Ukraine updates: Russia says it downed drones over Moscow

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday morning that it had thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow.

The ministry said that two Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed during the operation.

"A Kyiv regime attempt to carry out a terrorist act using two drones on objects on the territory of the city of Moscow was stopped," Russia's Defense Ministry said.

"Two Ukrainian drones were suppressed and crashed. There are no casualties," it added.

According to reports from the TASS news agency, one of the drones fell on Komsomolsky Prospekt — close to Russia's Defense Ministry — while the other struck a business center located on Likhacheva Street near one of Moscow's main ring roads.

There have been several reports of Ukrainian drone attacks on targets within Russia over previous months, but Kyiv has not claimed responsibility. At the same time, Russia has unleashed hundreds of drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian cities.

Here are some of the other developments from Russia's war in Ukraine on Monday, July 24.

Putin plans to replace Ukrainian grain supplies to Africa

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Monday that Russia is ready to step in and replace Ukrainian grain exports to Africa.

"I want to give assurances that our country is capable of replacing the Ukrainian grain both on a commercial and free-of-charge basis," Putin said in a statement.

The pledge comes after Moscow terminated a deal that allowed safe grain shipments from Ukrainian ports. The halt in the deal was followed by intense Russian shelling of essential port infrastructure in southern Ukraine.

The African Union expressed regret over Moscow's decision to end the grain export deal, ahead of the upcoming Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg later this week.

The grain deal with Ukraine had facilitated the export of more than 35.2 million tons of Ukrainian grain over the past year. Russian grain exports amounted to 11.5 million tons in 2022 and nearly 10 million tons in the first half of the current year.

There are concerns that Russia's actions could exacerbate famines in poorer countries reliant on these grain shipments.

Ukrainian forces under heavy fire in the east

Ukrainian forces are facing strong resistance from Russian troops in the eastern part of the country during their counter-offensive operations, the Ukrainian army's General Staff reported on Sunday.

The report highlighted ongoing Russian attacks between Donetsk in the east and Kupyansk in the north-eastern Kharkiv region.

Over the prior 24 hours, a total of 27 battles were recorded along a frontline spanning approximately 230 kilometers.

The report also said that Ukrainian troops had endured relentless attacks from Russian artillery and air force.