Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 08-27-2024

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement on Tuesday corroborated earlier reports that the new Western multirole fighters would first be used for air defense instead of striking ground targets.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said F-16s were used to shoot down missiles during Russia’s power grid strike on Monday. 

“We destroyed already some missiles and drones using the F-16,” Zelensky said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday without further elaboration.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense published promotional videos depicting the use of M-46 130mm howitzers, obsolete since the 1970s, in the Kursk region in its attempt to entice fresh recruits.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense has boasted its use of 1950s M-46 howitzers in defending the Kursk region against Ukrainian advances in two promotional videos in an attempt to entice Russians to join the military. 

In the 1970s, the Soviet military stopped producing the 130mm M-46s in favor of the more powerful 152mm systems. An M-46 is also a towed howitzer, weighing close to 8 metric tons and requiring eight crews to operate, which limits its mobility.

The Big Meet, Kyiv’s top networking organization, will host its next event at the InterContinental on Friday, August 30 with proceeds helping rescue animals in combat zones, including soldiers' pets.

Ahead of this Friday’s event, Kyiv Post met with The Big Meet’s Olga Kearly, the owner and organizer-in-chief, and discussed the rooftop gathering at the InterContinental Kyiv’s b-hush Lounge Bar, its last official summer event for 2024.

She told us how it wasn’t until after the full-scale war started that The Big Meet truly found its purpose by incorporating philanthropy into its events, helping to promote worthy causes in the war-torn country.

President Volodymyr Zelensky shared the update at a press conference on Tuesday without further elaboration after reports of long-range missile development surfaced a year ago.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had tested its first domestically produced ballistic missiles.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday, Zelensky named the “positive test of the first Ukrainian ballistic missile” as one of Ukraine’s achievements but refused to elaborate further.

Reporting on the progress, Syrsky said that Kyiv’s forces now control 1,294 square kilometers (almost 500 square miles) and 100 settlements in the Russian border region of Kursk.

Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky provided an update on Ukraine's ongoing cross-border offensive in the Kursk region during the “Ukraine 2024. Independence” forum, as reported by Kyiv Post correspondent on Tuesday, Aug. 27.

The operation, which began on Aug. 6, was strategically planned to establish a security zone in the Sumy region aimed at halting Russian shelling and protecting civilian infrastructure.

According to the pro-Kremlin Telegram channels, around 60 Ukrainian soldiers, supported by 8 armored vehicles, launched the operation at approximately 8:00 AM.

Pro-military Telegram channels have reported an attempted incursion by Ukrainian forces into Russia’s Belgorod region. However, accounts of the scale of the operation vary widely. The region’s governor confirmed that the situation at the border “remains difficult.”

Belgorod sits directly across the border from Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and has been subjected to repeated shelling and drone attacks by Kyiv’s forces since May 2023.

On a recent visit back in his homeland, Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia conveyed greetings to Australians on the other side of the globe, thanking them for their continued support.

While I’m currently back in Ukraine from my diplomatic posting in Canberra, I have had the chance to speak to everyday Ukrainians about Australia, and their views are very heartening. To put it simply, while Russia’s war on Ukraine is savage and sinister, a silver lining of the last two years has been that Ukrainians and Australians have become closer based on shared values.

Yes, it’s undeniably the case that Australia and Ukraine are geographically distant from each other. Historically, Ukrainians knew little about Australia beyond the “kangaroo cliché” and the connection via Mykola Mykluho-Maclay, a 19th-century explorer and botanist from Kyiv who eventually made a home and name for himself in Sydney. I suspect Australians knew even less about Ukraine, which only gained its independence from Soviet Russian control in 1991.

Though repair work is ongoing, a former official said heavy restrictions could extend well into next week even if there are no fresh strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Ukraine has introduced extensive blackout schedules to stabilize the energy system following Russia’s strike on Ukrainian energy infrastructure on Monday.

On Monday, Aug. 26, Russian drones and missiles battered Ukraine’s power grid across 15 regions, killing at least four people and damaging the Kyiv Hydropower Power Plant (HPP) and an unspecified number of generation and transmission facilities.

French prosecutors accuse the 39-year-old billionaire of failing to curb the spread of illegal content on Telegram -- charges his company denies.

The Kremlin said Tuesday that France had levelled "very serious" charges against Telegram CEO Pavel Durov and warned Paris against trying to intimidate him, after the tech tycoon was arrested at a Paris airport last week.

French prosecutors accuse the 39-year-old billionaire of failing to curb the spread of illegal content on Telegram -- charges his company denies.

Kyiv has repeatedly asked the Biden administration to remove restrictions on using American long-range missiles within Russia to enhance its offensive capabilities.

Kyiv is prepared to provide Washington with a list of long-range targets in Russia that could be struck using American weapons, according to Politico.

This week, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and senior presidential adviser Andriy Yermak are expected to make a final attempt to persuade Washington to lift restrictions on using American long-range missiles.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is casting fresh doubt on whether a September 10 debate will take place on ABC amid a dispute over the rules, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN. Trump’s team, according to the source, would like for the microphones to be muted throughout the debate except for the candidate whose turn it is to speak, as was the case during the first debate with President Joe Biden. The Harris campaign, however, is requesting that ABC and other networks seeking to host a potential October debate keep microphones on, according to a senior campaign official, marking a change from the June debate when the then-Biden campaign wanted microphones muted except when it was a candidate’s turn to speak.

