Ukraine Invasion: Part 43

[MagicFox]

With thanks as usual to everyone!

--

Agreed thread guidance:

1. The agreed purpose of the thread is for the sharing of information and commentary on current events

1. If you post a link please tell us where it leads/give a precis of the content

1. Discussion and debate is welcome, but please keep it respectful

I think CNN are trying to woo the right-wing audience at the moment; that's said to be why they gave Trump a Town Hall in which to tell his lies, and failed to call him on them.

huh, thanks for clarifying that.

I don't want to go too far down the rabbit hole of American politics, but this poll shows Trump as being very vulnerable due to his legal challenges. 45% of Republicans say they would not support him if he's convicted of a felony.

https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/reutersipsos-survey-despite-indictments-trump-leads-primary-field-desantis-loses-support

I think there's a high likelihood he will be convicted in either the classified documents case or the pending racketeering charges in Georgia (related to his election interference). If the conviction happens after he gets the nomination (if he does), those Republicans would likely not vote for anyone on election day. That would hand the election to Biden.

If they asked the Biden question first, that could well have influenced the Republicans and ‘other’ responses and 1,200 as a representative sample for 350,000,000 seems a stretch. Not to mention that the ‘other’ political parties sample could well be from even further right than the Republicans. Still, food for thought for Biden’s administration.

That could well be the best outcome as a De Santis presidency scares me silly. Biden is just so old and looks old. I wish Anthony Blinken would run.

From 1982 - 1985 the Soviet Union went through a bad patch when it came to the deaths of the chief leader. Long-serving Brezhnev, then Andropov, then Chernenko. Old men from an old guard before the relatively youthful Gorbachev, 54, came in for the final six and a half years before the collapse.

Old, old men, viewed as such at the time, although Ronald Reagan paralleled them aged 71-75 over these years.

Brezhnev died aged 75, Andropov 69, Chernenko 73.

Meanwhile Trump is 77 and has clearly lost some of his faculties. Biden 80, ditto. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell 81, had a standing stroke while speaking a week or so a go. Senator Diane Feinstein 90 is in some can't step down pitiful elder abuse nightmare and had a fall yesterday, Ruth Bader Ginsberg died in post aged 87 in 2020 (if she had stepped down pre-Trump there wouldn't be Amy Coney Barrett replacing her with various implications). And so on. A worrying gerontocracy where you can't just let go and enjoy your final years while making way for a youngster past normal retirement age.

Seems like it's Zelenskyy, 45 yo, just under half the old mens' ages, who is the most dynamic and effective leader of all doesn't it?

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-10-2023

Note: The data cutoff for this product was 12:00pm ET on August 10.

Key Takeaways:

• The Wagner Group continues to maintain a presence at facilities in Belarus and the status of its rumored withdrawal to Russia remains unclear.
• Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin has yet to comment on these speculations either directly or through intermediary sources as he has done previously, suggesting that Prigozhin may not be entirely at liberty to comment on the future of Wagner.
• Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front and advanced in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area on August 10.
• A Russian milblogger accused Russian military personnel of fabricating or embellishing claims of Russian forces destroying Ukrainian vehicles in Ukraine.
• Russian forces conducted another series of missile and drone strikes in Ukraine overnight on August 9-10.
• The Kremlin is likely attempting to crypto-nationalize Russian internet giant Yandex to strengthen control over the Russian information space in preparation for the 2024 Russian presidential election.
• The possible transfer of Yandex to affiliates of Russian First Deputy Presidential Chief of Staff Sergey Kiriyenko suggests that Putin seeks to reward Kiriyenko for his personal loyalty, particularly following the June 24 Wagner Group rebellion.
• Affiliates of arrested former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer and ardent ultranationalist Igor Girkin continue to explicitly attack the Kremlin on August 10.
• Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line, the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast border area, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast on August 10 and made some advances.
• Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front and advanced in the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast border area on August 10.
• Russian officials continue to highlight the claimed success of the Russian defense industrial base (DIB).
• A Ukrainian military official reported that Russian forces are co-opting civilian infrastructure for the repression of local populations in the occupied territories.

Expanded:
[A] milblogger suggested that Russian soldiers have filmed Russian helicopters and artillery firing on the same, previously damaged Western-provided armored fighting vehicle from different angles and on different days and reported them as separate kills at least three times.

Russian milbloggers have previously accused Russian attack helicopters of striking already destroyed Ukrainian military equipment and suggested that the Russian MoD may be using these repeated hits to inflate Ukrainian losses.

from the UK Def Ministry:
Royal Marines
AT RoyalMarines
·
40m
Commando skills for Ukraine's Marines... #RoyalMarines have spent more than six months training nearly 1,000 Ukrainian Marines in the art of commando raiding and complex amphibious operations.

About Yandex, which is Russia's version of Google:

“Russia's invasion of Ukraine is barbaric, and I am categorically against it,” Arkady Volozh, who until last year ran Yandex, often referred to as Russia's Google, said in a statement. “I have to take my share of responsibility for the country's actions,” he said, without offering additional details.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/world/europe/yandex-ukraine-war-arkady-volozh.html [free to read]

Over the past year, Yandex’s Dutch parent company has been trying to split its core Russian businesses, which include the country’s dominant internet search engine and taxi hailing service, from subsidiaries focused on artificial intelligence, which it hopes to relocate abroad.
Editors’ Picks
The Messy Relationship Between Romance Novels and Ice Hockey
For ‘Only Murders’ Season 3, Not the Same Old Song and Dance
With a Grandchild on the Way, Chicago Beckoned. What Could They Get for Less Than $400,000?
The company had said that it expects the deal, which must be approved by the Kremlin, to close by the end of 2023.

Do you know any more about Yandex? @ReleaseTheDucksOfWar

I was asked to install it for some work and was wary as I couldn’t find so much info on it but it rang alarm bells with me for some reaaon

@LeonardCohensRaincoat Ill put what the ISW have said, which is a short but good summary of the dangers I think.

Their bolding. It seems that Russia is trying to get hold of user data on anyone at all who uses it, rather than just people within Russia. Yandex until now say that they give the data to the govts of the country they are operating within and not the Russian govt.

From the fact they've had spats about it, it looks like Yandex has tried to hold to the rules (which isn't to say that the Kremlin hasn't tried hard to hack the data ofc!).

But it's clear from now on that Yandex if it's to survive will have to give all user data to the Kremlin.

--

The Kremlin is likely attempting to crypto-nationalize Russian internet giant Yandex to strengthen control over the Russian information space in preparation for the 2024 Russian presidential election. Yandex has likely been trying to balance between the Kremlin and its foreign governing bodies but now appears to be losing the battle to the Kremlin. The Kremlin appears to be forcing Yandex to sell or distance itself from international subsidiaries, including rideshare service Yango Israel, in order to comply with strict Russian data disclosure laws requiring Yandex to supply all user data – not just data of users in Russia – to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).[20] The Russian government has previously fined Yandex for failing to comply with this law despite Yandex’s statements that it is unable to provide the requested data.[21] The Russian government also previously fined Yandex CEO Artem Savinovsky for Yandex’s failure to comply with Russian censorship laws, possibly trying to compel Yandex into complying with Russian censorship laws not just in Russia but globally to undermine its global operations and userbase.[22] Yandex officials have previously stated that Yandex aims to follow the laws within each country it operates and have rebuked Russian datamining efforts by claiming it only provides user data to governments of users in that specific country.[23] Some Russian insider sources speculated that Yandex corporate development advisor Alexey Kudrin attempted and failed to turn Yandex into a national private company that Putin’s reported personal banker Yuri Kovalchuk would control.[24] Yandex founder and former CEO Arkady Volozh publicly decried the invasion of Ukraine on August 10, and some Russian insider sources speculated that Volozh’s statement was a “white flag” showing that he had accepted that the Kremlin would likely go forward with its speculated formal nationalization effort.[25] Reuters reported that its sources within Yandex fear a “brain drain” if the Kremlin nationalizes Yandex, as many Yandex employees left Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.[26] The Kremlin is likely aware of this concern as investors affiliated with Kremlin officials rather than Russian government entities have recently made bids to purchase Yandex.[27]
The possible transfer of Yandex to affiliates of Russian First Deputy Presidential Chief of Staff Sergey Kiriyenko suggests that Putin seeks to reward Kiriyenko for his personal loyalty, particularly following the June 24 Wagner Group rebellion.

