Almost six months after the start of the war in Ukraine, where his army performed less well than expected, the President Vladimir Putin praised this Monday August 15 the Russian armament. Its Minister of Defense spoke with the Secretary General of the UN about the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, targeted by shootings.
For its part, kyiv claimed to have carried out a strike on a base of the paramilitary group Wagner in eastern Ukraine and to have destroyed a bridge near the occupied city of Melitopol in the southeast.
In the east of the country, the Russia-backed separatist court in Donetsk has charged five foreign nationals captured in fighting with Ukrainian forces with being mercenaries, and announced that three of them face the death penalty, according to Russian media relayed by Reuters.
In addition, signs of division appeared in Oslo between the Nordic countries and Germany over a limitation of tourist visas issued to Russians.
Here’s what to remember on the 173rd day of the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin chief praises Russian weapons
In the midst of a military intervention in Ukraine where his troops suffered setbacks, President Vladimir Putin praised Russian-made weapons to his foreign allies on Monday, assuring that they had proven themselves on the battlefield.
“We are ready to offer our allies and partners the most modern types of weapons, from infantry weapons to armored vehicles, including artillery, combat aviation and drones”said the head of the Kremlin.
” Around the world, [ces armes] are appreciated by professionals for their reliability, quality and, above all, for their high efficiency. Almost all of them have been used time and time again in real combat conditions.he continued on the first day of an international arms fair organized for a week in Kubinka, in the Moscow region, where around 1,500 participants are expected.
Vladimir Putin assured that Russia had “many allies”referring in particular to Latin America, Asia and Africa. “These are states that do not give in to a so-called hegemony”he estimated.
Foreign military training in Russia also offers “great prospects”he said, also inviting Moscow’s allies to participate in joint military maneuvers with Russia.
Yet, so far, the war in Ukraine has not been a convincing showcase for the Russian arms industry. The Russian leader’s forces were repulsed in several places in Ukraine and made only slow progress, with heavy losses, in the east of the country.
Western military analysts believe that the “poor performance” Russian troops and weaponry in Ukraine could make arms exports from Moscow less attractive to potential buyers.
Despite these difficulties, the director of the Russian Federal Agency for Armaments Cooperation, Dmitry Shugaev, told the agency on Monday Ria Novosti that Russia had signed 16 billion dollars (15.7 billion euros) in new arms export contracts in 2022.
Between 2017 and 2021, Russia was the second largest arms exporter, with 19% of the world market, according to the Stockholm Institute (Sipri), figures that have been steadily declining in recent years, according to this source.
Negotiations between Russia and the UN to secure the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
Russia and the UN spoke on Monday by telephone about better securing the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, targeted by bombing and raising fears of a nuclear disaster.
“Sergei Shoigu conducted telephone negotiations with the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, regarding the conditions for the safe operation of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant”the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, was taken in early March by Russian troops, at the start of their large-scale offensive in Ukraine, launched on February 24.
Since the end of July, several strikes, of which the two parties accuse each other, have targeted the site, provoking an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council last Thursday.
kyiv accuses Moscow of using the plant as an attack base and as an equipment depot. Supported by its Western allies, Ukraine calls for the demilitarization of the area and the withdrawal of forces from Moscow.
Ukraine claims destruction of Wagner Group base
Ukraine said on Monday that it struck a base of the paramilitary group Wagner, whose men are accused of fighting alongside Russian troops, in the east of the country, and destroyed a bridge near the occupied town of Melitopol, in the South-East.
According to the governor of the Luhansk region, the base of the Wagner group in the city of Propasna was “destroyed by precision strike”. The shooting took place on Sunday, Serguiï Gaïdaï said on Telegram.
Very opaque, the Wagner group is reputed to be linked to Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigojine, himself considered close to Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian authorities also claimed that pro-kyiv saboteurs had managed to blow up a railway bridge near the town of Melitopol (Zaropijjia region, south), occupied by the Russian army, in a new effort to disrupt the logistics of troops from Moscow.
“One less railway bridge southwest of Melitopol means a complete absence of military trains from Crimea”peninsula annexed in 2014 by Russia and essential to the supplies of the Russian army, announced on Telegram the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov.
Ukraine has targeted several bridges in recent weeks, mainly in the occupied region of Kherson (in the south), where kyiv says it is carrying out a counter-offensive that has made it possible to retake dozens of villages and now threaten Russian troops who have crossed the Dnieper river .
Three dead in the Odessa region and bombardments on Kharkiv
In addition, three summer visitors were killed on Monday and two others injured by a “unknown explosive device”while bathing on a beach in Zatoka, a popular seaside resort in the Odessa region (south), a spokesman for the regional authorities, Serguiï Bratchouk, announced on Telegram.
In the morning, Russian bombardments on Kharkiv (northeast), the second city of the country, left at least one dead and six injured, said on Facebook a senior local police officer, Serguiï Bolvinov.
Five foreigners accused of being mercenaries by separatist court in Donetsk
A Russian-backed separatist court in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on Monday accused five foreign nationals captured in fighting with Ukrainian forces of being mercenaries, and said three of them were at risk. the death penalty, according to Russian media relayed by Reuters.
Britain’s John Harding, Croatia’s Vjekoslav Prebeg and Sweden’s Mathias Gustafsson, who were captured in and around the port city of Mariupol, face the death penalty under the laws of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, the report said. Russian news agency CASS.
Two other Britons, Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill, have also been charged but are not at risk of execution. All five defendants have pleaded not guilty, reports CASS. According to her, the judge said the trial would resume in early October.
Nordic countries and Germany divided over Russian tourist visas
The Nordic countries and Germany displayed signs of division in Oslo on Monday over a limitation on tourist visas issued to Russians in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
“Ordinary Russians did not start the war but, at the same time, we must understand that they support the war”Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said after a meeting between the heads of the Nordic and German governments.
“It’s not fair that Russian citizens can enter Europe, the Schengen area, be tourists […] while Russia is killing people in Ukraine”she said at a joint press conference.
The Finnish Foreign Ministry presented a plan in early August to limit tourist visas issued to Russians wishing to go to the country, and Helsinki would like a decision at European level.
Since the ban on flights from Russia to the EU, more and more Russian tourists are traveling to the Nordic country, which shares a long border with Russia, to transit to other European states.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has expressed his reservations about such a measure.
“It was an important decision on our part to impose sanctions against those responsible for the war […]he pointed out. We will continue to do so, but I think it’s not the Russian people’s war, it’s Putin’s war. »
According to him, a limitation of tourist visas would also penalize “all people fleeing Russia because they disagree with the Russian regime”.
Through the voice of its Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Sweden indicated that it had not adopted its position on this subject, while Denmark called for European unity to be maintained vis-à-vis Moscow.