On the 169th day of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops continue their attempts to capture the neighboring country’s settlements. Ukraine’s Armed Forces and their territorial defense units are resisting the aggression. It is impossible to verify the statements of representatives of both sides of the conflict from independent sources. According to the UN, about 14 million Ukrainians have already left their homes.

military actions

The Russians seek to take full control of Ukraine’s Lugansk and Donetsk regions. In the direction of Bakhmut, Russian troops carried out reconnaissance in force and attempted assault actions, but the Ukrainian military repelled the attacks and forced the enemy to retreat with losses, according to a summary of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Bombing of civil and military infrastructure is reported in the areas of the settlements of Nikolaev, Ukrainka, Pribuzhskoye, Limany, Stepnaya Dolina, Blagodatnoye, Veseliy Kut, Kobzartsy, Belaya Krinitsa, Tverdomedovo and Osokorovka. Airstrikes were carried out not far from Andreevka, Novogrigorovka, Belaya Krinitsa, Mirny, Bolshoi Artakovo and Lozovoye.

According to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian troops have carried out several unsuccessful attacks north and northeast of Kharkov, and the Russians continue to try to advance in the vicinity of Donetsk. Analysts report the formation of another “volunteer battalion” in the Oryol region.

Insider and Bellingcat have released the results of a new investigation based on a file of complaints filed with the Russian Military Prosecutor’s Office. It follows from the documents that Russian recruits are thrown into the combat zone by mistake or coercion, soldiers do not receive normal food and medical care, parents cannot receive any information about their captured or killed children. In addition, Russian soldiers are involved in looting on the territory of the so-called “DNR” and “LNR” breakaway republics, according to the investigation.

Russian military losses

In Ukraine, called the total number of deaths on the Russian side. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, “another 200 invaders” were liquidated on the last day. In total, since the beginning of the Russian Federation’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian side has already lost 43,000 dead soldiers, according to a summary of the General Staff. It is impossible to verify this data from independent sources.

Up to 13,000 active and ex-servicemen from Belarus signed an agreement to participate in the war against Ukraine on Russia’s side, said Aleksey Gromov, deputy head of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to him, the main motivation of the Belarusians is the material reward for participating in the war, because “there is no ideological basis in the actions of the invaders, and nobody believes in denazification”.

Western aid to Ukraine

At a donors’ conference for Ukraine held in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, Western countries pledged to provide Kyiv with 1.5 billion euros for military needs. The money will go towards producing weapons in Ukraine, including artillery and ammunition, developing and strengthening the training of Ukrainian soldiers, and supporting Ukraine’s mine-clearing efforts, Western news agencies reported. The amount includes donations from the UK, Denmark and Norway. Iceland will help mine clearance in Ukraine by “training instructors” and Norway will help train the Ukrainian military in the UK. Meanwhile, the UK has announced that it will send more multiple rocket launchers and guided missiles to Ukraine, without specifying how many.

The response to the invasion of Ukraine must be on a grand scale, like the war Russia started, President Volodymyr Zelensky told a conference in Copenhagen. “No delays, just decisive action, no confusion, just confident unity. We need weapons and grenades for our defense to the fullest, we need funding for Ukraine in sufficient volume and without bureaucratic blockades,” he said.

war crimes

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine, many of which, he said, “horrified him”. Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Scholz said “the Russian president bears personal responsibility for this war” but did not respond to the question whether Vladimir Putin should be put on trial.

The chancellor assured that Germany will continue to support Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression. “Germany, contrary to tradition, supplies weapons to the combat zone. We will continue to do so in the future,” promised Scholz.

New bombing of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant

The Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant was again subjected to rocket fire. Ukraine and Russia are responsible for what happened. “Five “arrivals” were recorded in the station commander’s office area – right next to the welding and radiation source storage site. Grass caught fire in a small area, but luckily no one was hurt. Five more.” arrivals” took place in the area of ​​the fire station, located in the vicinity of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” said Ukrainian company Energoatom. In turn, the head of the pro-Russian administration in the occupied part of the Zaporozhye region, Evgeny Balitsky, accused the Armed Forces of Ukraine of attacking the territory of the nuclear plant. “At least three arrivals were recorded in the radioactive isotope storage area. In addition, the high voltage line at the Kakhovskaya substation was damaged,” he said.

German Minister of Environmental Protection Steffi Lemke (Steffi Lemke) insists on inspection of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant by experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In an interview with the newspapers of the Funke group, Lemke called the situation around the station “uncertain and dangerous”, noting that specific and reliable information about the situation in the ZNPP is lacking. To get an objective picture of the security situation at the facility, it is necessary to provide access to independent IAEA experts, she said.

Pro-Russian officials in the occupied part of the Zaporozhye region intend to hold a “referendum” on the region’s accession to Russia on September 11 – the only voting day in the Russian Federation, said Evgeny Balitsky. At the same time, he called the online voting format unlikely “because of the threat of cyber-attacks”.

visas for russians

From August 18, the Estonian government will ban Russian citizens with Estonian Schengen visas from entering the country, said Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu. Exceptions will be made for employees of the Russian Embassy and their family members, drivers involved in the transport of goods and passengers, persons enjoying the right of free movement under EU legislation, as well as for humanitarian reasons. The entry ban will not apply to Russians who have been granted Schengen visas in other EU countries, Reinsalu said.

The Latvian Seimas declared Russia a “state sponsor of terrorism”. “To achieve the goals of its illegal and aggressive war, Russia seeks to intimidate and demoralize the Ukrainian people and the armed forces, paralyze the functioning of the state to occupy Ukraine, that is, Russia commits this violence to achieve political goals,” said Rihards Kols, chairman of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs. Seimas called on other countries to recognize Russia as a “sponsor of terrorism” and for the EU to immediately suspend the issuance of tourist and entry visas for citizens of Russia and Belarus.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was skeptical of calls to impose a total ban on Russians entering Europe. What is happening in Ukraine is the “Putin war” and the EU has already imposed numerous sanctions against people close to the Russian president, he told a news conference in Berlin. Scholz vowed to continue to increase sanctions pressure on Russia, but noted that imposing sanctions against all Russians is unwarranted.

Russia refuses Swiss mediation

Russia has opposed Switzerland’s proposal to represent Ukraine’s interests. According to Ivan Nechaev, deputy director of the information and press department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bern cannot mutually represent the interests of Kyiv and Moscow because of the loss of neutrality status following the imposition of sanctions against Russia. . The day before, it became known that Ukraine had reached an agreement with Switzerland on the representation of Ukrainian interests in Russia.