Bob Homans August 17
20220817
Ukraine – 8/17 Sitrep
Compiled by: Robert Homans
Twitter: @rhomansjr
August 17, 2022
Starting today, and through the end of the week, I will be largely silent because I’m on deadline for a paying customer. I will be res-sending communications from my colleague in Kyiv, but I won’t be adding any commentary. I will include items of interest, including:
Tim Ash’s Latest Substack Blog
I agree with everything Tim says.
“A Question of Time” – Ukrainians Determined to Win Back the South
A very good summary of the current situation, from the “Guardian.” Luke Harding, the author, is a very experienced reporter covering the former Soviet Union. His book about the Litvinenko poisoning, entitled “A Very Expensive Poison,” is excellent.
The Latest Denys
Includes an excellent embedded video of the destruction of the Russian ammunition depot in eastern Crimea.
Times Radio
Interview with Maj. John Spencer, Modern War Inst. Attacks in Crimea part of Ukraine’s counterattack against Russian installations on the Right Bank of the Dnieper River.
Russian Invasion of Ukraine 12:00 noon August 16 to 12:00 noon August 17, 2022
Abbreviations:
RMA = Regional Military Administration
MLRS = Multiple Launch Rocket System
AFU = Armed Forces of Ukraine
I regret that I have not compiled News From Ukraine for the last two days as the exercise assists me in understanding the situation.
On the other hand the Russian commanders who retreated from Kherson two days ago in the company of elite Russian troops probably have no regrets to be missing in action.
INTERNATIONAL
August 17
10:28 : Russian company "Gazprom" warns Europeans that the price of gas in winter will reach an unprecedented level in history. The "reminder" is posted on the company’s telegram channel.
● "Let’s note that gas prices on the spot exchanges of Europe reached 2 thousand 500 dollars. According to conservative estimates, if the trend continues, prices will exceed the level of 4 thousand dollars for 1 thousand cubic meters in winter"09:17 US Secretary of State Antony: The United States will contribute $68 million to the World Food Program to buy Ukrainian wheat to address the world’s pressing food crisis
09:16 : The success of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the south today was noticed by two high-ranking commanders of the NATO countries - Major General Roman Polko in an interview with Super Express and Czech Brigadier General František Michanek in a comment for IDnes. Their assessment was joined by Major General Pekka Toveri, former head of Finnish intelligence.
● "In the south of Ukraine, Ukrainians launch counterstrike", - emphasized Roman Polko.
● “Attacks on Russian command, supplies, bridges and air defences began. Depriving the Russians of the ability to support combat operations in the Kherson direction, and on the other hand, isolating Putin’s troops from supplies and support, the Ukrainians have put them in a trap", analyzed Pekka Toveri.
● "Ukraine managed to destroy almost all bridges. Now, the Russians depend only on pontoon bridges, but they are stationary and can be attacked by long-range artillery or missile troops", - the Czech commander concluded, adding that this creates significant problems for the Russians.
00:31 :Türkiye has launched an operation in Syria. A military convoy entered Afrin.
● Prior to the operation, mosques in the Karkamish area of Gaziantep warned people to "stay at home."
00:22 zakon. kz: The government of Kazakhstan promised that schoolchildren would not study Russian in the first grade."
● Minister of Education of Kazakhstan Askhat Aimagambetov said that from now on, first-graders will study only the Kazakh language.
● "From the second grade, the study of the Russian language as a separate discipline will begin, and from the third grade, English will be studied for all schools," he said.
00:08 : *Uzbekistan overtook Russia in the number of cars produced in the second quarter of 2022 - 34,000 against 13,600 in the Russian Federation.
● According to the results of the first half of the year, Russia is still in the lead, but the gap has already narrowed significantly - 280,000 against 160,400 in Uzbekistan. This is stated in the message of the National Agency for Industrial Information (NAPI).
August 16
23:54 Le Monde - Polish Prime Minister: France and Germany run the EU as an ''oligarchy,''
● According to him, the two countries are ignoring "voices like Poland" that have long warned of Russian expansionism.
23:47 : Residents of the Turkish regions bordering Syria announced the start of a "military operation" against Kurdish paramilitaries on the adjacent side via loudspeaker
22:48 : Turkish President Erdogan plans to visit Ukraine on Thursday.
● He will arrive in Lviv, where he will meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyi and UN Secretary General António Guterres.
● During the meeting, steps will be discussed to diplomatically end the war, as well as ways to strengthen the activities of the established mechanism for the export of Ukrainian grain to world markets."
21:56 CNN - British Ministry of Defense: The UK has denied Russia's claims that a British reconnaissance aircraft allegedly violated the state border of the Russian Federation on Monday
● A Russian MiG-31 aircraft made a dangerous overflight of an RAF RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft during a planned operation in international airspace over the Norwegian and Barents Seas on Monday, August 15. The UK aircraft was in contact with the Russian civilian air traffic controller and its crew acted safely and professionally, a spokesman for the UK Department of Defense said.
