On the 167th day of the full-scale war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine on Tuesday, August 9, 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 readily verify information disclosed by representatives of both sides of the conflict from independent sources.

Explosions in Crimea

A series of explosions took place near the Saki airfield in the Novofedorovka area of ​​Crimea, annexed to Russia. As reported by Reuters, citing eyewitnesses, at around 3:20 pm local time (which coincides with Moscow time), there were at least 12 explosions. At 21:14 Moscow time, one local resident died, nine, including two children, were injured, Crimea’s “Ministry of Health” reported on Telegram. According to the “boss” of the annexed peninsula, Sergei Aksyonov, a five-kilometer cordon zone was established. Several dozen people were evacuated from homes near the tourist village of Novofedorovka. Traffic jams have formed at the entrance to the Crimea bridge and at the crossing towards Russia, said Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the head of Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that “there was a detonation of various aviation munitions”, “aviation equipment at the airfield was not damaged”, “there was no fire impact” in the ammunition storage area.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine indicated that it was unable to establish the cause of the fire, but at the same time reminded the fire safety rules. The fact that a fire can be used by a terrorist country in an information war, according to the Ukrainian Department of Defense.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk noted that August 9 was the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. “In Ukraine, Crimean Tatars, Karaites and Krymchaks are regarded as such. And today’s blasts in Novofedorovka are another reminder of who Crimea is,” she wrote. The adviser to the chief of staff of the President of Ukraine, Mikhail Podolyak, in turn, noted that “the future of the Crimean peninsula is to be the pearl of the Black Sea” and not “a military base”. “It’s all just begun,” he added.

The Saki military airfield is used as an air base by the RF Ministry of Defence. Planes and helicopters are based there, including naval aviation. In addition, there is a ground test training complex for naval aviation take-off and landing practice. According to Ukrainian media, the airfield was repeatedly used by aircraft that attacked the territory of Ukraine.

The course of hostilities

The British Ministry of Defense noted that during the month of hostilities in the Donetsk region, Russian troops failed to capture the entire region. The most successful direction, according to British intelligence, can be considered Bakhmut, where during this period Russian forces managed to overcome about ten kilometers. In other areas, progress is much more modest, analysts say. Despite numerous attempts to break through Ukrainian defenses, the Russian Armed Forces were unable to advance more than three kilometers into other areas of the Donbass, the British Defense Ministry said.

As part of the Russian troops, poorly trained units, composed, for example, of prisoners, can increasingly be used to control the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, according to a regular report by experts from the American Institute for the Study of War ( ISW). In their view, newly mobilized Russian battalions are likely to be less trained, less professional and more brutal to the occupied population than conscripts.

Zelensky discussed the situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear plant with Bill Clinton

According to the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) of Germany, no leakage or penetration of radiation from the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (ZNPP) has been recorded on the territory of Germany. “There are no indications that radioactive substances could have been released in Ukraine,” the agency said. German experts do not yet see an acute danger from the release of radioactive substances, but share their concern about the need for the ZNPP’s permanent safe operation, the report says.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the situation in the ZNPP with former US President Bill Clinton via video link. Zelensky urged the former White House chief to “use personal authority” to bring the world community’s attention to the bombing of nuclear plants as well as Russia’s “nuclear terror”, the Ukrainian politician’s office said.

Ukraine’s President Urged Western Countries to Close Borders to Russian Citizens

Western countries must ban all citizens of the Russian Federation from entering their territory. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with The Washington Post. According to the head of state, all previously imposed sanctions against Russia are weak compared to the closing of borders to Russians for a year and a total embargo on the purchase of Russian energy resources. “The most important sanctions are closing the borders, because the Russians are taking foreign territory. Let them live in their own world until they change their philosophy,” Zelensky said.

In turn, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas called for the suspension of the issuance of tourist visas for Russian citizens for travel to EU countries. “Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right. It’s time to stop Russian tourism now,” the politician wrote on Twitter.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin spoke similarly. She said that, in her opinion, the Council of Europe could consider imposing sanctions on Russian tourism until the war is over.

The European Commission explained that the EU visa code does not provide for the possibility of banning the issuance of short-stay visas, and there are categories of people to whom visas must be granted in any case.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin was extremely negative about Zelensky’s appeal. “The irrationality of thinking in this case goes out of scale”, – said the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov.

“Ukrtransnafta” stopped the pumping of Russian oil through the southern branch of “Druzhba”

Ukrainian state-owned company Ukrtransnafta has stopped pumping Russian oil through the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline system. Through it, raw materials are delivered to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The stop since August 4 was reported in the Russian corporation Transneft. According to her, the transit through Belarus towards Poland and Germany continues. The reason for the pumping interruption was the Russian company’s inability to pay for transit services due to EU sanctions.

Two more ships carrying agricultural products from Ukraine have left Chornomorsk

Two more ships carrying agricultural products from Ukraine have left the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk. According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure, the bulk carrier Ocean Lion will deliver 64,700 tonnes of corn to South Korea, the ship Rahmi Yaggi will transport about 5,300 tonnes of sunflower oil to Turkey.

Biden signed protocols on the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO

US President Joe Biden signed documents ratifying by Washington the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO. “This step will make Europe and the whole world safer,” said the American leader. Biden noted that Russia expected a weakening of the alliance. “They (the Russian side. – Red.) wanted to see the “Finlandization” of NATO, but instead they got NATO in Finland,” said the White House chief.

Russian Federation oligarchs have not yet provided information on assets in Germany.

Despite toughening the law to improve the implementation of EU sanctions, Russian oligarchs have yet to provide information about their assets in Germany. This stems from the response of the German Economy Ministry to the request of the deputy of the Left Party of the Bundestag, Christian Görke. Neither the German Federal Bank (Bundesbank) nor the Federal Office for Economics and Export Control have yet received any information on this matter. Several Russian oligarchs fell under EU sanctions after the start of the war in Ukraine.