The Ukrainian attacks on Crimea appear to be having an effect. Western intelligence services have “a long body of evidence” that the Russian army is running out of ammunition. Ukraine offers gas pipelines as a Nord Stream replacement. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war here in the ticker.
Saturday, August 20, 7:35 a.m.: Due to the upcoming short supply stop for Russian gas through the Baltic Sea, Ukraine is offering its pipelines as a replacement. “The capacities of the Ukrainian gas transmission system and the route through Poland are more than sufficient to ensure the fulfillment of the delivery obligations of Russian gas to European countries.” This was announced by the operator of the Ukrainian gas pipeline network in Kyiv on Friday evening.
The alternative route is “in view of chronic interruptions to the work of Nord Stream 1”. The Russian gas giant Gazprom announced on Friday that it would stop the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline for maintenance work from August 31 to September 2. In any case, only 20 percent of the pipeline’s capacity is currently being used.
Russia ignores this alternative delivery option, the Ukrainian operator said. There are no objective reasons for limiting gas supplies to the EU. Gazprom is trying to put pressure on European countries to stop supporting Ukraine. Despite the Russian war of aggression, some countries, especially in south-eastern Europe, continue to receive their gas in transit through Ukraine.
5:10 p.m .: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French colleague Emmanuel Macron have spoken out in favor of an inspection of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine by international experts. In a telephone call, the two heads of state confirmed that representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should assess the situation on site, the Kremlin said on Friday.
Russia assured the “necessary assistance”, it said. The Élysée Palace also said that Macron had “underlined his concern about the risks that the situation at the Zaporizhia power plant poses for nuclear safety and security”.
For days, the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have been blaming each other for the shelling of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Russia also rejects international demands to withdraw its own troops from the nuclear power plant site, which they have seized in the course of the war against Ukraine that has been going on for around six months. With a view to a visit by international nuclear experts, there had recently been disagreements about the travel arrangements.
According to the Kremlin, Putin and Macron also spoke about the planned reconnaissance mission to Olenivka in the part of eastern Ukraine occupied by Russia, where around 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in a camp at the end of July. Here, too, Moscow emphasized that it was willing to cooperate. However, the United Nations recently said that the necessary assurances that would guarantee safe access still had to be worked on. Moscow and Kyiv also blame each other for the attack on Olenivka.
3:42 p.m .: In the past few days there have been increasing Ukrainian attacks on Crimea. In a press briefing, Western secret services have now shown how concerned the Russian army is with these attacks.
US journalist Emma Burrows reported on the briefing on Twitter. A secret service official explained there that more than half of the Russian air force stationed on the Black Sea was paralyzed by the attack on an airfield near Saky. “The Russian system is busy finding someone to blame for the debacle.”
Another problem for Putin’s soldiers: “The Russian army is slowly running out of ammunition,” Burrows quoted the intelligence official as saying. There is a “long series of evidence for this.” According to the secret service, these shortcomings will sooner or later limit Russian attack options.
The war in Ukraine is now in a “different phase. The conflict is not at a peak with sustained shelling,” it said. This is mainly because both sides are aware that the war is “a marathon, not a sprint,” Burrow continues.
10:17 a.m .: According to a report by “Welt”, the federal government has been blocking requests from Ukraine for further arms deliveries for months. These have been brought up repeatedly by Ukrainian diplomats in the Federal Ministry of Defense over the past ten weeks, it said on Friday. There, as well as in Olaf Scholz’s (SPD) chancellery, the inquiries were apparently put on hold.
According to the report, there have been high-level meetings in the Ministry of Defense several times a month since June, in which Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) also took part. The Ukrainian side has always asked for more deliveries of those types of weapons that Germany has already provided, namely the self-propelled howitzer 2000 and the Mars II multiple rocket launcher. So far, Germany has delivered ten self-propelled howitzers and three of the rocket launchers.
The Ukrainian side also pushed for approval of the export of battle tanks and armored personnel carriers requested by the industry. In April, Ukraine had already received offers from the armaments group Rheinmetall to buy 100 Marder infantry fighting vehicles and 88 Leopard 1 main battle tanks, including training and ammunition, for a total of 268 million euros. According to the manufacturer, the device would be “quickly available”, but there was no reaction from the Chancellery.
