[Korrespondent] 22:31 The Russians fired about 140 mines and shells in the Sumy region today. Under enemy fire were the territories of the Esman and Shalygin communities of the Shostka region, as well as the Khotyn, Miropol, Belopol communities of the Sumy region. Four people in the Belopolskaya community were injured, said the head of the OVA Dmitry Zhivitsky.
22:17 Zelensky said in an evening video message that in almost a month of work of the export grain initiative, three Ukrainian sea ports - Chornomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny - exported the first million tons of agricultural products since February 24.
21:52 At the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the second of the power units stopped yesterday was connected to the network, power is being set, Energoatom reports. Thus, the Zaporozhye NPP, despite the numerous provocations of the invaders, continues to operate in the energy system of Ukraine and meet the needs of our country in electricity, the regulator said.
21:46 The Washington Post writes that Russia's alliance with Iran could change the rules of the game in the war against Ukraine. In particular, Tehran not only handed over its UAVs, which the Russian Federation is already using in the war, but also offered its financial networks to help Moscow bypass the sanctions. Thus, Iran can become a critical source of money and military equipment for Russia, the newspaper notes.
21:41 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that Ukrainian artillerymen allegedly fired from HIMARS at a hospital in Kadievka, Luhansk region - as a result, three people were killed and seven were wounded.
21:16 Russia has deployed missiles in Crimea, which, in terms of their range, can reach any European capital. Also, according to experts, there is a possibility of finding Russian tactical nuclear weapons on the peninsula, said Alina Frolova, deputy head of the Center for Defense Strategies.
20:55 Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko said that Ukraine had purchased the necessary amount of drugs to protect the population in the event of an accident at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, and urged Ukrainians not to buy iodine-containing drugs.
20:34 An additional weekly lesson will appear in Russian schools from September 1 - Talking about the important. On it, students will be told, among other things, about “protecting the population of Donbass,” Deutsche Welle reports. The materials, in particular, indicate that it is necessary "to protect the population of Donbass, who were subjected to bullying and harassment by the Kyiv regime", that "the residents of the "DNR" and "LNR" are Russian people, therefore their return to Russia is important", and "Russian soldiers are heroes.
20:18 Explosions are heard in enemy warehouses on the territory of the Novobogdanovskaya UTC of the Melitopol region, and smoke is visible, Mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov said.
19:46 The Armed Forces of Ukraine repulsed the attacks of the Russians in three directions - Slavyansk, Bakhmut and Avdeevsk, the General Staff said in the evening summary .
19:35 Podolyak, in an interview with The Hill, said that negotiations with Russia would be a "death sentence" for Ukraine: "President Zelensky is definitely against it, and Ukrainian society is adamant, because we are fully aware of the risks." According to him, Russia will take advantage of any pause to recuperate and launch an even greater offensive. In the absence of negotiations, Moscow will focus on a war of attrition to reduce international support for Ukraine until it wins, the adviser to the head of the OP added.
19:19 The first batch of letters from prisoners of war has recently arrived in Ukraine, Vereshchuk said. She stressed that, according to the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war have the right to send and receive letters. The National Information Bureau of the Ministry of Reintegration has begun relevant work to organize the correspondence of Ukrainian prisoners of war with their relatives. Vereshchuk thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross for mediation.
19:00 Zelensky said that he had talked via video link with American TV presenter, actor Jimmy Fallon: “We discussed options for cooperation to attract even more world attention to events in Ukraine. You can’t get used to the war in Europe in the 21st century. and famous people can help us with this."
18:29 Six months after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin ordered to increase the size of the Russian armed forces. Experts attribute this decision to the numerous losses of the Russian Federation in the war. About whether this will change something at the front - in the material War to the last .
18:18 Lithuania will acquire 27 Warmate kamikaze drones for Ukraine in Poland, ten more drones will be donated by a Polish manufacturer, Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anushauskas said.
17:50 The head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin instructed to open a criminal case against the employees of the Security Service of Ukraine, who opened a criminal case against Kadyrov.
17:39 Mandatory evacuation may be announced in certain areas of Kharkiv, Zaporozhye and Mykolaiv regions, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on the air of the telethon: "I'm not talking about the entire region, but parts will need mandatory evacuation. We are also preparing for it."
17:18 The occupiers said that the Ukrainian troops allegedly opened fire on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, four shells hit the area of the storage of radioactive isotopes. The radiation background remains normal.
16:49 The "deputy head of the traffic police" of occupied Berdyansk died from injuries received as a result of the explosion, the local "administration" reported.
