On the 175th 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 territorial defense units resist 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. DW continues to monitor developments on Wednesday, August 17 (Moscow time).

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Behind a series of explosions in Crimeaincluding at the Saki military airfield in Novofedorovka and near the village of Maiskoye near Dzhankoy stays ukrainereports CNN, citing an internal Ukrainian government report provided by an official on condition of anonymity.

Explosions at Saki airfield on August 9, the report’s authors call “a serious but unique loss to Russian military infrastructure in Crimea”. The subsequent attacks serve as “evidence of Ukraine’s systematic military capability to attack Crimea”, the document says.

Explosions at Novofedorovka airfield destroyed at least seven Russian planes, killed one person and severely damaged the base itself, the report said. The Russian Defense Ministry called the cause of the explosions “detonation of aviation ammunition” and, according to the Russian department, the fire in the Dzhankoy region was caused by “sabotage”. Official Kyiv has not confirmed or denied its involvement in attacks on facilities in Crimea.

The UN Secretary General arrived in Lviv

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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrived in Lvivwhere he is due to meet tomorrow with the presidents of Ukraine and Turkey, Vladimir Zelensky and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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Estonia plans to ban the entry of Russians with Schengen visas issued by other states. Such a ban, as stated by Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu, does not contradict the European Union’s basic agreement. “We agreed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior will prepare next week possible proposals on how to close the Estonian border and Russian citizens who have a Schengen visa that was not issued by Estonia,” Reinsalu told the national newspaper. transmitter ERR. As of August 19, Estonia will no longer admit Russians with visas issued by Estonia. Entry with permits issued by third countries is still possible, reminds ERR.

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A video appeared on the official Telegram channel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in which the author, filming the destroyed houses, says: “This is what remains of our hut, and there, in the distance, is all that remains of the flares” According to the Ukrainian military, in the footage – Destroyed base of Russian troops in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region. “According to preliminary information, this is a video confirmation of ‘smoking in an unidentified location’ located in Nova Kakhovka,” the message reads. According to preliminary data, 10 to 15 Russian soldiers were killed, specified the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was replaced

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New Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov was appointed, RIA Novosti Krym reports, citing Navy sources. “The order was from the commander in chief about his appointment. The members of the military council were introduced. There was no public event, and there probably will not be due to the yellow level of terrorist threat introduced in the city,” said the agency’s interlocutor. Another source clarified that “under the conditions in which a special military operation is underway, no one is obliged to publicly announce these appointments.” Admiral Igor Osipov’s resignation as commander of the Black Sea Fleet has not been officially announced.

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Finland does not plan to cancel Schengen visas already issued to Russians, Pekka Haavisto, head of the Finnish Foreign Ministry, told the RBC news agency. “Yesterday our government talked about visas, and we are also going to limit the issuance of tourist visas to 10 percent. We haven’t touched on old visas, they are still valid,” the minister told RBC, quoting the minister.

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Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov ruled out the possibility of “freezing” the war.. “I don’t think a freeze is possible. A decrease in activity is possible, depending on the season. And again, modern warfare is a resource war. Resources, of course, are depleted on both sides. And consequently , , each side takes time to restore,” Reznikov said. According to him, it is possible to “cool down the situation in terms of military confrontations”. I don’t see the “freezing” of what people want to call a “conflict” because it’s not a conflict. This is war. War for survival. And we will protect ourselves to survive,” he emphasized.

Chronicle of events August 17 00:00 – 13:59 >>>

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