Did you miss the latest developments on the war in Ukraine? 20 minutes gives you an update every evening. Between strong statements, advances on the front and the results of the fighting, here is the essential information from this Tuesday, August 6, the 895th day of conflict.
The fact of the day
The Russian Defense Ministry has claimed the capture of a new village in eastern Ukraine, continuing its slow advance on the front against a less well-equipped and outnumbered opponent. Russian forces “liberated the village of Tymofiivka” […] during active operations,” the ministry said in its daily report. The location is in the Pokrovsk district of the city, which was targeted by the Russian military.
Meanwhile, Russia said it had repelled an attempted incursion by the Ukrainian army into the border region of Kursk, after several similar operations claimed in recent months by a group of pro-kyiv fighters.
The number of the day
5. Several loud explosions were heard overnight in central and eastern Kiev after an air raid alert was sounded. The explosions occurred shortly after 11pm (local time) and a luminous trajectory that appeared to come from an air defence missile strike was visible in the sky. An AFP journalist said he heard five loud explosions in the Pozniaky district in the east of the city.
Quote of the day
” Three months ago, it was calmer. Today, we have risks of explosive drones, it has become really dangerous. […] We listen to the drones buzzing, the artillery working, it lets us know how dangerous the situation is.” »
These are the words of Vitaliy Asinenko, 46, who works for DTEK, Ukraine’s main energy supplier, and is responsible for the power grid around Pokrovsk in the east. With Moscow continuing to strike Ukrainian infrastructure for months, causing frequent power cuts, Vitaliy and his team are now a “target”, just like the military.
Today’s trend
Russia has released for the first time videos of the arrests of American journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan, convicted of “espionage.” The two men were released from Russia on August 1 in the largest prisoner swap between Moscow and the West since the Cold War. The videos, the authenticity of which AFP has not been able to verify, were notably broadcast by the state channel RT. In one of them, the reporter from Wall Street JournalEvan Gershkovich, sitting in a restaurant in Yekaterinburg (Urals) next to an individual with whom he is talking.
In an audio exchange presented as accompanying this video, the American journalist asks his source, in Russian: “How can we do this in the best possible way?” His interlocutor assures us: “Everything you asked, I did. I have it with me.” Before adding: “The only thing I ask is: ‘Be careful because this is secret information’.” Evan Gershkovich then tries to reassure his interlocutor: “We will not even write that we have seen the documents. We will only indicate: ‘anonymous sources’, like that, we will not be suspected of collecting (information) and no one will be suspected of having given it.”
Our file on the war in Ukraine
Another video then shows a group of men rushing into the restaurant towards the American journalist. One of the FSB agents, whose face appears blurred, violently grabs the reporter by the neck. The American is handcuffed and laid face down on the ground, with an agent holding his knee on his back, before being forcibly taken outside.
Another video released by REN TV shows Paul Whelan’s arrest in late 2018. He is seen washing his hands in a bathroom and then an individual, seen from behind, gives him a small object that he puts in his pants pocket. REN TV claims that the object in question contained “secret information” about the organization of the Russian security services.