Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 08-29-2024

Military expert Chuck Pfarrer talks with Kyiv Post’s Jason Jay Smart about how the current restrictions put on Kyiv will change the outcome of the war.

An initial report from an unnamed US official said the plane likely crashed due to pilot errors as opposed to being downed by Russia during Moscow’s power grid strike on Monday.

One of the Western F-16 fighters Kyiv received reportedly crashed on Monday during Moscow’s power grid strike against Ukraine.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing comments from an unnamed US official, said the incident was likely caused by pilot errors and that the plane was not shot down by Russia.

A secretive American electronic warfare unit just upgraded software aboard Ukraine’s F-16 fighter jets. It probably won’t be a game changer but it’s still bad news for the Kremlin.

What we know:

On Aug. 26 an elite United States Air Force (USAF) unit specializing in wartime jamming, radar detection and related software development announced that its technicians had just upgraded “electronic warfare capacities” aboard F-16 fighter jets donated to Ukraine by Denmark and the Netherlands.

Russian troops have also resumed the attack in the Zaporizhzhia region, particularly in the Orikhiv sector, after pausing for a couple of days.

Russian troops now control approximately 40 percent of the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, Andriy Polukhin, a spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo, said Thursday, Aug. 29, speaking on the national telethon.

“At the moment, the enemy controls the part of the city near the canal, which is about 40 percent of Chasiv Yar,” Polukhin said.

Ukraine said it’s monitoring the Belarusian border following Minsk’s troop and equipment deployment to the area, though it added there are no immediate threats on the border.

Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service (DPSU) said Belarusian troops are not posing an immediate threat, but, Ukraine is nonetheless strengthening its border against the possibility of a Minsk incursion.

Speaking on television on Thursday, Aug. 29, DPSU Spokesperson Andriy Demchenko reiterated earlier comments that it detected no immediate threats on the border, and that Ukrainian troops are constantly monitoring it and are ready to react.

Belarus has likely used its aviation for the first time to shoot down a Russian kamikaze drone that strayed into its territory in the Gomel Region during an overnight Russian attack on Ukraine.

In the early hours of Thursday, Aug. 29, Belarus likely used its aviation for the first time to shoot down a Russian kamikaze drone that had entered its airspace during a night attack on Ukraine, according to the monitoring Telegram channel Belaruski Hayun.

During another Russian attack on Ukraine, a Shahed drone accidentally flew into Belarusian airspace in the Yelsk district. According to monitoring data, a Belarusian Air Force fighter jet tried to intercept the drone for about 20 minutes. At around 3:55 a.m. in the Yelsk district of the Gomel region, at least two explosions were heard, and a bright flash was seen in the sky.

Russia launched the attacks in response to Kyiv's offensive in Kursk and is also advancing further in the Donetsk region.

Following the extensive attack on large areas of Ukraine by Russian missiles and drones, the Nato-Ukraine Council met on Wednesday. The Nato states pledged greater support for Kyiv but were still unable to agree on lifting the remaining restrictions on using Western weapons against Russia. Russia launched the attacks in response to Kyiv's offensive in Kursk and is also advancing further in the Donetsk region.

Targets in Russia must not be taboo

Sullivan arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, the first US National Security Advisor to visit China since 2016, for three days of talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other high-ranking officials.

Top White House aide Jake Sullivan met a senior Chinese military official Thursday, praising the "rare" one-on-one as he wrapped up a visit to Beijing with plans for presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping to speak soon.

Sullivan arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, the first US National Security Advisor to visit China since 2016, for three days of talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other high-ranking officials.

Ukraine’s river Seym, which originates in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, is polluted with unknown substances, which has led to a mass death of fish and a ban on swimming.

One of the tributaries of the Desna, the Seym River, is experiencing a real ecological catastrophe caused by the activities of the Russians in the Kursk Region, where the river originates.

The first reports about the pollution of the river started coming from locals a few days ago.

A turning point in the first year of the war came when Russia openly invaded with regular army to prevent Kyiv’s forces from encircling Donetsk. A survivor of Ilovaisk recalls his experience.

Ten years ago, Kostiantyn Horbachov broke out of the Russian encirclement near Donetsk, losing his comrades and narrowly avoiding capture.

Horbachov is now a colonel and associate professor at the National Defense University. In the summer of 2014, he participated in the Ilovaisk operation as a major and one of the pioneers in developing unmanned systems.

The Air Force reported that Ukrainian air defense intercepted two missiles and 60 Shahed drones.

In the early hours of Thursday, Aug. 29, Russian forces launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine, targeting multiple regions.

Ukrainian air defense intercepted two missiles and 60 Shahed drones, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said.

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

Vice President Kamala Harris will do her first sit down interview, this time with CNN, since becoming the Democratic nominee, Minnesota Governor Walz. However it’ll happen with her running mate by her side, which has promoted some criticism. The interview will be broadcast at 9pm ET Thursday on CNN.

Five more Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in a second day of raids in the occupied West Bank, with the UN calling for de-escalation. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they were "five terrorists who had hidden inside a mosque" in Tulkarm, near the boundary with Israel. Israel began what it said was a major counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank on Wednesday. There have been conflicting death tolls as the operation unfolded across multiple cities. The IDF said yesterday that nine militants had been killed, five in Jenin and Tulkarm, and four in al-Faraa refugee camp. The Palestinian health ministry said on Thursday that 12 had been killed in IDF attacks so far. - BBC

A postal company said the restrictions on certain drone and radio components were introduced on the state level by Beijing but would not affect commercial cargo.