@ReleaseTheDucksOfWar

thank you, exactly what I wanted

why do accept tech so easily without recognising the agendas behind it? I’m as guilty as the next

Kyiv Independent Telegram

⚡️ Polish President Duda: Ukraine needs more weapons https://kyivindependent.com/polish-president/ to change balance of war. "The question is: Does Ukraine have enough weapons to change the balance of the war and get the upper hand? And the answer is probably no," Duda said. "To make a long story short, they need more assistance."

⚡️ Biden asks Congress for $24 billion for Ukraine aid https://kyivindependent.com/biden-asks-congress-for-24-billion-in-ukraine-aid/ related needs. It would include $13 billion in defense and security support and $7.3 billion for economic and humanitarian needs.

⚡️Pentagon: US to further increase https://kyivindependent.com/pentagon-us-to-further-increase-155-mm-ammunition-production/ mm ammunition production to 80,000 per month next year. It currently manufactures around 24,000 ammunition rounds a month.

⚡️ISW: Kremlin aims to crypto-nationalize internet giant Yandex https://kyivindependent.com/isw-kremlin-attempts-to-crypto-nationalize-russian-internet-giant-yandex-to-strengthen-control-over-the-russian-information-space-in-preparation-for-the-2024-russian-presidential-electi/ bolstering control for 2024 presidential election.
Yandex has likely been trying to balance between the Kremlin and its foreign governing bodies but now appears to be losing the battle to the Kremlin.

Air defense intercepted an attack drone over Moscow on Aug. 11, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Telegram.
https://kyivindependent.com/mayor-says-drone-intercepted-over-moscow/

⚡️Ukrainian authorities start mandatory evacuation https://kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-authorities-start-mandatory-evacuation-from-kupiansk-district/ from Kupiansk district.

⚡️ Defense Ministry: Ukraine achieves partial success south of Staromaiorske. https://kyivindependent.com/defense-ministry-ukraine-achieves-partial-success-south-of-staromairoske/

⚡️Ukraine announces https://kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-troops-regularly-cross-dnipro-river-probing-russian-defenses-in-kherson-oblast/'temporary corridor' for civilian ships in Black Sea.
The corridor will initially be used to enable the exit of civilian ships stuck in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa, and Pivdenny since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.

⚡️Fire erupts at oil refinery in Belarus https://kyivindependent.com/fire-erupts-at-oil-refinery-in-belarus-after-ukraine-warns-about-russias-provocation-plans/ after Ukraine warns of Russian 'provocation.'

Explaining Ukraine: The origins of the 2014 war in Donbas https://kyivindependent.com/the-origins-of-the-2014-war-in-donbas/

Ukrainian troops regularly cross Dnipro River, probing Russian defenses in Kherson Oblast (https://kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-troops-regularly-cross-dnipro-river-probing-russian-defenses-in-kherson-oblast/)

⚡️Official: Russian forces burn dead soldiers' bodies https://kyivindependent.com/official-russian-forces-burn-dead-soldiers-bodies-near-occupied-melitopol/ near occupied Melitopol.
Dead Russian soldiers have been cremated "almost non-stop" near the occupied city of Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, according to Hanna Maliar. "Residents have been feeling the characteristic acrid smoke for a long time.

⚡️Ambassador: Azerbaijan to train https://kyivindependent.com/ambassador-azerbaijan-to-train-ukrainian-sappers/ Ukrainian sappers.

⚡️ Report: Ukraine's healthcare system suffered over 1,000 attacks https://kyivindependent.com/russia-launched-over-1-000-attacks-against-medical-facilities-staff-since-invasions-start/ over full-scale war.

