Sunday, August 20

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Two women hug as they start to clean up after a deadly missile attack in the center of Chernihiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 19, 2023. (Photo by Paula Bronstein via Getty Images)

7 dead, 144 injured in Russian missile attack on Chernihiv. As of 11 p.m. local time, the number of wounded in the Russian missile attack on Chernihiv on Aug. 19 has risen to 144 people, including 15 children and 15 police officers, the National Police reported. The attack killed seven people.

Ukrainian pilots start training on F-16s, test flights on Swedish Gripen jets. Ukrainian pilots have already started a six-month training session on U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on national television on Aug. 19.

Russian official claims drone attack on Kursk railway station. Kursk Oblast Governor Roman Starovoit claimed that a Ukrainian drone struck the Kursk railway station on the night of Aug. 20.

Russia claims Ukrainian drone attacked military airfield in Novgorod region. Russian Defense Ministry claimed a Ukrainian drone had attacked a military airfield in the Russian northwestern Novgorod region at 10 a.m. local time on Aug. 19.

Russian drone attack damages nearly 400 buildings in Khmelnytskyi Oblast overnight. Russia attacked Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi Oblast with drones overnight on Aug. 19, damaging nearly 400 buildings, Serhii Tiurin, first deputy head of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast Military Administration, told Suspilne media outlet.

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General Staff: Russian forces fail to recapture Urozhaine. Russian forces launched unsuccessful counterattacks against recently liberated Urozhaine in Donetsk Oblast on Aug. 19, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported.

Telegraph: China arms Russia’s war in Ukraine. China has sent tens of thousands of shipments to Russian weapons firms since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Telegraph reported on Aug. 19.

Blast reported on premises of Interior Ministry site in Kyiv where experts examine explosives. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported on Aug. 19 that an explosion occurred on the premises of the Interior Ministry’s State Scientific and Research Expert-Criminalistic Center in Kyiv. According to Klymenko, the cause of the explosion is not due to a drone or missile strike.

Politico: Kuleba tells allies Ukraine needs long-range weapons, not forecasts. Ukraine isn’t worried about Western pessimism toward its counteroffensive goals, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Aug. 19.

Read our exclusives

Escape from Kupiansk: How one cop tricked the Russians

Kupiansk police officer Oleksandr doesn’t like remembering the time he was abducted and tortured by invading Russian forces trying to recruit him.

In fact, it takes several of his colleagues to essentially bully him into it, unprompted.

Photo: Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images

This Week in Ukraine - Ep. 21

Counteroffensive: Expectations vs. Reality

Human cost of war

Prosecutor General’s Office: 502 Ukrainian children killed by Russia’s all-out war, more than 1,100 injured. The Prosecutor General’s Office reported on Aug. 19 that 502 Ukrainian children have been officially reported killed since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion last year. More than 1,100 children have also sustained injuries of varying degrees of severity.

Russia’s shelling of Huliaipole in Zaporizhzhia Oblast kills 1, injures 1. Russian forces shelled the town of Huliaipole in Zaporizhzhia Oblast on Aug. 19, killing an elderly woman and injuring an elderly man, the Interior Ministry reported.

Russian attacks across several oblasts kill 1, injure 25. Multiple Russian attacks across several Ukrainian oblasts over the past 24 hours killed at least 1 person and injured 25 others, according to reports from local officials.

General Staff: Russia has lost 257,010 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Aug. 19 that Russia had lost 257,010 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 last year. This number includes 500 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

International response

Ukraine, Sweden sign ‘statement of intent’ to start joint production of CV90 armored vehicles. President Volodymyr Zelensky and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson signed a “statement of intent” symbolizing the two countries’ will to “strengthen cooperation in production, operation, training, and servicing” of the Swedish armored combat vehicles CV90.

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