the Ukraine conflict, Russian news agencies reported.

• The African peace mission could propose a series of "confidence building measures" including a Russian troop pull-back, removal of tactical nuclear weapons from Belarus and a suspension of Putin's ICC arrest warrant.

• Kyiv's military continued its offensive in the east and south of the country, asserting it is "moving forward" while Russia claims Ukraine has suffered "catastrophic" losses. 

• Ukrainian troops are facing "desperate resistance" from Russian forces around the eastern city of Bakhmut, a senior Ukrainian commander said. Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who is in charge of Ukrainian ground forces, said the situation was tense and Russia was bringing its best divisions into the region with backup from artillery and aircraft.

• Four of Ukraine's Western backers said they were joining forces to supply "hundreds" of air defense missiles and their launch systems to Kyiv. The announcement by the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands and the U.S. coincided with a meeting in Brussels of the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group - some 50 nations that are supporting Kyiv militarily.

• NATO allies may be ready to remove some hurdles from Ukraine's path to the military alliance, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said, a few weeks before a NATO summit that aims to bridge differences over Kyiv's accession.

• A United Nations expert voiced alarm over alleged widespread torture by Russian military forces in Ukraine, saying it pointed to "state-endorsed" abuse. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, said the alleged victims included both Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war, adding that she had written to Moscow about this.

• Russia said it would stage local elections in September in four Ukrainian regions that it absorbed last year. "Elections in the new territories of the Russian Federation will take place on a single voting day on September 10, 2023," Russia's election commission said on Telegram. 

IN DETAIL

Explosions rock Kyiv as African leaders begin a peace mission

At least two explosions rocked Kyiv and air raid sirens blared as African leaders began a peace mission, hoping to mediate between Ukraine and Russia.

The African delegation, which includes leaders from South Africa, Senegal, the Comoros and Egypt, was expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Saturday.

The leaders had begun their visit with a trip to Bucha, near Kyiv, which is one of several places where Ukraine says Russian troops committed large-scale atrocities following their full-scale offensive in February 2022. Russia denies the allegations.

The African peace mission could propose a series of "confidence building measures" during initial efforts at mediation, according to a draft framework document.

The document states that the objective of the mission is "to promote the importance of peace and to encourage the parties to agree to a diplomacy-led process of negotiations."

Those measures could include a Russian troop pull-back, removal of tactical nuclear weapons from Belarus, suspension of implementation of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued to Putin, and sanctions relief, according to Reuters.

A cessation of hostilities agreement could follow and would need to be accompanied by negotiations between Russia and the West, the document stated. 

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