⚡️Ex-official for pro-Russian party detained for attempted contract killing https://kyivindependent.com/ex-official-for-pro-russian-party-detained-for-attempted-contract-killing/ [well that certainly makes working for a council more lively than in the UK]

⚡️ Media: Defense Ministry purchased summer jackets https://kyivindependent.com/media-defense-ministry-purchases/ instead of winter attire for military in 2022.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry purchased last year $33 million worth of "winter" clothes for the military, which were in fact summer attire

[Several reports of dead overnight including at least one child under 10]

⚡️ Ecumenical Patriarch's representative arrives in Kyiv https://kyivindependent.com/constantinople-patriarch/ affirms support for Ukraine.

⚡️NGO: 88 Ukrainian companies owned by Russian military industry-linked oligarchs https://kyivindependent.com/ngo-88-ukrainian-companies-owned-by-russian-oligarchs-linked-to-russias-military-industry-not-yet-confiscated/ not confiscated.

⚡️Danilov: No individuals listed so far in national oligarch register https://kyivindependent.com/danilov-no-individuals-listed-so-far-in-national-oligarch-register/

⚡️UN rep condemns https://kyivindependent.com/un-rep-condemns-russian-attack-on-hotel-in-zaporizhzhia/ Russian attack on hotel in Zaporizhzhia.

UN's rep to Ukraine's comments on the bombing of the hotel. [One wonders from her phrasing if she would have been quite so shocked if another hotel had been bombed instead of one she's stayed at. ]

Yeah :/ The young generation aren't necessarily able to discern the agendas though :/ Trying to teach mine to look at "who does this benefit" up to a point, without making them think that everyone has an agenda.

UNITED 24 Media Telegram

Polish President Andrzej Duda expressed his belief in an interview with The Washington Post that Russia is unlikely to deploy nuclear weapons in Ukraine. He stressed that the nuclear power plants in the region pose a more significant concern.

Ukrainian military drones have entered the phase of mass production, with expectations of both their quantity and quality advancing in the future. Any Russian military-industrial complex facilities or activities are deemed legitimate targets for Ukrainian weaponry.

A devastating fire has ravaged the entire protected area of over 1,500 hectares on the occupied island of Dzharylhach in the Black Sea. This vital steppe region within the national nature park has been engulfed in flames for nearly a week.

Rocket fragments have fallen on the territory of one of the children's hospitals in Kyiv, following this morning’s explosions in the capital, — Vitali Klitschko, mayor of Kyiv.
There are no casualties or damage so far.

The number of suicides among Russian officers has increased significantly since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), said that some of these suicides could be attributed to fear of retaliation by Ukrainian forces. Ukraine is offering to surrender Russian officers, promising to treat them in accordance with international law. [Russians are told that Ukrainians will treat them savagely. In some cases this is very wrong. In other cases, there seem to be hints that some Ukrainian soldiers are taking revenge for what's happened to their country]

According to Kristina Hook, a senior researcher at the Eurasian Center of the Atlantic Council, the actions carried out by the Russians in Ukraine align with the criteria for qualifying as the crime of genocide under international law. She contends that this process is evidently coordinated by authorities at various levels.

❗️ Russians hit a house in Ivano-Frankivsk region, where a family with 3 children lived. An 8-year-old boy was killed, — the Office of the Prosecutor General.

🏃 Boas Kragtwijk is running from Amsterdam to Kyiv to raise money for charity Ultra for Ukraine and to show how close the war in Ukraine is to Western Europe.

Live: Ukraine Telegram

The German government may soon decide to provide Ukraine with long-range Taurus cruise missiles capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 500 km.
The German media outlet t-online has learned https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/ukraine/id_100221848/ukraine-taurus-marschflugkoerper-scholz-zusage-koennte-in-kuerze-fallen.html from its own sources.

Microsoft will stop renewing software licenses for Russian companies after September 30.

