Europe

WARSAW, July 29 (Reuters) - A group of a hundred soldiers from the Russian Wagner group have moved closer to the Belarusian city of Grodno near the Polish border, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday.

Poland, a former Warsaw Pact member which has been a full member of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance since 1999, has been concerned about the possible spillover of war on to its territory ever since Russian invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

July 29 (Reuters) - Ukrainian soldiers were observed using North Korean rockets that they said were seized by a "friendly" country before being delivered to Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

Ukraine's defence ministry suggested the arms were captured from the Russians, the newspaper said.

The United States has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia, including alleged shipments by sea, but has not offered proof and North Korean weapons have not been widely observed on the battlefields in Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday signed a law moving the official Christmas Day holiday to Dec. 25 from Jan. 7, the day when the Russian Orthodox Church observes it.

ST. PETERSBURG, July 28. /TASS/: Russia remains open for settling the Ukraine situation but the Ukrainian authorities stick to their irreconcilable position even being in an uneasy situation, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"The Russian side remains open, which cannot be said about the Ukrainians. The Ukrainians stick to their irreconcilable position, especially now that they are in quite an uneasy situation but, nonetheless, they keep rejecting any opportunity for dialogue," the Russian presidential spokesman said.

MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his counterparts from 31 African countries participating in the second Russia-Africa summit and economic-and-humanitarian forum discussed ways of strengthening mutually beneficial partnership as well as broaching international problems, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday.

MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/: Russian forces seized several Ukrainian strongholds near the settlement of Sergeyevka in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), advancing 1.5 km deep into the enemy’s defense over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Friday.

ST. PETERSBURG, July 28. /TASS/: TASS has signed memorandums of cooperation with the leading news agencies of the Republic of the Congo and Senegal on the sidelines of the Second Russia-Africa summit.

TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov inked cooperation memorandums with Director General of the ACI news agency of the Republic of the Congo Olga Rachelle Mangouandza and Director General of the APS Senegalese News Agency Thierno Amadou Sy.

July 28 (Reuters) - The chair of the African Union, Azali Assoumani, said on Friday that proposals by Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide grain to Africa were not sufficient, and that a ceasefire in Ukraine was needed.

In a closing address to a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, he also said Putin had shown readiness to negotiate with Ukraine, and that "the other side" now needed to be persuaded.

AMSTERDAM, July 28 (Reuters) - The fire which has been burning on a car carrier off the Dutch coast has lessened in intensity and salvagers have been able to board the ship to secure stronger tow lines, authorities said on Friday.

The fire on the Panamanian-registered Fremantle Highway, which was carrying new cars, resulted in the death of an Indian crew member and injury of seven others who jumped overboard to escape the flames.

July 28 (Reuters) - African leaders pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to move ahead with their peace plan to end the Ukraine conflict and to renew a deal on the safe wartime export of Ukrainian grain that Moscow tore up last week.

While not directly critical of Russia, their interventions on the second day of a summit were more concerted and forceful than those that African countries have voiced until now.

They served as reminders of the depth of African concern at the consequences of the war, especially rising food prices.