21:43 Wall Street Journal: Germany plans to delay shutting down the country's last three nuclear power plants as the country braces for a likely energy shortage this winter amid Russian gas blackmail.
21:15 Financial Times: Several EU countries are concerned about the significant increase in Turkey's trade with Russia, in connection with which they requested information from Ankara about its relations with Moscow"
● EU members are increasingly concerned about Turkey's surge in trade with Russia and its potential to help Moscow as a substitute for European imports and exports. Some capitals have asked Ankara for information about its relationship with the Kremlin,"
19:48 Delfi : The ruling coalition of Latvia has reached an agreement on how to change the principles according to which Russian citizens in Latvia renew issued temporary residence permits,
● In the future, residence permits will not mainly be extended, except in rare cases, – Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins says.
19:43 Reuters : The first grain ship from Ukraine, which left the port on August 1 after reaching a food deal in Türkiye, arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus
● In recent days, the whereabouts of the bulk carrier was unknown because the Razoni's transponder was turned off.
17:06 : The Defense Minister of the partially recognized Republic of Kosovo, Armend Mehai, announces preparations for large-scale NATO exercises Defender Europe-23, which will be held in the region next year.
16:25 LRT radio - Defense Minister: Lithuania will launch 5 training courses for the Ukrainian military in August
● The Minister stresses that the training of specialists for the use of modern weapons increases their effectiveness, therefore, it plays a very important role in modern warfare and helps Ukraine to effectively defend itself against Russian aggression.
16:22 Ukrinform : Germany and Sweden are not against the use of their weapons to return the temporarily occupied Crimea.
● This was stated by the heads of government of Germany Olaf Scholz and Sweden Magdalena Andersson at a joint press conference in Stockholm.
● “We support Ukraine with the supplied weapons. This is a weapon so that Ukraine can use it to protect its territorial integrity and sovereignty", – Scholz says, answering the question whether the Armed Forces of Ukraine can use weapons provided by Germany and Sweden to return Crimea.
14:48 : The Government of Finland agreed on the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to reduce the number of tourist visas issued for Russians by 90% compared to the current level.
● This was announced by Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and noted that he hopes for a similar decision at the EU level.
14:46 : A high-ranking Ukrainian official told The New York Times that an "elite Ukrainian unit" operating behind enemy lines was behind the explosions at a military base in Mayske, Dzhankoy district. He did not disclose other details of the attack.
12:07 Company Report: The American company Microsoft discovered the hacking operation Seaborgium, which was created in Russia and was directed at people and organizations in NATO countries.
● According to Microsoft's statement, the attacks are aimed at hacking and publishing data to form an information picture in certain countries.
12:07 : In the Estonian city of Narve, the dismantling of the T-34 memorial tank has begun. The monument will be transferred to a museum by the decision of the Estonian government.
● The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Urmas Reinsalu, said that if any of the foreigners residing in Estonia on the basis of a residence permit participate in protests against the demolition of monuments, they risk losing their residence permit.
NATIONAL
August 17
11:38 The 28th Mechanized Brigade: Ukrainian soldiers shot down a Russian kamikaze drone and reconnaissance drone by small arms, which cost several million rubles.
11:37 Turkish Ministry of National Defense: Four more ships with Ukrainian food left the ports "Odesa" and "Chornomorsk" this morning. They’re transporting sunflower seeds and oil.
11:34 Minister of Agrarian Policy: Ukrainian farmers are losing millions of tons of crops in the temporarily occupied territories
● According to him, last year, the harvest totaled about 20 million tons of cereals and oilseeds in the territories that are temporarily occupied today.
● These regions traditionally had many winter wheat and barley, which they were among the first to collect in Ukraine in the summer. This means that the amount of abuse of the new crop is estimated at millions of tons. These are crimes of different nature, but in any case the act of stealing», - he remarked.
● As Mykola Solskyi notes, he is talking about robbery, fraud and coercion. Now a high-level business has been established by Russian security officials with the involvement of collaborators.
11:14 : The Security Service of Ukraine has completed the investigation and sent to the court the case against its former employee who defected to the so-called DNR and headed their "internal troops"
● According to the investigation, the accused is Vasylii Bovsunovskyi. He carried out reconnaissance and subversion activities and shelled ATO positions.
10:55 The Voice of America - Ukrainian Defense Minister: Ukraine has not lost a single HIMARS missile system during the full-scale war with Russia
● "I can say absolutely responsibly that we haven't lost a single HIMARS. Therefore, when you read in the Russian mass media or media or social networks that soldier Ivanov with a Kalashnikov broke into and saw a truck in which he destroyed 12 Himars with a Kalashnikov at the same time, you can just laugh, twist in the temple and say - well, that's their propaganda system. It's stupid," says Reznikov.
10:35 : Vessels of the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company, which have Russian names and are named after Russian cities or Soviet heroes, will be renamed.
● According to the head, Dmytro Moskalenko, the workers of the shipping company can join the discussion of the new «naming» of the fleet and offer their ideas for new names of ships.
09:59 The Guardian - President’s Office: there could be more attacks in the “next two or three months” on Crimea.
