Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 08-30-2024

Kyiv Post asked passersby in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington DC who they thought would be better for Ukraine.

A Czech-led ammo coalition and the Pentagon say they are firmly on track to get big volumes of 155 mm munitions to Kyiv, while embattled Ukrainian troops on the front line are still badly outgunned.

Key players in a US-Europe coalition working to deliver large-scale volumes of howitzer ammunition to the Ukrainian army say Kyiv’s forces are now receiving the first batches of what should become a flood of hundreds of thousands of critically needed 155 mm artillery shells - but Ukraine’s embattled frontline soldiers have, for the most part, yet to see them.

Czechia’s Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, speaking in Brussels on behalf of a Prague-led group of European states coordinating overseas purchases of howitzer ammunition for Ukraine, said large numbers of shells are already reaching Ukrainian troops.

Ukraine on Friday urged Mongolia to arrest Putin when he visits the country.

The Kremlin said Friday it was not worried that Mongolia could arrest President Vladimir Putin during his visit next week to the member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued a warrant for the Russian leader.

Putin will travel to Mongolia on Tuesday, in a first trip to an ICC member since The Hague-based court issued a warrant for his arrest over the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children in March 2023.

The Russian president praised the Belarusian head of state for his “balanced, far-sighted decisions even in the most difficult situations” on the latter’s 70th birthday on Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded his ally, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, Russia’s highest state order upon the latter’s 70th birthday on Friday.

Putin issued a decree on Friday morning to award Lukashenko the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called for “exceptional merits that contribute to the prosperity, greatness and glory of Russia,” as reported by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

The governor of the region, Oleg Synegubov, said at least 28 people had been wounded in the attacks and that medics were responding at the scenes.

Russian strikes on Friday killed at least four people in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, including a young girl at a playground, the city’s mayor said.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, lies around 40 km (25 miles) from the Russian border and has been bombed persistently by Russian forces since they launched their invasion in February 2022.

Azov Brigade officer Roman Ponomarenko warns that “our front in Donbas has collapsed,” while paramedic Kateryna Polishchuk “Birdie” predicts that “Pokrovsk has a few weeks left.”

The situation on the front line in the Donetsk region has spiraled out of control, according to Roman Ponomarenko, an officer of the 12th Special Purpose Brigade, “Azov,” of the Ukrainian National Guard.

“For a long time, the situation in Donbas was aptly described as ‘difficult, but controlled,’” Ponomarenko wrote on Telegram. “However, now it is out of control. Currently, it looks like our front in Donbas has collapsed.”

On Aug. 26, the largest attack of the war targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure, causing major power disruptions. Officials warn these strikes endanger nuclear facility safety.

During a major Russian attack on Ukraine on Monday, Aug. 26, several power units at Ukrainian nuclear power plants were disconnected from the grid, according to a letter from the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sent on Aug. 28.

The letter reported that at 8:58 a.m. the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant’s first, third, and fourth power units were disconnected from the grid.

American former congressman told about investments in Ukraine

Six-time US Congressman talks about one of the most high-profile cases in Ukraine

In an interview, Jim Slattery, a six-time US Congressman, tells if he expects less attention to Ukraine after the elections in the US, if Western weapons will be allowed to strike deep into Russia, and how pressure on business in Ukraine affects the allocation of US aid. He specifies the Ukrinkom bank case and the litigation with the Deposit Guarantee Fund. 

A closed-door military conference in Dresden attended by senior officers from 35 nations, including Ukraine, got the media into a spin as it drew its own exaggerated conclusions.

A meeting hosted by German Army Inspector General, Lt. Gen. Alfons Mais was held at the Bundeswehr’s OSH Offizierschule des Heeres (Officer Academy) in Dresden from Aug. 27 to 29. Dubbed as a “secret Ukraine-NATO meeting” by the German Bild news agency, senior military leaders from 35 countries, including the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Sweden attended.

