Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 09-08-2024

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

Two months after France's inconclusive snap elections, and just days after Michel Barnier's appointment as prime minister, the mood among demonstrators in downtown Paris on Saturday was one of rage and despair. Amid cries of “Macron Out!, Resign Macron!” leftist demonstrators gathered in the autumn sun in their thousands to protest against French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to appoint the veteran conservative prime minister, rather than a candidate from among their ranks. While falling short of an absolute majority, the left-wing coalition the New Popular Front (NFP) (made up of the Greens, the Socialists, the Communists and the hard-left France Unbowed) won the most votes in the July 7 snap poll. - France 24

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency services announced that three people were critically wounded following gunfire near the Allenby Bridge on the Israel-Jordan border. Police said that the attacker was shot. The IDF spokesperson's unit said that the incident was a terror attack. Haaretz reported the crossing has been closed until further notice

A Ukrainian aerial scout told Kyiv Post that the drone’s detonation mechanism might malfunction, but operators can usually trigger the explosion remotely.

Videos have surfaced on social media showing a Russian soldier reportedly catching a Ukrainian FPV drone with his hands and carrying it for a while before it exploded.

On Thursday, September 5, the 68th Separate Hunting Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) released initial footage showing a Russian soldier catching the drone and running with it in his hands until it detonated.

Early Sunday, military radars detected a drone breaching Romanian airspace before it returned toward Ukraine.

Romania on Sunday said a Russian attack drone targeting civilian infrastructure in neighbouring Ukraine overnight had entered its airspace, strongly condemning the "renewed violation" brought on by Moscow's "illegal attacks".

Since launching its invasion in February 2022, Russia has repeatedly carried out nightly attacks on cities across Ukraine, frequently targeting ports in the southern Odesa region after exiting a grain export deal.

Local historians and enthusiasts in Lviv have gathered a large collection of valuable exhibits and unique personal effects belonging to Ukrainian heroes

Russia’s current war in Ukraine, which extends back to 2014, has left a legacy of scars and pain for millions. The material remnants of Russian aggression include destroyed buildings, damaged property and captured reminders of enemy equipment.

Ukraine’s museums, which had declined in the post-Soviet era due to a lack of funding and exhibits, have become time capsules for history in the making, and as places for learning and reflection.

In the latest of an array of solutions that have been used to shield tanks against drone attacks on Ukraine’s battlefield, Russia is repurposing rubber mats.

The Russian Ministry of Defense’s TV channel, TVZvezda reported a new batch of T-90 tanks being transported by train from Uralvagonzavod, Russia’s main tank manufacturer. It was noticeable that the vehicles were equipped with reinforced rubber mats covering the gap between the tank’s turret and hull as well as over the rear engine louvres. It is claimed this is the latest anti-drone measure installed by the manufacturer.

Poltava Governor Philip Pronin reported that three more people injured in the Russian attack on Poltava on September 3 had died in hospital, raising the death toll to 58.

Ukraine on Sunday said three more people wounded in a major Russian missile strike on the city of Poltava last week succumbed to their injuries, taking the death toll to 58.

The September 3 attack on the central city was one of the most lethal Russian hits in months, targeting a military education institute.

The progress made in advanced drone technology in the Russo-Ukrainian War is frightening if we consider the fact that Russia intends to defeat the West with any advantage gained.

The Kyiv Post today published a video featuring trench warfare via drone, and then a drone-versus-drone battle. It is an interesting war technology development.

As Russia’s war against Ukraine has progressed, almost every aspect of war tactics by modern militaries has been completely disrupted by air-borne, sea-based, and increasingly surface-based drones. Both Ukraine and Russia – and by extension NATO countries and China – are trying to get the upper hand. When battlefield frontline drones are being deployed by the thousands every day, they have become the military equivalent of World War I artillery and even chemical-weapons-delivering artillery.

An explosion rocked a motor vehicle enterprise, killing two people. Authorities fear more victims may be trapped under the rubble as search and rescue efforts continue.

In Kyiv, an explosion occurred on the premises of a motor vehicle enterprise on Sunday, September 8, leading to fatalities, according to Kyiv officials.

The first reports of the explosion surfaced on social media, though no official air raid alarm was issued at the time. Local media reported that law enforcement had restricted traffic on Vasylkivska Street following the incident.

On September 8, elections are held in the shelling-prone Kursk, Bryansk, annexed Crimea, Sevastopol, and nearby Volgograd, Lipetsk, and Tula regions.

The Kremlin refused to cancel next month’s elections in the Kursk border region despite Ukraine’s ongoing offensive there, deeming it “only a local crisis” from a military perspective, said three Russian officials familiar with the election preparations.

The officials agreed to speak on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Portugal’s Top Diplomat Has Called on the EU to Prepare for Ukraine’s Accession

Portugal is actively lobbying for Ukraine to become a member of the European Union and calls on Brussels to prepare for future enlargement in advance.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said this in an interview with Bloomberg,

The Mongols once ruled over the ancestors of Russians and Chinese alike. Today Mongolia is so dependent on both Moscow that it must welcome Putin against international outrage to ensure survival.

