Overnight Russian strikes on Ukraine used North Korean missiles, claims Zelenskyy – Europe live

The European Commission is now giving its regular midday briefing.

EU foreign spokesperson Anitta Hipper offered the commission’s response to the Yabloko party’s ban in Russia (۱۱:۳۴).

“So from what we have seen is that this is another testimony of Russia’s action against the fundamental freedoms and the continued pressure on opposition figures.

This basically shows that Russia is afraid because they truly need to eliminate any dissenting voices.

By silencing the political opposition, Kremlin is also removing any domestic voice that has been critical of its unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine. I would say this comes as a surprise, but it’s not.”

Latvia said on Tuesday a tunnel had been discovered under the border with ⁠Belarus and announced plans to combat networks that it says are helping a growing number of migrants cross the frontier illegally, Reuters reported.

Latvian ⁠soldiers last month used ⁠teargas and ​fired a warning shot to stop migrants trying to enter from Belarus, which shares a ۱۷۳-km (۱۰۷-mile) border with European Union ⁠member state Latvia.

“The protection of Latvia’s eastern border will be strengthened, with closer cooperation between the Border Guard, State Police, National Armed Forces and ⁠security services, and more intensive use of drones for early detection and detention of illegal ​migrants,” interior minister Jānis Dombrava told ‌a joint press conference with ‌prime minister Andris Kulbergs.

European nations have expressed concern over unregulated migration in recent weeks ‌following an inflow of tens of thousands of people from Morocco to the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, although most of those migrants have since left, Reuters said.

Lithuania said in July it had also found a tunnel that migrants were using to enter from Belarus.

Poland and the Baltics have long accused Belarus of weaponising irregular migration to test their borders.

Russia bans voting against the war – Ukraine war briefing

Warren Murray

Meanwhile, Russia has banned voting against the war in September’s elections.

The supreme court upheld a suit brought by a small pro-Kremlin nationalist party, Roblina, and stripped voters opposed to the war of their last option on the ballot: Yabloko, the country’s only remaining anti-war party.

The court banned Yabloko’s entire list of federal election candidates from standing for the State Duma of Russia’s parliament.

With most of Vladimir Putin’s opponents jailed, exiled or dead, Yabloko is the only liberal party still operating in Russia.

Voting options other than Putin’s de facto party, the ruling United Russia, are only tolerated if they are too weak to win; give their backing to the Kremlin; or serve as “spoilers” that draw votes away from anyone who might pose a threat to the regime. About a hundred supporters, mostly young people, gathered outside the courthouse chanting “Shame! Shame!” after the ruling was delivered. Like the Duma, the supreme court routinely rubber-stamps the Kremlin’s wishes.

Addressing protesters, Yabloko leader Nikolay Rybakov said the party would appeal against the decision.

In an interview with Agence France-Presse on the weekend, Rybakov said about ۴۰ party activists were facing prosecution for opposing the war. The party’s deputy leader, Maxim Kruglov, was jailed for seven years in June over social media posts, while Rybakov was fined and barred from elections for posting a photo of Alexei Navalny. Independent polls show most Russians favour peace negotiations with Kyiv.

UK’s Europe minister to speak with Irish counterpart as part of EU reset plans

Lisa O’Carroll

Senior correspondent

The UK’s new European relatons minister Hamish Falconer will talk with Ireland’s Europe minister today, a key step to refresh talks over Britain’s post-Brexit relations with the bloc.

Ireland holds the rotating presidency of the EU and has a key role in influencing the pace and direction of political agreements on all issues that come up in the last six months of ۲۰۲۶.

Falconer and Thomas Byrne are due to talk by phone in the afternoon.

UK-EU relations have already been made a priority for Ireland’s presidency.

In other news, Romania’s nuclear power plant at Cernavodă could shut down a second reactor in the next ۴۸ hours as falling water levels on the Danube make it increasingly difficult for cooling pumps to operate safely, local media have reported.

The plant’s first reactor had to close in late July.

The government has insisted there will be no need for energy rationing, but imports will have to rise to meet demand.

The move could come despite efforts to divert cooling water to the plant, which included a controlled explosion on the river last week.

Ukraine’s drone forces issued an update on their strikes overnight.

They confirmed hitting a military base in Voronezh, an oil refinery in Orsk, a cargo ship in the Black Sea and energy facilities in the temporarily occupied Russian territories, the army said in a statement.

For what it’s worth, Russia’s defence ministry said its overnight strikes targeted military-related ​transport and logistics centres in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and on a major iron ⁠and steelworks it said was helping Ukraine’s war effort in Zaporizhzhia.

The ministry said it had hit the Nova Poshta sorting complex in Kyiv which it said handled the storage and distribution of dual-use goods, including components for the production of long- and medium-range drones, as ‌well as robotic systems and electronic warfare equipment, Reuters reported.

It said it had also struck the Kyiv-۳ ​transport and logistics centre which it described as a large warehouse complex which it said stored attack drones, ground control stations and their components.

Morning opening: Russia strikes Ukraine with North Korean missiles, Zelenskyy says

Jakub Krupa

Overnight Russian attacks on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least six people and injured ۲۰, officials said. Another six people were killed and ۱۶ injured in attacks on Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk, Reuters reported.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Zaporizhzhia “was struck with North Korean ballistic missiles, Zircons, and guided aerial bombs.”

“It was a vicious attack, calculated to inflict maximum damage specifically on civilian infrastructure,” he said.

“Every step Russia takes – increasing ballistic missile production, bringing in North Korean equipment, preparing for mobilisation – all of this shows that Moscow is preparing not for peace, but for escalation. And the world needs to respond now, not wait.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine continued its drone strikes deep inside Russia with one person dead and two injured after an attack on Voronezh region, where falling debris triggered fires at a Wildberries logistics warehouse.

The company ​later said that the fire ​at the ‌facility had ​been extinguished, ​that goods had not been damaged and that deliveries had been rerouted to other warehouses, Reuters said.

Elsewhere, the Hungarian parliament set to choose a new president in a further break with Orbán-era of the past two decades. András Baka, a former president of the Supreme Court and a judge on the European court of human rights, is expected to be confirmed in the largely ceremonial post later today.

And temperatures are rising again in western Europe as Spain and France are about to enter the fifth heatwave of the summer with temperatures up to ۳۸C.

Lots to write about.

It’s Tuesday, ۱۱ August ۲۰۲۶, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.