● “It’s an illegal construction and the main gateway to supply the Russian army in Crimea. Such objects should be destroyed,” he said.
● Podolyak asked for “50, 60, 80 more” MLRS (multiple launch rocket systems) to "create chaos in Russian forces".
08:58 Interfax-Ukraine: The court handed over for sale 6,2 thousand tons of alumina «RusAl»
● In Ukraine, the only and one of the largest non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises in Europe is the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, which is a part of the corporation «RusAl».
08:46 : Russia shells Ukraine 700-800 times daily.
● Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, notes that the Russians use from 40 to 60 thousand of their ammunition every day. Most affected by enemy attacks are Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Marhanets, Nikopol, Bereznehuvate.
● At the same time, Russian troops continue to shell peaceful cities and villages of Ukraine.
08:44 Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force: Russia May «Congratulate» Ukraine on the Independence Day with Missile Shelling from Belarus
● According to him, there are certain intelligence data and information that Russia is increasing its forces on Belarusian territory.
● “From the first days of a full-scale invasion, Russia has used the territory of Belarus and launched strikes from there. So it is absolutely necessary to prepare for it. We have different information from the Chief Directorate of Intelligence and other services. We soon have a big holiday - Independence Day, it is clear that the opponent always uses such dates for «congratulations», we must be prepared for this,” he says.
08:30 : Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed three ammunition depots, the headquarters and a base of Russian troops.
08:28 Ombudsperson : Discrepancies were found in the lists of wounded and killed in the Olenivka terrorist attack
● A separate UN mission is expected to investigate the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Representatives of Ukraine are still not allowed to meet with the surviving fighters.
● “First, we see a discrepancy with the lists of wounded and dead, which Russia officially released through the Russian media. That’s why they won’t let us see our wounded after Olenivka terrorist attack, just so we don’t get more information,” he says.
08:15 Institute for the Study of War:
● The explosions in Dzhankoi seriously disrupted the Russians logistics
● Analysts believe that the Russian groups in the south of the Zaporizhzhia region and the west of Kherson fell under «attack».
● A Ukrainian strike on logistical targets in Crimea, which is the sovereign territory of Ukraine, would not violate Ukrainian commitments to Western partners regarding Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied weapons within Ukrainian territory.
● There are no indications that Ukrainian forces used US-supplied weapons in recent strikes on Crimea.
07:41 Operational report of the General Staff of the AFU:
● In the Kharkiv direction, the Russians continue to actively explore the UAV to adjust the artillery fire and determine the positions of the Ukrainian units of the Defense Forces.
● The Russian army has delivered airstrikes at Staryi Saltiv and Mospanove. Russians are conducting an offensive near Lebiazhe and Bazaliivka. The fighting continues. Russians mine the terrain remotely - this time near Lebiazhe.
● In the Sloviansk direction, the Russian troops carried out a fiery defeat from tanks, barrel and rocket artillery in the areas of Brazhivka, Velyka Komyshuvakha, Dibrivne, Virnopillia and Mazanivka.
● Russians carried out remote mining of the area near Dovhenke. In the area of the Bohorodnyche, they tried to conduct an offensive battle but did not have success, so withdrew. The fighting continues near Mazanivka and Novodmytrivka.
● The fighting continues in the Soledar and Bakhmut areas.
● In the Avdiivka direction, the Russian Army is trying to carry out assault operations in the Opytne area. The fighting continues.
● In the Novopavlivsk and Zaporizhzhia directions, the Russian troops conducted offensive battles in the area of the Shevchenko settlement, but received a hard repulse, so withdrew. The fighting continues near Novomykhailivka.
00:48 : The Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine has concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) to provide financial assistance to Ukrainians affected by the war.
● It is noted that thanks to the memorandum, 20,000 people from the most vulnerable groups will receive material support.
August 16
23:08 : *"Ukroboronprom" created the International Engineering Center (MIC), which is engaged in the repair of military equipment of foreign production. The company reported this on the Telegram page.
● MIC specialists will be trained and certified to work with foreign military equipment.
● The task of the MIC is to return the combat readiness of weapons as soon as possible.
22:47 : Top Lead agency has created an infographic that shows the number of universities that have moved to safer regions of Ukraine.
22:37 : Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that for the first time in history, negotiations were held with the President of Zambia. Issues of cooperation in international organizations, food security and current global threats were discussed.
21:51 : The most tense situation at the front is now in the direction of Avdiivka-Peski-Maryinka," said Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a telephone conversation with the Chief of Defense Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces.
● Zaluzhnyi told his Canadian colleague that the Russians continue to advance along the entire front line - at the same time, about 700-800 shelling of Ukrainian positions is carried out daily, using from 40 to 60 thousand ammunition.
21:38 : Energoatom will build power unit No. 5 at the Rivne NPP
● Today, during his stay at the Rovno nuclear power plant, the president of SE NNEGC "Energoatom" Petr Kotin visited the site of the future construction of power unit No. 5 of the Rovno nuclear power plant.
