Wednesday Briefing: Russian Strike Kills 50 in Ukraine
Russian missiles strike a military academy
Two high-speed Russian missiles struck Poltava, a city in eastern Ukraine, killing more than 50 people and wounding scores more. It was one of the deadliest attacks in the war and followed a string of Russian assaults across Ukraine that started last week.
“It comes amid a moment when the war is more dynamic on the front — with Ukraine pushing into Russia and Russia pressing deeper into eastern Ukraine — and as the pace of Russian bombardments on towns and cities intensifies,” my colleague Marc Santora, who has been reporting from Ukraine since the start of the war, told me today.
Witnesses said the strikes, which hit the Poltava Institute of Military Communications, exploded shortly after warning sirens sounded, and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said many were killed on their way to shelter.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, took to social media to issue a fresh plea for aid. Zelensky has said that he needs at least seven Patriot missile-defense batteries. Germany has sent three; the U.S. announced the deployment of one in July, and Romania has pledged one.
Mongolia: The country, which is highly dependent on Russia for its energy needs, gave President Vladimir Putin a red-carpet welcome yesterday. It was his first visit to a member nation of the International Criminal Court since it issued a warrant for his arrest last year.
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Harris sends funds to House and Senate campaigns
Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign said it would direct $24.5 million to state-level races. Most of the money will go to Democratic House and Senate campaigns. The Harris campaign is effectively planning for her time in office, because just how much the next president will be able to get done will depend on which party controls Congress.
The Harris campaign said it would send $10 million each to the House and Senate Democratic campaign arms, $2.5 million to the body that helps elect state legislative Democrats and $1 million each to the Democratic Governors Association and the Democratic attorneys general campaign arm.
Vaccine effort is off to a good start in Gaza
The campaign to vaccinate 650,000 children under 10 for polio in Gaza has been more successful than anticipated, according to the World Health Organization. Health workers have delivered a two-drop oral vaccine to 161,030 children since a roughly 10-day operation began this weekend, surpassing the organization’s goal of 150,000 for the first phase of the campaign in central Gaza.
Health teams will next begin vaccinations in southern Gaza, where the W.H.O. estimates that it needs to reach 340,000 children, and then will go to northern Gaza to inoculate some 150,000 more.
Analysis: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s steady refusal to change course on the war highlights a growing rift within Israel about what its priorities should be in Gaza, our Jerusalem bureau chief, Patrick Kingsley, writes.
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The Times has adapted the questionnaire for people at home, and no matter what your score is, it’s possible to make lifestyle changes and improve it.