[Korrespondent] 23:31 The city of Popasnaya may not be restored, it is almost completely destroyed, said the leader of the "LPR" Pasechnik.
23:29 The head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, said that he had arrived in Latvia, on the agenda of the negotiations - assistance to Ukraine: "I look forward to meeting with senior leadership to discuss security in the region and the importance of continuing to support Ukraine."
23:26 The United States will allocate $ 89 million to Ukraine for the training of sappers who will have to deal with mine clearance, Reuters reports.
23:17 Zelensky said in an evening video message that this war began with Crimea and should end with Crimea - its liberation: "Russia has turned our peninsula, which has always been and will continue to be one of the best places in Europe, into one of the most dangerous places. But we will return to the Ukrainian Crimea."
22:12 The Russians fired at the World community in the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region. According to preliminary information, there are two victims, the gas pipeline was damaged, said the head of the regional council Nikolai Lukashuk.
21:21 The number of victims of the explosions in Novofedorivka has increased to nine, the Crimean Ministry of Health reported.
20:58 The Russians tried to advance near Krasnogorovka, Avdiivka and Pesok, but to no avail. Also, the enemy tried to use reconnaissance groups in the areas of Ivano-Daryevka, Vesele, Yakovlevka and Soledar, but was forced to retreat, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports in the evening report .
20:37 The Armed Forces of Ukraine are behind the explosions at the Saki airfield, writes The New York Times, citing an official from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense: "It was an air base from which planes regularly took off to attack our forces in the southern theater of operations." The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to name the weapon used to strike, but assured that it was a Ukrainian development.
20:11 Aksyonov announced from 20:00 August 9 to 20:00 August 24 a high level of terrorist threat in Crimea.
19:39 Podolyak commented on the explosions in Crimea: "The demilitarization of the Russian Federation is an integral part of ensuring global security. The future of the Crimean peninsula is to be the pearl of the Black Sea, a national park with unique nature and a world resort. Not a military base for terrorists. Everything is just beginning."
19:01 The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that it "cannot establish the cause of the fire" at the Saki airfield, "however, once again it reminds of fire safety rules and a ban on smoking in unidentified places."
"The fact of the fire can be used by a terrorist country in the information war. We do not exclude that the occupiers will "accidentally" find some characteristic "chevrons", "business card" or even "DNA". very hygienic. Keep calm and trust the Armed Forces of Ukraine!" - commented the press service of the department.
18:50 As the main reason for the "state of emergency" at the Saki airfield, "only violation of fire safety requirements" is considered, Russian media report, citing a source in the Russian Defense Ministry. According to him, "there are no signs, evidence, and even more facts of deliberate influence on ammunition in order to undermine it at the Novofedorovka airfield."
18:44 Russia has begun to implement a plan to connect the Zaporizhzhya NPP to the Russian energy system and disconnect it from the Ukrainian one, President of Energoatom Petr Kotin said on the air of the telethon: "Rosatom staff handed over to the station a special program to reconnect the ZNPP to the Crimea. The prerequisite for this program is damage to communication lines ZNPP with the energy system of Ukraine". Kotin added that after switching to the Russian frequency, it will no longer be possible to connect the ZNPP to the Ukrainian energy system.
18:35 The largest Hungarian oil and gas company MOL announced its readiness to pay for the transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline through Ukraine. Earlier, Transneft said that Ukraine stopped deliveries because the Russian side was unable to pay for the service due to sanctions.
18:26 Aksenov said that after the explosions in Novofedorovka, one person died, now "the situation is localized and under control." Five victims, including a child, were taken to the hospital, the regional health ministry said. Four of them were treated for cut wounds with glass fragments and released, another one is in the operating room in a moderate condition.
18:21 Media and local publics report a queue to leave Crimea. Vacationers on the eastern coast of the peninsula leave en masse. According to eyewitnesses, the traffic jam begins "long before the Crimean bridge" and moves very slowly.
18:17 All that is known at the moment about the explosions in Novofedorivka is in the material Explosions at the airfield in Crimea .
18:06 Radio Liberty published satellite images of the Saki military airfield in Novofedorovka a few hours before the explosions. The images show at least 10 Su-24 fighter jets, 14 Su-24 bombers and ammunition depots.
17:16 In DÑ–Ñ—, now you can submit information about housing that was destroyed due to hostilities starting from February 19, 2014, the Ministry of Reintegration reported. Previously, the feature was only available to those whose property was damaged after February 24, 2022.
