Friday, August 30

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Two MIG-29 planes fly in honor of fallen F-16 pilot Oleksii Mes during his funeral ceremony on Aug. 29, 2024 in Shepetivka, Khmelnytskyi Oblast. Mes died on Aug. 26 as a result of an air crash during one of Russia’s largest mass missile attacks against Ukraine. (Libkos/Getty Images)

F-16 fighter jet crashes in Ukraine, military confirms. One of the F-16 fighter jets recently delivered to Ukraine crashed while repelling a Russian mass attack, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Aug. 29.

Russia controls part of Chasiv Yar, military says. If Chasiv Yar is fully captured, Russian forces could utilize its elevation to gain an increased advantage for attacks on the neighboring towns of Kostiantynivka and Druzhkivka, as well as the larger nearby city of Kramatorsk, said Andrii Polukhin, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s 24th Mechanized Brigade.

Fighting near Pokrovsk ‘exceptionally brutal,’ Syrskyi says. “The enemy throws everything that can move and advance into the battle, trying to break through the defenses of our troops,” Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.

Russian troops reportedly leave Burkina Faso due to Kursk incursion. A Russian private military company with links to Russia’s Defense Ministry is withdrawing from Burkina Faso due to Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk Oblast, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Aug. 29.

EU to speed up arms, energy equipment deliveries to Ukraine, Kuleba says. The European Union will speed up the delivery of weapons and equipment for Ukraine’s energy system, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said after an informal meeting with EU counterparts in Brussels on Aug. 29.

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Russian troops forced to retreat in Vovchansk after failed assault preparations, Ukraine says. In a post on Telegram, the Kharkiv group of forces said Russian soldiers were traveling in two tanks and two other armored vehicles “as part of preparations for assault operations.”

Russian crime at Ilovaisk in 2014 won’t go unpunished, Zelensky says on Defenders Remembrance Day. The “planned, cynical Russian war crime” during the battle of Ilovaisk in 2014 “will never (be allowed) to go unpunished,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the day of commemoration of fallen Ukrainian soldiers on Aug. 29.

‘Systems are there, what is lacking is final go’ — Kuleba urges partners not to delay Patriot deliveries. “Good progress has been made, and announcements were made, but again, some Patriot systems were announced and not delivered yet,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told journalists ahead of an EU ministerial meeting in Brussels.

4 nuclear power units disconnected after Russia’s Aug. 26 strike on Ukraine. “We are talking about the power units 1, 3, and 4 of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, as well as the power unit 3 at the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant (in Mykolaiv Oblast),” the Presidential Office head, Andriy Yermak, said on Aug. 29.

76% of Ukrainians consider all Russians responsible for invasion, poll says. Nearly 80% of Ukrainians consider all Russians, rather than the Kremlin alone, responsible for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, according to a poll by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation published on Aug. 29.

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Ukraine war latest: Ukraine’s F-16 fighter jet crashes, killing pilot

The Air Force announced that pilot Oleksii Mes had been killed on Aug. 26. “Oleksii destroyed three cruise missiles and one attack drone while repelling a massive Russian combined air and missile attack,” the military said.

Photo: Jakub Porzycki/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Ukraine strikes Russian airfields with homemade weapons

With a U.S. ban on missile strikes deep inside Russia still in place, to minimize Russia’s capacity to launch mass attacks, Ukraine is forced to employ domestically produced drones to target airfields and launch sites.

Photo: Google Maps

NABU scandal deepens: Deputy chief slams boss after recommendation on his ouster

The future of Ukraine’s top anti-corruption agency hung in the balance as its second-in-command lashed out at his boss after a disciplinary commission recommended firing or reprimanding him.

Photo: Gizo Uglava / Facebook

In 2014, one Ukrainian writer kept a diary during Russia’s occupation of Donetsk

“The catastrophe of occupation unfolded gradually, hour by hour, day by day. That’s probably why, at first, we couldn’t believe it; then we couldn’t stop it,” Olena Stiazhkina writes.

Photo: Genya Savilov / AFP via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 5, injure 43. Ukrainian air defenses reportedly shot down 60 of the 74 “kamikaze” attack drones launched by Russia overnight, while 14 others fell or were lost on Ukrainian territory, the Air Force said.

Opinions and insights

Opinion: The Kursk incursion underlines the urgency of unrestricted support for Ukraine

“Now is not the time to micro-manage Kyiv’s actions or to withhold supplies and impose strict caveats on equipment use, especially against military targets in Russian territory, out of fear of escalating the war, possibly to a nuclear level,” Alfonso Prat-Gay, Karin von Hippel, Greg Mills, and Juan-Carlos Pinzon.

Photo: Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images

The Counteroffensive: How Ukraine uses ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to frame its battle for survival

“The word “orc” has been widely used as a synonym for a Russian soldier since the full-scale war against Ukraine began. Such associations existed long before but became a national narrative in response to Russian atrocities and war crimes in 2022,” writes Mariana Lastovyria.

Photo: Facebook

International response

Pennsylvania plant boosts production of 155 mm shells used by Ukraine by 50%, US officials say. The Scranton plant has upped its output of 155 mm shells from 24,000 rounds per month to 36,000, with the modernization elements likely to contribute to a further increase, factory officials said.

Ukraine receiving shells from Prague-led initiative on schedule, Czech foreign minister says. The Prague-led ammunition initiative is delivering supplies to Ukraine on schedule, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Aug. 29.

Kursk incursion is Ukraine’s right of self-defense, Latvian FM says. “And Ukrainians have been very, very careful and very, very diligent in not going after civilians (in Kursk Oblast), in not doing what Russians have been doing on the Ukrainian territory. This is the normal military counteractions, so this counteroffensive, in our view, is also covered by the right of self-defense,” Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said.

Budapest against ‘more weapons in Ukraine,’ Hungarian foreign minister says. Hungary does “not want more weapons in Ukraine” and does not want “an escalation of the war,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote on Facebook on Aug. 29 after an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers.

Belarusian aircraft shot at stray Russian drone for first time, monitoring group says. A Belarusian fighter jet attempted to down a Russian Shahed-type drone that flew into Belarus’ airspace during an overnight attack against Ukraine on Aug. 29, the Belarusian Hajun monitoring group said.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Toma Istomina, Elsa Court, Kateryna Denisova, Oleg Sukhov, Martin Fornusek, Chris York, Abbey Fenbert, and Dmytro Basmat.

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