On the 168th day of Russia’s large-scale military invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday, August 10, Russian troops continued 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 Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed the destruction of nine Russian aircraft at the Russian-annexed Saki military airfield in Crimea. This is reported in the regular summary of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Russian troop losses since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The day before, several powerful explosions thundered over the airbase’s territory. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation said its cause was “violation of fire safety rules”.

The Ukrainian military attacked a bridge near the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric plant in the Kherson region, an important link in the Russian military’s logistics chains. “Our fire control of transport and logistics routes in the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region has led to the consolidation of the status of the bridge in the area of ​​the Kakhovskaya hydropower plant as unusable. The hit is accurate but effective,” said the operational command. Yug.

The Russian military used the Uragan MLRS to attack the central part of Bakhmut. As a result of attacks on shops, private houses and skyscrapers, 7 civilians were killed and 6 others were injured, the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office said. “Complete data on deaths and injuries, as well as the number of homes destroyed are being established, fires continue in the city,” the report reads.

Return the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant to Ukraine’s Control

The heads of the G7 countries’ foreign ministries called on Russia to transfer control over the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and all “nuclear facilities within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders under the full control of their rightful owner – Ukraine, and to ensure its safe operation,” the press service said in a statement. German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The document expresses deep concern about “the serious threat posed by the seizure of Ukrainian nuclear facilities and other actions by the Russian armed forces, which significantly increases the risk of a nuclear accident or incident and endangers the population of Ukraine, neighboring states and the world.” community.”

Moscow has requested a meeting of the UN Security Council in connection with the bombing of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Energodar. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi had already expressed concern about the bombing of the station. He stressed that he is ready to lead the mission of the Agency’s experts in protecting and ensuring safety at nuclear power plants. Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of attacks on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on August 5 and 6.

When switching the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant to the Russian power system, the power lines for its connection could be interrupted by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said Petr Kotin, chairman of the national nuclear power generation company Energoatom. “I think it will be the right decision from Ukraine’s point of view – to interrupt the lines that they are going to connect to them. I think our armed forces will be ready to do that if the need arises,” he said.

Western military assistance to Ukraine

Ukraine’s Armed Forces received four more Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery mounts from Germany, the German government said. As a result, 12 of these ZSUs have already been transferred to Ukraine. In addition, in recent days, 49,000 shells for Gepard and three armored recovery vehicles were delivered to Ukraine.

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, at the moment only five of the fifteen PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers delivered by Germany and the Netherlands are in operation. The announcement was made by a member of the German Bundestag Defense Committee, Marcus Faber, upon returning from a multi-day trip to Ukraine. According to the politician, not a single self-propelled howitzer was destroyed by the Russian military. Faber noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are actively using howitzers, which therefore need spare parts.

Russia forms new units for war in Ukraine

Russia is almost certainly forming an important new unit for the war in Ukraine. The 3rd Army Corps is deployed near the village of Mulino in the Nizhny Novgorod region, the British Defense Ministry said, citing intelligence services. This corps, apparently, is intended to be made up mainly of volunteer battalions. And the British Ministry of Defense, however, believes that Moscow will obviously not be able to reach the usual Russian army corps strength of 15,000 to 20,000 soldiers due to the lack of combat enthusiasm among the population.

Russian authorities appear to be recruiting leaders of immigrant and ethnic organizations in Russia to form volunteer units to fight the war against Ukraine, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said. The report, in particular, mentions the Amir Timur volunteer battalion, made up of Uzbek citizens living in Perm territory.

The Embassy of Uzbekistan in Russia has warned compatriots against participating in the war on the territory of foreign states, including Ukraine. The diplomatic mission noted that mercenarism, in accordance with art. 154 of the Penal Code of Uzbekistan, is punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years.

Deprive Russians of European Visas

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba urged all EU and G7 countries to stop issuing visas to Russians. “I ask all EU and G7 countries to stop issuing visas to Russians. President Volodymyr Zelensky rightly insists on this. Russians support the war in Ukraine. “, wrote Kuleba on his microblog on Twitter. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has made a similar appeal before.

The EU has already started to discuss the possibility of suspending the issuance of Schengen visas to citizens of the Russian Federation. The ban could become part of a new and already seventh package of sanctions against Russia. According to German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, Germany has taken note of the relevant calls but has not yet decided on this issue. The German Foreign Ministry warned that if such a ban is adopted, not only Russian tourists, but also relatives of EU citizens and Russians living in EU countries, as well as representatives of Russian civil society, school children and students can suffer.

Oil pumping in Ukraine restored

Russian oil pumping through Ukraine via the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline to Europe has been restored, Slovakian oil refinery Slovnaft said. The company noted that Slovnaft and Hungarian parent company MOL paid fees for transiting Russian oil through Ukraine in August. On August 9, Russian operator Transneft announced that oil pumping through the southern branch of Druzhba was stopped on August 4 due to an inability to pay the transit fee amid sanctions against Russia.

Europe’s largest airline Lufthansa has announced the cancellation of flights to Russia and Ukraine until at least March 25, 2023. The German company noted that Ukrainian airspace is currently closed, and flights to Russia and the use of its airspace are impossible due to the “current regulatory and legal situation”.

Ukraine has turned to Switzerland with a request to represent its interests in Russia, the relevant negotiations with Kyiv have been completed, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in Bern. According to the representative of the department, Switzerland is ready to act as a diplomatic mediator between Moscow and Kyiv, but this requires the consent of the Russian Federation. Switzerland currently represents the interests of the United States in Iran, Iran in Canada, Russia and Georgia mutually, as well as Saudi Arabia and Iran.