Thursday, August 22

Russia’s war against Ukraine

People displaced by war arrive with their belongings to board an evacuation train at an undisclosed location in Donetsk Oblast on Aug. 21, 2024. Ukrainian civilians fled areas close to the front line as Russian troops steadily seized more territory across the eastern Donetsk region. (Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraine targeted Russian S-300 air defense system in Rostov Oblast, military claims. “Explosions were observed at targeted areas. The accuracy of the strike is being determined,” the General Staff said in its report, providing no further details on the consequences.

Ukraine air defense pledges from some NATO countries not being fulfilled, Bloomberg reports. Though it does not mention the specific countries behind the air defense pledges, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Aug. 18 singled out the U.S., U.K., and France during his evening address in which he called on allies to speed up deliveries of promised weapons systems.

Russian general weakened border defenses before Ukraine’s Kursk incursion, WSJ reports. Citing an official in the Russian security services, the report says Colonel General Alexander Lapin claimed the Kremlin’s military could effectively defend the border on its own.

Ukraine’s special forces confirm strike on Russia’s Kursk Oblast pontoon crossing. “Where do Russian pontoon crossings ‘disappear’ in Kursk Oblast? Special forces operators and Defense Forces units are actually destroying them,” the Special Operation Forces said on Telegram.

Both Ukraine and Russia unable to launch major offensives, Pentagon report says. The quarterly report covers a three-month period ending June 30. Since then, Ukraine has launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast and now reportedly holds 1,263 square kilometers (488 square miles) of Russian territory.

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Russia plans to respond to Ukraine’s Kursk Oblast incursion, military intelligence says. There are plans, we know about them. Our government and military leadership know about them so they can continue it (the operation) and disrupt the (Russian) plans,“ Vadym Skibitsky, a military intelligence deputy head, said.

Kremlin trying to convince public that Ukrainian troops on Russian soil is ‘new normal,’ Meduza reports. The Kremlin expects a “quite optimistic” scenario of several months of fighting to regain the territory, and efforts now are aimed at placating the Russian population and getting them used to this timeline.

Russia prepares disinformation campaigns targeting Ukrainian refugees in Europe, military intelligence says. The goal of Russia’s new operations is to convince people who left Ukraine because of the war not to return, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR).

Russia has dropped 27 guided bombs on Kursk Oblast, Ukraine’s military claims. Russian forces have conducted at least 17 airstrikes against Kursk Oblast, using guided aerial bombs, Ukraine’s General Staff said in its latest update on Aug. 21.

Russian prosecutors seek up to 24 years in prison for 23 Ukrainians who served in Azov Brigade. The Russian Prosecutor’s Office claimed that all the prisoners expressed “negative attitudes toward the Russian-speaking population” and supported “pro-Ukrainian radical views.”

KI Insights, a newly launched analytical unit powered by the Kyiv Independent, is organizing monthly briefings on a hot political topic of the month. 

We will reflect on the key events in the history of oligarchy in Ukraine, take a deep dive into the power players in 2019 (beginning of Zelensky’s presidency) and where they are now, shed light on the new faces and what place oligarchs hold in today’s wartime Ukraine.  

Format: Online. The event will include a presentation by our director, Jakub Parusinski, and a Q&A session. Seize the opportunity, as the next briefing is planned offline only in Kyiv. 

When: Tuesday, August 27, 16:00 Kyiv time (15:00 in Brussels, 14:00 in London, 10:00 in Washington, DC). Expected duration – 1 hour.You can add the event to your calendar by clicking here .

Where: A Zoom link will be sent to confirmed participants by e-mail. 

In case of any issues or questions, please contact us at insights@kyivindependent.com 
Feel free to reach out to suggest topics of interest for future briefings.  

Read our exclusives

Morning in Sudzha: Inside Ukrainian-occupied Russia as Kursk operation continues

Two weeks into Kyiv’s surprise offensive into Russian territory, the next phase of the operation has begun, with consequences for the battlefield and for those Russian civilians remaining in the area.

Photo: Courtesy

Kursk incursion ‘breaks’ Russia’s attempts to dictate peace terms, boosts Ukraine’s leverage

The Kursk operation, where in two weeks Ukraine’s army captured Russian turf comparable in size to what Russia’s army had taken in the Donbas over a costly 10-month offensive, has sparked frustration in Russia.

Image: Nizar al-Rifai/ The Kyiv Independent)

Ukraine war latest: Ukraine destroys 3, damages around 5 Russian aircraft in recent attack, source says

Drones operated by Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) destroyed a Russian MiG-31K/I and two Il-76 aircraft and damaged about five aircraft, possibly including one more MiG-31K/I.

Photo: Anton Dyatlov/Wikipedia

Putin in Azerbaijan: Depleted by Ukraine, Russia plays a weaker hand in the South Caucasus

Buoyed by its recent military success against Armenia and signing of new gas contracts with European countries, Azerbaijan is seeking to redefine its relationship with Russia.

Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/ Pool/AFP/Getty

Human cost of war

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 5, injure 31 over past day. In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the number of casualties in a previously reported Russian strike on children’s cafe in the village of Malokaterynivka rose to one killed — a 14-year-old boy — and nine injured, six of whom were children. Previously, the number of casualties stood at one killed and four injured.

General Staff: Russia has lost 603,010 troops since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,210 casualties Russian forces suffered over the past day.

International response

Even if Ukraine was behind blowing up Nord Stream, it was a legitimate target, Pavel says. Czech President Petr Pavel said that he had no verified information on whether Kyiv was involved in the operation to blow up the gas pipelines.

US investigates American commentators with ties to Russian state TV, NYT reports. The investigation aims to mitigate the Kremlin’s interference in the November presidential election.

Netherlands to buy over 50 drone detection radars for Ukraine. Kyiv is expected to receive mobile radars later this year, the Dutch Defense Ministry said.

UNHCR to allocate $30 million to support Ukraine’s front-line areas in winter. “For UNHCR, the priority is to support people who remain in the front-line regions during the winter months, which are likely to be particularly difficult this year given the targeted attacks on energy infrastructure,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR representative in Ukraine.

Canada allocates over $7 million for return, reintegration of Ukrainian children. The funds will be directly transferred to UNICEF in Ukraine, Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Aug. 21. Canada will also allocate funds to international organizations providing services to Ukrainian children.

Hungary close to finalizing talks on ‘balanced’ oil supply amid Ukraine’s sanctions against Lukoil. Budapest is close to finalizing talks on “balanced” oil supply after Ukraine blocked the transit of Russian oil through the Lukoil pipeline, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Aug. 21 after a government meeting.

In other news

Ukraine’s parliament ratifies ICC’s Rome Statute. The ratification was adopted with a caveat that Ukraine would not recognize the court’s jurisdiction over Ukrainian citizens in the case of war crimes for seven years following its official adoption.

Georgia’s ruling party to seek constitutional ban of chief opposition party. In an appeal posted on Facebook, Georgian Dream emphasized that it needs to obtain a “constitutional majority in order to qualitatively improve the political system, which cannot be achieved without removing the collective ‘United National Movement’ from politics.”

Telegram, WhatsApp, other sites suffer outages in Russia. Although Russian authorities linked the problems to a cyberattack, the news follows a string of cases of the Russian government restricting the Signal messaging app and reportedly targeting YouTube.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Martin Fornusek, Chris York, Nate Ostiller, Kateryna Denisova, Kateryna Hodunova, Toma Istomina, Abbey Fenbert, and Olena Goncharova.

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