[Korrespondent] 23:07 There are not enough ships to transport Ukrainian grain, and most of what can be exported does not end up in distressed countries. Ukraine also suspects Russia of exporting stolen grain through the Crimean ports. For more details, see the material The Grain Treaty - Does it bring results?
23:01 The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Kiev "cannot guarantee the safe passage of the IAEA to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant," alternative routes are "the subject of further negotiations."
22:58 During his visit to Ukraine, Erdogan intends to discuss steps to end the war "by diplomatic means", Anadolu reports. In particular, it is planned to discuss the export of Ukrainian grain to world markets. Erdogan will visit Lviv on a one-day working visit at the invitation of Zelensky. The presidents will discuss all aspects of Turkish-Ukrainian relations at the level of strategic partnership. Also during the visit, the leaders will meet with UN Secretary General Guterres.
22:13 Zelensky, in an evening video message, commented on the explosions in Crimea and urged Ukrainians to stay away from Russian military facilities: "Every day and night we see new reports of explosions in the territory temporarily occupied by the occupiers. And now I ask all our people in Crimea, in other regions in southern Ukraine, in the occupied areas of Donbass and Kharkiv region, be very careful. Please do not approach the military facilities of the Russian army and all those places where they store ammunition and equipment, where they keep their headquarters."
According to the president, the causes of explosions in the occupied territory can be "very different" - in particular, if we quote the definition of the occupiers themselves, "bungling." "But they all have the same meaning: the destruction of the logistics of the occupiers, their ammunition, military and other equipment, command posts - saves the lives of our people. The less the occupiers have the opportunity to do evil and kill Ukrainians, the faster we can end this war by liberating our land And the queue to leave Crimea for Russia across the bridge proves that the vast majority of citizens of the terrorist state already understand or at least feel that Crimea is not a place for them," Zelensky stressed.
21:55 Minister of Education and Science Serhiy Shkarlet said that 41% of educational institutions are ready to start the offline educational process.
21:38 Zaluzhny said that he spoke by phone with the Chief of Defense Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces, General Wayne Donald Eyre: "The situation at the front is tense, but completely controlled. The location of missile systems along the state border from the side of the Republic of Belarus, including at the airfield, causes concern Zyabrovka".
According to Zaluzhny, the enemy continues to advance along the entire front line, while carrying out about 700-800 shelling of Ukrainian positions daily, using from 40 to 60 thousand ammunition. The main efforts are focused on ousting Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk region. The most tense situation is now in the Avdiivka-Peski-Marinka direction.
21:00 The Russians launched a missile attack on a military airfield in the Zhytomyr region, the Air Command Center reports. According to the command, this afternoon the occupiers lifted planes from the territory of Belarus and, trying to disguise aviation activity as training flights, launched a missile strike with two X-59 guided air missiles, presumably from Su-34 fighter-bombers. As a result, the runway and several vehicles were damaged. The personnel were in hiding, so they were not injured.
20:29 Zelensky and his team met with representatives of the group of world leaders The Elders - former UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and ex-President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos Calderon. "Our important goal is to ensure that the topic of the war in Ukraine remains in the global information space. Support for Ukraine and our common victory depend on this," Yermak commented.
20:04 UN Secretary General António Guterres will visit Lviv on Thursday, August 18, and Odessa on Friday, his office said. The visit will be devoted to discussing the "product deal", the situation with the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant and the mission for the pre-trial detention center in Yelenovka. It is also expected that the UN Secretary General will meet with the presidents of Ukraine and Turkey.
19:46 Since the beginning of this day, the Ukrainian military has repulsed the offensive of Russian aggressors in the Donbass, as well as near Novogrigorievka in the Yuzhnobugsky direction, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports in an evening report .
19:08 In Kherson, the Russian military has set up a torture room in a reception center for children - about 60-70 residents of the city are kept there, said Stanislav Troshin, deputy head of the district council. According to him, people are kept in appalling conditions. Kherson mayor Igor Kolykhaev is also being held there.
18:51 In the 40 days that have passed since the capture of Lisichansk and the settlements around it, the Russian army has not advanced even 10 kilometers in any of the directions of the 1000-kilometer front. For more details, see the article Dead End in War .
18:33 The Finnish Foreign Ministry has officially announced that since the beginning of September it has been halving the number of applications received from Russians for Schengen visas.