Unusually in this social media-heavy era the purpose of the get together and its agenda was not heavily publicized. However, the opening statement made by Gen. Mais and the equipment on display probably gave the strongest clues to at least one item under discussion:

A group of Russian contractors supposedly connected with the country’s defense ministry deployed to Burkina Faso in Africa is now reportedly returning to defend the Kursk region from Ukraine.

“Medvedi,” a Russian private military company (PMC) deployed to Burkina Faso in West Africa, is reportedly returning to help defend the Kursk region from Ukrainian advances after a brief stint in Africa.

French news outlet Le Monde said it received confirmation from Medvedi’s commander Viktor Yermolaev via Telegram on Aug. 22.

Andriy Polukhin, a representative of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, initially claimed that Russian forces controlled 40 percent of Chasiv Yar, but later admitted the error.

Andriy Polukhin, a spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo, has retracted his earlier statement that Russian troops control 40 percent of the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region.

Polukhin told Free Radio that he had made a mistake in his calculations.

Kursk regional authorities create a “Bars-Kursk” volunteer detachment to maintain order in the territories bordering the areas controlled by Kyiv’s armed forces.

The authorities of Russia's Kursk region say they will establish a special volunteer unit to “maintain law and order” in territories that border the areas currently under the control of Ukraine's Armed Forces, regional governor Alexei Smirnov announced on Thursday, Aug. 29. The unit will be called “Bars-Kursk.”

“The main function of the unit is to ensure security in eight evacuated districts, as well as in other areas of the Kursk region,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.

News broke this week that Elon Musk has a couple of Russian oligarchs as investors in his “X” Twitter company. They are small shareholders, but his coziness with the Kremlin is nothing new.

News broke this week that Elon Musk has a couple of Russian oligarchs as investors in his “X” Twitter company. They are small shareholders, but his coziness with the Kremlin is nothing new. In 2023, he refused to extend Starlink internet access to Ukraine and prevented a surprise attack on Russian warships after speaking with a Russian “friend”.

On August 19, a bloodthirsty warlord, Chechen Republic President Ramzan Kadyrov, thanked Musk online for shipping him a Tesla Cyber truck as a gift. He mounted a machine gun on top and took it for a turn on video.

Today, as the world marks International Day of the Disappeared, the International Commission on Missing Persons calls on governments to work proactively to address this growing global challenge.

The Hague, 30 August 2024: – Conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, Gaza, Sudan, and elsewhere have produced a spike in the number of missing and disappeared persons around the world – a trend compounded by the consequences of climate change, including mass migration.

Today, as the world marks International Day of the Disappeared, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) calls on governments and stakeholders to work proactively to address this growing global challenge.

Ukraine has long been a Paralympic powerhouse, and tragically, the number of disabled people in the country has grown ever larger since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Paralympic sports can provide a "new life" for Ukrainian war veterans maimed in the war with Russia, Ukraine goalball player Fedir Sydorenko told AFP on Thursday.

Sydorenko said there were some veterans in the 140-member squad in Paris -- in the sitting volleyball team -- and others took part in the amputees' football European Championship in France earlier this year.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko is known not only for his authoritarian rule but for his many impenetrable statements on the issues of the day.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko celebrates his 70th birthday today,  Aug. 30, 2024.

Often referred to as “the last dictatorship in Europe” by Western media, Lukashenko’s thirty year rule of the country which officially began in 1994, has been marred by an endless stream of human rights abuse allegations and political oppression, which his supporters have hailed as the necessary means to maintain stability, while dissidents say it has led to economic stagnation.

The announcement marks the first reported destruction of an F-16 in Ukraine, just weeks after Kyiv began taking delivery of the supersonic aircraft.

The Voice of America in Ukraine quoted an anonymous military official on Thursday that the staff leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) is looking into various possibilities of the crash of a Western-donated F-16 fighter aircraft on Monday within its home territory, including the possibility of friendly fire from Ukrainian air defenses.

Speaking to the radio outlet on condition of anonymity, the official said that various possibilities are being considered, including friendly fire, a technical malfunction, and pilot error.

