Russia-Ukraine battle: Listing of key occasions, day 542 | Russia-Ukraine battle Information

Right here is the scenario on Saturday, August 19, 2023.

Preventing

• A Ukrainian drone smashed right into a constructing in central Moscow after Russian air defences shot it down, disrupting air visitors at all the 4 civilian airports within the Russian capital.
• The variety of Ukrainian and Russian troopers killed or wounded in Ukraine for the reason that battle started in February 2022 is nearing 500,000, the New York Occasions studies, citing unnamed United States officers. Russian casualties are approaching 300,000, together with as many as 120,000 deaths and 170,000 to 180,000 accidents. Ukrainian deaths have been near 70,000, with 100,000 to 120,000 wounded, the Occasions reported.

• Ukrainian forces crossed to the Russian-occupied east financial institution of the Kherson area and have taken up positions. Russian-installed regional governor Vladimir Saldo mentioned Ukrainian “sabotage teams” had managed to cover out on the outskirts of the Russian-controlled city of Kozachi Laheri, close to the Dnipro river. They have been later “cleared out” by Russian forces, he mentioned.
• One individual was killed and two injured on account of Russian shelling of a village close to the southern Ukrainian metropolis of Kherson. 4 folks have been additionally injured after Russia shelled a residential space of Chasiv Yar metropolis, positioned within the Donetsk area near Bakhmut.
• Ukrainian forces are unlikely to succeed in and retake the Russian-occupied strategic southeastern metropolis of Melitopol throughout their counteroffensive, a US official instructed the Reuters information company. Melitopol has been beneath Russian management since March 2022 and has roads and railways utilized by Russian troops to move provides to areas they occupy.
• The Ukrainian army mentioned it made features on the southeastern entrance, pushing ahead from a newly liberated village, Urozhaine, in an tried drive in direction of the Sea of Azov.

Army support

• A public ballot has discovered that greater than half of Germans are towards delivering Taurus missiles to Ukraine. The ballot by public broadcaster ARD discovered 52 % of the Germans surveyed oppose supplying cruise missiles to Ukraine, fearing they may very well be used to assault targets in Russia.
• The US, Japan and South Korea agreed to proceed supporting Kyiv and to take care of sturdy, coordinated sanctions towards Moscow, whereas additionally aiming to additional curb dependence on Russian vitality.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned his nation obtained new army gear from its companions however didn’t specify which international locations. “Heavy gear, artillery, air defence programs are coming in. We proceed [to] work on the following packages. Information will likely be coming quickly,” he mentioned.
• China’s deputy everlasting consultant on the UN, Ambassador Geng Shuang, instructed a UN Safety Council briefing that arming Ukraine “can not win peace” as weapons solely win wars.

Regional safety

• Belarus Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin mentioned that Minsk is defending Russia from a potential NATO assault amid the battle in Ukraine, based on state information company BelTA. “On its territory, Belarus reliably protects Russia from a NATO strike in Russia’s again. It’s a very powerful space of labor for us,” he mentioned.

• Russian and Chinese language warships performed joint maritime patrols within the Pacific involving rescue coaching and drills for countering air assaults, Moscow’s defence ministry mentioned.
• Japan’s defence ministry scrambled fighter jets after two Russian IL-38 information-gathering plane have been noticed flying backwards and forwards between the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.
• Lithuania closed two of its six border checkpoints with Belarus in a transfer introduced earlier this month, citing the safety danger posed by Russia’s Wagner mercenary group.

• North Korea’s newest Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile – its first ICBM to make use of stable rocket gasoline – has ignited a brand new debate over a potential Russian position within the nuclear-armed state’s dramatic missile growth. In a report revealed by the Washington-based Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research, Theodore Postol, professor emeritus on the Massachusetts Institute of Expertise, argued that the Hwasong-18 ICBM is probably going the results of technical cooperation sourced to Russia.

Politics

• The Sakharov Middle, a outstanding rights group in Russia, has been completely closed. The Moscow Metropolis Courtroom mentioned it had “determined to dissolve” the Sakharov Middle, which launched practically three a long time in the past, for illegally internet hosting conferences and exhibitions.
• A brand new college textbook praising the “so-called particular army operation” in Ukraine will likely be issued in Russian colleges in September, the UK Ministry of Defence mentioned. The e book reportedly labels Ukraine as an “ultra-terrorist state”.

Sanctions

• Russia banned entry to 54 United Kingdom nationals, together with the chief prosecutor of the Worldwide Prison Courtroom, Karim Khan, who issued arrest warrants in March for Russian President Vladimir Putin and one other official, accusing them of the battle crime of illegally deporting Ukrainian kids to Russia.
• Russian oil tycoon Eugene Shvidler misplaced an try at London’s Excessive Courtroom to overturn UK sanctions imposed on him after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Shvidler, whose internet value is estimated by Forbes journal at $1.6bn, was sanctioned in March 2022 on the grounds of his affiliation with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. Shvidler’s two non-public jets have been additionally seized.
• A senior Moldovan official mentioned Russia’s resolution to ban a number of Moldovan officers from coming into the nation was regrettable.

Humanitarian

• The US prolonged its momentary protected standing (TPS) for Ukraine and Sudan nationals by means of to the spring of 2025, citing ongoing conflicts of their international locations. The division additionally introduced adjustments that may allow further Ukrainian and Sudanese nationals to use for the standing.
• Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk soccer group will play its residence Champions League video games in Germany this season on the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg. Unable to host European video games in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion, Shakhtar’s residence video games have been held within the Polish capital Warsaw final season.

Black Sea rigidity

• Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu mentioned he hoped 60 % of Ukrainian grain exports will transit by means of Romania. The Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta has been highlighted as a possible transit level for Ukrainian grain amid Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.

Diplomacy

• President Zelenskyy mentioned he signed a key regulation wanted for Ukraine to open EU accession talks, describing the transfer as “one step nearer to the EU”.

• Ukraine’s International Minister Dmytro Kuleba spoke with Bahrain’s International Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani and expressed Kyiv’s gratitude to the Gulf nation for attending the current summit in Saudi Arabia the place they mentioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plan for peace.