Last week, the Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov also raised the concerns in a personal phone call with Lambrecht, according to “Welt”. The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, had previously done so in a telephone conversation with the foreign policy adviser to the chancellor, Jens Plötner. “Our requests were always taken down and written down,” according to Ukrainian government circles, “but that has had no effect so far”.
According to “Welt”, the Ministry of Defense said on request that the Ministry was “in contact with the Ukrainian side on many levels”. The aim is “the best possible support for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian aggressor”. However, no further details could be given.
In the West, Putin’s participation in the summit is considered problematic, especially since Volodymyr Zelenskyj, the president of Ukraine attacked by Russia, is also invited. Because of the war of aggression against the neighboring country, Russia is to be politically isolated. Several states have questioned their participation should Putin appear in person.
Tensions between the USA and China had recently increased again due to the visit of the Chairperson of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan.
10:35 p.m .: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj sees no security problems for a trip by international experts to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant occupied by Russian troops. He spoke about this in Lviv (Lemberg) with UN Secretary General António Guterres, reported Zelenskyj on Thursday evening in his usual video speech. He sees no “objective obstacles” for the specialists at 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”. “And that’s the only way,” said Zelenskyj. Anyone who, like Russia, organizes nuclear blackmail cannot be the organizer of the trip.
Russian troops must evacuate Europe’s largest nuclear power plant immediately and unconditionally, Zelenskyj demanded again. “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.”
Russian troops have occupied the nuclear power plant with six reactors since the beginning of March. The plant has been repeatedly shelled in recent days, for which the Russians and Ukrainians blame each other.
2:52 p.m .: The Austrian Armed Forces Colonel Markus Reisner has criticized the western arms deliveries as insufficient. In an article for the Bundesheer, Reisner writes: “The western arms deliveries that have arrived so far mean that the Ukrainian armed forces have too much to die and too little to live on.”
Using the example of the Himars rocket launcher, he explains: “If the 16 multiple rocket launchers of the Himars type that have been delivered from the USA so far have achieved understandable success, the question arises: Why isn’t the USA delivering more?”
Reisner’s prognosis: “If the West does not deliver increased quantities of state-of-the-art weapons (including artillery and multiple rocket launchers, but also long-range anti-aircraft defense systems) to Ukraine in the coming weeks, Ukraine will not be able to win this conflict.”
2:22 p.m .: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met for talks in Ukraine. The two met in the Potocki Palace in Lviv, Turkey’s state news channel Anadolu reported on Thursday. A three-way meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres was planned for the afternoon.
For the United Nations and Turkey, the meeting is about an attempt to explore a negotiated solution almost six months after the Russian attack on Ukraine. In addition, the situation in the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian troops, and the possibilities of an international expert mission. Selenskyj demanded a deduction again on Wednesday evening
1:48 p.m .: Russia is apparently sending fighter jets to Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. This was announced by the Russian Ministry of Defense. Accordingly, three MiG-31E fighter jets with hypersonic missiles would be transferred to the Kaliningrad region. The jets should be in use around the clock, it is said.
Kaliningrad is located on the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Poland. EU member Lithuania had restricted freight traffic between Russia and the exclave since mid-June. Goods that fall under the EU sanctions against Russia could no longer be brought by rail from Russia to Kaliningrad via Lithuania.
1:45 p.m .: Two Russian fighter jets have apparently violated Finnish airspace. According to the Finnish Ministry of Defense, the two MIG-31s approached at least the coastal town of Porvoo, which is less than 150 kilometers from Russia. The border guard will now investigate the incident.
10.40 a.m .: According to human rights activists in Russian prisons, volunteers are being specifically sought for Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The Russian civil rights activist Olga Romanowa, who lives in Berlin, reported on Facebook that suspects and accused were also recruited with the promise that in return the criminal proceedings would be dropped. There are examples from detention centers in the Moscow region. “But I think it started everywhere,” wrote Romanova, who is considered a respected expert on prisoner’s rights in Russia.
There is no general mobilization in Russia for the war in Ukraine, which has been going on for almost half a year. That is why the army and President Vladimir Putin depend on volunteers. A sign of a shortage of personnel at the front is that the authorities in many regions have started using street advertising to promote a mission in Ukraine. Cities and regions set up their own battalions.
