Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 08-15-2024

Speculation has long swirled about who was behind the operation, with both Ukraine and Russia denying any involvement.

Ukraine on Thursday rejected as “absolute nonsense” suggestions it was involved in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, which transported Russian gas to Europe via the Baltic Sea.

The Wall Street Journal reported late on Wednesday that Ukraine’s then-top military commander, Valery Zaluzhny, oversaw the plan to blow up the pipelines in September 2022.

The world was shocked and amazed when thousands of Ukrainian troops stormed into Russia on Aug. 6. Having trouble keeping up with all the news? Here’s what to know.

The Ukrainian president said the country has captured the entire town of Sudzha, which houses a gas metering station that controls the last route of Russian gas transit to Europe through Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had captured the entire town of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region, which is located 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Ukrainian border, citing reports from Oleksandr Syrsky, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief.

“Additionally, General Syrsky reported the successful liberation of the city of Sudzha from Russian forces. A Ukrainian military commandant’s office is being established there. Several other settlements have also been liberated. In total, more than 80,” read Zelensky’s social media update on Thursday, Aug. 15.

Zaluzhny – now Ukraine’s ambassador to Britain – said he did not know anything about such an operation and any suggestion to the contrary was a “mere provocation.”

The sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022 was approved by senior officials in Kyiv, a report said Thursday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initially giving his support. 

Speculation has long swirled about who was behind the operation, with both Ukraine and Russia denying any involvement. 

From a tactical standpoint, Ukraine achieved a major military victory. But the more far-reaching success has been strategic and psychological, impacting decision-makers in both Washington and Moscow.

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OPINION

A slight situational rate reduction.

Complete report (4 pages, 465KB)The new "reserve" notes attracted demand from banks and helped the Ministry of Finance raise two-thirds of the UAH7.2bn received for the budget.

This three-year instrument collected almost UAH8.7bn of bids with rates from 16.29% to 16.5%, but the Ministry set the cap at UAH5bn.

The Ukrainian army entered the Kursk region on August 6, capturing dozens of settlements in the biggest offensive by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II and forcing thousands to flee.

The UN rights office said on Thursday that it has asked Moscow to allow it to visit Russian regions affected by a cross-border attack by Ukrainian forces.

"I can confirm that the UN Human Rights Office has sent a request to the Russian authorities to facilitate access by the Office to areas of the Russian Federation affected by the hostilities, including Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk regions, further to our human rights monitoring and assessment mandate," Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in an email to AFP.

Contrary to Russian propagandists' claims that Moscow has halted such exchanges, Lubinets confirmed that communication between Ukrainian and Russian ombudsmen is ongoing.

Russia has reportedly initiated negotiations for a prisoner exchange for the first time since launching the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv's ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on the United News telethon.

Lubinets attributed this unexpected move to the situation in Russia's Kursk region.

In the absence of any official mechanism for locating their kids, Russian parents are inundating non-governmental humanitarian and human rights groups for help tracking them down.

As the armored formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) burst into the Kursk region on Aug. 6, social media from both sides was soon filled with reports of conscript Russian soldiers armed only with personal weapons being killed, wounded or captured. For their parents and other relatives there was no official system to find out the fate of their loved ones.

The independent news site “iStories” spoke with a representative of an unnamed non-governmental human rights organization (NGHRO) that is being swamped with appeals for help from relatives desperately searching for news of those missing or assistance to prevent conscripts from being sent to the combat zone.

A captured Russian T-90M tank has been spotted being operated by Ukrainian forces near the area of the ongoing incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

A Russian T-90M tank with Ukrainian operational markings was spotted in Ukraine’s Sumy region, near the Russian border with the incursion into Russia’s Kursk region ongoing. 

A week after the Kursk incursion started, AFP photographer Roman Pilipey photographed the tank, on Wednesday, Aug. 14. It was marked with the white triangles, that have become a feature of Ukraine’s move into the Kursk region to distinguish its vehicles from Russian forces, and with the word “Pirozhok” – meaning meat pie in Ukrainian – written on the side.

Most Ukrainian men of fighting age cannot leave. Thousands have risked swimming the Tysa River to reach Romania, avoiding mobilization.

Set among mountains and woods, a dog playing on its pebbled shore, the river marking Ukraine's border with Romania looks tranquil. But 39 men have drowned here fleeing the draft.

Facing a desperate shortage of men to fight on the eastern front where the Ukrainian army is being driven back by advancing Russians, Kyiv in May passed a law on mobilisation to replenish its ranks.

Ukraine’s SBU provided Kyiv Post with photographic and video evidence of the 102 Russian soldiers they captured during a special operation in Russia's Kursk region.

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) special forces captured 102 Russian soldiers on Wednesday Aug. 14 in the Kursk region of Russia, which currently marks the largest single capture of enemy troops and gave Kyiv Post the evidence to prove it.