18:07 Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov announced another attack on the Saltovsky district. "Preliminary - no casualties, but with a fire. I ask everyone to be in shelters," he wrote.
17:59 The Rada adopted as a basis a bill banning salutes, fireworks and firecrackers. The document proposes to ban the use, sale and transfer of fireworks, salutes and firecrackers. The ban does not apply to the use of pyrotechnics by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Police and emergency services.
17:27 Zelensky said that he had spoken on the phone with Danish Prime Minister Matte Frederiksen: "Thanked for the productive meeting of defense ministers and the new assistance package from Denmark. He noted Denmark's leadership in the restoration of the Mykolaiv region. We discussed increasing financial support for Ukraine and strengthening sanctions against the Russian Federation."
17:03 If the authorities had warned the Ukrainians about the upcoming Russian invasion back in October, then Ukraine would have held out for three days, Zelensky said in an interview with The Washington Post. According to him, the silence of the authorities about the plans of the Russians made it possible to avoid mass emigration, a recession in the economy and, on the whole, to keep the country: “Nothing would be left. There would be a political war within the country, because we would not be able to hold out on 5-7 billion dollars a month. We would not have been able to get out of this situation, and the country would have been in chaos."
16:59 Orekhov, Zaporozhye region, was under massive Russian shelling today. According to the head of the OVA, Alexander Starukh, one person died, six were injured, including three employees of the energy company who were engaged in the restoration of networks. Dozens of private houses and civilian infrastructure were damaged.
16:55 The Russian army again fired at the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region this afternoon. As a result of a strike on residential areas of Nikopol from Gradov and cannon artillery, at least four people were injured, one of them was hospitalized, said the head of the OVA, Valentin Reznichenko.
16:40 Zelensky, in an interview with The Washington Post, called on the West to close the borders for Russians and impose an embargo on energy resources to prevent the preparation of "referendums" in the occupied Ukrainian territories: "There is nothing in these sanctions that would take away property or human life. I At the beginning, he said that I consider the closure of borders to be the most important sanctions, because they take away foreign territory. Well, let them live in their own world until they change their philosophy."
16:11 Zelensky said that he had spoken on the phone with Macron: “I informed about the situation at the front, Russia’s nuclear terrorism at the ZNPP. He thanked France for significant defense support. We discussed strengthening macro-financial assistance to Ukraine and challenges in the field of food security. We should increase sanctions pressure on RF".
15:52 Missiles were fired at the Zhytomyr region from the territory of Belarus, there are no casualties, the head of the UVA Vitaly Bunechko said.
15:19 A series of explosions occurred on the occupied peninsula on August 16. Moscow claims sabotage. More details - in the material The war came to the Crimea .
15:16 The mayor of Nikopol Yevgeny Yevtushenko urged citizens to leave the streets, the threat of shelling has been declared in the city.
15:00 The FSB of the Russian Federation stated that on August 4, 9 and 12, Ukrainian saboteurs allegedly blew up power transmission towers through which the Kursk NPP supplies industry, transport, social infrastructure and the population of the Kursk region and neighboring regions. The actions of the saboteurs "led to disruption of the technological process of the operation of the nuclear power plant", a criminal case has been initiated on the terrorist attack, and the search for "criminals" is underway.
14:53 The fictitious trial in the "DPR" over foreign citizens is a gross violation of the rules of warfare, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said: "The fictitious trial of Russia in the Donbass over foreign citizens serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a humanitarian worker is insignificant. This is still one proof that Moscow is flagrantly violating the rules of war. International humanitarian law must apply to all prisoners of war and civilian detainees."
14:31 The New York Times writes, citing an anonymous Ukrainian official, that behind the explosions at a military base in Maysky, Dzhankoy district, there is an "elite Ukrainian unit" that operated behind enemy lines.
14:22 Ukraine has the right to use weapons from Western partners, in particular from Germany and Sweden, to protect its territorial integrity. This was stated by the heads of government of Germany Olaf Scholz and Sweden Magdalena Andersson at a joint press conference in Stockholm. Answering the question whether the Armed Forces of Ukraine can use the weapons provided by Germany and Sweden to return the Crimea, Scholz said: "We support Ukraine with the supplied weapons. These weapons are so that Ukraine can use them to protect its territorial integrity and sovereignty."