Since almost all charges in Russia end in a guilty verdict, suspects and accused should now be given a choice: war or prison. The founder of the Gulaga.net project created to combat violence in Russian prisons, Vladimir Osechkin, while in exile in France, confirmed prison recruitment practices. There is also information from St. Petersburg, Ryazan, Tver and Bryansk.
According to the internet portal Meduza, there were already reports in the Russian media at the beginning of July about the search for volunteers in numerous prison camps in the huge empire. Accordingly, the private mercenary organization “Wagner” is said to have recruited criminals there for use in the war. The Internet portal Mediazona reported that the businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin wanted by the USA, who is considered a “Wagner” financier with the best contacts to Putin, is said to have recruited volunteers in prison camps himself. In return, they were promised a monthly wage of 100,000 rubles (1,600 euros), bonuses, payments to families in the event of death and an amnesty.
5:16 a.m .: UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Lviv on Thursday. For the United Nations and Turkey, it is an attempt to explore a negotiated solution almost six months after the Russian attack on Ukraine. In addition, the situation in the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian troops, and the possibilities of an international expert mission. On Wednesday evening, Zelenskyy again called for Russian soldiers to be withdrawn from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
In the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov, Russian rockets repeatedly fell at night and, according to preliminary information, killed seven people. In fierce fighting in the Donbass, the Ukrainian army said it was able to fend off several attacks. However, the enemy had gained ground in two places near the city of Donetsk. Thursday is the 176th day of Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion. Exactly on the Ukrainian national holiday next week, August 24, the war lasted half a year.
Thursday, August 18, 1:57 a.m .: Estonia has tightened its visa regulations for people from Russia and restricted their entry. As of this Thursday, Russian citizens are no longer allowed to enter the Baltic EU and NATO country with a Schengen visa issued by Estonia. According to a spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Tallinn, additional visa checks are to take place at the three border crossings to Russia in Narva, Luhamaa and Koidula.
In response to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, Estonia had already largely suspended issuing visas and residence permits to Russians. With a valid visa, however, it was still possible to enter the Schengen area via the Estonian border by bus or car. This is no longer possible in the future. However, certain exceptions apply, for example, to Russians residing, having the right to stay or having relatives in Estonia.
Russian citizens with visas issued by other EU members are also allowed to enter the country, which applies to the entire Schengen area with its 26 European countries. Together with its neighboring countries Finland and Latvia, which also border Russia, Estonia is therefore campaigning for a fundamental ban on tourist visas. Germany and the EU Commission in Brussels reject this.
According to the Estonian border and police authorities, around 2,500 Russian citizens crossed the border to Estonia every day – almost half of them with a tourist visa. These were issued to about the same extent by Estonia and other Schengen states, said a spokesman for the German Press Agency in Tallinn.
7:42 p.m.: China will send troops to Russia at the end of August. This was announced by the Chinese Defense Ministry on Wednesday. It is said to be participation in the “Vostok” (east) military exercises from August 30 to September 5, which Russia announced last month. India, Belarus, Mongolia and Tajikistan, among others, are also expected to take part. This is reported by the Reuters news agency.
China’s participation in the joint exercises is “unrelated to the current international and regional situation,” the ministry said. It is part of an ongoing bilateral annual cooperation agreement with Russia. “The goal is to deepen practical and friendly cooperation with the armies of the participating countries, raise the level of strategic cooperation between the participating parties, and strengthen the ability to respond to various security threats,” the ministry said. China last participated in such exercises in Russia in 2018.
5:18 p.m .: Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has revealed that the country’s counter-offensive is intended to create “chaos in the Russian armed forces”. Speaking to the British newspaper The Guardian, Podolykak announced further attacks on occupied territories in the “next two or three months”. These are similar to the attacks on Russian bases in Crimea on Tuesday and last week.
He also said that Ukraine regards the Crimean Bridge, which connects the occupied peninsula with mainland Russia, as a legitimate military target. “It is an illegal construction and the main supply gate for the Russian army in Crimea. Such objects should be destroyed,” said Podolyjak. “Our strategy is to destroy logistics, supply lines and ammunition depots and other objects of military infrastructure. We are creating chaos within our own armed forces,” Podolyak said in front of the Kiev presidential office.
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