Zelensky Orders Donetsk Evacuation as Forces Counter in South

Welcome to today’s Morning Brief, where we’re looking at the latest from Ukraine, Iraq’s parliament protests, and the world this week.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered the evacuation of the Donetsk region as fighting continues to rage in the east of the country following Russia’s capture of Luhansk in early July.

The decision affects at least 200,000 people still remaining in Donetsk’s Ukrainian-held east, and Zelensky promised financial and logistical support for those that heeded his call. “The sooner it is done, the more people leave Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will have time to kill,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky’s announcement follows requests from other Ukrainian authorities. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said the evacuation was necessary now before winter sets in and the region is without gas. On July 5, Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko also asked residents to leave to help streamline the war effort.

Despite Russia’s grinding assault, three of Donetsk’s largest cities—Bakhmut, Slovyansk, and Kramatorsk—are still in Ukrainian hands.

In the Donetsk town of Olenivka, Ukrainian officials have called for independent investigators to assess the aftermath of an explosion at a camp set up for Ukrainian prisoners of war that reportedly killed at least 53 inmates. Ukraine accused Russia of shelling the site to cover up evidence of war crimes, whereas Russian officials said Ukraine targeted its own men.

Further south, Ukrainian counterassaults in the Russian-held regions Kherson and Zaporizhzhia come as Russia appears to be redeploying troops from Donetsk to reinforce those areas. Speaking last week, Zelensky advisor Oleksiy Arestovych said the “massive redeployment” of Russian forces signaled a shift from attack to defense on Russia’s part.

Ukraine’s operations in those southern regions are part of a bid to cut off access to Crimea, which is crucial to supplying Russian troops. On Sunday, Russian officials on the peninsula said five people were injured when a drone attacked the Black Sea headquarters of the Russian Navy, forcing a cancellation of Russia’s Navy Day celebrations there.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s fight to export its food continues. On Sunday, Zelensky said the country’s typical harvest could be cut in half this year. Although shipments resumed today, with the first ship sailing from Odesa, safety there is not assured: On Saturday night, Oleksiy Vadatursky, founder of Ukrainian grain company Nibulon and one of Ukraine’s richest businessmen, was killed in a Russian strike in the port city of Mykolaiv.

As FP’s Robbie Gramer and Christina Lu report, safety is only one of the challenges still remaining to get Ukraine’s grain out to the world.

OPEC+ oil ministers meet in Vienna.

Thursday, Aug 4: ASEAN foreign ministers meet bilaterally with counterparts from China, Russia, India, and the United States.

Friday, Aug 5: Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi, Russia.

The ASEAN Regional Forum foreign ministers meeting opens.

Saturday, Aug 6: Blinken travels to the Philippines, where he’s expected to meet with new President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Sunday, Aug 7: Colombian President-elect Gustavo Petro begins his term.

Blinken travels to South Africa, where he will launch the U.S. strategy for sub-Saharan Africa.

Serbia-Kosovo tensions. Kosovo has delayed a law requiring Serbs in the country to use Kosovo license plates after late night protests in which shots were fired at police, leading authorities to close two border crossings between Kosovo and Serbia. “The overall security situation in the Northern municipalities of Kosovo is tense,” NATO-led mission to Kosovo KFOR said in a statement.

Sri Lanka’s IMF deal. Sri Lanka’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be pushed back until September, new President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Saturday, citing the upheavals of the past few weeks. Sri Lanka resumed talks with the IMF on Friday in a deal that will likely include a loan of at least $3 billion from the lender’s extended fund facility.

Iran-Taliban tensions. The Taliban said at least one of their soldiers was killed in a border clash with Iranian forces on Sunday. Details about the incident are scarce other than it occurred on the border between Afghanistan’s Nimroz province and Iran’s Hirmand region. Iranian media said the fighting began after Afghan forces tried to raise a flag “in an area which is not Afghan territory.”