Aug 2 Buonasera Mag
Day 161: POWs Olenivka, Mykolaiv, SBU, Ranzoni, UK pols sanctioned, Rosatom & Turkey, Gazprom, Myanmar, Spain, Meta, al-Zawahiri, Russian fascism, Azovstal, Burgess, Pelosi, Alinejad
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
Stories we’re following…
Prosecutor General says vacuum bomb killed 50 Ukrainian POWs in Olenivka on July 29. Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said a preliminary investigation indicates that the bomb allegedly exploded inside the camp, where Ukrainian POWs were held.
The mayor of Mykolaiv on the attack on medical facilities in the city: “This is an ordinary hospital, which every day received residents of the city, including victims of Russian shelling. Therefore, today’s attack on this medical facility is nothing more than cynical terrorism by Russian troops.”
SBU: Ukraine investigates 752 cases of treason, collaboration. Ukraine’s Security Service reported that, as of Aug. 1, the greatest amount of cases of treason and collaborationism have been opened in Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts.
Ukraine’s postal service halts work in Russian-occupied territories. Igor Smelyansky, head of state-owned Ukrposhta, said that the country's postal service works only in the regions controlled by Ukraine. The state-owned company was able to operate in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts “under the pressure," pay pensions and transfer people money. However, starting Aug. 1, the company will not continue its work in occupied territories due to high risks and the threat of robbery.
The Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni, carrying 26,000 tons of corn, has left the port of Odesa, destined for Lebanon. It is the first such departure since the start of the Russian invasion, according to Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry.
The US has accused Russia of using Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant as a “nuclear shield”. US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Washington was “deeply concerned” that Moscow was now using the plant as a military base and firing on Ukrainian forces from around it and called Russia’s actions around the plant “the height of irresponsibility”.
Russia has banned 39 senior British politicians, businesspeople and journalists from entering the country, including the Labour party leader, Keir Starmer, the former prime minister David Cameron and the presenter Piers Morgan.
Rosatom confirms that it is seeking to place funds into Turkish treasury as part of a $6bn loan deal “the funds could be temporarily placed into Turkish treasury bonds and/or deposits until they are used for the project”
The daily gas production of Russia’s Gazprom dropped in July to its lowest level since 2008, figures suggest, amid continued fears that Moscow could cause an energy crisis in Europe by shutting off the supply.
A group of Russian soldiers have accused their commanders of jailing them in eastern Ukraine for refusing to take part in the war, in a rare public exposure of tensions inside the ranks of Russia’s army over the invasion.
Lavrov to visit Myanmar tomorrow to strengthen cooperation between Russia and the ruling junta. Myanmar has been accused of using Russian Yak-130 aircraft in civilian attacks, but more arms deals with Moscow could be on the horizon
NSC’s John Kirby announces: The US to sign over $550 million in new weapons to Ukraine.
Ukraine earns nearly $20 million in first month of selling electricity to EU. Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, head of the state electricity grid operator Ukrenergo, said during a briefing that the figure is expected to increase significantly in the following months as the volume of electricity exports grows.
The European Union has sent Ukraine €1bn (£837m) in financial aid to support its budget and help it tackle the financial consequences of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian prime minister said on Monday.
Belgium freezes Russian assets worth over €50 billion, including those of 110 Russian companies and 1129 individuals.
Zelensky asks Macron to unblock EU macro-financial assistance ‘stalled in Europe.' During a call on Aug. 1, President Volodymyr Zelensky asked his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to help release the EU’s second tranche of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine worth 8 billion euros ($8.2 billion).
France freezes Russian assets worth 1.2 billion euros. "The amount of frozen Russian assets is €1.2 billion, not counting the assets of the Russian Central Bank," said Guillaume Valette-Valla, head of the Directorate for Intelligence and Combating Underground Financial Schemes.
France will donate a mobile DNA lab to Kyiv authorities in a bid to ensure war crimes by Russian forces in Ukraine do not go unpunished, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.
Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles announced that the government had decided not to transfer the Leopard tanks to Ukraine after tests found the tanks could not be used, reported El Mundo.
Ukraine appeals to Meta to stop blocking Ukrainians posting about Russian war crimes. The Ministry of Digital Transformation wrote an open letter to Meta (formerly Facebook), asking to make the moderation rules public and share the list of words that can lead to blocking.
Ayman al-Zawahiri: al-Qaida leader killed in US drone strike in Afghanistan, Joe Biden says
The Economist, Vladimir Putin is in thrall to a distinctive brand of Russian fascism
What matters most in Moscow these days is what is missing. Nobody speaks openly of the war in Ukraine. The word is banned and talk is dangerous. The only trace of the fighting going on 1,000km to the south is advertising hoardings covered with portraits of heroic soldiers. And yet Russia is in the midst of a war.
RFE/RL, 'Worse Than Azovstal': Relatives Of Ukrainian POWs At Olenivka Shine The Spotlight On 'Horrific' Conditions There
“We are living now exclusively on faith, hope, on plans for the future and memories of the past,” said Anastasia, whose husband was among the defenders of the Azovstal steel mill in the southern city of Mariupol who surrendered on May 16 after more than two months of concentrated assault by Russian forces.
Burgess, Ionov indictment Reveals Russia Election Interference Strategy
The unsealing of the indictment of Alexandr Viktorovich Ionov (aka Alexander Ionov aka Sasha) a Russian citizen and founder-president of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia by a grand jury in the Middle District of Florida laid bare for the U.S. public the Russian intelligence playbook on active measures and election influence.
Download the document:
US District Court Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, Alexander Ionov Indictment
Kosovo-Serbia tensions
RFE/RL, Interview: Why Is Chinese Investment Drying Up In Russia and Pakistan?
New investment in Russia through China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) fell to zero in the first half of 2022, while Chinese outlays in Pakistan dropped by 56 percent during the same period.
These are the findings of a new report from the Green Finance and Development Center at Fudan University in Shanghai, which point to growing headwinds facing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy venture that he once dubbed “the project of the century.”
Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan
Live footage of Nancy Pelosi meeting the delegation
China’s response…
Sunday: Operation Encirclement
Watch the video. Perhaps in Siena as well?
Courage
Please listen to Masih Alinejad’s statements. This is the plight of so many dissidents across the world. In this case, she is being threatened to death by the Iranian regime.
