After the imminent retirement of Soviet combat aircraft by the Slovakian Air Force, the Czech Republic and Poland will initially secure Slovakia’s airspace. The defense ministers of the three countries signed a corresponding agreement. It will come into effect on September 1, when the country will phase out its Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets. The ministry previously said the MiG planes will be phased out as their maintenance is very costly and Russian maintenance technicians are leaving the country. In mid-August, Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad denied reports that Slovakian MiG-29s had already been handed over to Ukraine.
+++ 02:26 Melnyk invites Kretschmer out again +++
The outgoing Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, is withdrawing an invitation from the CDU politician to his homeland because of statements made by Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer about the Ukraine war. “With your absurd rhetoric about freezing the war, you are playing into Putin’s hands and fueling Russia’s aggression,” Melnyk wrote on Twitter early on Sunday. Therefore, his invitation to Kretschmer to visit Ukraine was “cancelled”. “They are undesirable. Period,” added the ambassador. Melnyk was reacting to statements by the Saxon head of government in the ZDF program “Markus Lanz” on Wednesday. In it, Kretschmer said it was important “to stand up for the fact that this war has to be frozen, that we need a ceasefire, that we need negotiations to end this war”.
+++ 01:11 Baerbock: Help Ukraine as long as it is necessary +++
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock assures Ukraine of years of support in the war against Russia if necessary. “Unfortunately, we have to assume that Ukraine will still need new heavy weapons from its friends next summer,” said Baerbock of “Bild am Sonntag”. “Ukraine also defends our freedom, our peace order. And we support them financially and militarily – for as long as it is necessary. Period.”
+++ 00:25 Zelenskyj: Ukrainian fighter pilots first class +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has highlighted the role of his country’s air force in the war against Russia. “Russia had hoped to destroy our air force in the first hours of the great invasion. And of course that was a completely crazy target for the enemy – like many other targets,” Zelenskyy said in his evening video message. The pilots are first class and are also praised for their skills by other countries.
+++ 23:50 Moscow announces evidence of Ukrainian shelling of nuclear power plant +++
In the dispute over detonations around the largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, the Russian leadership has announced that it intends to submit proof of Ukraine’s responsibility to the United Nations. The Russian news agency Ria Novosti published a graphic on Telegram that is supposed to show the impact of Ukrainian projectiles. Accordingly, the projectiles struck in the immediate vicinity of nuclear reactors 1, 2 and 6. On Saturday, the Ukrainian armed forces are said to have fired on the plant again, according to Russian sources. The Ukrainian leadership denies this and, like Western allies, warns that the Russian leadership could launch an attack on the nuclear power plant itself, and then blame Ukraine for it.
+++ 21:59 Notes: Russia moves new army corps to Ukraine front +++
According to a report by the Conflict Intelligence Group, which it claims is run by Russian citizens, Russia is bringing its newly formed 3rd Army Corps to the front. The group relies on pictures taken by Russian citizens of troop transports across the country and posted on the Internet. According to this, the analysts see many indications from the markings on the military equipment that it is material from the 3rd Army Corps from the Nizhny Novgorod region. The corps will be transferred in its entirety. The device has been brought to the front by rail since August 22nd or 23rd. The analysts identified the contested regions of Donetsk and Zaporizhia as targets.
+++ 21:20 Russian company wants to convert shopping centers into drone factories +++
The Russian company Zala Aero has allegedly offered to convert shopping malls that have been closed due to sanctions for the production of unmanned aerial vehicles for the army. This is reported by the agency RBK-Ukraine, citing the Russian daily newspaper “Vedomosti”. Alexander Sakharov, chief designer of the Kalashnikov subsidiary Zala Aero, said at an event: “There is a way to quickly and repeatedly increase the production of drones. We have developed a concept for shopping centers where before the war mainly Western brands were sold were sold into factories that assembly-line manufacture three types of domestic drones.” Zala Aero reportedly introduced the Lancet series drones used by Russia in the war against Ukraine.