● Reported that the largest hacker attack since the beginning of February 24 on the official website of the enterprise was carried out from the territory of Russia
○ "Today, the Russian group" People's Cyber Army "carried out a cyber attack using 7.25 million bot users, who simulated hundreds of millions of views of the Company's main page for three hours," the company said in a statement.
21:32 University of Stirling staffers: Scottish scientists urged colleagues to help Ukraine after seeing rocket attacks on universities in Mykolaiv.
"As we prepared for the last day of the conference at the University of Stirling on July 15, the Russian army shelled two universities in Nikolaev. Ukrainian scientists and students, both at home and in exile, need our help. And they need it now," .
20:35 The Head of the National Bank of Ukraine: In 2022-2024 the solvency of the hryvnia will almost halve.
● Shevchenko called this scenario optimistic, with the condition that until the end of 2022 the issue of hryvnia will remain no more than UAH 30 billion (about $810 million) per month, and in total by the end of 2022 - at the level of UAH 400 billion (about $10.83 billion). As well as a two-fold reduction in emissions in 2023 and a complete shutdown of the printing press in 2024.
20:03 Minister of Internal Affairs: About 41% of educational institutions are provided with shelters, the best situation is in the Lviv region
● "Local authorities play the main role in this process because they are responsible for the preparation. We, in turn, have assigned a lifeguard to each educational institution in the regions - this is a specific employee who will also be responsible for whether the institution is ready for the new academic year", – the Minister notes.
19:54 : The updated Krakovets-Korchova checkpoint on the Ukrainian-Polish border is reopening, – Ukrtransbezpeka reports.
● "From 00:00 on August 17, a new comfortable terminal has been operating for passenger bus carriers. The capacity is from 30 buses per day".
19:27 President's Office: Russian soldiers are plundering the Kherson railway and sending disassembled parts in the direction of the occupied Crimea
● He noted that the occupation authorities ordered the railway workers in the temporarily occupied southern regions to redirect all damaged and intact gondola cars to Nova Kakhovka and Kherson. There is a dismantling of the cars that arrived.
18:47 Operational information from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine:
● The enemy continues to concentrate his efforts on establishing full control over the territories of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, maintaining the temporarily captured areas of Kherson and parts of Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv regions, creating favorable conditions for resuming the offensive in certain directions, as well as blocking Ukraine's sea lanes in the Black Sea.
● In the Siversk direction, the enemy carried out artillery shelling not far from Kamianska Sloboda in the Chernihiv region, as well as Khodyne and Svarkove in the Sumy region. Enemy UAV reconnaissance continues.
● In the areas of the settlements of Nova Dmytrivka and Dibrovne, the Kharkiv region, the Russian military used incendiary ammunition.
● Not far from Mazanivka, the Donetsk region, the enemy tried to conduct an offensive battle, but had no success, retreated.
● In the Donetsk direction, the main efforts of the enemy are concentrated on conducting active offensive and assault operations in the Kramatorsk, Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions.
● Artillery shelling was recorded in the Novopavlivka and Zaporizhzhia directions.
● In the Pivdennyi Buh direction, the main efforts of the enemy are focused on preventing the advance of our troops and conducting aerial reconnaissance of UAVs.
18:34 Educational Ombudsman: More than 50% of parents choose distance learning in schools from September 1 in Ukraine
● “Now about 50-60% of parents choose distance learning from September 1, because they are not sure about the safety of their children. If we analyze the situation, now I am asking everywhere where offline learning can be started, primarily for elementary school”, – Horbachiov says.
18:31 Prime Minister: The number of applications submitted under the eJob program has already reached 8,000. Today, the government has allocated another UAH 103 million (about $2.79 million) for non-repayable grants
● According to him, UAH 74 million (about $2 million) will be directed to the creation of 324 micro-businesses. Another UAH 29 million (about $790 thousand) will be used to launch 9 new projects in the field of berry growing, horticulture and viticulture.
17:42 Washington Post: Russian Plans to Invade Ukraine and Capture Kyiv Revealed by US Intelligence to the Government of Ukraine in October 2021
● The US told Ukraine that:
○ Kyiv was supposed to be attacked from Chernihiv and Chornobyl (winter weather was supposed to contribute to the advancement of tanks);
○ in 3-4 days, Russian special forces were supposed to find and remove Zelenskyi, killing him if necessary, and install a puppet government;
○ in a few weeks, another group of troops was to take the south and the left bank of the Dnipro, and then move west.
● Zelenskyi says: “If we had reported this, then the country would have been losing $7 billion a month since October last year, and at the time the Russians attacked, they would have captured us in three days. If this happened, then in October, don’t let God, in the heating season, there would be nothing left. Our government would not exist, I am 100 percent sure. Well, forget about us. There would be a political war within the country because we would not be able to sustain $5-7 billion a month. "We did not have serious financial programs. There was a shortage of energy resources in the market created by the Russians. We lacked energy resources. We would not have been able to get out of this situation. There would have been chaos in the country"
17:35 : According to the materials of the SBU (Ukrainian Intelligence), 8 more marauders from the Russian army who robbed Ukrainians in Bucha were identified and charges laid.
