Queue for hot meals in Crimea as Ukraine inflicts damage onto power supply
Under a blazing summer sun, a chef poured oil into huge pots set up on a street in the Crimean town of Massandra, preparing to serve dozens of people queuing for a hot meal after Ukrainian attacks cut power to their own kitchens.
Cities and towns across Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, have had to cope with limited fuel supplies for much of the summer amid Ukrainian attacks on power plants and other infrastructure.
Ukraine, whose own cities have been under repeated attack since Moscow sent thousands of troops into the country in 2022, says it is “bringing the war back home to Russia” by intensifying strikes deep inside the country and on territory its neighbour controls.
People line up for hot meals at a field kitchen set up by the local authorities in the settlement of Massandra, Crimea (Reuters)
Standing beside boiling vats of buckwheat, later to be added to plates of reheated tinned beef, Massandra town administration head Oksana Madyud said her workers were serving roughly 200 people per day.
“We’re preparng hot meals for people, as under the current circumstances not everyone has the means to cook hot food on electric hobs,” she said.
One local woman, Marina, said pain in her leg was making the climb down from her 10th-floor apartment difficult, but the lack of electricity had sent her hunting for a gas cooker and some cylinders.
“There’s nothing up there,” she said, referring to her apartment. “We’ve got an electric cooker – that’s it.”
Alex Croft1 August 2026 22:35
In pictures: Aftermath of Moscow cafe explosion as three killed
At least 3 people were killed in the explosion (Reuters)
The injury toll was revised from 15 to 21 (Reuters)
A woman allegedly tried to take the IED into a restaurant (Reuters)
Alex Croft1 August 2026 22:10
Injury toll revised to 21 as three killed by IED in Moscow restaurant – Russian officials
As we earlier reported, three people were killed in an explosion near a cafe in central Moscow, according to Russian officials.
Moscow’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee has now confirmed that the explosion was of an improvised explosive device that a woman attempted to carry into the eatery. The explosion took place at 7:55pm local time (5:55pm BST).
This followed previous reports that a gas canister had exploded.
The committee also revised the injury toll from 15 people to 21, meaning there are at least 24 casualties in total.
Those killed included “a security guard who prevented an unknown woman suspected of trying to carry the explosive device into the restaurant, the unknown woman and one of the visitors,” a statement from the committee read, according to the Tass news agency.
Law enforcement officers stand guard at the site of an explosion at a restaurant in central Moscow (Reuters)
Alex Croft1 August 2026 21:59
Watch: ‘Scared’ British tourist in Poland films moment air raid sirens sound during Russian strikes in Ukraine
A British tourist in Poland has captured on camera the moment air raid sirens started blaring during Russian strikes in Ukraine.
In the early hours of Thursday (30 July), Ryan, who was staying in Lublin, was woken to the sounds of sirens. “As a British tourist this scared the hell out of me,” he wrote.
The alarm was triggered by Russian airstrikes in neighbouring Ukraine, which killed eight people. The sirens stopped after a few minutes.
Poland’s defence minister Wladyslav Kosiniak-Kamysz said that the country endured an “extremely tough night”, which saw sirens blare, F-16 fighter jets scrambled and a suspected Russian missile crash into a field.
You can watch the moment here:
Alex Croft1 August 2026 21:00
Mapped: Where is the current Ukraine frontline?
Alex Croft1 August 2026 20:00
Three killed and 15 injured in explosion near Moscow cafe – reports
Three people were killed and 15 injured in an explosion near a cafe in central Moscow, TASS reported on Saturday, citing an official.
“The Interior Ministry’s Moscow branch is working at the site of the incident. According to available information, an explosion occurred near a summer cafe at about 08:10 p.m. (05:10 p.m. GMT) today, as a result of which three people were killed and 15 were injured in various degrees of severity,” the official told the agency.
We’re working to bring you more as you get it.
Alex Croft1 August 2026 19:44
Moscow claims Russian forces have taken control of two Ukrainian villages
Russian forces have taken control of two more villages across two Ukrainian regions, the Interfax news agency reported on Saturday.
The villages are Olgivka in the northern Kharkiv region and Lyubytske in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.
The Independent could not independently confirm the battlefield reports.
Alex Croft1 August 2026 19:01
First Look | The tragic story of Ukraine’s children ripped from their families and shipped to Russia
Sofia is an 11-year-old Ukrainian girl with scars on her face and light brown hair in a ponytail. She recalls vividly what happened when Russian troops entered her village.
“They took the 16-year-old girls to their place,” she recounts tearfully. “When the girls came back, their clothes were torn. Everything was torn. The Russians behaved badly with those girls.
“Everyone was panicking. We didn’t know what to do, where to go. The Russians came to my house. They checked my toys, my hairpins, and my clothes… They threatened my parents. They had weapons. If you say anything, they might kill you.”
The alleged sexual assaults of young girls are one of the shocking accounts in an extraordinary new documentary called Can I Go Home Now? about the experiences of Ukrainian children during the five-year-long Russian invasion. Viewed by The Independent on an exclusive basis, the film contains interviews with Ukrainian boys and girls; no adult voices are present.
Produced and directed by Pritan Ambroase, a 35-year-old philanthropist and owner of the Hollywood Insider, the film was made with help from humanitarian charities who gave access to 500 children.
Sofia: ‘When the girls came back, their clothes were torn … If you said anything, they might kill you’ (Cinessaince)
Alex Croft1 August 2026 18:00
Recap: Trump casts doubt on allowing Ukraine Patriot missile production
US president Donald Trump said he was “not sure” he would let Ukraine build Patriot surface-to-air interceptor missiles.
“It’s a very extraordinary weapon, and we have to be a little bit careful of who we licence to,” the president said in his comments to FT yesterday. This comes weeks after offering to share the license of the coveted air defence systems with the war-hit nation.
On 10 July at the Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey, Trump said: “We’ll give them the right to make Patriots. We’ll show them how to do it,” Trump said. “I think they can produce them pretty quickly.”
Ukraine has been requesting the US for Patriot missiles to shoot down incoming Russian missiles, drones and bombs.
Shweta Sharma1 August 2026 17:30
Russia lost more than 42,000 troops last month 2026 record, claims Kyiv
The Ukrainian military has claimed Russia lost more troops in July than any other month so far this year, with 42,860 either wounded or killed.
In a post on Facebook, Kyiv’s General Staff listed Moscow’s troop casualties as follows:
• January: 31,710 • February: 26,090• March: 31,960 • April: 32,980• May: 33,760 • June: 39,290 • July: 42,860 (record number for 2026)
Russia’s total personnel losses over the first seven months of the year totals at 238,650, the General Staff said.
Alex Croft1 August 2026 16:55