❗️All heads of regional military commissariats are being dismissed in Ukraine, President Zelensky said. Those dismissed will be replaced by military officers.
As of today, 112 criminal proceedings have been opened against military enlistment office officials, and 33 suspicions have been served. [sounds like a totally clean sweep then]

❗️One Kinzhal was shot down - Ukrainian Air Force
Today at about 10:00 the enemy launched 4 Kh-47 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles from four MiG-31K aircraft. One missile was shot down.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Kuleba said that Ukraine can only start negotiating with Russia after a full withdrawal from Ukraine, but not with Putin.

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan increases assistance to Ukraine for humanitarian demining. Baku will donate a mechanized demining machine and conduct training for Ukrainian sappers.

🇳🇱 The Netherlands has handed over 6 mobile medical support complexes to Ukrainian border guards. They allow to deploy a full-fledged hospital with an operating room, intensive care unit, laboratory and sterilization room in the field.

A Russian IT specialist has created https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?hl=ru&gl=ru&id=com.mydonos.ru.gov&pli=1 a parody Internet service for denunciation that looks visually similar to the Russian state service Gosuslugi. But Russians started using it quite seriously. In six months, it was downloaded 10,000 times, and more than five thousand people used it to actually write a denunciation.
About half of the denunciations were written against neighbors and acquaintances, and about 20% contained a detailed description of the actions of the "offenders," as well as their personal data and links to their social media pages.

"The number of victims in Zaporizhzhia has increased to 14, among them - a three-year-old girl and a fourteen-year-old boy", - secretary of the city council Kurtev.

The Italian government will help restore the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral, which was damaged by a Russian missile attack on July 23. Italy has engaged two of the most authoritative cultural institutions in the country - the Milan Triennale and the MAXXI Museum in Rome.

Russian atrocities in the now liberated part of the Kherson region. The occupiers illegally detained at least 320 people. 35 torture rooms were discovered. For torture, Russians used electric current and rape.

Western partners have transferred $59 billion to Ukraine's budget since the beginning of the invasion. How much is this? A little more than a third of Ukraine's GDP in 2022. [As @Chatillon noted a while ago, these info graphics are not always 100% reliable]

Seems the Kerch Bridge is full of smoke and noise again.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-11-2023

Key Takeaways:

• Ukrainian forces made tactically significant advances in western Zaporizhia Oblast and reached the outskirts of Robotyne amid continued counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front on August 11.
• Ukrainian counteroffensive operations appear to be forcing the Russian military to laterally redeploy Russian forces defending in western Zaporizhia Oblast, indicating that the Ukrainian effort there may be significantly degrading Russian defenses.
• Russia’s necessary practice of conducting lateral redeployments to key sectors of the front will likely further weaken Russian defensive lines in aggregate, as both Russian and Ukrainian operations are fixing Russian units to certain sectors of the front.
• The further degradation of defending Russian forces creates opportunities for any Ukrainian breakthrough to be potentially decisive.
• Russian forces appear to be intensifying offensive operations northeast of Kupyansk, likely to draw Ukrainian forces away from more operationally significant areas of the front.
• Russian forces conducted another series of missile strikes in Ukraine on August 11 and targeted a Ukrainian airfield for the second time in the last week.
• Russian sources claimed that the Wagner Group appears to be maintaining a presence at its facilities in Belarus, though the status of its rumored withdrawal to Russian remains unclear.
• The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) is struggling with significant personnel shortages, especially in occupied territories in Ukraine, amid a broader power shift between other Russian internal security organs.
• The Kremlin and Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) are likely attempting to deflect blame for Ukrainian shelling in Russian border areas onto mid-level officers. [ not the ukrainians? ]
• Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, on the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line, and in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast area on August 11 and advanced in some areas.
• Ukrainian forces conducted offensive operations on at least three sectors of the front on August 11 and advanced in the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast border area and in western Zaporizhia Oblast.
• The Russian defense industrial base (DIB) has begun producing “Geran-2” drones, a modified version of the Iranian-produced Shahed-131/136 drone that will likely enable Russia‘s ability to maintain or potentially increase the frequency of Russia’s drone strikes on Ukraine.
• Russian occupation authorities are taking steps to make the upcoming regional elections in the Russian occupied territories appear to be fair and competitive. [and if you believe that, I have a flying pig for you]

Hopefully the smoke and noise Ducks mentioned is a hit rather than air defence 🤞

⚡️A number of telegram channels and monitoring groups report explosions on the #CrimeanBridge.

