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War is returning to Russia, Zelenskyy warns; Putin says China and Africa could help end conflict

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Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves the site of the annual Navy Day parade on July 30, 2023, in St. Petersburg, Russia.

This was CNBC's live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine. See here for the latest updates. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said war "is returning to Russia's territory," in his nightly address Sunday.

Ukrainian drones attacked buildings in Moscow late Sunday, according to city Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. He said there were no injuries and only minor damage to infrastructure.

Both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up talks with external governments in recent days as each side looks to involve allies.

Ukraine and the U.S. will soon start negotiations on a bilateral agreement on security guarantees, according to Ukraine's Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, while Russian authorities are reportedly looking to China, Brazil and parts of Africa to help broker a resolution to the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday also praised his country's close friendship with North Korea and vowed to step up economic, political and security ties with the isolated state in a letter shared with President Kim Jong Un as Russian and Chinese delegates gathered in Pyongyang for Korean War Armistice celebrations.

Putin said Friday that Moscow is ready to negotiate with Ukraine, but said Kyiv is unwilling to enter talks, Reuters reported. Ukrainian officials have said they will not enter negotiations with Russia while the country continues to hold a fifth of Ukrainian territory.

Russian missile strike kills six in Kryvyi Rih: officials

Arsen Dzodzaiev | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Civilians wait at a damaged building in residential area hit by Russian missile at the Kryvyi Rih region in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Ukraine on July 31, 2023.

Six people have been confirmed dead in a missile strike in the central Ukrainian city of Kryviy Rih on Monday, regional governor Serhiy Lysak announced on Telegram. CNBC has not independently verified the report.

Lysak said one of the deaths was a child, and that 75 people were injured.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video of the damage to a residential building in the city, where he grew up, and said a university building was also targeted.

— Jenni Reid

Russia expects GDP growth of at least 2%, finance minister says

Russian GDP should expand by at least 2% in 2023, according to the country's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who was interviewed by state news agency TASS.

"We see that a number of figures look more optimistic than was originally budgeted," Siluanov said, according to a Google translation.

The federal budget deficit will become clear in the third quarter of the year, Siluanov added, but it is expected to sit between 2% and 2.5% of GDP.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Kremlin says Ukraine's strikes are 'acts of desperation' against a 'backdrop of failures'

Boris Alekseev | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
A general view of a damaged office block of the Moscow International Business Center after Ukrainian drones attacks in Moscow, Russia on July 30, 2023.

The Kremlin described Ukraine's attacks on Russia as "acts of desperation against the "backdrop of failures" in a press conference, Russian state media outlet Tass reported, according to a Google translation.

The Russian government's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov repeatedly referred to Ukraine's actions as "terrorist" strikes.

The comments come after reports of deadly Russian missile strikes Monday in Donetsk and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown, Kryvyi Rih, after a bloody weekend of fighting in northeastern Ukraine.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Wagner Group isn't recruiting, but may do so in future, Russia's Prigozhin reportedly says

Srdjan Stevanovic | Getty Images
A mural depicting the Wagner Group's logo in Belgrade, Serbia.

The Russian mercenary Wagner Group is not recruiting fighters right now, according to a voice note assumed to be by its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, published on the Grey Zone Telegram channel.

"As long as we do not experience a shortage in personnel, we do not plan to carry out a new recruitment," Prigozhin reportedly said, according to a Google translation of the voice note's transcript.

The message did however suggest that those wanting to sign up should keep in touch with the group, saying that "as soon as the Motherland needs to create a new (additional) "group" that will be able to protect the interests of our country, we will certainly start recruiting."

Wagner | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Yevgeny Prigozhin in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023.

Prigozhin also thanked those who have contributed to the Wagner Group's work, including its invasion and capture of Bakhmut.

The voice note comes after the Wagner Group leader was allegedly exiled to Belarus for leading his private mercenary group in an armed rebellion against the Russian military. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko then allegedly told reporters Prigozhin had returned to St. Petersburg on June 27.

The message was reportedly recorded on July 30.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Two people killed in Donetsk shelling, Ukraine reports

Two people have been killed in a shelling of the center of Donetsk, an industrial city in eastern Ukraine, according to a Google-translated post on Telegram by Denis Pushilin, the acting head of the city.

A passenger bus was destroyed in the attack, which left another six people injured, Pushilin said.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Russian missile strike in Zelenskyy's hometown; at least one person killed

Str | Afp | Getty Images
Police officers stand guard near a residential building partially destroyed as a result of a Russian missile strike in Kryvyi Rig on July 31, 2023.

