A drone strike in Crimea has reportedly hit the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. in Russia’s army, sticking to ceremonial events like the tank biathlon has drawn criticism. You can find all the latest news about the war in Ukraine here in the ticker.
10.50 a.m .: According to British military experts, there is criticism within the Russian armed forces that military competitions and ceremonies are being held despite the war in Ukraine. “A significant segment of Russian military and security experts likely believe that it is inappropriate to continue dedicating forces to ceremonial military events while Russian troops are suffering heavy casualties in Ukraine,” the Defense Ministry’s daily intelligence update said in London on Sunday.
The British experts quoted a minister from the breakaway pro-Russian Donetsk People’s Republic as complaining about the holding of competitions such as the tank biathlon, a driving and shooting competition between tank crews and festivals by military bands regular intelligence information on its history. Moscow accuses London of a targeted disinformation campaign.
Sunday, August 21, 08:30: Ukrainian forces are said to have destroyed a Russian command post in the Kherson region. The armed forces’ Southern Operational Command Group said its artillery also destroyed two ammunition depots in the region in the past 24 hours, allegedly killing 75 Russian soldiers. The information is not currently independently verified.
4:57 p.m .: According to information from Kyiv, Russia has also fired on civilians and non-military infrastructure in new rocket and artillery attacks in Ukraine. In the Donetsk region, 7 civilians were killed and another 13 injured within 24 hours, the general staff in Kyiv said on Saturday. “The area has no gas, partly no water and no electricity. The evacuation of the population is continuing.” In many places, the Russian attacks were successfully repelled, it said. The Ukrainian air force also attacked enemy positions.
The information could not initially be verified by an independent party. In the city of Oleksandrivka nine people were injured in a five-storey house by Russian shelling on Saturday, including children, said the governor of the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv Vitaly Kim. The General Staff also reported that the Mykolaiv region had been heavily shelled with rockets. The situation also remained difficult in the southern Ukrainian region of Cherson, which is almost entirely controlled by Russian troops.
In its situation report, Russia confirmed that the attacks against Ukraine would continue. In the Kharkiv region, more than 100 fighters were “destroyed” in attacks against Ukrainian nationalist units, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow. Up to 20 US citizens were also killed. This information could not be verified by an independent party. Kyiv had founded an international legion for foreign soldiers.
1:04 p.m .: According to British intelligence experts, the Russian invasion troops in Ukraine have come under pressure from the increased number of explosions behind their own lines in the south of the country. This emerges from the daily intelligence update on the Ukraine war from the Ministry of Defense in London.
While neither side has made front-line advances in the Kherson region, British experts say the “increasing frequency of explosions behind Russian lines are putting pressure on Russian logistics and air bases in the south.”
Overall, there have been only minimal changes to the front lines in the past week. That is unlikely to change in the coming week. According to London, who will take the military initiative in the coming weeks will depend on who manages to produce “convincing, determined forces for offensive operations”.
Saturday, August 20, 12:05 p.m .: The headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol was hit in a drone attack on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia. The fleet’s anti-aircraft defenses hit the drone, said the city’s chief administrator, Mikhail Rasvozhayev. “She fell on the roof and burned.” There are no victims
According to the US analyst Oliver Alexander, it is said to have been a commercial drone that can be bought online via the “Alibaba” trading site for 9,500 euros. The refinery in Belogrod was hit with this drone in June.
Rasvozhayev published a picture of the destroyed roof. Videos on social media show a column of smoke over the city and explosions in the night. Rasvozhayev blamed Ukraine for the attack. Most recently, there were also heavy explosions at a military base and in an ammunition depot. Ukraine received this with satisfaction and announced that it expected further explosions. Crimea is not a safe place, the Ukrainian leadership said.
Three weeks ago, the headquarters of Putin’s fleet was hit by a drone attack, injuring five people.
Just the day before, the US think tank Institute for the Study of War reported that the Russian occupiers were visibly tightening security measures in Crimea.
12.33 p.m .: According to their own statements, pro-Russian separatists together with Russian troops have occupied other towns in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. The settlements of Saytseve and Dacha north of the town of Horliwka had been conquered, the separatists announced on Telegram on Friday. So far, a total of 270 settlements in Donetsk have been brought under Russian control, it said. This was initially not independently verifiable.