The Russian-installed head of temporarily occupied Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, claims air defense forces shot down two Ukrainian missiles in the #KerchStrait area.

twitter.com/kyivpost/status/1690312116761247744?s=61&t=NaIdJ_hpeHJ7BCXblc3CMg

Fingers, toes and um .. anythign else physically possible .. crossed.

Today's ISW seems to have a faintly positive slant, more so than recently.

https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1690309551252234240?s=20

Sorry @DesdamonasHandkerchief cross posted

Kyiv Independent Telegram

The Biden administration is working actively to ensure that Ukraine has sufficient air defense capabilities to defend itself, https://kyivindependent.com/ambassador-providing-with-air-defense-to-ukraine-priority-for-washington/ Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova said in an interview with LB.ua on Aug. 11. http://LB.ua

⚡️ Washington Post: Ukrainian pilots to complete F-16 training https://kyivindependent.com/washington-post-ukrainian-pilots-to-complete-f-16-training-at-least-next-summer/ no earlier than next summer. Only six pilots, which is about half a squadron, will undergo the first round of training, two unnamed Ukrainian officials reportedly said. Two more pilots have been identified as reserve candidates, the Washington Post reported.

⚡️https://kyivindependent.com/white-house-considers-providing-training-to-ukrainian-pilots-on-f-16-in-us/

The White House said on Aug. 11 the United States is “certainly open” to training Ukrainian F-16 pilots on U.S. soil. However, this process might take some time.

⚡️Russia wants https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-not-enough-russia-also-wants-to-colonize-moon/ to colonize moon.
Russian state space agency Roscosmos launched its first lunar expedition in 50 years on Aug. 11.

⚡️Russian state media: 20 drones downed over occupied Crimea https://kyivindependent.com/russian-state-media-20-drones-downed-over-occupied-crimea/

⚡️ Ukraine, US, EU, Romania, Moldova convene to discuss Ukrainian grain exports. https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-us-eu-romania-moldova-coneve-to-discuss-ukrainian-grain-exports/

The governments of Ukraine and the U.K. began bilateral negotiations on security guarantees for Ukraine, Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak said on Aug. 11. https://kyivindependent.com/yermak-ukraine-uk-began-talks-on-security-guarantees/

⚡️ WSJ: Egypt resists US calls to supply Ukraine https://kyivindependent.com/wjs-us-f/ with weapons.

The U.S. managed to convince Egypt not to send rockets to Russia but has so far failed to persuade Cairo to arm Ukraine instead, the Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 11, citing U.S. and Egyptian officials.

⚡️Bloomberg: Russian oil breaks https://kyivindependent.com/bloomberg-russia-earns-15-billion-from-oil-exports-in-july/ price cap, revenue soars in July.
Russia's crude oil surpassed the price ceiling set by the Group of Seven (G7), leading to a significant rise in income from oil exports, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 11

⚡️Minister: Ukraine allocates $225,000 https://kyivindependent.com/minister-ukraine-allocates/ to fund 15 'revolutionary' defense tech products.

⚡️ Zelensky pledges humanitarian aid to Slovenia https://kyivindependent.com/zelensky-pledges-humanitarian-aid-to-slovenia-due-to-floods/ due to devastating floods.

⚡️Zelensky: All enlistment office chiefs to be dismissed in https://kyivindependent.com/zelensky-enlistment-offices-chiefs-to-be-dismissed-across-ukraine/ Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 11 that the heads of all regional military enlistment offices across Ukraine would be dismissed.
The decision comes after a nationwide inspection of Ukraine's recruitment offices revealed multiple violations, including corruption, power abuse, and fraud.

