The day of the war at a glance
London: More explosions behind Russian lines – Moscow accuses EU of “Nazi policy”.
08/20/2022 9:59 p.m
According to Kyiv, Russia has bombed homes near Ukraine’s second largest nuclear power plant. Three children died in the attack. Meanwhile, Moscow accuses Kyiv of poisoning Russian soldiers and attempting to assassinate the mayor of Mariupol. UN Secretary-General Guterres visits the grain control center in Istanbul and is only partially satisfied. The 178th day of the war at a glance.
Kyiv reports attacks on civilians – also near nuclear power plants
The General Staff in Kyiv has announced that Russia has also fired on civilians and non-military infrastructure in new rocket and artillery attacks in Ukraine. In the Donetsk region, 7 civilians were killed and another 13 injured within 24 hours: “The area has no gas, partly no water and no electricity. The evacuation of the population is continuing.” In many places, however, the Russian attacks were successfully repelled, it said.
Also in the south of Ukraine were at one Bomb attack near the second largest nuclear power plant injured twelve people in the country, including three children. The bombs hit a residential building and other houses in Voznesensk in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said on Telegram. The Russian attack in the 30-kilometer zone around the nuclear power plant is “another cynical act of nuclear terrorism,” said the Ukrainian power plant operator Energoatom.
Zelenskyj: The Russians want to disconnect the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant from the electricity supply
The situation at the largest nuclear reactor in Europe remains tense. According to the occupying authorities, the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which was occupied by Russian troops, was again subjected to artillery fire by Ukrainian forces. However, no critical objects were hit, according to a statement from the Russian military administration in the city of Enerhodar.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscowto plan a “large-scale provocation” at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. The aim is to justify decoupling the power plant from the Ukrainian power grid and connecting it to the Russian power grid, he said in a video speech. Meanwhile, Western officials are concerned that Russia could cut power to the plant if it tries to disconnect the plant from Ukraine’s power grid, the Guardian said.
Speaking of the threat of a nuclear catastrophe, British MP Tobias Ellwood and US MP Adam Kinzinger made it clear that any intentional release of radioactivity at the nuclear power plant would trigger Article 5 of the NATO treaty. It states that an armed attack against one member state in Europe or North America is considered an attack against all.
London: Increased explosions behind Russian lines
According to the British secret service, the Russian invasion troops are coming under pressure from the increased number of explosions behind their own lines in southern Ukraine. While neither side has made frontline advances in the Kherson region, the “increasingly frequent explosions behind Russian lines are likely to put pressure on Russian logistics and air bases in the south,” British experts said in the daily update from the Defense Ministry in London to the Ukraine war. Overall, there have been only minimal changes to the front lines in the past week.
Also on the one annexed by Russia Another explosion occurred on the Crimean Peninsula. According to the authorities, debris from a downed drone hit the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet. The fleet’s anti-aircraft defenses hit the drone, said the city’s chief administrator, Mikhail Rasvozhayev. “She fell on the roof and burned.” There are no injuries. Rasvozhayev blamed Ukraine for the attack.
Moscow reports successes and attempted assassination
The Russian Defense Ministry, on the other hand, reported successes by Russian troops in the Kharkiv region. More than 100 fighters were killed there in attacks against Ukrainian nationalist units, said ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov. Up to 20 US citizens were also killed. Ukraine had founded an international legion for foreign soldiers.
Moscow also accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate the mayor of the port city of Mariupol, which was occupied by Russia. Mayor Konstantin Ivashchenko, appointed by pro-Russian separatists, was driving past Mariupol Zoo when an explosion shook his car, RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing a police official. However, he remained unharmed.
The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed that Ukraine had poisoned several Russian soldiers in the occupied territory of Zaporizhia. The poison botulinum toxin type B was found in them. The Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior, on the other hand, names spoiled canned meat, in which this poison often occurs, as a possible cause of poisoning. According to a ministry adviser, there have been numerous complaints among Russian soldiers about past canned meat.
Guterres visits Grain Control Center in Istanbul
Despite the hostilities in Ukraine, the agreement negotiated at the end of July on the export of Ukrainian grain has so far held. UN Secretary-General António Guterres the control center set up for the agreement in Istanbul. There he praised the work surrounding the opening of the secured corridor for grain. But exporting Ukrainian grain is only part of the solution. According to Guterres, Russian food and fertilizers must also be given unhindered access to global markets. “Without fertilizer in 2022, there may not be enough food in 2023.” He called for an end to “obstacles” to the export of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers.
Kremlin accuses EU countries of “Nazi policies”.
Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called the proposals for an EU-wide ban on Russians entering the EU “Nazi policy”. The proposal was a “Russophobic idea from the highest European tribunes,” he said. More and more countries are single-handedly restricting or suspending the issuing of Schengen visas to Russians. These include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic. Finland wants to follow from September, Poland is considering a similar arrangement.
Kyiv holds “military parade” with Russian tanks
In preparation for its Independence Day on August 24, Ukraine is preparing a A special kind of parade before. Destroyed and captured military vehicles of the Russian troops were lined up in downtown Kiev. Videos on social media show numerous passers-by inspecting the spoils of war and taking selfies with them.
Scholz pays tribute to Navalny on the anniversary of the poison attack
Far away from Ukraine in the Russian penal colony 6 in Melekhovo, about 260 kilometers north-east of Moscow, the imprisoned anti-Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny celebrated the second anniversary of the poisoning of him as a birthday. “For the second time I’m celebrating my second birthday. The day they killed me, but I didn’t die for whatever reason,” wrote the 46-year-old in a greeting from the prison camp published on Instagram. Chancellor Olaf Scholz recalled the fate of the prominent Russian opposition figure. According to Scholz, the Russian war against Ukraine also has consequences for Russia. “Freedom and democracy were threatened before. But now freedom of expression is even more threatened and many are afraid to speak their mind.”
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