16:46 Russia's preparations for the "referendums" are almost completed, but their holding will depend on the situation at the front and whether the enemy can break the resistance of the Ukrainians, Vadim Skibitsky, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine: "Ukraine's military intelligence is now clearly monitors all the processes taking place there. Today, we can say with confidence that the relevant election headquarters, operational headquarters have been created, voter lists have been drawn up, election commissions have been created. That is, all the processes related to the preparation for the "referendum" are almost completed."
According to Skibitsky, Russian politicians, officials, the so-called "volunteers" who are responsible precisely for preparing the voting process, constantly come to the occupied territories. At the same time, the date of the "expression of will" has not been finally determined.
16:33 The SBU and the National Police recommend that Hasidic pilgrims refrain from visiting Ukraine this year to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. This decision was made jointly with the law enforcement agencies of Israel and other responsible bodies of the Ukrainian authorities, the Security Service reports. This is due to the high likelihood of rocket attacks and actions by the Russian side aimed at destabilizing interethnic relations and damaging the international image of Ukraine.
Those who still decide to make a pilgrimage must strictly comply with the requirements of regime measures: curfew, responding to air raid signals, and also follow all instructions from law enforcement officials, the agency warned.
15:55 The SBU announced suspicion of treason to the temporary acting. Head of the Institute for the Training of Legal Personnel for the Security Service of the National Law University named after Yaroslav the Wise. The detainee was chosen a measure of restraint in the form of detention.
15:39 The Russians brought ten chemical laboratories to Melitopol to save their officers and generals in the event of radiation releases at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, Mayor Ivan Fedorov said. According to him, they are located on the territory of one of the hospitals in Melitopol.
15:37 Russia has already received hundreds of Iranian drones that it can use in Ukraine, Associated Press reports, citing Western intelligence data. It is not yet known if Russia has begun using Iranian drones against Ukrainian targets, but intelligence officials say the drones are ready to be used.
15:31 In occupied Berdyansk, an explosion occurred next to a health center, the "deputy head of the traffic police" was injured, he was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds, the "administration" said.
15:28 The "CEC" of the occupied Zaporozhye region announced that it had begun preparations for a "referendum".
15:24 The SBU reported the suspicion to Kadyrov and two of his closest henchmen - Daniil Martynov and Hussein Mezhidov. Kadyrov is suspected of personally planning operations in the war against Ukraine in February-March. In turn, Kadyrov offered to thank Putin for not letting him "take Kyiv."
14:49 The movement of Russian troops across the Darevsky bridge in the Kherson region has been stopped, the bridge is under the fire control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, OK Pivden reports.
14:41 In the Zaporozhye region, Ukrainian air defense has worked, said the head of the OVA, Oleksandr Starukh.
14:28 Zaporozhye NPP is connected to the grid and produces electricity for the needs of Ukraine. According to Energoatom, today at 14:04 one of the ZNPP power units stopped yesterday was connected to the power grid, the power increase continues.
13:53 Amid explosions in Crimea, which are likely to be Ukrainian forces, Russia decided to remove ten of its fighters from the peninsula, according to a secret NATO report, according to Business Insider. In particular, we are talking about six SU-35S fighters and four MiG-31BM interceptors. In Belbek, according to the alliance, about 32 Russian fighters are still deployed.
In addition, Russia has increased the number of its tactical surface-to-air missiles in Crimea to counter further attacks from Ukraine, such as drones. "Ukrainian UAVs are difficult for Russian air defense systems to identify as targets. This problem is common among all the forces that Russia deploys in Ukraine," the document says.
13:45 The SBU neutralized a criminal group that went over to the side of the Russian Federation and helped the Russian military during the occupation of the Buchansky district of the Kiev region. The criminal group included several residents of the Kiev region. After the liberation of the region, they hid in the territory of one of the residential complexes of the Buchansky district, but they were found and detained.
13:33 Macron said that the IAEA and France received security guarantees from Russia and Ukraine for the mission at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
13:31 Russian media write that air defense is working on Kherson, about ten volleys were fired.
13:19 The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, hopes that the agency's presence at the ZNPP will be permanent: "Technically, it is necessary to clearly define the characteristics of the mission and, possibly, establish a permanent presence of the agency on the spot."
12:56 The NATO Military Committee will meet in Tallinn on September 16-18 - for the first time with the participation of Sweden and Finland, the press service of the alliance reported. The meeting will focus on the implementation of decisions taken at the NATO summit in Madrid regarding the alliance's deterrence and defense capabilities. The Commanders-in-Chief will also discuss ongoing NATO operations, missions and activities, including the NATO mission in Iraq and Kosovo.
12:54 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that Ukrainian troops allegedly fired at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant twice a day from large-caliber guns. "One of the Ukrainian positions, from which the nuclear power plant was shelled, was identified in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the M777 howitzer was destroyed," the Russian ministry added.