● Among them are servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the National Guard. Being in the temporarily occupied territories of the Kiev region, they carried out so-called "cleansing" of settlements: they robbed the property of local residents and looted abandoned houses, so that later they could send all this to their relatives.
16:43 : The Ministry of Education of Ukraine revised the school curriculum due to Russian aggression and removed subjects in the Russian language and literature.
● Also, it was decided to remove the works of Russian and Belarusian authors from the lessons on foreign literature, except for Gogol and Bulgakov.
● revised the content of programs on the history of Ukraine and world history of the 20th and early 21st centuries.
○ In the updated programs, the USSR will be presented as an imperial-type government that appropriated the sovereignty of the Ukrainian SSR and pursued a policy of Russification.
○ The program introduces the concepts of "Russian world", "rashism", "collaborationism". A separate training block will be devoted to military operations with the Russian Federation, with an emphasis on the signs of genocide.
16:03 : President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi had a conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
● "I thanked France for significant defense support. We discussed strengthening macro-financial assistance to Ukraine and challenges in the field of food security. We should increase sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation", – Zelenskyi adds.
● The Elysee Palace: Macron discussed with Zelenskyi the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, advocated the speedy dispatch of the IAEA mission to Ukraine.
15:01 : The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted as a basis a bill banning the use of fireworks.
● According to the document, only rescuers, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the police will receive permission to use them in Ukraine.
14:45 : The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported the provision of a lump sum cash payment in case of disability or death due to the war.
● The draft law covers journalists, workers of critical infrastructure facilities and representatives of the state or local government.
● For injuries, payment of 200-800 thousand hryvnias is provided. For death - 1 million UAH.
14:28 : Speaker of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat commented on the explosions in the Dzhankoy region of the temporarily occupied Crimea :
● "The official position of the Ukrainian government, the top military leadership... The enemy does not know how to use fire safety measures".
14:07 : Volodymyr Zelenskyi changed the staff composition of the Headquarters of the Commander in Chief. The President of Ukraine added the following:
● Vasily Malyuk (acting head of the SBU);
● Igor Tantsyuru (Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine);
● Viktor Khorenko (Commander of the Special Operations Forces);
● Yuri Lebed (Commander of the National Guard).
The ex-head of the SBU Bakanov, the ex-commander of the SSO Galagan and the ex-commander of the Troop Galushkin, who were previously dismissed, were excluded from the composition.
14:00 Administration of the Sea Ports of Ukraine: The largest caravan has left the ports of the Odesa region since the launch of the "grain corridor". Five ships are carrying 110,000 tons of grain.
● "Brave Commander" carries 23 thousand tons of wheat for Africa, the ship is chartered by the UN World Food Program.
● "Bonita" is heading to South Korea.
● Bulk carriers Osprey S, Propus and Ramus are heading towards the Bosphorus.
14:10 : The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has changed the preventive measure for individuals arrested as lookouts for Russian artillery.
● Now suspects will not be able to go out on bail, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said.
13:28 : The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Parliament) twice did not support the bill introduced by the Cabinet of Ministers on the return of excise duty on fuel, which would lead to an increase in gasoline prices.
14:10 Head of temporarily occupied Crimea : A regional emergency regime was introduced after the detonation of ammunition in the Dzhankoy district.
13:08 Ministry of Reintegration: Ukraine has returned the bodies of another 19 of its defenders as part of another operation to transfer the bodies of fallen soldiers.
MORDOR (Russia)
August 17
10:33 Chief Directorate of Intelligence: Chechnya is preparing to send four battalions of "volunteers" to Ukraine for war
● According to intelligence, these are guys who are tortured and intimidated to sign a contract. Some of them are even kidnapped for this.
● In addition, due to the lack of people willing to fight, the occupiers are trying to attract citizens of Central Asian countries: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
00:55 : Colonel Dmitry Tskhe was killed in the so-called "DNR". This was announced by the Russian military propagandist Igor Strelkov
00:42 : Rutube has banned downloading its iOS app in all countries except Russia
● “This decision was made so that Russian-speaking users of the service, most of whom live in the Russian Federation, could download the Rutube application on their iPhone,” the video hosting said in a statement.
August 16
21:26 : Roskomnadzor demanded that Google immediately remove the restrictions imposed on the YouTube channel of the Russian Embassy in the UK and Northern Ireland and restore access to previously deleted materials.
● "Roskomnadzor considers any restrictions on the specified YouTube channel unacceptable and demands that access to deleted videos be immediately restored, that the department be informed, and that the reasons for the introduction of discriminatory measures be explained"
20:19 : Iranian automaker Iran Khodro, which produces cars in the price range of about $16.4 thousand, announced plans to do business in Russia.
● The 'Avtodom' group of companies said that Iran Khodro has every chance to partially replace European cars, whose manufacturers have announced their withdrawal from the Russian market.
17:45 Radio Liberty: A record traffic of cars was recorded on the Kerch bridge after a series of explosions in the occupied Crimea
● Over the past 24 hours, about 38.3 thousand cars have passed over the bridge in both directions. What is the ratio "from the Crimea" / "from Russia", – the press service of the Taman Road Administration does not specify.