17:25 The next package of anti-Russian sanctions is expected in the fall, Kuleba said: “Now the EU has such a pause in August. This does not mean that our partners have completely turned off and work has stopped, but we expect the next package of sanctions in the fall, after the resumption of the active political season in European Union".
17:18 Zelensky said that he had held the first-ever talks with the President of the Congo: "He pointed out the need to overcome the food crisis caused by Russia's aggression against Ukraine. He noted the importance of Congo's support for Ukraine, in particular in the UN. Set to deepen cooperation with Africa ".
17:08 Novofedorovka is being evacuated, about 30 people have already been taken out of there, they will be settled in boarding houses and hotels, Oleg Kryuchkov, adviser to the "head" of Crimea, said.
17:02 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that at about 15:20 on the territory of the Saki airfield in the area of ​​​​the settlement of Novofedorovka, "a detonation of several aviation ammunition" occurred on a bunded storage site. As a result of the explosion, no one was injured, aviation equipment was not damaged, the Defense Ministry assured.
"Measures are being taken to extinguish the fire and find out the causes of the explosion. According to a report from the site, there was no fire impact on the bunded ammunition storage area at the airfield," Moscow said.
16:55 In the Kherson region, the invaders began to panic because of the attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Antonovsky and Kakhovka bridges, the head of the OVA, Yaroslav Yanushevich, said. According to him, on the eve of the Antonovsky bridge was surrounded on both sides, local residents were not allowed. Also, because of these events, the mass export of Russian military families living in Kherson began.
16:46 A large base of potential collaborators has been assembled in the Nikolaev region, said the head of the OVA Vitaly Kim: “We have collected a very large base of potential collaborators and we will continue to work with this base ... It was a very effective event (August 6-7), tens of thousands of addresses were worked out apartments and telephones, people were arrested."
According to Kim, a lot of collaborators and traitors fled, while the local civilian population actively cooperated with the authorities. In the future, appropriate measures to detain collaborators are planned to be continued. Tactics will be changed when certain areas and territories are worked out without warning, the head of the OVA added.
16:19 Russian media write about powerful explosions in the village of Novofedorovka in the Saki region of Crimea. The Saki military airfield is located there, from where planes fly out to strike at Ukraine. The adviser to the head of the Crimea confirmed only the very fact of several explosions. Aksenov said that he went to the scene, the circumstances are being investigated.
15:44 Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasily Bodnar said that the launch of the Bayraktar drone production plant is possible before the end of 2023. According to him, the construction will take several months.
15:28 Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin supported the idea of ​​her Estonian colleague to cancel the issuance of tourist visas to Europe for Russians: "It is wrong that while Russia is waging an aggressive and brutal war in Europe, Russians can live as if nothing had happened and travel to Europe as tourists. It's not fair."
15:01 The EU visa code does not provide for the suspension or termination of the issuance of short-stay visas, said the official representative of the European Commission, Arianna Podesta, in response to calls to stop issuing visas to Russians: "We have already adopted seven blocks of sanctions against Russia and are ready to consider new sanctions. However, the issue of visas is the competence of the EU countries, and we do not comment on individual proposals and future sanctions until they are adopted."
14:50 Russia has found new ways to spread its disinformation after the EU blocked RT and Sputnik, writes AP. Thus, in recent months, the number of sites promoting propaganda content has increased dramatically. Some of them have been rebranded, and some of the propaganda duties of the Russian Federation have been transferred to diplomats.
New York-based disinformation research and monitoring firm NewsGuard has uncovered 250 websites actively spreading Russian disinformation about the war. Dozens of new sites have been added to them in recent months. Some resources pose as independent think tanks or news outlets. About half of them distribute messages in English, the rest in French, German or Italian.
14:33 Ukraine returned the bodies of another 17 dead defenders, the Ministry of Reintegration reported.
14:04 One of the two victims of the Russian missile attack on the Uman region on August 8 died in the hospital, Ihor Taburets, head of the Cherkasy OVA, said.
14:02 Podolyak told in an interview with BBC Ukraine that reports about the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Kherson, in particular Arestovich, are part of the information and psychological operation: "Was it the IPSO? Of course, today all public comments are part of the IPSO. We need to demoralize the Russian army. They must understand that there will always be a territory of fire here, that I will burn them here. This is key."
At the same time, the adviser to the head of the Presidential Office added that "the events on the Antonovsky bridge show that it is fundamental for us to liberate Kherson," and therefore "our army is already taking certain actions for this."
