Aug 30 Buonasera Mag
Day 188: Kherson, Zaporzhzhia, Mariupol, UA-NATO, UA partisans, Iranian drones, India, Norway, Turkey, Serbia, Germany. Arts & posts: Davis, Kahn, Putin's daughter, China, RU propaganda, UK aid
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.
Kherson
Zelensky: The legend of 'Russia the great country' must be forgotten. Zelensky said that "when Russia was strong, it was as the Soviet Union, including Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and the Baltic states." That time is over, he added, "we are showing it on the battlefield."
Zelensky’s address Aug 29
Anyone want to know what our plans are?
You won't hear specifics from any truly responsible person. Because this is war. And so - in the war.
But the occupiers should know: we will drive them to the border. To our border, the line of which did not change. The occupiers know it well.
If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee. Go home. If you are afraid to return to your home in Russia - well, let such occupiers surrender, and we will guarantee them compliance with all norms of the Geneva Conventions.
If they do not listen to me, they will deal with our defenders, who will not stop until they release everything that belongs to Ukraine.
And it is not something special. It's not something that supposedly started. We are talking about it for 187 days.
Vitaliy Kim, the head of the Mykolayiv Regional Military Administration, said today there has been “heavy fighting” in the south of the country and Ukraine’s military “are working”.
Ukrainian forces liberate 4 villages on Kherson front. The villages of Novodmytrivka, Arkhanhelske, Tomyna Balka, and Pravdyne were liberated from Russian occupation.
The Moscow-installed leader of occupied Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, has reportedly fled to Russia, a day after Kyiv announced it had begun its long-awaited counterattack aimed at taking back the southern region from Russian forces.
Russian TG channels’ reaction to Kherson:
Stories we’re following…
A mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency has arrived in Ukraine, and will head to the Zaporizhzhia NPP in the coming days.
Zelensky: He has told IAEA chief Grossi that he wants delegation to do more than just inspect Zaporozhye NPP, adding that strategic decisions are required "regarding urgent demilitarization of station, withdrawal of all, any, military personnel of Russian Federation with explosives, with any kind of weapon."
Podolyak: Russian forces shell corridors needed for IAEA to reach Zaporizhzhia NPP. Podolyak said Russia likely wants the mission to pass through Russian-occupied Crimea or Donbas to reach the plant.
Russia refuses to demilitarize area around Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that demilitarization of the plant is "not being discussed now." Russian troops have occupied the plant since early March.
Ukraine no longer interested in NATO membership action plan, wants membership. According to the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna, after six months of Russia full-scale war, NATO's potential decision on the membership action plan for Ukraine no longer has the same importance as before.
Russian forces fired at Enerhodar, the city where the Zaporizhzhia NPP is located, according to Ukraine’s armed forces. Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, also appeared to confirm the reports on his Telegram channel alongside a video of firefighters dousing burning cars.
NYT: "One American official later briefed on the attacks said Ukrainian commandos and partisan fighters had used an improvised array of weapons, explosives and tactics in the strikes. 'It’s all homegrown,' the official said, 'We did not get any advance notice.”
Pentagon official: Kremlin’s efforts to expand military ‘unlikely to succeed.’ According to an unnamed senior U.S. defense official, Russia wants to grow its military from 137,000 to 1.5 million.
Russia has faced “numerous failures” with Iranian-made drones acquired from Tehran this month for use in its war with Ukraine, according to a senior US administration official.
Putin signs decrees to allow Ukrainians to live and work in Russia. According to the U.S. think tank, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed two decrees on Aug. 27, the first of which allows residents of Ukraine and stateless people to live and work in Russia “indefinitely.”
India's oil imports from Russia have increased 900% since the Ukraine invasion. A remarkable blow to the Western sanctions regime. Over the past month, India has bought 25% more oil from Saudi Arabia while cutting 7.3% of its Russian oil purchases. The erosion of Russia's discount advantage was the main cause.
Norway to provide $200 million for Ukraine to buy gas. "It is now a matter of urgency to help Ukraine increase its store of natural gas before winter arrives. The gas will help to alleviate the country’s grave humanitarian situation," reads the Norwegian government's statement.
Russia’s Gazprom has informed Engie it is reducing its gas deliveries, starting today, due to a disagreement between the parties on the application of some contracts, adding to concerns related to energy supplies, the French utility said.
