The Ukrainian attacks on Russian bases in Crimea are apparently having an effect: The news ticker on Friday, August 19.
- Russia warns US: Attacks on Crimea fuel escalation.
- Kharkiv under fire: Russian attacks to bind forces
- Drones shot down over Crimea: Russian anti-aircraft defenses in action
- Editor’s note: All news about Ukraine conflict read in this news ticker. The information comes partly from warring parties in the Ukraine war and cannot be directly verified independently.
+++ 6.05 p.m.: Russia currently seems to be in trouble in the Ukraine war. Former CNN journalist Emma Burrows reports on Twitter from a press briefing by Western intelligence agencies. An employee informed that more than half of the Russian Air Force stationed on the Black Sea was rendered useless by the attack on a Crimean airfield near the town of Saky. In addition, there is another problem for Vladimir Putin’s armed forces: “The Russian army is slowly running out of ammunition,” Burrows quoted the secret service spokesman as saying. There is a “long body of evidence for this.”
The Ukraine war is now in a “different phase”. The conflict is almost at a standstill. According to Burrows, the intelligence official went on to say that the Ukrainian attacks behind Russian lines had a “significant psychological effect on the Russian leadership”.
News on the Ukraine war: Russia warns US and NATO of “escalation”
+++ 3.45 p.m.: As the Editorial Network Germany (Rnd) reports, he warned Kremlin warned NATO countries in a televised speech ahead of attacks on Crimea. Moscow had therefore clearly warned of a possible escalation on the peninsula. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Rjabkow emphasized that they wanted the United States and their allies not as a party to the conflict, but added that the Nato currently promoting this development.
News in the Ukraine war: After setbacks, Russia wants to strengthen the Black Sea fleet
+++ 2.15 p.m.: After the recent setbacks, Russia wants to strengthen its Black Sea fleet. It will receive twelve new ships and additional aircraft and land vehicles in 2022, announced commander Viktor Sokolow, according to the state news agency mug on. Recently, several explosions in military facilities in Crimea, where the fleet is stationed, caused a stir. It is said that aircraft in the fleet were also destroyed.
News on the Ukraine war: Kyiv holds negotiations for Russian roulette
+++ 1 p.m.: Ukraine remains extremely skeptical about negotiations with Russia. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak has now reiterated that he considers negotiations with Putin to be a dangerous game that will not lead to the end of the war. “Negotiations with Russia are like a game of ‘Russian roulette’ with a full chamber and a fatal outcome for everyone. continuation of war, terror and criminal extortion”, wrote Podoliak on Twitter. President Zelenskyy has already mentioned the most important conditions: negotiations will only be possible once Russia has vacated all illegally occupied areas in Ukraine.
+++ 11.30 a.m.: Russian troops are apparently trying to storm the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. This was announced by Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai. Russian armed forces use aviation and artillery against civilian and military areas. Hostilities are reportedly still ongoing.
Ukraine war news: Kharkiv under fire
+++ 9.30 a.m.: Russian forces shelled the city of Kharkiv again in the morning. This was announced by Mayor Ihor Terekhov in the Messenger service Telegram. According to him, the attack on three districts of the second largest Ukrainian city began at 05:44. A home was damaged and one person injured.
According to British intelligence, Kharkiv has been the country’s most shelled country since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces are “probably trying to force Ukraine to keep significant forces on this front to prevent them from being used as a counterattack force elsewhere.”
Update from Friday, August 19, 9:20 a.m.: The Ukraine war is going differently than expected for Russia. Now it even seems that the Russian advance has been halted. In any case, the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that Russian troops had not made any territorial gains in Ukraine for the first time since July 6.
Ukraine War News: Drones shot down over Crimea
First report from Friday, August 19: Kyiv – It is the 177th day of the Ukraine war. On the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia, Russian anti-aircraft defenses shot down drones in two strategically important locations. Local governor Mikhail Rasvozhayev said that on August 18 there was a defense operation at Crimea’s largest military airfield, Belbek near Sevastopol. Explosions and anti-aircraft defenses were also said to have been heard over the city of Kerch. A drone was also allegedly shot down there. At Kerch, the strategically important road and railway bridge connects the Crimea with the Russian mainland.
The Ukrainian army has the right to destroy Russian military facilities in Crimea, said Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podoliak on television. The Kiev leadership has not officially claimed responsibility for the growing number of explosions and incidents in Crimea. At the same time it is clear that the Ukraine puts pressure on the Russian army on the hitherto untouchable peninsula, which serves as a military deployment area.
News about the Ukraine war: Zelenskyj appeals in Lemberg
In the Russian region of Belgorod, an ammunition depot caught fire near the border with Ukraine. The incidents, far behind the actual frontline, came just hours after a summit meeting between Ukraine, the United Nations and Turkey in Lviv. There, possible negotiations about an end to the war were discussed. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated that negotiations would not be possible until Russia had evacuated all illegally occupied areas in Ukraine.
This includes the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia. The Russian troops must evacuate the nuclear power plant immediately and unconditionally, Zelenskyj demanded. “The world has the power to enforce this.” Otherwise one could forget all international legal acts on nuclear and radiation safety. “Russia is destroying this international order.” Zelenskyj also sees no “objective obstacles” for the specialists of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to get to the power plant. The journey will lead “very quickly and safely on the legal route through the free territory of our state to the station”.
News about the Ukraine war: is there a threat of an attack on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant?
Both the Russian Defense Ministry and the Ukrainian military intelligence service issued ominous warnings that the other side was planning acts of sabotage at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant on Friday. According to reports from Kyiv, the Russian occupiers have announced an unexpected day off for Friday. Only the operating team should remain in the nuclear power plant, everyone else was forbidden to enter.
A verified video is circulating on the Internet that allegedly shows Russian military trucks in a hall next to a reactor. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe has repeatedly become the target of rocket fire in recent days, for which Russia and Ukraine blame each other. (aa/dpa)