Al Jazeera reviews the main events marking the 25th week of war in Ukraine:
August 10
The Ukrainian General Staff said its forces repelled Russian ground attacks in the vicinity of the cities of Sloviansk, Bakhmut and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine “will not leave an answer” about the deaths of 13 civilians in shelling on the Marhanets, on the northern bank of the Dnieper River directly opposite the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Civilians were killed in a series of 80 missiles The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk province said that from Russian forces 20 houses were attacked.
Ukrainian military intelligence reports that in Russian-occupied Melitopol, large companies are being instructed to tell their employees that Ukraine has been divided with the following messages: “Ukraine is divided. In the territory of the Western regions, the Polish zloty is introduced into circulation, in most stores there is a double price tag. There is nowhere to run from Russia. Ukraine is not what it used to be.”
washington articles report that Ukraine has lost an estimated $12.4 trillion in energy, metals and mineral assets to Russia in the occupied Luhansk and Donetsk regions, providing an explanation for why Russian President Vladimir Putin has prioritized these areas to invade.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the country’s creditors, led by the G7, have agreed deferred payment order until at least 2024, with the possibility of a one-year extension. He said the moratorium would save Ukraine $6 billion in payments, while also helping to stabilize the economy and strengthen its defense.
August 11
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces repelled a Russian ground attack on the town of Pisky near Avdiivka, south of Donetsk province, causing casualties. To the north and center of Donetsk, Russian forces attempted a ground assault on the cities of Siversk and Bakhmut, but were forced to retreat.
Ukraine’s Southern Command said its forces destroyed a Russian artillery depot in the village of Barvinok, 20 kilometers (12 mi) northwest of Kherson, and the headquarters of the Coast Guard Brigade. license plate 126 is located 60 km (37 mi) east of Kherson.
Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Security Council Dmitry Medvedev visits the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) to discuss reconstruction and crimes committed by Ukrainian nationalists. Accompanying him were members of the Russian cabinet and the head of the FSB – Russia’s main security agency.
The Latvian parliament designates Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism because of the war in Ukraine.
Estonia forbids right of entry of Russian citizens carry visas issued by Estonia except for diplomatic, humanitarian and transport personnel.
Ukraine Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov said that 60% of Russia’s combat forces in Ukraine are from volunteers who have signed short-term contracts. Russia began looking for volunteers on a contract basis after hostilities began on February 24. Gromov said that most of Russia’s initial combat force in Ukraine had been killed, wounded or withdrawn.
Sponsoring countries to attend Copenhagen Ukraine Conference 2022 pledges $1.55 billion in military aid to Kyiv. Denmark committed $112 million.
August 12
The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the Russian attacks on the city of Horlivka and the settlement of Zaitseve in Donetsk were partially successful and that a series of ground attacks near Bakhmut were repelled. Russian forces also fought towards the city of Siversk, north of Donetsk, and pushed out of the city of Donetsk, held by Russian-backed forces, into the southern part of the region.
Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said Ukrainian parties near the occupied village of Verkhnokamyanska were still successfully fighting the Russians.
Donetsk military administrator Pavlo Kyrylenko said Russian forces fired 11 rockets into the city of Kramatorsk, damaging homes and forcing residents to flee to safety.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said new M270 multiple launch rocket systems from Britain had arrived in Ukraine, but did not specify how many. Each M270 system has firepower equivalent to two HIMARS rocket launchers. The first M270 system arrived on July 15. The MARS II systems, which are the European variant of the M270, arrived on August 1. In each case, Ukraine did not specify how many systems it had received.
August 13
Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces defeated a Russian advance on the settlements of Lozova and Shyroke in central Donetsk, causing casualties. They also defeated a Russian advance on Avdiivka in southern Donetsk, and a separate advance on Novosilka in Kherson Province.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that they had captured Pisky in Donetsk.
Ukrainian military intelligence reports that Russian forces shelled the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant from the direction of the village of Vodyane, destroying part of the plant’s fire station and the first block of the pumping station at the Underground and Thermal Communication Workshop. .
Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Russian military junta in Zaporizhzhia, said Ukrainian forces under shelling nuclear power plant and the neighboring city of Enerhodar. The self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic ambassador to Russia, Rodion Miroshnik, said Ukrainian forces fired nine projectiles at the factory.
The government of Ukraine’s Kherson province said pensions were once again paid in settlements liberated from Russian occupation. Ukraine says it has liberated 53 settlements since August 2.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Andriy Yermak said the Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzer arrived in Ukraine from Slovakia.
Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny said on Facebook that he and the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley estimated that one-fifth of the units Russia deployed to Ukraine had been defeated. He also said “we are in dire need of artillery fire”, emphasizing Ukraine’s demand for increased missile launches.
Alexander Darchiev, Director of the North American Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said a legislative proposal on the name Russia is a sponsor of terrorism could lead to a complete rupture in diplomatic relations with the United States – something that did not happen even during the Cold War.
“If it is implemented, it would mean that Washington has crossed the threshold of no return with the most severe collateral damage to bilateral diplomatic relations, up to a reduction and even a broken. The party has been warned,” Darchiev told journalists.
Darchiev also said Russia would respond to further shipments of advanced weapons to Ukraine by expanding the war.
“Regarding the correlation between the huge supply of Western weapons to Kyiv and the course and duration of the special military operation, that was clearly defined by Sergei Lavrov. Equipping Ukraine with more long-range weapons systems will lead to the fact that the geographical missions of special operations will be further pushed back, he said.
It is unclear whether Darchiev intends to spread the war beyond Ukraine’s borders.
August 14
Ukraine’s general staff said it defeated Russian attacks on the city of Soledar, the villages of Kodema and Yakovlivka, as well as the settlements of Vershini and Zaitsevo in central Donetsk. However, the Russian forces were partially successful. Further south, near Avdiivka, the Ukrainian general staff said it had defeated a Russian attack on Pisky, which Russia said a day earlier it had occupied, and the city of Krasnohorivka. To the north of Donetsk, the Ukrainian general staff said that they had defeated the Russian advance on Sirne, Ivano-Darivka and Serebryanka.
Ukrainian military intelligence says the Russian occupation authorities in Kherson are collecting census information by distributing questionnaires to pensioners, public utility workers and anyone who questions their authority. surname. They also allegedly threatened to fire medical staff who refused to pay in Russian rubles.
Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said Russian occupation forces are pressuring people homeless by the war to participate in a referendum on the future of the region.
August 15
Ukraine’s General Staff says its forces defeated a Russian scout in Vremivka, south of Donetsk. They also say that the Ukrainian defenders repelled attacks at Soledar and Kodema in the vicinity of Bakhmut in central Donetsk. Haidai said that fighting was ongoing in the occupied Luhansk province and that Ukrainian parties had forced Russian forces to withdraw six times that day.
Further south, near Avdiivka, the Ukrainian General Staff said its forces defeated a Russian advance on Pisky, which Russia said it occupied two days earlier, and Pervomaiskyi in Kharkiv province.
Dnipropetrovsk Governor Velntyn Reznichenko said Russian forces shelled settlements far from the front overnight, damaging power lines, gas pipelines, homes, shops and schools.
Ukraine said it destroyed Russian equipment and ammunition in the village of Novopetrivka in Zaporizhia and Kherson provinces.
August 16
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces repelled Russian ground attacks in the vicinity of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, although fighting continued. In Kherson, Ukraine said it had successfully prevented the Russian maneuver by using reconnaissance forces around the village of Osokorivka.
Russia again accused Ukraine of opening fire on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Ukraine’s air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said the Russian invasion force had about 430 aircraft at its disposal, down from 700 at the beginning of the invasion in February. The number of existing Russian helicopters has increased, from 250 to 350.
Ukraine says it has destroyed 233 fixed-wing aircraft and 196 Russian helicopters so far in the war.