13:54 In occupied Severodonetsk, there is neither electricity nor water. As the mayor of the city Alexander Stryuk said, the shops were destroyed, and everything needed was brought from other settlements. Food parcels are handed out to people when Russian television arrives in Severodonetsk.
13:27 Transneft said that on August 4, Ukrtransnafta stopped the pumping of Russian oil through the southern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline towards Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia due to the fact that the Russian company could not pay for the services due to EU sanctions. At the same time, the transit of Russian oil continues through Belarus in the direction of Poland and Germany.
13:21 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that missile strikes near Voronovitsa in the Vinnitsa region "destroyed a buried command post of the Ukrainian Air Force," and a strike on an ammunition depot near Uman in the Cherkasy region allegedly destroyed "more than 300 HIMARS shells."
13:08 If at least a point of conflict with Russia remains, it will be an unfinished war, Podolyak said in an interview with El PaÃs: "First, a tactical defeat of Russia, then - going beyond the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine, that is, the borders of 1991. If it remains with Russia even at the point of conflict, it will be an unfinished war. If Russia does not lose, it will continue to provoke Europe in such enclaves as Transnistria, Georgia or northern Kazakhstan."
12:47 "DPR" is negotiating with North Korea to attract builders to "restore the territories," Pushilin said. According to him, the first groups of builders from the DPRK should arrive in Donbas "in the near future."
12:31 Peskov said that if the production of Turkish drones appears in Ukraine, "it will fall under demilitarization."
12:19 First Deputy Head of the Kherson Regional Council Yuri Sobolevsky said that the Russians are planning to carry out a "cleansing operation" in Skadovsk today: "Everything is according to the knurled scheme - strengthening checkpoints, checking documents and phones, opening garages, searches. Exercise maximum caution!"
12:15 Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Kallas said it was time to "stop tourism from Russia now." According to her, "visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right."
11:39 APU received Turkish BMC Kirpi armored personnel carriers. According to the people's deputy and volunteer Yuri Mysyagin, two marine brigades are already using 50 vehicles, another 150 units are expected to be delivered.
11:27 Two more ships with Ukrainian grain left the port of Chornomorsk, the Ministry of Infrastructure reported. They are heading to the Bosphorus to be checked.
11:22 The losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the front are currently 30-50 people daily, which is about 3-4 times less than at the beginning of summer, Podolyak said in an interview with BBC Ukraine. According to him, heavy losses in early June were associated with the transition to the second stage of the war, when the artillery war began.
"But today the number of losses is decreasing, firstly, because our MLRS are working very effectively at the logistics centers of the Russian army. Secondly, the Russian army is being redeployed along the entire front line. And thirdly, ours have already adapted to the tactics of the Russian army and more mobile, more effective defense," the adviser to the head of the Presidential Office explained.
11:19 The Pentagon explained why there is no HIMARS in the new aid package for Ukraine. According to US Department of Defense officials, 16 systems sent are enough, and now it is important to continuously supply ammunition to them: “These are not the systems that we estimate are needed in the hundreds to have such an impact. In fact, the priority now is to ensure continuous GMLRS stream". GMLRS are high-precision munitions for HIMARS that hit targets at a distance of up to 70 km.
11:15 The "referendum" in the Zaporozhye region will most likely be held in September, the date will be determined "soon", said the "head of administration" of the occupied region Yevhen Balitsky.
10:58 After the ports are unblocked, grain exports from Ukraine will exceed pre-war levels. Thus, according to The Economist, before the war, exports averaged 4.2 million tons per month, in June, when traffic went through the Danube, this figure amounted to 2.5 million tons per month. Now, after unlocking exports, it is expected to export 5 million tons monthly.
10:53 Some European states are secretly making record purchases of Russian oil, writes Bloomberg. Shipments of Russian oil to ports in Italy and Turkey rose to a multi-week high in the seven days before August 5, according to the publication. This is evidenced by the traffic data. Shipments from Russia to the Mediterranean region as a whole were the highest since mid-June.
10:48 The World Bank has allocated an additional $4.5 billion for financial support to Ukraine. The funding package consists of a grant provided by the US. The funds should help the government cover social benefits, medical services and pensions.
10:21 In the Luhansk region, coal mines seized by separatists in 2014 were on the verge of closure due to forced mobilization - the invaders sent almost all the miners to the front, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Gaidai. According to him, the situation is catastrophic, and in order to somehow make up for the losses, residents of neighboring regions of the Russian Federation are invited to work in the mines.