The United Nations says it has had to temporarily suspend its aid operation in the Gaza Strip because of Israeli military evacuation orders in the centre of the Palestinian territory. A senior UN official told reporters that its humanitarian staff had been unable to operate on Monday because of safety concerns. Evacuation orders covering parts of the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in and around the central town of Deir al-Balah - where the UN has its main operations centre - had forced staff to relocate quickly and leave equipment behind, they said. However, the official stressed that UN agencies would not be leaving Gaza and were now trying to find somewhere to operate safely. More than 40,430 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. - BBC

The statement came after Ukraine’s foreign ministry warned against Minsk’s decision to transfer troops and equipment to the Gomel region bordering Ukraine.

Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service (DPSU) said it did not detect troop or equipment movements near the Ukraine-Belarus border.

Andriy Demchenko, the DPSU’s spokesperson, said on television that Ukraine maintains control over the border and detected no “non-standard situations.”

The overnight attacks came one day after the Kremlin launched one of its largest-ever aerial attacks on Ukraine that battered energy facilities and left several dead.

Ukraine said Tuesday that its air defence systems had downed five missiles and 60 attack drones in a second night of Russian aerial bombardments that killed four.

The overnight attacks came one day after the Kremlin launched one of its largest-ever aerial attacks on Ukraine that battered energy facilities and left several dead.

Russia’s latest massive attack on Ukraine has led to widespread blackouts once again, with Kyiv claiming that repair work can only commence after demining due to the use of cluster munitions.

Russia used cluster munitions against “civilian objects” in Ukraine during Monday’s massive missile strike, said President Volodymyr Zelensky.

On Monday, Aug. 26, Russian drones and missiles battered Ukraine’s power grid across 15 regions, killing at least 4 people and forcing authorities to introduce emergency blackouts.

He is accused of not adequately combating the use of Telegram for criminal activities, such as drug trafficking, fraud, and sexualized violence against children.

Pavel Durov, the Russian billionaire and founder and CEO of messaging service Telegram who also holds French citizenship, has been arrested on entering France. He is accused of doing too little to combat the use of Telegram for criminal activities such as drug trafficking, fraud and sexualised violence against children and of not cooperating with the investigating authorities.

The secret services will also have their reasons

Modi, who angered Ukrainians by hugging Vladimir Putin in Moscow recently, visited Kyiv on Friday and told Volodymyr Zelensky that “no problem should be solved on the battlefield.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke with US President Joe Biden about his visit to Ukraine, with the White House voicing hope that he embraced Kyiv's view on ending Russia's invasion.

Modi, who angered Ukrainians by hugging Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow recently, visited Kyiv on Friday and told President Volodymyr Zelensky that "no problem should be solved on the battlefield."

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of attempting to strike the Kursk nuclear plant, which lies less than 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the active frontlines.

The head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, is scheduled to visit Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant on Tuesday, August 27. This visit comes shortly after Ukraine's recent cross-border offensive into the Russian region, with Grossi aiming to "independently assess" the unfolding situation.

The IAEA has been vocal about the risks associated with military activity near nuclear facilities since the war between Russia and Ukraine escalated in February 2022. In the early days of the war, Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine and briefly held the decommissioned Chornobyl site in the north.

Hopes that the next US president will adopt a bolder policy towards Russia are not only about Ukraine but preventing dictatorships threatening Western democracy and the rule of law.

US President Joe Biden is convinced of his victory over Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a June interview with ABC News, he declared that he had stopped Putin. And in his farewell address at the Democratic National Convention, he boasted “Putin thought he’d take Kyiv in three days, but three years later, Ukraine is still free!”

Unfortunately, this is only a half truth. Yes, Ukraine is still free. But it is still at war, and Putin remains free to continue waging it.

Russia fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukraine on Monday, killing at least four people and battering the country's already weakened energy grid, officials said.

Ukrainian authorities issued new air raid alerts across the country on Tuesday as Russian bombers took to the skies, a day after Moscow carried out a "massive" attack on Ukraine's power grid.

Russia fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukraine on Monday, killing at least four people and battering the country's already weakened energy grid, officials said.

President Zelensky previously told Indian media that air defenses guard Putin’s dachas, Moscow, and St. Petersburg, but not “ordinary towns.”

Pantsir-S1 air defense systems near the Russian Interior Ministry Department in St. Petersburg.

“Our agent conducted surveillance of the Russian Interior Ministry Department for the Primorsky District of the city and shared some intriguing information with us,” read a statement posted by the guerrillas on Telegram.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russia conducted one of the largest combined series of drone and missile strikes against Ukrainian critical infrastructure to date on August 26.
• Ukraine issued a warning to Belarus amid the recent buildup of Belarusian forces at the Ukrainian border in Belarus' Gomel Oblast.
• The current Belarusian build-up along the Ukrainian border is likely intended to divert and stretch Ukrainian forces along a wider frontline, as ISW continues to assess that Belarusian forces remain unlikely to invade Ukraine due to constraints facing Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
• Ukrainian forces reportedly attempted to strike Engels Air Base in Saratov Oblast and an oil refinery in Yaroslavl Oblast with drones on the morning of August 26.
• Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations within their salient in Kursk Oblast on August 26, but neither Russian nor Ukrainian forces made any significant confirmed or claimed advances.
• The Kremlin may be leveraging the leadership of the prominent Kremlin-linked Rybar Telegram channel to set cultivate increased Russian influence in Iraq.
• Russian Presidential Administration Deputy Head Sergei Kiriyenko was reportedly in charge of a Kremlin think tank that tried and failed to establish rhetorical justifications for Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine after the fact, underscoring the Kremlin's rhetorical failures in the first months of the war and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s continued prioritization of loyalty over competency in officials.
• Russian forces recently advanced northeast of Kharkiv City, north of Chasiv Yar, southeast of Pokrovsk, and west of Donetsk City.
• The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) continues to recruit foreigners to fight with the Russian military in Ukraine.