20.08.2023

The Kyiv Independent: Hardline members of Russia's security apparatus remain in favor of dismissing current Defense Minister Shoigu and General Staff chief Gerasimov, Bloomberg reported citing undisclosed five people "with knowledge of the situation." The faction also supports introducing full-scale mobilization and martial law to Russia. For now, there is currently no indication that Putin will take any such steps, Bloomberg noted.

AP News: The Netherlands and Denmark announced Sunday they will give F-16 warplanes to Ukraine, a long-awaited announcement that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called an important motivation for his country’s forces, embroiled in a difficult counteroffensive against Russia.

RFE/RL: Crimea is facing a shortage of gasoline after Ukraine last month bombed the only bridge connecting the Russian-controlled peninsula to Russia.

Reuters: Russia remained China's largest crude supplier in July, Chinese government data showed on Sunday, even as Russian shipments fall from all-time highs on narrower discounts and rising domestic demand crimps Russian exports.

Bloomberg: Russia’s central bank is racing to stabilize the ruble ahead of an election seen as key to restoring Putin’s authority after the Wagner mutiny.

AP News: Russia's robot lander the Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after it had spun into uncontrolled orbit, the country’s space agency Roscosmos reported on Sunday.

Bloomberg: Russian prosecutors filed a lawsuit against sanctioned billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, as Putin increases pressure on wealthy Russians to repatriate their assets from abroad.

Reuters: Russia said Ukrainian drones had attacked four separate regions in a flurry of attempted strikes on Sunday, injuring five people and forcing two of Moscow's airports to briefly divert flights.

WSJ: Russia’s war on Ukraine is in danger of becoming a protracted struggle that lasts several more years. The reason isn’t just that the front-line combat is a slow-moving slog, but also that none of the main actors have political goals that are both clear and attainable.

UK Ministry of Defence: The leadership of Russia’s Aerospace Forces (VKS) is highly likely under intense pressure to improve air defences over western Russia. In recent months, the range of threats penetrating well inside Russia has increased.

19.08.2023

The Kyiv Independent: China has sent tens of thousands of shipments to Russian weapons firms since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Telegraph reported. The investigation found that China has helped supply the Russian military with helicopters, drones, optical sights, and essential raw materials. Trade between Moscow and Beijing is on track to reach a record high this year of over $200 billion.

Reuters: Training had begun for Ukrainians to operate U.S. F16 fighter jets but it would take at least six months and possibly longer, Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Saturday, two days after a U.S. official said F-16s would be transferred to Ukraine once its pilots were trained.

Business Insider: The Stryker combat vehicle is officially in action near the Zaporizhzhia frontline. The US-supplied vehicles can be outfitted with various weapons and move quickly while carrying soldiers. Russia claims to have taken out four of Ukraine's Strykers.

Le Monde: Ukrainian experts are dissecting the missiles and drones fired into their territory by Kremlin forces, and their discoveries reveal military information and components from the West.

BBC News: Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed when a Russian missile struck a theatre in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Saturday morning, officials have said. Fifteen children were among 144 people wounded, the police said. At least 25 people were in hospital.

The war is taking a toll on Russian science: Novaya-Europe has identified at least 270 professors and top researchers who severed ties with Russia in the past 18 months.

Reuters: Ukraine has begun discussing with Sweden the possibility of receiving Gripen jets to boost its air defences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday after meeting Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

The Barents Observer: The Olenya Air Base south of Murmansk, Russia is again seen as a safe location for bombers from airports hit by Ukrainian drones. Soltsy-2 (Novgorod Obl.) was in the early morning hit by a drone. Russia’s Defense Ministry confirms the attack and says one aircraft was 'damaged due to a fire'.

Bloomberg: Ukraine was only able to export 3.2 million tons of grains, vegetable oils and meals in the four weeks through August 15, down from 4.8 million tons in June.

The Guardian: Russian women fear return of murderers freed to fight for Wagner — Concern that convicts re-entering society after stints in Ukraine will bring ‘wave of murder, rape and domestic violence’.

18.08.2023

The Kyiv Independent: Turkey has become a hub for Russian sanctions evasion, including a "ghost fleet" for Russian oil and port calls for Russian vessels carrying weapons and sanctioned goods, the Wall Street Journal reported.

AFP: Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Prime Minister of Romania Marcel Ciolacu sign agreements seeking to ease the passage of goods to Romania during a meeting in Bucharest.

Reuters: The number of Ukrainian and Russian troops killed or wounded since the war in Ukraine began in Feb. 2022 is nearing 500,000, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing unnamed U.S. officials. Russia's military casualties are approaching 300,000, including as many as 120,000 deaths and 170,000 to 180,000 injuries, the newspaper reported. Ukrainian deaths were close to 70,000, with 100,000 to 120,000 wounded, it added.

The Kyiv Independent: The governments of Russia, Turkey, and Qatar are preparing a new agreement on grain exports following Moscow's termination of the grain deal, the German newspaper Bild reported.

The Moscow Times: The widely reported killings have sparked fierce debate about whether ex-convicts should be pardoned in exchange for their military service — and highlights the challenges of integrating these men into society when they return home.

The Canadian government has introduced sanctions against the Moscow City Court, as well as Moscow’s Basmanny and Khamovniki District Courts, 'in response to the rising levels of human rights violations and state-sponsored violence faced by political opponents and critics as Russia attempts to repress internal dissent.'

Ukrainska Pravda: In Poland, local law enforcement officers have uncovered a group of Ukrainian refugees recruited by the Russian secret services to monitor the transport of weapons for Ukraine and prepare sabotage operations.

AFP: Russia on Friday closed the prominent rights group, the Sakharov Center, as the Kremlin clamps down on liberal-leaning organisations that challenge official narratives, including over Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine.

Reuters: Russia has banned entry to several Moldovan officials following Moldova's "unfriendly" decision to expel 22 Russian diplomats, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday, marking a further worsening of already strained relations.

POLITICO: A cargo ship has successfully made the voyage across the Black Sea from Ukraine to Turkey, using a shipping corridor established by Kyiv in an effort to break the Russian siege of its ports.

Reuters: North Korea's latest Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile - its first ICBM to use solid rocket fuel - has reignited debate over possible Russian links to the nuclear-armed state's dramatic missile development.

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