12:52 The Ministry of Defense announced that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are currently armed with more than 20 M270 and HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems - they all work. At the same time, more than 50 Russian ammunition depots "out of the game."
12:49 UN coordinator Denise Brown after the Russian attack on Chaplino called on "all parties" to comply with international law. Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said that Kyiv was disappointed by such a fuzzy comment. He recalled that the Russian Defense Ministry publicly admitted that it had committed a war crime, and Brown's calls for "all parties" to comply with international humanitarian law look divorced from reality.
"We hope that the UN structures, to which we are grateful for organizing humanitarian response, will be able to use their presence in Ukraine to figure out which side should adhere to its obligations under international humanitarian law by bombing Chaplino and other Ukrainian cities and villages," Nikolenko said.
12:46 Lukashenka said that the re-equipment of Belarusian military aircraft for the possibility of carrying nuclear weapons has been completed. According to him, Belarus is ready to “adequately” respond to threats from the West: “They must understand that no helicopters, planes, if they escalate, will not save them. Belarusian Su planes so that they can carry nuclear weapons. What do you think, we blurt out language? Everything is ready!"
12:40 The "authorities" of the occupied Zaporozhye region said that the Ukrainian troops allegedly killed the last, fourth power transmission line from the ZNPP to the territory of Ukraine, and now there is no way to supply electricity there. At the same time, the situation at the Zaporozhye NPP is "controlled", the generated electricity is supplied to the territories occupied by the Russians.
12:27 Russia burns gas at the Gazprom LNG Portovaya plant, which was supposed to be delivered to Germany, at a cost of about $10 million a day, Rystad Energy analysts calculated. This is probably a conscious decision: Gazprom has stopped pumping a significant part of the gas through the Nord Stream, but considers it unprofitable to close the plant in Portovaya, because its restart will cost more.
12:11 Pentagon Inspector General Sean O'Donnell instructed to analyze how the $26.6 billion allocated for military assistance to Ukraine was spent. In an interview with Bloomberg, he said that the study he authorized will focus on the effectiveness of the Pentagon's accounting system for Ukraine-related spending, as well as US agreements with NATO countries on the exchange of intelligence information, the effectiveness of Ukrainian military training and the possible entry of weapons into black markets.
O'Donnell stressed that NATO officials "seem to be confident that sufficient security measures are in place for the arms transfer." "As far as we know, everything that should shoot and explode is used by Ukrainians on the battlefield," he added. At the same time, O'Donnell noted that the Ukrainian side keeps records of American weapons "by manual receipts, on paper."
12:00 The CEO of the Turkish company Baykar, Haluk Bayraktar, said in an interview with the BBC that he would not supply Bayraktars to Russia under any circumstances. According to him, the company is "completely on the side of Ukraine" and "nothing will overshadow cooperation with Ukraine, no matter what amount is offered."
11:56 The "authorities" of the occupied Egergodar claim that the Zaporozhye NPP is operating normally, there are no failures and there was no complete shutdown of the plant either.
11:45 Russian special services spied on the training of the Ukrainian military in Germany. According to the German military counterintelligence MAD, drones were also used for this, writes Der Spiegel. In particular, Russian agents monitored the preparation of Ukrainians near the cities of Idar-Oberstein and Grafenwöhr.
After the start of the exercise, during which Bundeswehr instructors trained Ukrainians in the use of Panzerhaubitze 2000 artillery mounts and American artillery systems, MAD began to notice suspicious cars, from which they monitored roads leading to military installations, and small drones flew over training centers. Also, the Russians could try to get access to the phones of the Ukrainians.
11:14 Russia has stepped up the activities of the FSB in the occupied territories of the Luhansk region, said the head of the OVA Serhiy Gaidai: "Problems with forced mobilization are gaining momentum. Russia was forced to strengthen the activities of the FSB in the occupied territories, because support for the war is decreasing - people are not going to fight. They see, that neighbors and relatives do not return. At best, they are found in hospitals.”
10:48 Ukrainian telegram channels write about the shelling of a hotel in Kadievka, Luhansk region, where the "LPR" military was located. In turn, local publics report that the hotel was shelled from HIMARS, the building was completely destroyed, and windows were broken in neighboring houses. Eyewitnesses report several deaths. The head of the Lugansk OVA, Serhiy Gaidai, said that about 200 "Russian airborne troops" were killed as a result of the shelling.
10:16 In Lviv, shelters in residential buildings are equipped with "bourgeois stoves", Mayor Andriy Sadovy said. According to him, the city is ready for winter, "but there is a problem - Russian aggression, so we must be prepared for various emergencies." Potbelly stoves do not need to be placed in each apartment separately, but only in a shelter so that, if necessary, residents can warm themselves there, the mayor explained.
