New York Times: Russia appoints new commander of Black Sea Fleet

In this report, the Kyiv Independent's Dominic Culverwell and Nick Allard travel to Ukraine's agricultural heartland, documenting how two brothers survived Russian occupation, rebuilt their farm from scratch, and continue to harvest under the increasing threat of Russian FPV drones.

In the city of Volgograd, the Lukoil-Volgogradneftepererabotka refinery, one of Russia's largest oil refineries, with an annual crude oil processing capacity of 15 million metric tons, was targeted.

"It was a provocation, an intention, an alliance test. In this case, the next weeks will probably give us more answers," Polish Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said.

Russian forces launched another large-scale aerial attack on Ukraine, deploying 255 Shahed-type attack drones overnight on July 31, the Air Force said.

Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for Russia's war against Ukraine to be frozen and urged a return to peace negotiations based on a revised version of the Istanbul talks.

Russia launched dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as hundreds of drones, towards Ukraine in the early hours of July 30 in yet another large-scale attack. Damage was reported in various cities, including Kyiv and Lviv, just hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was preparing another large-scale attack.

The figure includes 1,340 casualties Russian forces suffered over the past day.

U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to visit Kyiv in the second half of August, a senior correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) reported on July 30, citing sources familiar with the plans.

In the early hours of July 30, sirens blared in the Poland's Lublin region, F-16 fighter jets were scrambled, and an explosion was reported after an "unidentified object," later described by Tusk as likely a Kh-101 cruise missile, strayed into Polish territory amid a larger Russian mass attack on Ukraine.

"The alliance between the Moscow scumbags and the deranged regime in North Korea exists for the sake of missiles, North Korean troops on our borders here in Europe, and killing our Ukrainian children," Zelensky said in his evening address.

The 225th Assault Regiment — which had fought as a battalion in Chasiv Yar before helping lead the lightning incursion into Kursk Oblast in 2024 — is one of the largest units of the Ukrainian military, having been expanded to at least 15 battalions.

Six members of the family have been confirmed killed, with rescuers still searching for any remains of the other five as of 6 p.m. local time.