Top EU officials say 'stand firmly' with ICC president hit by US sanctions, AFP reports.

Yesterday, the US said it would sanction of Japan, the ICC president, and of Senegal, an ICC senior trial lawyer, because they had "directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction".

You can read more background on the story here.

The rise in Germany's ⁠borrowing costs to a 15-year high reflects the ⁠increased security challenges ⁠facing ​the country following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and ⁠the need to spend much more defence, the Finance Ministry ⁠said on Wednesday.

German 10- ​and 30-year ‌borrowing costs ‌hit a fresh 15-year high in Wednesday's ‌session. Bond yields of other major Western economies including the US and Japan have also climbed to multi-decade highs this ‌week due to ballooning government debt and geopolitics, increasing borrowing ​costs for companies and households and complicating policy.

"In light of Russia's aggression... the security ⁠situation in Germany has changed profoundly. ​Massive ​investment in security and ​defence is therefore required," ​a ‌spokesperson for the ​ministry ​said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

Meanwhile,

and were both approved by the lawmakers just minutes ago.

Zelenskyy quickly responded to the vote on social media:

"I am grateful to the MPs for supporting Andrii Sybiha for the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Yevhenii Khmara for the position of Minister of Defence of Ukraine.

The tasks for both ministers are absolutely clear: Ukraine needs more strength. And it will have it. Glory to Ukraine!"

President ⁠Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed deputy ⁠head ⁠of the ​presidential office Iryna ⁠Mudra on Wednesday, according to ⁠the decree ​published ‌on ‌the presidential website.

There was ‌no reason given for the dismissal.

There is no official confirmation of the link, perhaps worth noting that earlier today Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies said they had uncovered a group suspected of money laundering, which it said included a senior presidential official (10:06, 11:25).

A second suspect accused of taking part ⁠in the 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline blasts has been arrested in Croatia and ⁠will be ⁠extradited ​to Germany, German prosecutors said in a statement reported by Reuters.

In its statement, the federal prosecutors' office identified the Ukrainian ⁠national only as Vladimir Z., adding he was arrested in the seafront Croatian city of ⁠Pula by local police forces who acted on a European ​arrest warrant.

Prosecutors had ‌brought criminal charges ‌in July against another Ukrainian, former army officer Serhii K., ‌for involvement in the blasts, accusing him of acting on behalf of Ukrainian state entities.

In their statement, prosecutors said trained scuba diver Vladimir Z. was part of a group led by Serhii K. that planted ‌explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines near the Danish island ​of Bornholm.

Meanwhile, Estonia is investigating whether Russia was involved in an arson ⁠attack on a building housing a defence contractor, said the prime minister, Kristen Michal.

The building used by a maker of unmanned military weapons systems ⁠deployed in Ukraine and elsewhere, was targeted late on Friday.

"The ⁠suspects have been identified. One of the lines of investigation ​is a possible ‌act of sabotage ‌and the involvement of Russia," said Michal.

The Russian embassy in Tallinn did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

More in our daily Ukraine war briefing here:

We are also getting a bit more detail on that anticorruption investigation.

The two anti-corruption agencies said they had uncovered ⁠a ⁠group including ​a presidential official that had ⁠laundered 150 million hryvnias ($3.35m) used to ⁠pay for bail ​in ‌an energy ‌corruption scheme, Reuters reported.

The Nabu ‌and Sapo agencies said in a YouTube video the group comprised a deputy ‌head of the presidential office, a ​former lawmaker, heads of the management and supervisory boards of ⁠a state-owned bank and ​others, the agency said.

They ​did not ​name the individuals, ​in ‌accordance with Ukrainian ​law.

President Zelenskyy responded this morning to the overnight attack on a bus in Kherson, calling it a "vicious Russian safari against our people."

"Four people were killed and five others were wounded. All necessary services are at the scene, investigating the details," he said.

But Zelenskyy said "what is absolutely clear is that the bus was civilian."

"These are the realities of everyday life in Ukraine's frontline regions. While partners hesitate over additional supplies of defence equipment, the Russians have long run wild. Pressure on the aggressor is needed. Support for those defending life is needed."

Meanwhile, ⁠Russian forces ⁠have ⁠struck a cargo ​vessel in ⁠the Black Sea ⁠near ​Ukrainian ‌port ‌of Odesa, Reuters reported via Russian ‌news agency Interfax, citing the defence ministry.

The ​vessel was carrying ⁠a military ​cargo, the ​ministry ​said.

"Today there is of how to ensure people's safety in the context of a full-scale war."

There was, he added, "a fairly deep-rooted view within Ukrainian society" that elections are necessary but only after the hot phase of the war ends – and that the country remained "a warring democracy – confirmed precisely by the protests taking place after Fedorov's resignation from the government".

Polling conducted at the turn of the month reported the ex-minister would come third in the first round of a presidential election with 13.1%, behind Zelenskyy on 22.3% and the former head of the armed forces, who is now Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, on 21.4%.

The same polling, conducted by the Socis Centre for Social Research, also concluded that Zelenskyy would then be defeated in the run-off election by both Fedorov and Zaluzhnyi. Ukraine uses a two-stage voting system.

If Ukraine were to hold an election, it would have to contend with the fact that millions have been exiled and displaced since the start of the war, and that more than 1 million are serving in the armed forces, many on the frontline. About a fifth of the country's territory is also under Russian occupation.

Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies opened an investigation into unnamed lawmakers and presidential advisers just hours before a key vote in parliament, adding to pressure on president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Nabu and Sapo agencies released no further details, Reuters noted, but their announcement comes just hours before the Ukrainian parliament is due to vote on a new defence minister, appointed after Zelenskyy sacked his popular predecessor, .

On Tuesday night, Fedorov called for a wartime presidential election in the most direct political challenge to since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

"The politician, whose abrupt sacking last month triggered a wave of protests, said that Ukraine had to "restore a full democratic process even amid a prolonged war" in a video address released online late on Tuesday evening.

"Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia. We are fighting precisely because we want to remain a free European state," Fedorov said in his nine-minute speech."

Overnight, at least four people died in Russian attacks on Ukraine, after a drone hit a bus in the southern city of Kherson.

Ukraine, meanwhile, sent hundreds of drones towards targets in Russia, with Moscow claiming it downed 453 of them.

I will also keep an eye on the latest in , as the firefighting operation against the largest wildfire in the country's recent history appears to be nearing an end.

It's , it's here, and this is .

Good morning.