The rebel group that claimed responsibility for July’s clashes with Wagner mercenaries and Malian government forces said it did not receive any assistance from foreign countries, including Ukraine.

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the Tuareg rebel alliance in Mali that claimed responsibility for the July clashes with Russian Wagner mercenaries and Malian government forces, rejected claims that it received assistance from Ukraine or other foreign powers.

Between July 25 and July 27, armed clashes took place between the Tuareg rebels and Malian government forces, the latter augmented by Russian mercenaries, at the border town of Tinzaouaten in northern Mali, near the Algerian border.

Russian authorities have said that around 120,000 people have fled or been evacuated from the area. European commentators debate how Russia will respond.

According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian troops are continuing to advance into the Russian border region of Kursk, and more Russian soldiers have been captured. Russian authorities have said that around 120,000 people have fled or been evacuated from the area. European commentators debate how Russia will respond.

Kyiv's main goal not yet achieved

Serhiy Kolyada on the the current mood in the Kremlin bunker.

In the biggest prisoner exchange since the Cold War, Warsaw freed a Russian-Spanish national suspected of spying for Moscow while posing as a freelance journalist who covered the war in Ukraine.

Poland on Wednesday said its prosecutors had filed espionage charges against a Russian-born man who has already been released from prison as part of a major Moscow-West swap deal.

In the biggest prisoner exchange since the Cold War, Warsaw freed a Russian-Spanish national suspected of spying for Moscow while posing as a freelance journalist who covered the war in Ukraine.

The name of Kursk has been synonymous with war for more than 80 years and that reputation is unlikely to be diminished after the events of the last week even if not on the same scale.

Kursk occupies a special place in the Soviet history of World War II. The town gave its name to the largest tank battle ever known – the 1943 Battle of Kursk involved up to two million soldiers, 4,000 aircraft, 6,000 tanks, and numerous other vehicles lasting a total of 50 days. The battle thwarted the plans of the German command and was a turning point in the war for the Soviet Union.

Could this be why Kursk region was chosen for this summer invasion?

Ukrainian officials have said the Kursk offensive was an act of self-defence against Russian troops, whose full-scale invasion stretches into its third year.

Ukraine said Wednesday its army would allow the evacuation of civilians from Russia's Kursk region into Russia and Ukraine and create a buffer zone in the area where its troops launched a major offensive.

Catching Russian troops by surprise, the Ukrainian army entered Russia's Kursk region on August 6, capturing dozens of settlements and triggering the evacuation of tens of thousands on both sides of the border.

Since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, EU countries have paid €200 billion for Russian fossil fuels, mostly oil and gas, according to an analysis by think-tank CREA.

The rise in gas prices in Europe attributed to Ukraine’s recent invasion of Kursk, is expected to add to Russian revenues from selling fossil fuels, further widening the gap between such payments and the total amount of EU support to Kyiv.

Since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, EU countries have paid €200 billion for Russian fossil fuels, mostly oil and gas, according to an analysis by think-tank CREA.

The report marked the first time a Ukrainian news outlet broadcast from Russian territories since the 2022 invasion began and indicated that Ukraine likely controls the town of Sudzha.

A Ukrainian news crew made its first news broadcast from the town of Suzdha in Russia’s Kursk region, 10 km (6 miles) from the Ukrainian border, marking the first Ukrainian news report from Russian territories since the 2022 invasion began and indicated that Ukraine likely controls Sudzha.

As reported by TSN, Ukrainian troops removed the Russian flag from one of the buildings in Sudzha, a town that also hosts the Sudzha gas metering station, the only route of Russian gas transit to Europe through Ukraine.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces marginally advanced in Kursk Oblast amid a generally slower tempo of Ukrainian operations as Russian forces continue attempts to stabilize the frontline in the area.
• Ukrainian officials continue to discuss ongoing Ukrainian operations in Kursk Oblast and offer their interpretations of the political impact that Ukraine may aim to generate.
• Ongoing Ukrainian operations in Kursk Oblast are generating tangible defensive, logistical, and security impacts within Russia.
• The Russian government continues recruitment efforts to support operations in Kursk Oblast.
• Chechen Akhmat Spetsnaz Commander Apty Alaudinov seems to be posturing himself as the spokesperson for the Russian defense in Kursk Oblast, but his claims have consistently been false and largely contradict claims made by relatively reliable Russian milbloggers.
• Ukrainian forces conducted a large series of drone strikes against Russian air bases in Russia on the night of August 13 to 14, damaging several airfields.
• Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party furthered a narrative echoing a Kremlin information operation meant to justify Russia’s violence against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states formerly colonized by the Soviet Union and Russian Empire.
• Russian forces advanced north of Kharkiv City and southeast of Pokrovsk.