⚡️ SBU detains Odesa resident suspected of spying for Russia. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on Aug. 11 that it had detained an Odesa resident suspected of passing information on military bases and the consequences of airstrikes to Russia. https://kyivindependent.com/sbu-detains-odesa-resident-suspected-of-spying-for-russia/

Defense Ministry denies buying low-quality uniforms https://kyivindependent.com/defense-ministry-denies-buying-low-quality-uniforms-worth/ for Territorial Defense.
The Defense Ministry denied on Aug. 11 the involvement in a purchase of low-quality uniforms worth Hr 35 million ($950,000) after a director of a sewing factory was arrested for selling unusable gear for Ukraine's Territorial Defense.

Ukrainian teenagers Mykyta Khanhanov and Tihran Ohannisian were killed in Russian-occupied Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, on June 24, 2023. https://kyivindependent.com/what-we-know-about-russias-killing-of-2-ukrainian-teenagers-in-occupied-berdiansk/

⚡️ Russian officer flees to Lithuania https://kyivindependent.com/russian-officer-flees-to-lithuania-asks-for-asylum/ asks for asylum.

⚡️ US sanctions 4 Russian oligarchs https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-sanctions/ associated with Alfa Group finance conglomerate.

Viktor Yanukovych: Ukraine’s scandal-ridden ex-president
https://kyivindependent.com/viktor-yanukovych-ukraines-scandal-ridden-ex-president/

Who is Viktor Yanukovych?
How did he become president?
Why was he ousted following the EuroMaidan Revolution?

Tragedy of civilian life in Donbas | This Week in Ukraine Ep. 20

UNITED24 Media Telegram

Air defense forces shot down two missiles in the area of the Kerch Strait. The bridge is not damaged, Russian "officials" say. ( :( ]

Türkiye is reportedly pursuing the inclusion of Russia in international discussions aimed at resolving the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as stated by the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet.
However, Germany has expressed opposition to this approach. German officials have pointed out that it may not be appropriate to involve the Russian Federation in the negotiation process at this juncture.
⚡️In the fall of this year, the Defense Industries Forum will be held, which will bring together the leading Ukrainian and foreign arms manufacturers, — the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

The EU handed Ukraine more than 220,000 shells within the planned million, — AFP.

😡 The Russian-appointed head of the occupied village of Lazurne in Kherson region said that residents without Russian passports would not be given insulin and other medicines, and threatened to take children who do not want to study in Russian schools to the contact line.

Such a hole was left by a kamikaze surface drone in the Russian tanker "Olenegorsky Gornyak"

Live: Ukraine Telegram

🇩🇪The German government is not preparing to transfer long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, Bild reports (https://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/politik/ukraine-krieg-taurus-lieferung-fuer-regierung-jetzt-kein-thema-85010970.bild.html), citing sources.

❗️The Russian Defense Ministry claims that the Crimean bridge was attacked by an S-200 missile. It was allegedly shot down by air defense, and there was no damage.
Photos and videos show at least six places of smoke. Russian social media writes that it could have been a smoke screen.

❗️Today, Russians fired Kinzhal missiles at a military airfield in Ivano-Frankivsk region. They targeted young pilots preparing to train on F-16s. Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said that the Russians did not achieve their goal with this attack

Several swimming and recreation areas have been officially opened in Odesa.
People are allowed to stay on the beaches from 08:00 to 20:00.

🇩🇪The German government is not preparing to transfer long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, Bild reports (https://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/politik/ukraine-krieg-taurus-lieferung-fuer-regierung-jetzt-kein-thema-85010970.bild.html), citing sources.

I guess Taurus would have been too good to be true, considering not all the long-promised leopards have been delivered by Germany yet.

Ducks, interesting graphic about shrinking economies. Not unexpected that Russia is top of the list by a mile, shrinking by $153B. Seems odd that Ukraine only shrank by $3B. Given the countries listed are vastly differently in size, perhaps it would have been meaningful if the shrinkage was described per capita instead of in absolute numbers. I am surprised to see the middle-eastern countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE. Surely they must have benefited from the surging oil prices and influx of Russians. Even Norway shrank. Wonder why China, India, UK and US are not shown. I am guessing not all the shrinkage is due to the Russia/Ukraine war and some must be the after effects of covid and supply chain issues.

mm. I do wonder how accurate this is - cba to go and check out myself though. Sleepy saturday afternoon!