Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the retaking of Snake Island, a strategically important Black Sea island, sends a powerful message to Russian forces.

“And now let every Russian captain — whether of a ship or an aircraft — see the Ukrainian flag on Zmiinyi [Snake Island] and know that our state cannot be broken,” Zelenskky said.

Moscow said Russian troops withdrew from Snake Island last week as a “goodwill gesture.” Ukraine, however, said Russian forces hastily evacuated after successful military action.

— Sam Meredith

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western officials at the G-20 ministers’ meeting in Bali, Indonesia, of criticizing Moscow rather than focusing on how to tackle global economic issues.

G-20 host Indonesia had pushed for ministers to find a way to help bring an end to Russia’s onslaught in Ukraine.

Speaking as he arrived at the conference, Lavrov said: “Despite all this and the useful discussions that should allow us to ask our Western colleagues some very blunt questions, they have no answers to these questions.”

He added, “There is only rabid Russophobia, which they turn to instead of finding much-needed common ground on key issues on the global economy and finances, for which the G-20 was created.”

— Sam Meredith

Russian troops are preparing for new offensives in eastern Ukraine, according to Britain’s Defense Ministry.

Russian forces “are likely pausing to replenish before undertaking new offensive operations in Donetsk Oblast,” the ministry said via Twitter. It added that Ukrainian forces continued to make “gradual advances” in the southwestern Kherson area.

“There is a realistic possibility that Russia’s immediate tactical objective will be Siversk, as its forces attempt to advance towards its most likely operational goal of the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk urban area.”

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has reportedly said that the U.S. asked for American fighters detained in Ukraine to be considered “combatants,” according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

The U.S. Embassy in London was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC Friday.

With Russia’s military action in Ukraine in its fifth month, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Kyiv that it should quickly accept Moscow’s terms or brace for the worst, adding ominously that Russia has barely started its action.

Speaking at a meeting with leaders of the Kremlin-controlled parliament, Putin accused Western allies of fueling the hostilities, charging that “the West wants to fight us until the last Ukrainian.”

“It’s a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, but it looks like it’s heading in that direction,” he added.

“Everybody should know that largely speaking, we haven’t even yet started anything in earnest,” Putin said in a menacing note.

He declared that Russia remains ready to sit down for talks to end the fighting, adding that “those who refuse to do so should know that the longer it lasts the more difficult it will be for them to make a deal with us.”

— Associated Press

United Nations investigators said the war in Ukraine “could leave the country and region with a toxic legacy for generations to come,” according to preliminary monitoring reports from the region.

The United Nations Environment Program, or UNEP, found thousands of possible incidents of air, water and land pollution and the degradation of ecosystems, including risks to neighboring countries.

“The mapping and initial screening of environmental hazards only serves to confirm that war is quite literally toxic,” wrote UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen in the report.

“The first priority is for this senseless destruction to end now. The environment is about people: it’s about livelihoods, public health, clean air and water, and basic food systems. It’s about a safe future for Ukrainians and their neighbors, and further damage must not be done,” she added.

Andersen said that Ukraine will also require international support to remediate the damage across the country and mitigate risks to the wider region.

— Amanda Macias

Finland’s Parliament passed amended legislation on border security that allows for the closure of crossing points with Russia amid fears that Moscow could choose to send large numbers of migrants to the frontier.

The move by lawmakers came just two days after NATO’s 30 members signed formal accession protocols for Finland and Sweden to join the alliance — an outcome that has angered Russia. The two Nordic nations’ membership bids were approved at a NATO summit at the end of June in Madrid.

The amendments approved by Finnish lawmakers will give the center-left government led by Prime Minister Sanna Marin wider powers to restrict border traffic in exceptional situations particularly on the 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, the longest of any European Union member.

The changes would also allow Finland, a nation of 5.5 million, to build barriers and fences along the border with Russia if needed. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto is due to sign the amendments into law on Friday.

— Associated Press