+++ 20:51 British expect long-lasting cyber threat from Russia +++
The UK’s National Center for Cyber Security (NCSC) has prepared companies and organizations for an extended period of “elevated threats” due to the war in Ukraine. The NCSC published information on how companies and their employees can take security measures. Great Britain, as one of Ukraine’s most important arms suppliers, is a particular focus of Russian criticism of Western support for Ukraine.
+++ 19:57 UN organization has assembled team for inspection of contested nuclear power plant +++
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has assembled its team to visit the contested nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia. As the New York Times reports, the mission is to be led by IAEA Director Rafael Mariano Grossi from Argentina. 13 other experts appointed by the UN organization came mainly from neutral countries, none from the USA or Great Britain, Ukraine’s most important arms suppliers. The team could arrive in Zaporizhia next week.
+++ 19:10 Ukraine could receive fighter jets Mig-29 from Slovakia +++
Slovakia has agreed to hand over its Mig-29 fighter jets, which are also used by the Ukrainian Air Force, to Ukraine. According to Defense Minister Jaroslav Nagy, the government in Bratislava is ready to phase out its own models. On Saturday, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic signed an agreement under which the two neighboring countries will help protect Slovakia’s airspace if Slovakia is without a Mig-29 and a successor model is still a long way off. The country had already ordered 14 F-16 jets from the US in 2018, to be delivered by 2024. There are different figures for the number of Slovakian Mig-29s, between 10 and 12 machines.
+++ 18:37 No weapons for anyone: Kremlin ally orders export ban +++
Russia’s ally Kazakhstan has announced a temporary halt to all arms exports. The government announced that Kazakhstan would not ship any armaments abroad for a year without giving a reason for this step. She also does not comment on the extent of previous arms exports. The ex-Soviet republic bordering Russia produces numerous military goods such as armored vehicles, weapons and ammunition. Kazakhstan also has economic ties with Ukraine and has so far avoided taking sides in the conflict.
+++ 18:05 Secret service expects new referendums in occupied territories soon +++
According to the Ukrainian intelligence officer Vadym Skibitkskyi in conversation with the Ukrainian news agency RBK Russia could hold more orchestrated independence referendums in two occupied territories in the coming weeks. Specifically, it is about the regions of Cherson and Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine. The Russians do not exercise full control over either oblast, but are successfully pushing ahead with preparations for a referendum, according to Skibitkskyi. According to Skibitkskyi, whether and when the votes will actually take place depends largely on the course of the struggle in the region.
+++ 17:30 Around 10,000 buildings in Mykolayiv district destroyed +++
According to the regional military administration, 10,000 buildings have been destroyed by Russian attacks in the fiercely contested Mykolaiv Oblast. Among the buildings are 6466 single and multi-family houses, 331 educational institutions, 117 company buildings and 67 medical facilities, reports “Kyiv Independent”, citing the military administration. The Oblast west of Cherson on the Black Sea estuary of the Bug River has been at the center of the conflict for weeks and is a kind of bulwark to prevent the Russians from advancing towards Odessa.
+++ 16:43 Selenskyi: “Invaders will die like the dew under the sun” +++
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj demonstrated his certainty of victory with pithy words on the Ukrainian Aviation Day. “Ukrainian soldiers will gradually destroy the potential of the occupiers, and the day will come when the enemy will perish in Zaporizhia, in the south, in the east of the country and in Crimea,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram alongside photos of the Ukrainian Air Force. “The invaders will perish like the dew under the sun, and our defense is and will be that sun.”
+++ 16:05 Ukrainian army reports repelling Russian advances +++
According to the Ukrainian army, it has succeeded in repelling advances by Russian troops around Soledar, Zaitseve and Mayorsk in the Donetsk region. The British “Guardian” reports, citing the military command of Ukraine. Earlier in the day, British intelligence reported that Russia was trying to put pressure on Ukrainian forces in the east. This should slow down Ukraine’s offensives in the south of the country. In southern Ukraine, the armed forces claim to have destroyed an air defense system in the Cherson region. Two important bridges in the region remained unusable for Russian troops due to continued shelling.
Earlier developments surrounding the Ukraine war read here.