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

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

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

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

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."

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 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

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

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

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

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'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.

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

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."

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

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