14:08 There were about 50 units of various equipment at the military base near Dzhankoy, StratCom reports. According to preliminary data, at least eight S-400 air defense systems, three S-300 air defense systems and five Pantsir-S1 air defense systems were deployed there. Also in the area of ​​the Azovskaya railway station, unloading was carried out: 17 armored combat vehicles, ten self-propelled guns Gvozdika, seven self-propelled guns Msta-S, two self-propelled guns Pion and three MLRS BM-21 Grad, as well as ammunition. In addition, 440 TPK - transport and launch containers were concentrated at the airfield. They were planned to be sent to the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions for shelling Nikolaev and Zaporozhye, "especially on the eve and immediately on August 24."
14:02 Aksenov announced the introduction of a state of emergency of a regional nature after the "detonation of ammunition" in the Dzhankoy region.
13:55 Zelensky changed the composition of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander, introducing Vasily Malyuk (first deputy head of the SBU), Igor Tantsyura (commander of the Troop Forces) and Viktor Khorenko (commander of the Special Operations Forces) into it. The President also approved the Commander of the National Guard Yuri Lebed as part of the Headquarters. Ivan Bakanov, Grigory Galagan and Yuri Galushkin were excluded from the composition.
13:46 The Rada has changed the preventive measure procedure for spotters - now it is impossible to get out on bail before the trial, People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak said.
13:44 Residents of the village of Gvardeyskoye in the occupied Crimea report explosions and puffs of black smoke at a military airbase, Kommersant writes. The Dozhd TV channel clarifies that a mixed aviation regiment of military unit 46451 is based at the airbase in Gvardeisky.
13:41 Russia is increasing the number of military helicopters around Ukraine, Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said: "The enemy is pulling up aviation equipment from within the country. Currently, there are about 430 enemy aircraft around Ukraine, but the group of helicopters has grown, about 360 helicopters." In early February, he said, there were about 400 planes and 250 helicopters around Ukraine.
13:39 The head of the Zhytomyr OVA, Vitaliy Bunechko, announced two explosions as a result of a missile attack on the territory of the Zhytomyr region.
13:33 Huge queues have formed to leave Crimea, Tamila Tasheva, the presidential representative in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, said: "The war came to Crimea like this" unexpectedly ". The invaders and colonialists are already fleeing Crimea. Today, after another careless handling of ammunition by the invaders, it detonated in the Dzhankoy district "People are hiding in basements. There are huge queues to leave Crimea." Tasheva urged Ukrainians in Crimea to be careful, hide in equipped places or their basements, and prepare everything they need.
13:21 The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine commented on the information that Belarus is preparing for a massive missile attack on Ukraine. Yuri Ignat, a spokesman for the Air Force Command, noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are constantly monitoring the movement of troops and the transportation of ammunition.
"This threat has always existed, since Russia has been using the territory of the Republic of Belarus from the first days of full-scale aggression, striking from there ... Therefore, we must, of course, prepare. A big national holiday is coming soon - Independence Day. The enemy always uses such dates for "congratulations", and we must be ready for this," Ignat emphasized and added that the Air Force already lives in 24/7 readiness mode.
12:57 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that the explosions near Dzhankoy were the result of sabotage , a military warehouse was damaged. Damage was also caused to a number of civilian facilities, including "power lines, a power plant, a railway track, as well as a number of residential buildings," the department added.
12:51 Macron will discuss the situation around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant with Zelensky today, French media report.
12:48 Another 19 bodies of dead defenders have been returned to Ukraine, the Ministry of Reintegration reported.
12:36 The transformer station near Dzhankoy, where a fire broke out today, could be used to supply electricity from the Zaporozhye NPP to Crimea, Podolyak said on the air of the telethon: “What is a transformer station? electricity to Crimea. I think this is karmic retribution. What is stolen does not bring prosperity."
Speaking about the explosion at the ammunition depot near Dzhankoy, Podolyak noted that, "based on the level of intelligence of the Russian army, the number of such excesses will grow in the Crimea."
12:13 In the event of an accident at the Zaporozhye NPP, about 400 thousand people are subject to forced evacuation, said the head of the Zaporizhzhya OVA Oleksandr Starukh: "The situation is dangerous, and not only for the Zaporozhye region. If we take a 50 km zone of mandatory evacuation as a result of a possible accident at a nuclear power plant, then this more than 200 thousand in our region and 200 thousand in the Dnipropetrovsk region, including the cities of Nikopol, Marganets, Energodar, Vasilievka, Dneprorudne and others." Starukh added that it is very difficult to fully implement measures of civil protection of the population, because part of the territory has been occupied.