In the remote, landlocked nation of Mongolia, the arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin this week was met with a mix of diplomatic caution and quiet resignation. Despite an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for his arrest, Mongolia found itself unable – or unwilling – to detain Putin as he stepped onto Mongolian soil. The country’s response? An effective shrug of the shoulders, a tacit acknowledgment by Ulaanbaatar of the impossible position it finds itself in.

Mongolia is no stranger to the complexities of geography and, more pertinently, geopolitics, given it is caught between two relative superpowers: Russia and China, Mongolia’s foreign policy has long been one of balance – carefully treading a path that maintains good relations with both while cautiously extending a hand to Western democracies. This balancing act, however, has become more perilous as the global geopolitical landscape shifts, particularly in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Polish scholar and essayist Małgorzata Gorczyńska considers the differences between Eastern European and Western ways of reading – not only literature but also the world and history.

“Poets are just as smart as generals and more dangerous.” —Danilo Kiš

I.

Russia launches nightly attacks on Ukraine using kamikaze drones and missiles. What made the overnight assault on September 8 unusual was the violation of Romanian airspace by Russian Shahed drones.

A Russian airstrike on Sumy in the early hours of Sunday, September 8, killed two people and injured four, including children, according to the Sumy Region Prosecutor's Office.

Serhiy Kolyada on what Ukraine is still bravely waiting for.

Following the latest round of funding, Ukrainian-founded rental startup Rentberry is now reportedly valued at $1 billion, becoming the latest startup “unicorn” from Ukraine.

Rentberry, a Ukrainian rental startup based in San Francisco, reportedly became the country’s latest unicorn valued at more than $1 billion after raising $90 million in the latest funding.

Unicorn is a financial term used to describe startups with over $1 billion in value.

Unsealed Indictment Reveals $10 Million in Funding from RT to MAGA Personalities

A recently unsealed indictment filed by the Department of Justice in the Southern District of New York has revealed one element of Russia’s ongoing election interference campaign. According to the document, two Russian nationals identified as Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva were part of a misinformation campaign aimed at American voters.

Specifically, these two individuals provided editorial guidance and pushed pro-Russian talking points to a collection of American streamers and social media figures affiliated with Tenet Media in exchange for $10 million dollars’ worth of funding over several months.

Kyiv Post's special photographic correspondent reports on the brave women of Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, which is very close to the Russian border and under constant attack.

“War Goes On, Donate!”

This is the message that Anya and Nataliia bring to the streets of Kharkiv. As we stage dramatic protest poses around the city’s central landmarks, many citizens approach us to congratulate and thank them, often with a spontaneous donation. Many ask if they can take a photo alongside us, and one young man insisted that I keep his military cap!

Ukrainian forces have begun using fire-spewing drones against Russian positions in tree lines and forests.

Ukrainian forces have begun using fire-spewing drones against Russian positions in tree lines and forests.

Menacingly dubbed ‘dracarys drones’ in reference to HBO’s Game of Thrones in which the word is used as a command to order dragons to breathe fire, the new piece of hardware rains down molten pieces of metal on its targets.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will discuss Asia and the Middle East and "our collective efforts to support Ukraine," State Department spokesman said in a statement.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will head to London next week to discuss the Middle East and Ukraine, the State Department announced Saturday, ahead of a US visit by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Blinken's visit to London on Monday and Tuesday will be the senior-most by a US official since Starmer's Labour Party won July elections, ending 14 years of Conservative rule.

Even though Russia admits it is fighting a war against the “collective West,” leaders in the West prefer to dismiss such statements rather than muster up the political will to ensure Russia’s defeat.

Even though Russia admits it is fighting a war against the “collective West,” leaders in the West prefer to dismiss such statements rather than muster up the political will to ensure Russia’s defeat.

This is Part 2 of the interview with Dr. Agnieszka Bryc, PhD, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland. Part 1 can be viewed here.

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

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says that no single military weapon will be decisive for Ukraine to defeat Russia's full-scale invasion and that the use of donated U.S. weapons for long-range strikes into Russia would not turn the tide of the war in Ukraine's favour. In a potentially game-changing statement, he told reporters that Russia had moved its glide bombs back to positions beyond the range of U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS). He also noted that Ukraine itself had significant capabilities to attack targets well beyond the range of the British Storm Shadow cruise missile. Austin made the comments after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy personally appealed to the group for more weapons support from its Western allies and called on allies to allow Ukraine to use the weapons they provided to strike deeper inside Russia. - RFE/RL

My comment: the decision by Washington came just after the Zelensky team ousted its widely-respected minister of foreign affairs, Dmytro Kuleba. Also on the heels of some other decisions that prompted head scratching overseas, including the firing of the head of state-owned UkrEnergo. President Zelensky and his team appear to be fighting headwinds that are, in part, self-inflicted.

A Ukrainian strike reportedly destroyed a Russian 152mm Msta-S self-propelled gun, leaving it completely burned.

The Special Operations Forces (SSO) reported via Telegram the destruction of a Russian 152mm Msta-S self-propelled artillery mount using FPV drones, along with a video of the strike.

During surveillance, soldiers from the 73rd Center of Special Ops identified a Russian 2S19 Msta-S artillery system moving into position.