A Russian missile strike hit the southern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown, on Monday morning, the Ukrainian interior ministry wrote on social media website X, formerly known as Twitter, according to a Google translation.

The ministry said two rockets hit two buildings: one education institute where there are likely people now trapped under rubble, and a nine-story residential building, where at least one person has reportedly died.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Ukraine reports heavy fighting in northeast; more than 170 battles in last week

Genya Savilov | Afp | Getty Images
Ukrainian servicemen of the 57th Brigade fire BM-21 'Grad' multiple rocket launcher towards Russian positions at a front line near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region on June 20, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A Ukrainian official has reported heavy fighting in the northeasterly regions of Ukraine, including in Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka.

Hanna Maliar, Ukraine's deputy defense minister, said more than 170 battles had taken place between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the last week in the area, according to a Google translation of a post from her official Telegram account.

Maliar said Russia's attempted advances were unsuccessful, with Ukraine's forces "powerfully restraining enemy troops."

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Zelenskyy: The war is returning to Russia's territory

Boris Alekseev | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
A fire truck is seen as firefighters and search and rescue teams continue to work after Ukrainian drones attacks in Moscow, Russia on July 30, 2023. Russian Defense Ministry reported that an attempt to attack the Moscow region of Ukraine with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) was blocked. In the statement, it was stated that the UAVs were destroyed by Russian air defense systems and no loss of life occurred as a result of the blocked attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the war gradually "is returning to Russia's territory," in his nightly address Sunday.

He said it's an "inevitable natural and fair process" that the conflict should return to Russia's symbolic centers and military bases.

Ukrainian drones attacked buildings in Moscow late Sunday, according to the city's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. He said there were no injuries and only minor damage to infrastructure.

The rhetoric comes as Ukraine continues its long-awaited counteroffensive, which has unfolded more slowly than many expected.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Russia prioritizing getting more men into the military, UK Ministry of Defense says

Natalia Kolesnikova | AFP | Getty Images
A man walks past a contract army service mobile recruitment point in Moscow on July 6, 2023.

Russian authorities are prioritizing amending legislation to allow for more men to be drafted into the military, the British Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update.

In mid-July, a chamber of the Russian government increased the maximum age for conscription from 27 to 30, while maintaining the lower limit of 18.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Russia to continue Ukraine peace talks with China, Brazil and African countries, state media reports

Russia's Foreign Ministry said it would continue to discuss the possibility of a peaceful resolution in Ukraine with China, Brazil, and countries in Africa, Russian state media outlet Ria reported, according to Reuters.

Contributor | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Comoros President Azali Assoumani at the Second Summit Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum on July 28, 2023, in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The statement came after a Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg last week, at which African leaders encouraged President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

Comoros President Azali Assoumani, head of the African Union, on Thursday called for a "peaceful co-existence" between Russia and Ukraine, Reuters reported.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Zelenskyy: We expect further attacks on Ukraine's power grid

In his nightly address Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he expects Russia to attack the country's energy sector and critical facilities this winter.

Officials discussed preparations for "all possible scenarios" with regional authorities over the weekend.

Zelenskyy said it's important to rebuild infrastructure ahead of the winter months, but highlighted that the "number one priority is defense, protection of the state and people."

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A missile-damaged building at a high-voltage electricity substation that supplies over 6 million consumers in multiple cities as part of the national grid, in central Ukraine, on March 1, 2023.

The United Nations reported in December that Russian forces had destroyed half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, leaving millions of people at risk of sickness and death as temperatures drop.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

U.S. and Ukraine to discuss security guarantees as early as next week, Zelenskyy's office says

Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and US President Joe Biden take part in a bilateral meeting during the G7 Leaders' Summit in Hiroshima on May 21, 2023. 

The U.S. and Ukraine will start negotiations on a bilateral agreement on security guarantees as early as next week, according to President Zelenskyy's Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak.

The guarantees would be in place until Ukraine becomes a member of NATO, Yermak wrote in a post on Telegram, according to a Google translation.

Ukraine "must secure reliable guarantees for the transition period" before it joins the alliance of countries from Europe and North America, Yermak wrote.

The guarantees would cover defense and financial support, as well as sanctions on Russia.

Ukraine applied for fast-track NATO membership in September 2022 after Moscow said it had annexed four regions of the country.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Read CNBC's previous coverage

Read CNBC's previous live coverage: Ukraine seen stepping up its counteroffensive in the south; Russia’s defense minister meets North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

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