12:03 Canada has frozen $320 million worth of Russian assets as part of economic sanctions against the Russian Federation, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which monitors compliance with the sanctions, said.
11:54 The people of Kiev returned about 1,000 weapons from 6,500 machine guns, which were massively issued at the beginning of the Russian invasion. The rest of the weapons are registered, said the head of the capital's National Police, Ivan Vyhovsky: "Now there is a question of creating a unified register for the circulation of weapons, it requires a legislative settlement, this will allow an inventory of the weapons that Ukrainians have in their hands."
11:29 Five ships with a cargo of corn and wheat left the ports of Chernomorsk and Yuzhny today, the Turkish Defense Ministry said. Also, the Joint Coordinating Center will inspect four vessels that will go to Ukrainian ports.
11:15 Yermak commented on the explosions in Dzhankoy: "Operation" demilitarization "in the jewelry style of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue until the complete de-occupation of Ukrainian territories. Our soldiers are the best sponsors of good mood. Crimea is Ukraine."
11:13 Russian propagandist Zemfira Suleymanova, who allegedly was engaged in "humanitarian aid" and realized her "dream of becoming a real military journalist," died in Donbas. According to Russian media, she was blown up by a mine.
11:09 "Authorities" of Crimea reported that as a result of the "dispersal of ammunition" a section of the railway in the Dzhankoy area was damaged, restoration work is underway.
11:06 In Estonia, the T-34 tank is being dismantled in Narva. It will be removed from the pedestal and delivered to the Estonian War Museum in Viimsi, the country's authorities said.
10:56 Aksenov, after the explosions near Dzhankoy, announced a reduction in the route of trains to Crimea - they will stop near Feodosia, and people will be taken by buses further along the peninsula.
10:47 Putin said that the US is "trying to drag out" the conflict in Ukraine. Shoigu, in turn, added that in Ukraine, Russian servicemen are confronted by "the combined forces of the West, which control the leadership of this country in a hybrid war against Russia."
10:40 Finland will reduce the number of visas issued to Russian tourists by 5-10 times, said Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto. According to him, priority in issuing entry documents will be given to those who want to visit Finland for study, work or family reasons. Now Finland daily accepts about a thousand applications for a visa from citizens of the Russian Federation.
10:36 Shoigu said that Russia does not intend to use chemical or tactical nuclear weapons in the war with Ukraine. According to him, from a military point of view, "there is no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine to achieve the goals."
10:17 In Mariupol, due to a shortage of teachers, teachers were banned from leaving the city, they are not issued passes. Moreover, according to Mayor's adviser Pyotr Andryushchenko, facts of "persuasion" to return to work through beatings are becoming widespread: "Individual patrols visit teachers at home and explain the need for cooperation with butts. All this happens with the assistance and under the accompaniment of collaborators."
10:02 Podolyak about the next explosions in Crimea: "The morning near Dzhankoy began with explosions. Let me remind you once again that the Crimea of ​​a normal country is about the Black Sea, mountains, recreation and tourism. And the Crimea occupied by Russian militants is about explosions of warehouses and growth mortal danger for invaders and thieves. Demilitarization in action".
09:45 In the Poltava region, on the territory of the Lubny territorial community, firing practice will be held on August 16 and 17, warned the head of the OVA Dmitry Lunin.
09:28 In the occupied Melitopol, two explosions were recorded this morning in the area of ​​​​the substation, after which the broadcasting of on-air television seized by the Russians stopped. According to preliminary information, the transit cable was damaged, Mayor Ivan Fedorov said.
09:24 British intelligence believes that the threat to Odessa from the sea has been largely neutralized, and the limited effectiveness of the Russian Black Sea Fleet undermines the overall Russian invasion strategy. That means Ukraine could divert resources to put pressure on Russian ground forces in another region, analysts say.
09:20 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that in the morning in the Maiskoye area in Crimea, "a fire broke out on the territory of a bunded area for temporary storage of ammunition in a military unit." As a result of the fire, the stored ammunition detonated. "There are no serious injuries," the cause of the fire is being investigated, the department added.
Aksyonov said that two civilians were injured as a result of the "detonation".