10:05 Zaporozhye NPP operates with the risk of violation of radiation and fire safety standards, Energoatom reports. In particular, as a result of an enemy attack on one of the power units, emergency protection went off, one of the three operating power units was turned off. The nitrogen-oxygen station and the combined auxiliary building were also seriously damaged. There are still risks of hydrogen leakage and radioactive spraying, as well as a high fire hazard. In addition, three radiation monitoring sensors around the ZNPP storage facility site were damaged.
09:44 Explosions were heard in Melitopol late yesterday evening and this morning. According to the mayor of the city, Ivan Fedorov, there are wounded and killed Russian soldiers. Smoke was also seen this morning in the area of ​​the military base of the invaders, which is being attacked for the fourth time.
09:29 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the enemy on the morning of August 9. The enemy suffered the greatest losses in the Bakhmut and Donetsk directions.
- personnel - about 42,640 (+300) people liquidated,
- tanks - 1817 (+6),
- armored combat vehicles - 4076 (+6),
- artillery systems - 964 (+4),
- MLRS - 261 (+0),
- air defense systems - 133 (+1),
- aircraft - 223 (+0),
- helicopters - 193 (+1),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 757 (+3),
- cruise missiles - 185 (+3),
- ships/boats - 15 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 2998 (+5),
- special equipment - 87 (+1).
09:20 Zelensky, Yermak and Kuleba talked via video link with former US President Bill Clinton this night. Among other things, we discussed the situation at the Zaporozhye NPP.
09:12 The Russians fired at Shevchenkovsky and Industrialny districts of Kharkiv at night, there were no casualties, the OVA reported. During the day in the Kharkiv region, one person was killed from shelling by the RF Armed Forces, five civilians were injured.
09:04 Today, the exit of two ships from Chernomorsk, Odessa region, was agreed as part of the grain initiative, the press service of the joint coordination center at the UN reports. The MV OCEAN LION vessel is to deliver 64.7 thousand tons of corn to Incheon, South Korea. The second vessel, MV RAHMI YAGCI, will transport about 5.3 thousand tons of sunflower oil to Istanbul.
08:38 In the Donetsk region, as a result of Russian shelling, three civilians per day were killed: one each in Chasovoy Yar, Novoselovka First and Maryinka. Another 19 people were injured, Pavel Kirilenko, head of the OVA, said.
08:33 One of the members of the Ukrainian paramilitary group Medvedi (a division of Azov), who were taken prisoner at Azovstal, died in the "DPR" pre-trial detention center. The "DNR" stated that the cause of death was allegedly "chronic diseases", which "gave complications on the background of drug addiction."
08:17 In the Dnipropetrovsk region, the Russian army fired at Nikopol and Sinelnikovsky districts at night. In Nikopol, several residential buildings were damaged, shops, workshops, administrative premises and cars were damaged at three enterprises. An employee of one of the enterprises was injured. In the Velikomikhaylovskaya community of the Sinelnikovsky district, there is destruction of housing, previously without victims, said the head of the OVA, Valentin Reznichenko.
07:45 AFU neutralized Russian reconnaissance groups in the areas of Velyka Novoselka and Vremovka, Donetsk region. Meanwhile, the threat of enemy missile and air strikes from the territory of Belarus remains, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in the morning report .
05:38 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that the allegedly fake statement by Russian Major General Valery Vasiliev that the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant "will be either Russian or no one's" distracts from the real risks of a nuclear catastrophe caused by Russia at the ZNPP. Analysts point out that, regardless of origin (or existence), Vasiliev's message is unreliable. It is indirect and does not purport to be an official statement or a statement made on an official Russian news or government website.
The Institute notes that this "probable misrepresentation distracts from the real risks of Russia's militarization of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which may include mining the plant and almost certainly include the dangerous storage of military weapons near nuclear reactors and nuclear waste storage facilities."
04:50 Zelensky said in an interview with The Washington Post that Western countries should ban all Russians from entering . He stressed that "the most important sanctions are to close the borders, because the Russians are taking away someone else's land." According to the president, Russians should "live in isolation until they change their philosophy."
03:07 Vladimir Rogov, a representative of the "administration" of the occupied Zaporozhye region, said that Russian laws have begun to be applied in the region. Thus, the local "police" is already guided by the Criminal and Administrative Codes of the Russian Federation. Also, according to him, the "referendum" in the Zaporozhye region will be held taking into account the requirements of Russian legislation, "which will allow the region to become a new subject of the Russian Federation."