On the 176th day of Russia’s large-scale military invasion of Russia on Thursday, August 18, 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.

Zelensky met Erdogan and Guterres in Lviv

Talks were held in Lviv between the Presidents of Ukraine and Turkey, Volodymyr Zelensky and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as the UN Secretary General, António Guterres. The UN chief said that his organization will carry out an investigation into the explosion at the Yelenovka colony, as a result of which dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were there were killed in late July. He also called for a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine. According to Guterres, the grain export agreement is “just the beginning” of a positive trend.

In turn, Zelensky asked the UN to guarantee the security and demilitarization of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. “The conscious terror on the part of the aggressor can have catastrophic global consequences. Therefore, the UN is obliged to guarantee the security of this strategic installation, its demilitarization and the complete liberation of Russian troops”, he said. As a result of negotiations with Erdogan, a memorandum was signed on Turkey’s participation in post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. The first project could be the construction of a bridge in the village of Romanovka, Kyiv region, which linked Bucha and Irpen to the capital and was destroyed in the early days of the war. Zelensky called Erdogan’s visit to Ukraine “an important message of support from such a powerful country”, while the Turkish president pointed to the threat of a “new Chernobyl” in Ukraine and called for a diplomatic solution to the military conflict.

Kyiv rejects any territorial commitments

In the context of the meeting between Zelensky, Guterres and Erdogan, a protest rally was held in Lviv, the participants of which called for the rescue of Ukrainian prisoners of war captured by Russia and the recognition of the Russian Federation as a terrorist state. They announced the inaction of the UN and other international organizations on the problem of releasing the defenders of the Mariupol “Azovstal” plant, who are held captive in the self-proclaimed “DNR”.

Meanwhile, Secretary of the Security and National Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, opposed any territorial compromises with the Kremlin, including the Crimean and Donbass territories. “As to the degree to which Ukraine’s borders should be restored: only complete eviction up to the 1991 borders. Any territorial compromise with the Kremlin is a war deferred to the future. It is today that has the chance to break the backbone of ” colossus with feet of clay” Russian – wrote Danilov on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced on Facebook about the repulsion of the Russian offensive in several directions, in particular Kramatorsk, Bakhmut, Avdeevsky and Novopavlovsk. The RF Armed Forces forces are still focused on capturing the entire territory of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, holding the captured areas of Kherson and parts of the Kharkov, Zaporozhye and Mykolaiv regions, restoring the combat capability of the affected troops and preventing a counteroffensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, notes the night’s operational report.

GUR: A provocation is possible at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on August 19

Meanwhile, Ukrainian military intelligence reported that Russia was preparing a provocation at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which it had seized on August 19. This day was unexpectedly declared as a day off at the station, leaving only the employees on duty, ZAES also left the Rosatom representatives, who had been there for a long time. “From the available information, it is clear that the invaders, after the large-scale bombing of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, could raise the stakes and organize a real terrorist attack on the largest nuclear facility in Europe. coincides with the Secretary-General’s stay of the UN in Ukraine”, said the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

In turn, ZNPP officials published an appeal to the world community. “Over the past two weeks, the nuclear power plant has indeed become the target of continuous military attacks. they noticed. The consequences of a possible accident at a nuclear power plant “could be an order of magnitude worse than the results of the tragedies of Chernobyl and Fukushima”, the authors of the letter warned, emphasizing that in practice worldwide there are no emergencies planned to protect nuclear facilities. in a situation where they become a territory of hostilities. “We know how to professionally manage a nuclear reaction. But we are powerless in the face of irresponsibility and human madness”, they concluded.

Washington urged the Russian Federation to grant IAEA experts access to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant as soon as possible. The United States is deeply concerned about the tense situation surrounding the plant seized by the Russian Federation, said State Department spokesman Ned Price. Meanwhile, Moscow has refused to withdraw troops and weapons from the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. The proposal to create a demilitarized zone around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is “unacceptable” as it would make the plant more vulnerable, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “We hope that in the very near future there will be a trip to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant by IAEA experts, which was fully agreed in June,” said Ivan Nechaev, deputy director of the information and press department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. by TASS.

An explosion in Kerch and a fire in the Belgorod region

In the evening, Oleg Kryuchkov, adviser to the head of Russian-annexed Crimea, said that the air defense systems worked in Kerch, there was no danger to the city and the Crimean bridge coming from it. Local people report that residents of different parts of the city and nearby villages heard two loud explosions.

In the Belgorod region, near the village of Timonovo, urban district of Valuysky, an ammunition depot caught fire. Residents of Timonovo and the neighboring village of Soloti are being taken to a safe distance, said the region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov.