- Russia-Ukraine Daily News
- Posts
- Weekend Briefing
Dear Reader, if you find this email interesting, helpful or of value, please do consider forwarding it to your friends or colleagues and encouraging them to subscribe. Thank you.
Morning Headlines
Reuters: Russia's Monday drone attack on a major Ukraine grain exporting port damaged warehouses and set buildings on fire, Ukraine said, hours before Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Erdogan, were due to hold talks.
Reuters: Ukraine launched drone attacks on the Kursk region of Russia overnight from Sunday to Monday, with the Russian defence ministry saying its forces had shot down two drones after midnight on Monday.
The Guardian: Rustem Umerov, who is set to become Ukraine’s new defence minister, is a leading member of the Crimean Tatar community who has represented his country in sensitive negotiations with Russia.
ISW: Ukrainian military officers offered notably frank and direct commentary about the prospects of further Ukrainian advances in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast and indicated that the series of prepared Russian defensive positions immediately ahead and further south of the Ukrainian advance may be less challenging to Ukrainian forces.
The Guardian: Plastic, wood, foam and metal are skilfully shaped into copies of weapons to fool Russian attackers.
03.09.2023
The Kyiv Independent: Maksim Kuzminov, the 28-year-old Russian pilot of the Mi-8 helicopter who surrendered to Ukraine after landing in a Ukrainian airfield on Aug. 23, called on other Russian pilots to follow his example.
BBC News: Ukrainian generals claim they have breached Russia's formidable first line of defences in the south, as the counter-offensive launched earlier this summer may be poised to gather pace.
Bloomberg: China’s biggest banks are extending billions of dollars to Russia as sanctions pressure western lenders to exit the country, according to a Financial Times report.
Reuters: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday that an independent inquiry has found no evidence that a Russian ship had collected weapons from the country late last year destined for Russia.
AFP: Ukraine said Sunday that it had destroyed 22 Russian drones on the southern Odesa region, as Moscow said it hit the Danube port of Reni, on the border with NATO member Romania.
RFI: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Sunday discussed the "functioning" of a sea corridor set up by Kyiv for safe navigation of ships after Moscow exited a landmark grain deal.
The Kyiv Independent: Orban's chief of staff Gergely Gulyas said that to achieve peace in Ukraine, the West "must give security guarantees to Russia, but definitely not NATO membership to the Ukrainians," the Hungarian broadcaster MTVA reported. Speaking at a university event, Gulyas claimed that Russia does not pose a threat to Central Europe since the Russian army "did not achieve rapid and resounding results" in Ukraine.
AP News: The Ukrainian military considers the battles in the northeast, specifically near the town of Kupiansk, in the northern Kharkiv region, and in the forests near Lyman, to be Russia’s main offensive.
Reuters: Armenia's prime minister has said his country's policy of solely relying on Russia to guarantee its security was a strategic mistake because Moscow has been unable to deliver and is in the process of winding down its role in the wider region.
UK Ministry of Defence: Russia is exploiting foreign nationals in its effort to acquire more personnel for its war effort in the face of mounting casualties and probably views millions of migrants from central Asia as potential recruits.
02.09.2023
The Guardian: Ukraine’s Brig Gen Oleksandr Tarnavskiy estimated Russia had devoted 60% of its time and resources into building the first defensive line and only 20% each into the second and third lines because Moscow had not expected Ukrainian forces to get through.
The Daily Mirror Exclusive: Top secret security information on British military and intelligence sites has been leaked online by hackers linked to Russia. They released thousands of pages of data which could help criminals get into the HMNB Clyde nuclear submarine base, the Porton Down chemical weapon lab and a GCHQ listening post.
Reuters: The Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday that it had brought down three Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod region, while the regional governor said that one man had been killed in a Ukrainian rocket strike on a village close to the border.
The Guardian: The Kremlin’s propaganda film about Ukraine war plays to empty cinemas. The box-office flop, about a fictional violinist who gets caught up in the atrocities, is further evidence that Russians want to forget about the invasion.
AP News: Russia said Saturday its forces destroyed three Ukrainian naval drones being used in an attempt to attack a key bridge linking Russia to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula, forcing its temporary closure for a third time in less than a year.
CNN: One of Ukraine’s most powerful oligarchs has been arrested in a fraud investigation, state media in the country are reporting.
The Nobel Foundation said on Saturday it would not after all invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm this year, reversing an earlier decision after widespread criticism.
Sky News: They may be cheap and effective, but even though drones have given Kyiv an edge recently and struck symbolic blows at Vladimir Putin, they are no more than an irritant - and are unlikely to deliver Ukraine's ultimate military goal, a military analyst writes.
CNN: Ukraine’s Security Service says it has identified a Russian commander who is accused of giving orders to shoot civilians. The SBU announced it is investigating Vadym Ovchinnikov, the commander of a Russian intelligence group, who it alleges ordered the shooting of a Ukrainian family during the occupation of the town of Bucha in March of 2022.
01.09.2023
AP News: The head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said Friday that the country has deployed an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile that Putin once said will make Russia’s enemies “think twice.” Agency head said Sarmat missiles have been placed on combat duty, according to Russian news agencies. Further details were not reported.
Reuters Exclusive: The Biden administration will for the first time send controversial armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium to Ukraine, according to a document seen by Reuters and separately confirmed by two U.S. officials.
AFP: Poland on Friday denied a military helicopter had breached Belarus's airspace, calling Minsk's claims "lies and provocations" at a time of escalating tensions between the neighbours.
Reuters: Denmark on Friday informed Russia’s ambassador in Copenhagen that it must reduce its embassy staff to the same number that Denmark has in Moscow because talks to increase numbers have foundered over Russian attempts to sneak intelligence officers into Denmark.
AP News: Russian students are expected each week to listen to Russia’s national anthem and watch the country’s tricolor flag being raised. There’s a weekly subject loosely translated as “Conversations about Important Things,” which was introduced last year with the goal of boosting patriotism.
WP: Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) has played a major role in allowing Russian propaganda about Ukraine to reach more people than before the war began, according to a study released this week by the European Commission.
AFP: Czech police said Friday they were handling a criminal complaint filed against Austria's Raiffeisenbank by a local citizen rights group claiming it is financing terrorism with its activities in Russia.
Reuters: A military plane that took a Russian delegation to Burkina Faso on Thursday landed in Central African Republic on Friday. Wagner Group have operated in CAR since 2018, helping President Faustin Archange Touadera fight rebels and extending Russian influence in the mineral-rich nation. Wagner also owns some concessions there, including a gold mine.
Reuters: Two cargo vessels have left a port near Odesa, Ukraine's deputy prime minister said on Friday - the third and fourth to transit from deep-water Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea since Russia withdrew from a safe-passage deal for grain ships.
Reuters: Russia's share of European Union trade fell below 2% in the second quarter, EU data released on Friday showed, with the bloc's trade deficit with the country hovering around record lows.
Russa-Ukraine Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Do you think your friend or colleague should know about this newsletter? Forward it to them, please. They can also sign up here.