{"id":159453,"date":"2025-08-04T16:25:59","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T16:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-kremlin-says-joint-naval-drills-with-china-are-defensive-oil-depot-fire-put-out-in-russian-city-sky-news\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T16:25:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T16:25:59","slug":"ukraine-war-latest-kremlin-says-joint-naval-drills-with-china-are-defensive-oil-depot-fire-put-out-in-russian-city-sky-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-kremlin-says-joint-naval-drills-with-china-are-defensive-oil-depot-fire-put-out-in-russian-city-sky-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war latest: Kremlin says joint naval drills with China are 'defensive'; oil depot fire put out in Russian city – Sky News"},"content":{"rendered":"

An oil depot fire in the Russian city of Sochi has been put out – the local governor blamed Ukrainian strikes for the blaze. Meanwhile, Russia and China are teaming up for military drills in the Sea of Japan. Plus, a bribery scheme has been uncovered in Ukraine. Follow the latest below.
Sunday 3 August 2025 16:02, UK
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Thanks for following our updates on the Ukraine war – we’re pausing our rolling coverage for now.
Here’s a quick reminder of the main news today:
A Russian ambulance has been fitted with a cage to protect it from Ukrainian drone attacks.
It was pictured in the Belgorod region, close to the border with Ukraine, and not far from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Russian authorities say a fire in two oil tanks at a depot in the southern Russian city of Sochi has been extinguished.
Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of the surrounding Krasnodar region, said more than 120 firefighters had been deployed.
It was caused by a Ukrainian drone attack, local authorities said.
Ukraine has not commented.
Ukraine and Russia have agreed to exchange 1,200 people, Voloydymyr Zelenskyy has said.
In a post on X, the Ukrainian president spoke about “agreements reached during the meetings with the Russian side in Istanbul”.
He added that preparations are being made for a new meeting.
He wrote: “Among the key issues is the continuation of POW exchanges. 
“There is an agreement to exchange 1,200 people, and work on the lists is ongoing.
“We are also working to unblock the return of our civilians and are verifying data on each individual.”
He spoke, too, of “efforts to secure the return of children who were abducted and taken to Russia”.
The world’s most secretive state is a mystery for billions of people – but not Anastasiya Samsonova.
She has returned from a week’s holiday in North Korea<\/strong><\/a>.
“We saw nothing terrible there, there is no danger there,” the 33-year-old HR manager told Sky News’s Moscow correspondent, Ivor Bennett<\/a>.
“Frankly speaking, we really liked it.”
She was part of a group of 15 Russian<\/a> <\/strong>tourists who were the first foreign visitors to a new seaside resort, which was opened to great fanfare by North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un<\/a><\/strong> in June.
Read more below:
Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau says it’s uncovered a major bribery scheme involving military procurement contracts.
In a joint statement on social media, the bureau, along with the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, said suspects had taken bribes in a scheme that used state funds to buy drones and other military equipment at inflated prices.
Offenders received kick-backs of up to 30% of the contract value, they added.
Those detained have not been named, but a Ukrainian politician, local district and city officials, and National Guard servicemen are said to be involved.
Four people have been arrested so far, the agencies said.
National Guard personnel implicated in the case have been removed from their positions, the interior ministry said.
In his nightly address, President Zelenskyy thanked the agencies and described the scheme as “absolutely immoral”.
Pope Leo has remembered the young people of countries “bloodied by war”.
Speaking at the Jubilee of Youth, a gathering of more than a million Catholic young people, Leo remembered the young people of Gaza and Ukraine and other countries who could not join the event at Tor Vergata university in Rome.
He said: “We are closer than ever to young people who suffer the most serious evils, which are caused by other human beings.
“We are with the young people of Gaza. We are with the young people of Ukraine, with those of every land bloodied by war.”
He added: “My young brothers and sisters, you are the sign that a different world is possible. A world of fraternity and friendship, where conflicts are not resolved with weapons, but with dialogue.”
Leo met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Rome on the day of his inaugural mass in May.  
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed his armed forces on a day that recognises them.
“Today is the Day of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian president posted on X.
He added that it was a time to “express our gratitude to everyone who repels Russian attacks, destroys enemy aircraft, missiles, and drones, and carries out air strikes along the front line”.
OPEC+, the organisation that represents countries which export petroleum, has agreed in principle to increase output by 548,000 barrels per day in September, two sources have told Reuters.
The decision has been made amid fears of further disruptions in supplies from Russia. 
The US has asked India to stop buying Russian oil as Washington looks for ways to push Moscow towards negotiating a peace deal with Ukraine.
EU sanctions, meanwhile, have pushed Indian state refiners to suspend purchases of oil from Russia.
This is an about-turn from OPEC, which has been curtailing production for several years in order to support the market.
This year, however, it has begun to switch course to regain market share.
In addition, US President Donald Trump has demanded that OPEC pump more oil.
Increases in output began in April. 
OPEC was formed in 1960. In 2016, it added an additional 10 countries, including Russia, and became OPEC+.
In 2022, Russia was the world’s third-largest oil producer.
As we have been reporting, more than 120 firefighters are trying to extinguish a huge blaze at an oil depot in the southern Russian city of Sochi.
Veniamin Kondratyev, the regional governor, said it was sparked by a Ukrainian drone attack.
A fuel tank with a capacity of 2,000 cubic metres has caught light, the Russian RIA news agency reported, citing emergency officials. 
In its daily morning report on Telegram, the Russian defence ministry said its units destroyed 93 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Ukraine has not commented.
Be the first to get Breaking News<\/span>
Install the Sky News app for free<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An oil depot fire in the Russian city of Sochi has been put out – the local governor blamed Ukrainian strikes for the blaze. Meanwhile, Russia and China are teaming up for military drills in the Sea of Japan. Plus, a bribery scheme has been uncovered in Ukraine. Follow the latest below.Sunday 3 August 2025 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}