As the war enters its 901st day, these are the key developments.
This is the situation on Wednesday, August 14, 2024.
Kursk raid
- The commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskii, said Kiev’s troops had taken control of 74 settlements in Russia’s Kursk region and were still advancing, gaining control of 40 square kilometers (15 square miles) of territory in the last 24 years. hours.
- In Russia, special forces commander Major General Apti Alaudinov said Ukrainian troops had been detained. The Defense Ministry said Russian troops repelled attacks on villages about 26 to 28 km from the border. Kursk regional governor Alexei Smirnov called on residents to show patience and character, warning that “the crisis has not yet been overcome”.
- US President Joe Biden said Ukraine’s military incursion into Russia “has created a real dilemma” for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In his first substantive comments since Kiev launched its surprise attack on August 6, Biden said he was briefed on developments every four to five hours. Officials stressed that the US had no role in planning or preparing the attack.
- Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas said Russia was moving troops from its Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad to Kursk.
- Russia called an informal meeting of the UN Security Council and criticized Ukraine’s allies for not condemning Kiev’s incursion. “We will not recognize the aggressor as a victim,” said Slovenian diplomat Klemen Ponikvar, one of several members who accused Russia of hypocrisy, double standards and wasting the council’s time. Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently occupies about a fifth of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory.
Fighting in Ukraine
- At least one person died and two were injured in Russian shelling in the Ukrainian region of Sumy, on the border with Kursk. The Sumy regional military administration said it recorded 45 Russian attacks on Tuesday, including guided bomb strikes, drone explosions and shelling.
- Ukraine’s General Staff said it was restricting the movement of civilians within a 20 km (12 mi) border zone in Sumy due to an “increase in the intensity of hostilities” and the activation of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the area .
- Two people were killed and 30 injured after a bus was hit by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian-occupied city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine, the TASS news agency reported, citing Russian-appointed local officials.
- The Ukrainian military said Russian forces had intensified their attacks on the Pokrovsk front in eastern Ukraine. The General Staff said there had been 52 battles in the area in the past 24 hours, more than a third of all reported battles along the war’s 1,000 km (621 miles) front line.
- Russia launched 38 attack drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles into Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Thirty of the drones were destroyed in eight Ukrainian regions, he added. It was unclear what happened to the weapons that were not destroyed.
Politics and diplomacy
- Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to the president of Ukraine, said Ukraine plans to hold a follow-up conference this month to the June peace summit in Switzerland. The meeting will take place online and will focus on energy security, he said.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
Post Views: 35