The Ukrainian general staff last commented on Zaitseve on Wednesday, emphasizing that all Russian attempts to attack there had been “choked off”. The American Institute for the Study of War reported this morning that the Russian troops have not been able to record any significant gains in territory since July 6th.
11:04 a.m .: According to British military experts, Russian attacks on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and its surroundings are aimed at tying down the defenders’ forces and preventing them from counterattacking. That emerges from the daily intelligence update of the Ministry of Defense in London on Friday.
At least 12 civilians were killed in a rocket attack on Kharkiv on Wednesday, the statement said. Due to its proximity to the front, the metropolis is within range of many Russian weapon systems. “Multiple rocket launchers and generally inaccurate weapons have wreaked havoc across much of the city,” the British experts said.
Friday, August 19, 10:08 a.m.: According to the Ukrainian general staff, 400 Russian soldiers have died in the war within 24 hours. The number of Russians killed since the start of the Ukraine war has risen to 44,700. In addition to ten tanks and five anti-aircraft systems, Ukrainian forces are said to have destroyed a further 16 Russian armored personnel carriers in one day.
8:59 p.m .: The Russian air defense fired on unnamed objects over the city of Kerch in Crimea on Thursday evening. This was announced by an advisor to the leadership of the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 after initial assessments. “There is no danger to the city and the bridge,” adviser Oleg Kryuchkov wrote on Telegram. Kerch residents reported on social networks that they heard two explosions.
The 18-kilometer bridge between Crimea and the Russian mainland begins in the port city. Ukraine regards the structure, which opened in 2018, as a legitimate military target. Russia has threatened massive retaliation if the rail and road bridge is attacked.
8:43 p.m .: A Russian ammunition depot in the Belgorod area close to the border with Ukraine went up in flames on Thursday, according to local authorities. No one was injured, Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram. According to the information, the depot was near the village of Timonowo, about 4.5 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. The residents of the villages of Timonowo and Soloti were brought to safety. “The cause of the fire is being sought,” wrote Gladkow.
A thick column of black smoke was seen again on Thursday over the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. Unverified videos of it could be seen on the internet. According to the Ria Novosti agency, Crimea’s civil protection agency said that only an area of dry grass burned near Mezhvodnoye in the west. Heavy explosions have occurred several times in Russian military installations on the peninsula in recent days. The cause was unclear but suggested Ukrainian attacks.
12:04 p.m .: According to official information, at least eleven people were killed in massive Russian rocket attacks on the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine on Thursday night. The Ukrainian military governor, Oleh Synyehubov, told the Telegram news service that these were exclusively civilians. Another 35 people were injured. There were also attacks in the city of Krasnohrad, around 80 kilometers to the south-west. According to the authorities, two people were killed and two others injured. The information could not initially be verified independently.
According to the authorities, at least three civilians were killed and another six injured in towns in the neighboring region of Donetsk, which are under Ukraine’s control. The pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk region also report deaths and injuries from rocket attacks on an almost daily basis. The Russian war of aggression on the neighboring country has now lasted almost half a year. The United Nations has registered more than 5,500 civilian deaths, but assumes the number of victims to be far higher.
11:05 a.m .: The Russian military leadership is becoming increasingly nervous after the attacks on the Crimean military bases. As the “Institute for the Study of War” reports, the commander of the all-important Russian Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Igor Osipov, has now been fired. His successor is Viktor Sokolov, Vice-Admiral.
Osipov has led the fleet since 2019. The change in leadership is interpreted as a clear indication that the Russians are losing confidence in their own troops in view of the repeated successful Ukrainian attacks.
10:53 a.m .: According to British secret services, Russia has problems protecting its battle tanks in the war of aggression against Ukraine. The severe damage to many Russian vehicles in Ukraine is very likely related to the fact that the tanks are not well enough protected with so-called reactive armor, according to a statement by the Ministry of Defense in London on Thursday. According to the information, such protective covers can protect tanks from damage in the event of a fire.
The secret services therefore assume that many Russian troops are not sufficiently trained in handling such protective covers. That’s why they aren’t attached to the tanks at all – or at least not in such a way that they could deter explosive projectiles. Since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine at the end of February, the British government has regularly released intelligence information about its progress. Moscow accuses London of a targeted disinformation campaign.
You can read more reports on the Ukraine conflict on the following pages