Despite Russia's invasion in 2022 and conflict with Moscow-backed separatists since 2014, Ukraine has continued to allow Russian gas to transit its territory to Europe.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that Kyiv will not renew a gas transit contract with Moscow that allows Russia to pump gas across the country to Europe.

The Kremlin has blasted the decision, which brings uncertainty for European countries still buying Russian gas.

As the bells of St Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery rang out in the capital, officials and civilians came to the wall of remembrance to pay their respects.

Kateryna Nosko hung two portraits on a wall in Kyiv as Ukraine marked a day of remembrance on Thursday for the soldiers who died defending the country under the shadow of Russia's invasion.

"I came to honour the memory of defenders who died for Ukraine. I also brought, unfortunately, new portraits to hang on this wall," Nosko told AFP next to the memorial to the fallen.

As other allies balk at letting Ukraine strike deep into Russian territory, the Netherlands, which has provided F-16s, gives Kyiv the green light to strike where it wants “lawfully.”

The Netherlands has confirmed that Ukraine can use their F-16s over Russian territory, provided it adheres to international humanitarian law.

It will allow the Ukrainian military to use other weapons they have supplied on the battlefield under the same conditions, according to Royal Netherlands Air Force Gen. Onno Eichelsheim.

The “Murom-M” is a long-range surveillance device with an optical camera that can identify people up to 10 km away. It also has a thermal imager that detects vehicles at 8 km and people at 4 km.

Anti-Kremlin militia from the Freedom of Russia Legion (LSR) reported on Telegram that they destroyed the Russian Murom-M 24-hour autonomous thermal imaging video surveillance system.

According to the report, the system was taken out by the Groza (Thunderstorm) platoon of the LSR’s unmanned aerial systems strike company.

This railway line connects Russia’s Rostov-on-Don with occupied Mariupol and Berdyansk.

The Atesh partisan movement reported on Telegram that its agents have carried out sabotage operations on a railway line that serves as a key logistics route for the Russian Armed Forces.

This line connects Russia’s Rostov-on-Don with Russian-occupied Mariupol and Berdyansk in Ukraine.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian forces are currently pursuing two immediate tactical efforts as part of their ongoing offensive operation to seize Pokrovsk — a tactical effort along the Novohrodivka-Hrodivka line east of Pokrovsk to seize Myrnohrad and advance up to Pokrovsk's outskirts, and another tactical effort along the Selydove-Ukrainsk-Hirnyk line southeast of Pokrovsk aimed at widening Russia's salient in the Pokrovsk direction and eliminating vulnerabilities to Ukrainian counterattacks.
• The Russian military command likely aims to achieve both of these tactical efforts before launching the more resource-intensive effort to seize Pokrovsk itself, although Russian forces may begin urban combat in Pokrovsk regardless, if progress stalls on these preparatory efforts.
• Russian authorities are creating new volunteer territorial defense units in response to the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast, highlighting Russian President Vladimir Putin's unwillingness to counter the incursion more seriously with a mobilization due to the risks of societal discontent or with large-scale redeployments due to possible disruptions to Russia's ongoing offensive operations in eastern Ukraine.
• Ukrainian forces recently marginally advanced north of Sudzha as Russian forces recaptured some areas of Kursk Oblast on August 29.
• The Ukrainian General Staff reported on August 29 that a Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet recently crashed while defending against a large-scale Russian drone and missile strike.
• Russian authorities arrested and charged former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Army General Pavel Popov with large-scale fraud on August 29.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin will conduct an official visit to Mongolia despite Mongolia's status as a signatory to the Rome Statue and Mongolia’s legal obligation to enforce an arrest warrant for Putin from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
• The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed on August 29 that Ukrainian forces struck the Atlas Oil Refinery in Rostov Oblast and the Zenit Oil Depot in Kirov Oblast on the night of August 27 to 28.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Kupyansk, Toretsk, Pokrovsk, and Donetsk City.
• The Russian government continues to expand pathways for accused criminals to sign military service contracts.