Ukraine summons Turkish ambassador over Russian weapons shipping through Bosphorus. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry expressed its concerns to Ambassador Yağmur Ahmet Güldere on Aug. 29 after revelations that Russia used the civilian cargo ship Sparta-II to transfer military equipment, including S-300 air defense systems, to Russia from bases in Syria.
Poland asks France to urgently increase weapons deliveries, financial aid for Ukraine. The call was made by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki during his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Aug. 29 in Paris.
Germany and France are not in favour of a ban on tourist visas for Russians saying this would be counter-productive.
Serbia can find affordable alternatives to Russian energy, president says. The Balkan country, known for its warm relationship with Russia, is financially resilient enough to withstand the coming energy crisis, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told Reuters.
Russian media is warning that Germany's proposal to scrap the EU veto rule will cause member states to consider leaving the EU. This gives Russia an opportunity to shore up its ties with Euroskeptic and right-wing populist movements. Alexander Gusev, an expert at Russia's Academy of Sciences predicts that Hungary, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Romania and Spain could exit the EU.
The Russian Orthodox Church in Canada is promoting anti-Ukrainian disinformation and has been raising funds in Toronto to support Russian backed terror groups in Donetsk. Canada should designate ROCOR as a terrorist entity.
Prosecutor General’s Office: Russia’s war has killed 379 children, injured over 735 since Feb. 24. The largest number of casualties was reported in Donetsk Oblast, where 388 children have been killed or injured.
President of Mariupol Television, Mykola Osychenko said that, according to insider information, 87,000 dead people are currently documented in morgues in Mariupol, but these data are far from complete. He is quoted by DniproTV.
Julia Davis reports…
Lauren Kahn, How Ukraine Is Remaking War- Foreign Affairs
The Ukrainian military deserves recognition not just for its troops’ motivation but also for its technical savvy. It has used cutting-edge technologies and adapted existing capabilities in creative new ways, on and off the kinetic battlefield. It has deployed loitering munitions—missiles with the ability to stay on station until an operator locates a target—and modified commercial drones that can destroy Russian troops and equipment on the cheap. It has tapped commercial satellite data to track Russian troop movements in near real time. And Kyiv has wisely used artificial intelligence, in conjunction with this satellite imagery, to create software that helps artillery locate, aim, and destroy targets in the most efficient and lethal manner possible.
Spiegal International, How Putin's Daughter Traveled Unnoticed to Germany
Katerina Tikhonova, whose father is Russian President Vladimir Putin, apparently stayed in the Mandarin Oriental on the night of Dec. 22, 2016, a Thursday. That information comes from booking records obtained by DER SPIEGEL and the Russian investigative portal IStories. In combination with passenger data, passport copies and internal emails from the Russian security apparatus, these documents indicate that Tikhonova has traveled to Germany more than 20 times in recent years – unnoticed by German officials.
iNews, China calls on Putin to end Russian roulette at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine after disaster near-miss
China has issued a thinly veiled attack on Russia’s brinkmanship over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, as fears of disaster escalate following a near-miss at the site.
A senior Chinese official told the UN on Friday that just one incident might cause a serious nuclear accident “with irreversible consequences for the ecosystem and public health of Ukraine and its neighbouring countries”.
Russian pensioner against the war
On Russian television, propaganda is becoming less and less popular- Le Monde
Television, which is accustomed to this kind of provocation in "a propagandist and patriotic atmosphere," as Françoise Daucé, director of the Center for the Study of the Russian, Caucasian and Central European Worlds, reminded us, is nevertheless losing ground.
Since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, viewership has fallen by 25% on the three main Kremlin-dependent federal channels, Perviy Kanal, Rossiya 1 and NTV, according to a study released in Moscow on August 19 by the independent institute Romir. Respectively credited with 33.7%, 25.5%, and 21.1% of audience shares, these three channels regressed to 25.5%, 23%, and 16.6% in July – although television remains the main means of information for the population and the one that still inspires the most trust, analyzed the Levada Center on August 16.
WaPo Bombshell: Trump Took Boxes of Material on Trips Around the World for ‘No Reason’
Boxes of documents even came with Trump on foreign travel, following him to hotel rooms around the world — including countries considered foreign adversaries of the United States.
“There was no rhyme or reason — it was classified documents on top of newspapers on top of papers people printed out of things they wanted him to read. The boxes were never organized,” Grisham said. “He’d want to get work done on long trips so he’d just rummage through the boxes. That was our filing system.”
