08/16/2023
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 09:18 Governor: Grain silos damaged by Russian drone attack +++
Russia is deliberately aggravating the humanitarian crisis in the occupied parts of Ukraine in order to make the local population even more dependent on the occupying authorities, the National Resistance Center reports. The report points to rising prices for basic commodities, especially food, and falling production and sales at Russian-controlled companies. The National Resistance Center also reports on the difficult situation in the Donetsk region with regard to fresh water supply. The forced mobilization of local males is also leading to a labor shortage, the report said.
+++ 08:54 Governor: Grain silos damaged by Russian drone attack +++
The Russian military damaged grain silos and warehouses in a Danube port with drone attacks overnight, Odessa Governor Oleh Kiper said. It leaves open which port was hit. Ukraine has two major ports on the Danube – Reni and Izmail.
+++ 08:34 Ukraine reports land gains on the eastern front +++
Ukraine reports gaining ground on the front in the east of the country. “Uroschaine is liberated,” writes Deputy Secretary of Defense Hanna Maliar on the news app Telegram. “Our soldiers have entrenched themselves in the outskirts.” The settlement in the Donetsk region had previously been recaptured.
+++ 08:16 “The situation in the Kupyansk region is surprising” +++
The heaviest fighting in Ukraine is currently raging in the Kupyansk region. In order to stop the Russian advance, Ukraine must deploy units from the reserve. On other front sections there are reports of success for Kiev. ntv reporter Gordian Fritz reports from the Ukrainian capital.
+++ 07:56 Ukrainian general staff publishes figures on Russian losses +++
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reports that Russia has lost 255,570 soldiers in Ukraine since the start of its invasion. Included in that number are 650 casualties sustained by Russian forces in just the past few days. According to the report, Russia also lost 4,324 tanks, 8,380 armored fighting vehicles, 7,614 vehicles and fuel tanks, 5,152 artillery systems, 714 multiple rocket launchers, 485 air defense systems, 315 aircraft, 314 helicopters, 4,248 drones and 18 boats.
+++ 07:31 US government calls on Iran to stop drone sales +++
The US is demanding that Iran stop selling combat drones to Russia, the Financial Times reports. This is part of the bilateral negotiations on a more comprehensive “non-written understanding,” writes the newspaper. According to Ukrainian information, the Russian army uses the comparatively inexpensive Iranian drones on a larger scale.
+++ 07:08 CNN: Ukraine admits to attack on Crimean bridge with sea drone +++
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) claims responsibility for the July 17 attack on the Crimean bridge and says it used an experimental sea drone in the operation, CNN reports. The SBU released footage to CNN showing the moment of the attack, carried out using a surface drone nicknamed “Sea Baby.” “Sea drones are a unique invention of the Ukrainian security service,” Vasyl Maliuk, head of the SBU, told CNN. “None of the private companies are involved. We recently carried out a successful attack on the Crimean bridge with these drones.”
+++ 06:39 North Macedonia joins G7 declaration on Ukraine’s security guarantees +++
North Macedonia becomes the 15th country to formally join the G7 declaration on security guarantees, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reports on Telegram. Zelenskyy thanked North Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski “for his personal efforts to strengthen the partnership between the two countries”. The next step is the negotiation of bilateral security agreements between Ukraine and North Macedonia.
+++ 06:14 ISW: Russian Ministry of Defense lies when Wagner commanders are transferred +++
Inside sources in Russia and Belarus have cast doubt on the Russian Defense Ministry’s claim that commanders of the Wagner Group are being transferred to the private military company Redut, writes the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Redut is a mercenary group closely associated with the Russian Defense Ministry. The ministry has claimed that Wagner leaders are moving to Redut, a group that still plays an active role in the invasion of Ukraine. “The inside sources described the rumors as a ‘dream’ of the Russian Defense Ministry,” the ISW said.
+++ 05:48 Russia: Three Ukrainian drones destroyed over the Kaluga region +++
Russian air defense systems destroyed three Ukrainian drones over the Kaluga region. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced this early in the morning. The attempted attack, which took place around 5 a.m. Moscow time, left no one injured and no damage. The Kaluga region borders on the Moscow region in the north.
+++ 05:02 Ukraine: Russian drones entered the mouth of the Danube +++
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian drones have entered the Danube estuary. A large group of the drones are heading towards the river port of Izmail near the border with Romania. The Port of Izmail is used for Ukrainian grain exports. In early August, a Russian attack on the port triggered a global spike in food prices.
+++ 01:28 Finland: Russian troops have not yet been transferred to the border +++
According to Finnish information, Russia has not yet implemented the announced transfer of troops to the border with Finland. As early as December last year, Russia announced the creation of new units in north-western Russia as a reaction to NATO expansion, the Finnish Foreign Minister explained. “These efforts don’t seem to be progressing very quickly,” she stresses, adding, referring to the war in Ukraine, “Russian resources appear to be tied up elsewhere at the moment.”
+++ 23:56 Latvia increases protection of the border with Belarus +++
After Poland and Lithuania, Latvia is also stepping up protection of its border with neighboring Belarus. According to the border guards of the Baltic EU and NATO countries, additional officers will be deployed in the future. The reason for this is a “rapidly increasing hybrid threat,” says the authority in Riga. Within 24 hours, 96 people tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus to Latvia. According to a statement, the authorities in the authoritarian neighboring country are also increasingly involved in organizing irregular border crossings by migrants.
+++ 22:00 Ukraine again threatens to boycott the Olympics if Russia participates +++
Ukraine has again threatened an Olympic boycott for 2024 if Russia and Belarus are involved in the summer games in Paris. “States that have stained themselves with the blood of Ukrainians cannot take part in the Olympic Games,” Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal wrote on Telegram on Tuesday night. 35 other countries are ready to join the boycott for “fair sport”, Schmyhal explained, but did not name them. He expects the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to make a “right decision” and thus exclude Russia.
+++ 21:12 According to the governor, the Russian army prevents the penetration of Ukrainian “sabotage groups” +++
According to Russia, suspected “saboteurs” were pushed back from Ukraine in the Bryansk border region. Russian soldiers and border guards stopped the “sabotage group” near the village of Kurkovichi, as the region’s governor, Alexander Bogomas, announced in the online service Telegram. Nobody was injured during the operation. According to the governor, Ukrainian attacks in the region damaged industrial facilities and a car. Russian border regions have come under drone fire several times in recent months. Moscow blames Ukraine for this. In early June, armed militias advanced from Ukraine into the Russian region of Belgorod and engaged in skirmishes with the Russian army. The attackers described themselves as pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters.
You can read more about the events of the previous day here.