17:27 : Russian Defense Ministry: Britain has applied to fly its RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft over Russia. We regard this action as a deliberate provocation.
● The Russian aerospace forces have been tasked with preventing violations of airspace. All possible consequences will lie with Britain.
16:57 : Ekaterina Mizulina, the head of the Russian Safe Internet League, calls for blocking Twitch and Discord in Russia.
● According to her, pedophiles allegedly pester children there and, in general, "coordinate information attacks on Russia" in every possible way.
16:23 Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff: Washington has already given Kyiv $4 billion and plans to allocate another $4.5 billion to confront Russia.
15:54 : Bellingcat journalist Hristo Grozev writes that the airbase of the Russian Navy in Gvardeisky in the temporarily occupied Crimea, where the media reported about the explosions today, housed 12 Su-24M aircraft and another 12 Su-25SM aircraft.
15:49 : After today's explosions in the temporarily occupied Crimea, there are huge queues at the Simferopol railway station.
● According to media reports, people cannot leave because the so-called "authorities" have shortened the route of trains coming from Russia. Locals and tourists are sent on buses.
15:18 : The Swiss chocolate manufacturer Lindt & Spruengli has decided to leave the Russian market.
● "We will support our employees in Russia and will act in accordance with local laws," the company said.
● In March, Lindt & Spruengli suspended the operation of branded stores in Russia and the Lindt online store.
15:18 Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Russia is strengthening its aviation, although it has reduced activity in the sky for the last 3-4 days. Over the past day, about 150 sorties of Russian aviation were recorded.
● Since February, Russia has deployed more than 300 helicopters and 400 aircraft near Ukraine’s borders.
15:01 : The FSB of the Russian Federation claims that in the Kursk region, "Ukrainian saboteurs" blew up power transmission towers that feed the Kursk nuclear power plant.
● "After the sabotage in the Kursk region, measures were taken to strengthen the security of nuclear facilities," the department added.
13:23 Russian media: Above the military air base in the village of Gvardeyske, Simferopol region of the temporarily occupied Crimea, there are clouds of black smoke.
● According to people, several explosions sounded earlier on the territory of the military facility. Previously, the security forces are checking the version with an attack by a small unmanned aerial vehicle on an ammunition depot.
13:22 : According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, explosions at ammunition depots near Dzhankoy in the temporarily occupied Crimea are sabotage.
● "Damage was caused to a number of civilian facilities, including power lines, a power plant, a railway track, as well as a number of residential buildings. There are no serious casualties. Necessary measures are being taken to eliminate the consequences of sabotage".
12:46 : IKEA plans to liquidate its Russian subsidiary, - data from the SPARK-Interfax analytical system testify. The company itself has not yet officially commented on the information.
12:44 : Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Shoigu listed Russia’s "friendly states": Burundi, Republic of Guinea, Cameroon, Mali, Sudan, Uganda, Chad, Ethiopia, South African Republic.
12:19 Mykolaiv RMA: More and more "Kadyrovs" are being brought to the Kherson region. They are used as a unit to control other military personnel.
● "It is precisely these units that are responsible for occupation functions and, in parallel, control over deserters from military formations who do not belong to the Chechen ethnic group".
12:15 : The first photos of the damaged railway track in the Dzhankoy district of the temporarily occupied Crimea appeared on the network.
● According to Russian media, a repair team has already moved to the site.
12:12 Center for Strategic Communications of the Ukrainian Armed Forces: The Russians could not form a tank battalion for the war against Ukraine, reports the .
● Thus, in the Nizhny Novgorod Region of the Russian Federation, the formation of a tank battalion named after K. Minyn failed. So far, only 30 soldiers out of 160 needed to complete the battalion have agreed to go fight against Ukraine.
KHARKIV
August 17
August 16
22:25 Mayor : The Russians shelled Kharkiv again.
● MLRS hit the ground near a residential building - windows were knocked out and a wall was cut. Preliminary, no casualties
18:43 Kharkiv Mayor: A garage cooperative was fired on, several private garages were destroyed and are on fire. Transport infrastructure has also suffered. There is still no information about the victims".
17:21 RMA: Confirmed the information about the explosions in Kharkiv.
LUHANSK
August 16
19:59 : The former building of the SBU (Ukrainian Intelligence), where Russian soldiers were based, was blown up in Lysychansk,.
17:55 RMA: Now about 350,000 citizens remain living in the region under Russian occupation.
● "More than 300,000 (people) of the population left the part where the active phase of hostilities took place. That is, about 350,000 people remained on the territory of the Luhansk region".
● "There are almost a hundred non-ordinary soldiers of the 2nd Army Corps in Lysychansk killed . A good trend is Popasna, Lysychansk will continue.
DONETSK
August 17
11:51 Advisor to the mayor of Mariupol: Showed queues for food and water from improvised wells in the city.