09:45 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the enemy on the morning of August 26. The enemy suffered the greatest losses in the Donetsk direction.
- personnel - about 46,250 (+400) people liquidated,
- tanks - 1936 (+7),
- armored combat vehicles - 4251 (+6),
- artillery systems - 1040 (+3),
- MLRS - 272 (+0),
- air defense systems - 148 (+0),
- aircraft - 234 (+0),
- helicopters - 202 (+0),
- UAV operational-tactical level - 834 (+6),
- cruise missiles - 196 (+0),
- ships/boats - 15 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tankers - 3162 (+2),
- special equipment - 99 (+0).
09:37 As of the morning of August 26, all power units of the Zaporizhzhya NPP were disconnected from the network. The station's own needs for power supply are provided through a repaired line from the Ukrainian energy system, Energoatom reports. The ZNPP power output line to the energy system of Ukraine has been restored, work is underway to prepare the connection of two ZNPP power units to the grid.
09:34 The seizure of Ukrainian power plants by Russia is part of its strategy to create an energy crisis in Europe, said US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel. He stressed that the Zaporozhye NPP and its electricity rightfully belong to Ukraine, so any attempts to turn off the plant and transfer it to the territories occupied by Russia are unacceptable.
09:21 There were no shellings in Kharkiv tonight, but there were shellings in the Kharkiv and Chuguev districts of the region, Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA, said. An educational institution was destroyed in Dergachi, one person died, one was injured. In the Chuguevsky district, one dead, two wounded.
09:02 The IAEA mission to the Zaporozhye NPP is scheduled for next week , Lana Zerkal, adviser to the head of the Ministry of Energy, said: “A visit of the IAEA representatives is scheduled next week, and now all logistics routes are being decided, how they will get there. Despite the fact that the Russians agreed that the mission will travel through the territory of Ukraine, they artificially create all the conditions for the delegation not to reach the facility, given the situation around it."
08:57 British intelligence called Shoigu's statement about the deliberate slowdown of the "special operation" as disinformation. The Russian offensive has stalled due to scant Russian military action and fierce Ukrainian resistance. On the orders of Shoigu, the forces operating in Ukraine repeatedly violated the planned operational deadlines, analysts say. Intelligence also reports that Shoigu and Putin very likely fired at least six generals for not moving forward fast enough.
On the day of Shoigu's speech, a Russian Iskander ballistic missile struck a train in the town of Chaplino, reportedly killing at least two children. This highlights Russia's willingness to inflict collateral damage when it sees a military advantage in launching missile or artillery strikes, British intelligence said.
08:50 The US State Department called on the Russian Federation to immediately stop the practice of "filtration camps" for Ukrainians and forced deportations after the publication of an expert report by the Conflict Observatory group, which once again documented such practices by Russia in the occupied territories.
08:42 In the Donetsk region over the past day, two civilians died from Russian shelling - in Seversk and Zelenopolye. Another six people were injured, said the head of the OVA, Pavel Kirilenko.
08:31 Russia, attracting ORDLO militants, has set up 21 camps in the occupied territories in Ukraine, which it uses to detain, interrogate and process Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians. Thus, a whole filtering system has been created to "sort" people in the areas of occupation on the model of the fascist, writes Reuters.
07:46 The Russians fought an offensive battle near Soledar, Bakhmut and Kodema in the Bakhmut direction, but to no avail, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in the morning report .
05:47 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that Putin's order to increase the army indicates that he is unlikely to order mass mobilization in the near future. According to analysts, the Kremlin is unlikely to reach the final strength of 1.15 million soldiers, as envisaged by the decree, because historically the Russian armed forces have not reached the goal of the final strength.
Russia may use the October 2022 autumn conscription, which should draw about 130,000 people to make up for its losses. Also, the Kremlin may formally include the "LDNR" and / or new Russian volunteer units in the Russian armed forces. In any case, the net increase in Russian combat power will be very small, experts predict.
03:29 Despite the complete failure in the war, Putin has not abandoned the plan to capture most of Ukraine, said US Under Secretary of Defense for Political Affairs Colin Kahl. According to him, Putin also continues to pursue the goal of a change of power in Kyiv: "Putin's strategy now is to wait out the Ukrainians. That is, to increase the offensive when people are exhausted from the war." As for Europe, according to the American official, Putin is waiting for them to get tired of high energy prices.
03:10 Scholz said that Germany in the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine will adhere to the principle formulated by the United States - not to supply weapons with which you can shell the territory of the Russian Federation.