Starting Sept. 1, China will prohibit the export of numerous radio and drone components through standard parcels delivered by air and sea.

The ban includes components used to build drones, such as motors and cameras for quadcopters, as well as radio systems, portable walkie-talkies and hunting knives.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba joined his EU counterparts in Brussels for a meeting where Russia's invasion of Ukraine dominated the agenda.

Ukraine's foreign minister urged EU states Thursday to pressure Britain and the United States to drop restrictions on using donated long-range weapons against "legitimate" targets deep inside Russia.

Dmytro Kuleba was in Brussels for a meeting of European Union foreign ministers dominated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at a time of fast-shifting developments in the two-and-a-half-year old conflict.

20 years ago both the Khmelnitsky and Rivne Nuclear Power Plants saw extensive development of their capability to support Ukraine’s energy requirements.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the commissioning and start-up of Unit 2 of the Khmelnitsky NPP, in August, and Unit 4 of the Rivne NPP, in October. These were the second and third nuclear power plants built by Energoatom since Ukraine’s independence. These significantly strengthened the nation’s power system, adding 2,000 MW·h of basic capacity.

Both power units saw the installation of the latest control, fire protection, and anti-seismic protection systems. At the time of commissioning, the facilities were the most modern power units in the domestic nuclear estate. They increased the capacity of Ukrainian nuclear power plants to 13,835 MW and the share of nuclear generation for the country’s energy needs to over 50 percent.

Vote in favor of sealing private debt deals and first foreign debt payment suspensions according to the new law.

Ukraine’s private creditors voted positively to enable debt restructuring, approving the deal, Bloomberg reported. The deal allows Ukraine to ease the debt burden and remain a possibility to participate in capital markets as soon as war will pass to a cooler phase.

The voting in favor included outstanding sovereign and guaranteed Ukravtodor Eurobonds, totaling Hr.20.47 billion ($497 million) [Hr. 24.3 billion ($590 million) with the accrued interest].

Russia has recently been advancing towards Pokrovsk and has regularly announced that it has taken control of nearby villages.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that the situation around the eastern city of Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region, was now "extremely difficult".

Russia has recently been advancing towards Pokrovsk and has regularly announced that it has taken control of nearby villages.

Ukraine intends to fight tax evasion through a key retail channel – transfers between bank cards, meant to keep the transaction from becoming part of a legal income report.

The National Bank of Ukraine imposed restrictions on outgoing transfers from one bank card to another, also known as peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. One individual’s transactions cannot exceed Hr.150,000 per month ($3,700) on all bank accounts, opened in one bank.

The limits are not imposed on volunteers with a legitimate status and on individuals whose income is higher than Hr.150,000 per month ($3,700) on the condition such income can be legitimately proven to the bank.

He was granted conditional release against a bail of five million euros and on the condition he must report to a police station twice a week as well as remaining in France.

France on Wednesday charged Pavel Durov, the founder and chief of Telegram, with a litany of violations related to the messaging app and banned him from leaving the country while allowing the billionaire to walk free after four days under arrest.

Durov, 39, was charged on several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on the popular messaging app following a hearing with investigating magistrates in Paris.

Ukrainian strike drones have not only destroyed the Russian “Sapphire” electronic warfare complex but also inflicted casualties on Russian forces.

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) have successfully destroyed Russia’s latest “Sapphire” electronic warfare (EW) complex in the Kursk region, according to a statement from the SSO on Telegram.

“Operators of the SSO of Ukraine targeted and destroyed the ‘Sapphire’ Russian EW complex in the Kursk region,” the caption on the released video read.

Drones attacked an oil storage facility in the Kirov region of Russia, 1500 km from the Ukrainian border. This is the first drone attack in this region.

Unidentified drones targeted a fuel storage facility in the city of Kotelnich, Kirov region, Russia, approximately 1500 km from the Ukrainian border, according to several Russian media outlets on Wednesday, Aug. 28.

“A few minutes ago, a drone strike hit Kotelnich. The drone attacked a fuel storage tank,” reported the governor of the Russian region, Alexander Sokolov.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Multiple reports from Western media indicate that the US government is prohibiting the United Kingdom (UK) from allowing Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles to strike military targets in Russia.
• Several Russian milbloggers claimed on August 28 that the tempo of Ukrainian attacks in Kursk Oblast has slowed and that Ukrainian forces are now attempting to dig in and hold select areas they recently seized.
• Ukrainian forces conducted drone strikes against oil infrastructure in Rostov and Kirov oblasts and reportedly conducted a drone strike against Voronezh Oblast overnight on August 27 to 28.
• The prominent Kremlin-linked Rybar Telegram project's continued meetings with Iraqi officials appear to be supporting Iranian-backed Iraqi efforts to gain greater control of their information and media space.
• Kremlin newswire TASS will soon open an office in Iran, supporting Moscow's efforts to deepen its partnership with Tehran.
• Russia's allies appear to be increasingly restricting their transactions with Russian companies and financial institutions amid ongoing concern about the impact of secondary US sanctions.
• The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reportedly prevented a terrorist attack in the Republic of Ingushetia on August 28.
• Ukrainian forces recently regained positions in the Siversk direction.
• Russian forces recently advanced southeast of Kupyansk, within Toretsk, southeast of Pokrovsk, and northeast of Vuhledar.
• The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) is reportedly supporting the creation of a new type of combat unit that will specialize in using and countering drones, unmanned systems, and other electronic equipment in occupied Zaporizhia Oblast.