LIVE UPDATES: Ukraine May Open Bayraktar Drone Factory in 2023, Ambassador Says

Washington is groundlessly accusing Russia of mining the territory of Ukraine, a move which Moscow strongly denies, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said in response to a media question about the US intention to assist Ukraine in demining its territory.

"Washington unfairly holds us responsible for mining the territory of the Republic. In the Russophobic campaign, the Americans surpassed themselves by comparing the actions of the Russian Armed Forces with the tactics of ISIS [banned in Russia] in Syria. We were accused, among other things, of blocking access to farmland," Antonov said as quoted by the Russian Embassy on Telegram.

"We strongly reject these insinuations. During the negotiations on grain exports, the international community has already made sure that the Ukrainians themselves mined the coastal waters of the Black Sea," he said.

Since March 2, Russia has delivered more than 53,000 tonnes of humanitarian cargoes to Ukraine and the Donbass republics, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, who also leads Russia's humanitarian response coordination headquarters, said.

"A total of 53,017 tonnes of humanitarian aid has been supplied to Donbass and Ukraine since March 2, 2022," Col. Gen. Mizintsev said.

The Russian Mission to the UN has requested a Security Council meeting for Thursday regarding the attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), a source from the mission told Sputnik.

"Russia requested a briefing of the UN Security Council for the afternoon of August 11 in relation to the Ukrainian attacks on Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in recent days and their potential catastrophic consequences," the source said.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has been invited as a briefer, the source added.

The United States has never supplied Ukraine with any anti-personnel landmines that are not compliant with the Ottawa Convention, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Political-Military Affairs Stanley Brown said in June.

The United Nations along with our partners has still not been able to reach areas beyond the control of the Ukraine government, Dujarric added.

"We are committed in doing everything we can to get the IAEA technicians to Zaporizhzhya," Dujarric told a briefing.

Earlier in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Russian military would consider the Bayraktar drone factory as a military target should such plant be built in Ukraine.

About 30 people were evacuated from houses in Novofedorovka near the airfield, where a series of explosions occurred, Aksenov's aide Oleg Kryuchkov said.

During the videoconference, the Ukrainian president emphasized the importance of the US support in preventing the conflict from "freezing" and called on Clinton to use his personal authority to draw attention of the world community to the situation in Ukraine, according to Zelensky's office.

Crimean Head Sergey Aksenov said that he is on his way to Novofedorivka, adding that the circumstances of the incident are being investigated.

If Turkish drone-developer Bayrak builds a plant in Ukraine, the Russian military will consider it as a military target, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian ambassador in Ankara has said the Turkish company plans to build its factory in Ukraine and already procured land for it.

"The very fact of creating such a facility, which, of course, will immediately fall under demilitarization - this must be understood - of course, this will probably only prolong the suffering of Ukrainians, but will not help to avoid what is the goal of the special military operation," Peskov told reporters.

Restrictions on flights to 11 airports in the southern and central parts of Russia bordering Ukraine have been extended until August 17, the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport said on Tuesday.

"The restrictive regime on flights to 11 airports in the south and central parts of Russia has been extended until August 17," the agency said in a statement.

The restrictions apply to Anapa, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Gelendzhik, Krasnodar, Kursk, Lipetsk, Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol and Elista airports.

Restrictions on flights to airports in the southern and central parts of Russia have been in effect since February 24.

The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) is negotiating with Pyongyang for North Korean builders to help in reconstruction efforts of the DPR areas affected by hostilities, the head of the republic, Denis Pushilin, said on Tuesday.

"Now it is interesting and mutually beneficial, taking into account the grandiose construction which has now unfolded [in the DPR]." Pushilin told the Solovyov Live show on Youtube. "Negotiations are already underway here that builders, including from North Korea, will directly come to restore the DPR territories."

The DPR foreign ministry is in talks to arrange the visit of the first group of North Korean builders in the foreseeable future, Pushilin added.

According to the DPR head, before the imposition of sanctions, North Korea had sent its highly qualified and disciplined personnel to construction sites in other countries.

In mid-July, the DPR foreign ministry said that it would work out specific areas of cooperation with North Korea, including in the economic sector.

On July 22, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey signed the UN-brokered Black Sea grain initiative ensuring a safe maritime route for ships with food and fertilizer exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea – Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhne. Under the agreement, cargo carriers will be guided by Ukrainian vessels into international waters of the Black Sea, avoiding mined areas, and will then proceed toward the Bosphorus Strait along an established corridor.