Ukraine Daily

Sunday, August 21

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Russia’s war against Ukraine

A worker is carrying a cross during the burial of unidentified people who were killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha on Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)

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Explosion reported in Sevastopol in occupied Crimea. A powerful explosion was heard near the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters in the occupied Sevastopol at 8:20 a.m. on Aug. 20, according to Refat Chubarov, head of Mejlis, a representative body of Crimean Tatars. Russian-installed “governor” of occupied Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhayev also said that a drone hit the roof of the fleet’s headquarters. He said there were no casualties.

Later, more explosions were reported in occupied Crimea. Explosions that sounded like Russian forces were fighting off a drone were heard above the village of Zaozerne in the west of occupied Crimea, according to Chubarov. Sergey Aksyonov, a Russian-installed proxy in Crimea, said that it was the work of air defense and the target had been hit. Earlier, an explosion was heard in Sevastopol, with the Russian-installed “governor” of occupied Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhayev saying that a drone hit the roof of the fleet’s headquarters. There were no casualties reported in both of the incidents.

4 Russian Kalibr cruise missiles shot down in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Valentyn Reznichenko reported in the morning of Aug. 20 that air defense had shot down all four cruise missiles that he said were aimed at the targets in the region.

Official reports assassination attempt on Russian proxy in Mariupol. Mariupol Mayor Petro Andriushchenko reported on Aug. 20 the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Kostiantyn Ivashchenko, Russian-installed head of occupied Mariupol. Andriushchenko didn’t provide any details.

2 more ships carrying Ukrainian grain depart Chornomorsk port. Turkey’s Defense Ministry said on Aug. 20 that the cargo ships have left the Black Sea port, bringing the total number of vessels to depart Ukraine’s Black Sea ports under a United Nations-brokered deal unblocking Ukrainian grain exports to 27.

UK Defense Ministry: Only ‘minimal changes’ in territorial control along front line in past week. The U.K. Defense Ministry said in its intelligence update on Aug. 20 that Russian forces had only made small advances in the Donbas from early August and have not taken major efforts to capture more territories in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts in the south where Ukraine appears to be preparing a massive counter-offensive. The ministry noted that the situation is unlikely to significantly change in the next week.

S&P upgrades Ukraine’s credit rating from selective default. S&P on Aug. 19 joined Fitch in upgrading Ukraine’s rating after the war-torn country secured a two-year reprieve on its foreign debt from creditors earlier in August. While S&P projects that Ukraine’s economy will shrink by 40% this year, the agency boosted the country’s credit score of foreign debt to CCC+ which “reflects strong committed international financial support to Ukraine, coupled with eroding, albeit still relatively high, foreign exchange reserves,” it said in a statement.

Zelensky: Russia may do something ‘especially cruel’ to Ukraine next week. President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his address to the nation on Aug. 20 that the Russian military could take such a step amid Ukraine’s two important annual celebrations, the National Flag Day on Aug. 23 and the Independence Day on Aug.24. “We should be aware that this week Russia may try to do something especially disgusting,” said Zelensky.

Russia continues to advance in several directions. Russian troops conducted offensives near the villages of Blagodatne and Vasylky in Mykolaiv Oblast to “improve their tactical position,” according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. The Russian military also concentrated its main efforts on resuming an offensive“ in the Sloviansk direction in Donetsk Oblast and shelled six settlements with artillery, the General Staff reported.

Ukrainian forces destroy Russian command post in Kherson Oblast. Ukraine’s Armed Forces Operational Command Group “South” reported that in the past 24 hours, its artillery has destroyed a Russian command post and two ammunition depots in the villages of Chornobayivka and Starytsya, killing 75 Russian troops.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

UK lawmaker: Accident at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant should be considered trigger for NATO Article 5. Tobias Ellwood, Chair of the Defense Select Committee of the House of Commons, called for such a disaster to be considered an attack on NATO member states on Twitter. Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom earlier said that Russia planned a major false flag operation at the Zaporizhzhia plant. Russia seized control of the plant located in occupied Enerhodar in March and is using the site as a military base to launch attacks on Ukraine.

Intelligence: Russian troops instruct Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant staff to take time off. Russian forces occupying the power plant prolonged their earlier order for Ukrainian employees to take several days off, without specifying the return date. This is reported by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, which believes it was done to disconnect the plant from the Ukrainian energy system.

Read our exclusive stories

Relatives sound alarm as prominent activist in Russian captivity painted ‘Nazi.’

Maksym Butkevych, a well-known human rights defender in Ukraine, has had anti-militarist views all his conscious life. But when Russia launched a brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, he put pacifism aside and joined the Ukrainian army.

Over the years, Butkevych has helped hundreds of people fleeing authoritarian regimes and internally displaced Ukrainians from occupied territories.

But now he himself needs help.

The human cost of Russia’s war

Nine injured in Russian attack on Voznesensk, Mykolaiv Oblast. The Russian forces hit a five-story residential building in the city of Vosnesensk on Aug. 20, wounding nine, including four children, according to Mykolaiv Oblast Governor Vitaliy Kim.

3 more bodies found in ruins of Russian missile strike in Kharkiv. The discoveries bring the total death toll from the Aug. 18 strike on the dormitory building in Kharkiv to 18.

General Staff: Russia has lost 44,900 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Aug. 20 that Russia had also lost 1,907 tanks, 4,212 armored fighting vehicles, 3,137 vehicles and fuel tanks, 1,018 artillery systems, 266 multiple launch rocket systems, 141 air defense systems, 197 helicopters, 234 airplanes, 803 drones, and 15 boats.

International response

UK says Russia has ‘no moral right’ to sit at G20 meeting. A spokesperson of the British Ministry said that Russia shouldn’t be allowed to participate the Group of 20 while it continues to wage war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Czech Republic’s top officials support EU-wide entry ban for tourists from Russia. Pavel Fischer, senator and chair of the committee on foreign affairs, and Marek Zhenishek, chairman of the committee on foreign affairs of the chamber of deputies, supported the move, which will be discussed by EU ministers in late August in Prague. “It’s absurd when they (Russians) support the killing of women and children in Ukraine, and then they come and have fun in the EU,” said Zhenishek.

Media: Portugal against EU-wide visa ban on Russian tourists. Local online economic newspaper ECO reported on Aug. 19, citing an answer it received from the Portuguese Foreign Ministry, that Portugal opposes such a ban because it believes that “the main purpose of the sanctions regime should be to punish the Russian war machine, not the Russian people.”

Associated Press: US purchases 150,000 tons of Ukrainian grain for Middle East, Africa. The shipment was announced by the World Food Program chief to the Associated Press, who added that its volume was over six times more than the previous shipment from Odesa organized by the World Food Program.

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