● "Levoberezhnyi district of the city remains the most affected district with the least attention of the occupiers. The collaborators do not hesitate to answer that too much attention was paid to Levobrezh by Ukraine, so the residents can suffer now,'' Andryushchenko said.
● Andryushchenko also reported that the second filtration point in Mariupol was opened on the Livoberezhna part. The queue for filtering today reaches more than 1,300 residents of Mariupol. To pass the screening, you must provide your passport, phone number, and employment record. Without a certificate of filtration, it is impossible to get a pass to leave the city and evacuate.
11:20 City council: The Russians have decided to legalize the stolen cars from the residents of Mariupol,
● Now in the city, it is allowed to put machines «on special registration».
● "Thus, the occupiers, collaborators can now appropriate, and in fact simply steal, to themselves any car of the residents of Mariupol who have left the city. This is a legal scheme that unties hands for profit. Bonuses will feel those who have a share"
09:46 RMA: Russian troops continue to bombard populated areas of the Donetsk region. Over the past 24 hours, the Russians killed two civilians.
● Russians continue to bombard the front lines from Kurakhove to Toretsk and hit cities in the rear
00:30 Donetsk Police: The Armed Forces of Ukraine control 45 percent of the Donetsk region.
● According to him, there are many components to the fact that the Russians failed to realize their plans.
● "First of all, it is the resilience and professionalism of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In fact, the battles are going on - without exaggeration! - for every meter of our land," Kirilenko said.
August 16
20:08 Mariupol city council: The Russians have limited the issuance of humanitarian aid in Mariupol - they began to issue assistance only to socially unprotected categories and the unemployed, who are registered with the employment center of the so-called "DPR"
ZAPORIZHYA
August 17
11:39 Mayor : A powerful explosion rocked the centre of Melitopol.
August 16
23:40 Mayor : In a few days, the names of all collaborating teachers in Energodar will be known
● "The starting point for traitors in education is 08/22/2022. And then only down to the collapse! From August 22, the faces of teachers who have decided that they are part of the big Russian world will be revealed. Some of them we now know by name. We will definitely tell you about them, wrote the mayor of Energodar."
17:13 RMA: One woman was killed and six people were injured from the MLRS as a result of the shelling of the city of Orikhiv. Three of them are employees of the energy company who worked on the restoration of networks.
● In addition, during the shelling that lasted several hours, dozens of residential buildings and infrastructure facilities were destroyed.
16:39 RMA: If an accident occurs at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, more than 400 thousand people will be evacuated
● As a result of possible pollution, 200 thousand people from the Zaporizhzhia region and the same number from the Dnipropetrovsk region may be subject to forced displacement. We are talking about the cities of Nikopol, Marganets, Enerhodar, Vasylivka, Dniprorudne and others.
DNIPRO
August 17
08:36 RMA: This night, Russia shelled two districts of the Dnipropetrovsk region - Nikopol and Kryvyi Rih
● Russia fired 8 shots on Nikopol from barrel artillery, and damaged 6 private houses, cars and a gas pipeline. No casualties.
● Russians fired 40 shells at Chervonohryhorivka from MRL "Grad". Local enterprise and power lines were damaged.
● Russian shells also hit the recently repaired Nikopol route, there are rocket craters now
● Kryvyi Rih district was shelled by Russians with «Uragan». They hit the Marinka and Velyka Kostromka of the Zelenodolsk territorial community.
● Two women 20 and 84 years old were injured. Several private houses and a gas pipeline were damaged in the villages.
August 16
22:36 Nikopol Military Administration: Announced maneuvers of the Russian army is beginning on the opposite bank of the Kakhovka reservoir.
● He warned that night shelling of the territories is very likely, so it is better to follow the rules of two walls, or be in a bomb shelter.
16:48 RMA: The consequences of today's shelling of Nikopol :
● 20 missiles from "Grads" and 10 from cannon artillery arrived in the city. Initially, four people were injured. One of them has been hospitalized.
● Several private houses were mutilated in the city. Several others caught fire. Firefighters are on site.
KHERSON
August 17
10:55 Deputy chairman of the regional council : "Systemic terror and massive filtering measures carried out by the Russian military in the territory of the Kherson region confirm that they have no support from the population, and the protest mood and potential are very high.
● The deeper the state of humanitarian catastrophe, the greater the pressure on the civilian population - the more hatred our people have for the bloody "Russian world",
09:45 : During the night, members of the Zhovta strichka (Yellow Ribbon) movement distributed Ukrainian symbols in Kherson. They do this because they are convinced that the occupation is temporary and soon Kherson and other occupied territories will be free, reports Zhovta strichka (Yellow Ribbon).
August 16
22:55 Kherson District Council: Kherson mayor Ihor Kolykhaev is still being held captive by the Russians.
● Kolykhaev was detained on June 28 and now, according to Troshin, he may be in a local reception center for children, along with 70 other Kherson residents.
● A couple of pensioners from the temporarily occupied Kherson transferred funds issued by the occupiers to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
MYKOLAIV
August 17
11:51 RMA: Sometimes residents of Mykolaiv help the Russian military without realizing it. During the closure of Mykolaiv to search for collaborators, cases were revealed when townspeople unwittingly passed on information about the location of the Armed Forces to the Russians. With such people, explanatory work was carried out.