09:16 The head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Refat Chubarov, reports that the hit was on the military unit of the Russians in the village of Azov, near Maisky. Meanwhile, Russian media write that about 2,000 people were evacuated from the village of Mayskoye. According to local "authorities", "the detonation of ammunition occurred" in the village of Mayskoye, Dzhankoysky district of Crimea, at about 6:00.
09:12 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the enemy on the morning of August 16. The enemy suffered the greatest losses in the Donetsk direction.
- personnel - about 43,900 (+150) people liquidated,
- tanks - 1880 (+4),
- armored combat vehicles - 4152 (+11),
- artillery systems - 989 (+4),
- MLRS - 263 (+2),
- air defense systems - 136 (+0),
- aircraft - 233 (+0),
- helicopters - 196 (+1),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 790 (+3),
- cruise missiles - 190 (+3),
- ships/boats - 15 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 3049 (+5),
- special equipment - 92 (+0).
08:51 In the Dnipropetrovsk region this night, the Russian army attacked two districts - Nikopol and Krivoy Rog. In Krivoy Rog, the settlements of Maryanskoye and Velikaya Kostromka of the Zelenodolsk community were affected, two people were injured, said the head of the OVA, Valentin Reznichenko. In the Krasnogrigoryevsk community of the Nikopol district, private houses, warehouses with grain and equipment of a local agricultural enterprise were damaged. The gas pipeline and the power line were interrupted.
08:49 Near Dzhankoy, the evacuation of the population began due to the detonation of ammunition after the explosion in the village of Mayskoye, Russian media report, citing local officials.
08:46 As a result of night attacks in Bereznegovatoe settlement of the Nikolaev area one person was lost, one more is wounded, houses are destroyed, the head of OVA Vitaly Kim reported. In Pervomaisk, as a result of the shelling, an educational institution and private houses were damaged; in the village of Shirokoye, a house was damaged.
08:44 The mayor of Kramatorsk Alexander Goncharenko reported on the night shelling of the city. The private sector suffered, houses were destroyed. According to preliminary information, no casualties.
08:42 In the Donetsk region over the past day, one civilian died from Russian shelling - in Konstantinovka. Two more people were injured, Pavel Kirilenko, head of the OVA, said.
08:39 The mayor of Slavyansk, Vadim Lyakh, announced night strikes on the city. According to him, several neighborhoods were affected. A quarry was on fire in Lesnoy, the building of the hostel of the Pedagogical University was damaged.
08:31 In Crimea, according to local media, there were two emergency situations at once - a fire at a transformer substation in Dzhankoy and a detonation at an ammunition depot in the village of Maiskoye. "Head" of Crimea Aksyonov said that he went to the scene in the village of Maiskoye near Dzhankoy, he did not specify the details.
07:40 The Russians are attacking in the direction of the Lisichansk Oil Refinery - Ivano-Daryevka, as well as in the direction of Solodka - Novomikhailovka, where they have partial success, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports in the morning summary .
06:26 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes about a split in the pro-Russian forces fighting in Ukraine. In particular, the militias of the so-called "LPR" refused to continue fighting in the Donetsk region and complained about the grueling pace of the offensive outside the Luhansk region.
Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces have carried out several limited ground assaults northwest of Slovyansk, as well as numerous offensive operations east and southeast of Seversk and northeast and southeast of Bakhmut. They continued offensive operations to the northwest, west and southwest of Donetsk, made a limited ground assault north of Kharkov.
05:38 In the event of a nuclear war between Russia and the United States, more than 5 billion people will die, scientists at Rutgers University in the US state of New Jersey have calculated. In particular, 360 million people will die from the explosions themselves, and more than 5 billion will become victims of starvation caused by nuclear winter and climate change. The remnants of the population will be provided with a minimum amount of food for survival at the rate of 1911 kilocalories per day.
04:11 The Russians fired at night on five of the nine districts of Kharkov - Shevchenkovsky and Kievsky (actually the very center of the city), Saltovsky, Industrial and Kholodnogorsky, Mayor Igor Terekhov said. According to him, such a radius of impact of missiles on the city "was not there for a long time." There is currently no information about the victims, in some cases there is destruction of infrastructure and other facilities, roads.
01:03 Six more M109 howitzers that recently arrived in Ukraine from Latvia are already showing results on the battlefield, Reznikov said.