● "The situation is different. It happens that people, not realizing that they are helping the enemy, help. Naturally, no one arrests them, explanatory work is carried out with them. For example, an old or new acquaintance, or some stranger, calls on the phone and says: "Oh, I want to bring my child to school, does he work, have the military moved there?". They answered: "No, they are still standing." Thus, the Russians also used our people to get certain information," he said.
09:43 Mayor of Mykolaiv: Confirmed that Russian troops shelled another university in Mykolaiv — Petro Mohyla Black Sea State University.
● "Just a few days ago, I posted a video which showed that there was no military base there. That the ordinary specialists of the university work there: take the documents of applicants, issue diplomas... Two Russian missiles were launched at this place last night. These are the real terrorists who, hiding behind their propaganda, continue to cynically destroy our educational institutions. At the time of the shelling there was only a guard at the university. Fortunately, he was not injured", - says Sienkevych.
09:21 Operational Command “Pivden” (South): Last night, the Russian troops struck the port infrastructure of Mykolaiv with rockets from the multiple-launch system «Smerch».
08:14 : One of the civilian objects in Mykolaiv, which was hit by Russians last night by two S-300 missiles, is Petro Mohyla Black Sea State University.
● One of the rockets hit the facade of the building near the central entrance. As a result, a hole formed in the wall of the building. The blast wave knocked out the windows and entrance doors. The second rocket fell directly on the campus. The facades of private houses opposite the university were also damaged.
07:29 Mayor of Mykolaiv: Lines 101(fire department) and 112(emergency service) have resumed their work in Mykolaiv.
04:01 Mayor of Mykolaiv: After a series of explosions that the 101 and 112 lines in the city were temporarily out of service (101 and 112 are the call numbers for emergency services)
● "There are hits to civilian objects, damage to residential buildings. All the necessary services are working on the ground. All information in the morning,
OTHER REGIONS
August 17
11:41 Odesa RMA: As a result of today's night missile strike on the village of Zatoka in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district, 7 buildings of a recreation center were destroyed and 15 country-type houses were damaged
10:54 : The Russians had established a base on the elevator of the company «STS», which is part of the TRANS TRADE Group, in the village of Viazove, Sumy region.
● Russians robbed and destroyed the property of the enterprise before the liberation of the Sumy region. The final amount of damage has not yet been determined.
10:33 : An office of the UN Commissioner for Refugees may open in Odesa. The reason - a large number of settlers. Now there are more than 34 thousand of them in the city, reports the city council.
10:13 RMA: During the night, the Odesa region was attacked by Tu-22M3 strategic aircraft .Four people were injured.
09:21 : The mayor of Lviv, Andrii Sadovyi, calls residents to prepare for a difficult winter and called on people to stock up on firewood and potbelly stoves. The city is already doing this.
● Sadovyi called on residents to buy the following things: an electric kettle, a battery-powered lamp, dry alcohol, an electric stove. And advised insulating the windows.
07:29 Operational Command “Pivden” (South): Details of the missile strike in the Odesa region:
● Two rockets were fired. The fires started in one of the recreation bases and the houses nearby. There are three victims. The rescue operation continues.
August 16
23:34 Sumy RMA: During the day the Russians opened fire 12 times on 5 communities of the Sumy region. About 130 arrivals were recorded.
● No casualties. The consequences of the evening shelling are being specified."
21:06 Center Air Command: In the Zhytomyr region, the Russians fired missiles at a military airfield,"
● As a result of the hit, the runway and several vehicles were damaged.
16:14 Zhytomyr RMA: There are no casualties as a result of the Russian missile attack on the Zhytomyr region
14:01 Zhytomyr RMA: Preliminarily, the Russians fired missiles at the Zhytomyr region from the territory of Belarus.
13:51 Zhytomyr RMA: Confirmed two explosions in the Zhytomyr region as a result of a Russian missile attack. Details later.
12:45 National Police of Kyiv: Kyiv locals returned about a thousand weapons from the 6.5 thousand automatic weapons that were issued en masse at the beginning of the invasion. The rest of the weapons are in the register.
● "Now there is a question of creating a unified register of weapons circulation, it needs legislative regulation. This will make it possible to make an inventory of the weapons that are in the hands of the Ukrainians"
12:06 Kyiv Oblast Police: In the Kyiv region, since the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression, 1,352 Ukrainian civilians have been killed. Most of the civilians were killed by the Russians with small arms. The police are constantly working to identify the persons who killed Ukrainians.
Comparing Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to Russian invasion of Ukraine using Wikipedia and Ukraine Ministry of Defense Daily Bulletins. Soviet and Russian military losses not including captured equipment.
SOURCES
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/
https://euromaidanpress.com/
https://invite.viber.com/?g2=AQBD3wxTrZ6XUU7IdXeHUfjVCydekezQCCGuwYnT6qPd1r7n1aVbFIewa6ng6Lis