Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:47 The United States was not involved in planning the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region, said Deputy State Department Spokesman Vedant Patel. "Our role is to support Ukraine in its ability to defend itself. We remain focused on ensuring that our Ukrainian partners have everything they need to do that," Patel added.
21:55 Russia is transferring troops from Kaliningrad to the Kursk region, said Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas.
21:18 Ukraine held the first round of talks with Great Britain on concluding a bilateral agreement on the transition to a "stronger and deeper partnership," the Presidential Office reported. "The new document should contain even more ambitious goals for our cooperation. We seek to secure unprecedented provisions in all areas of mutual interest: from security to the economy, from energy to culture and art," said the head of the OP Andriy Yermak.
20:53 Zelensky reported that he had a meeting with Lithuanian Minister of National Defense Laurynas Kasciunas, who is visiting Ukraine. The key topics of the conversation were the development of the defense-industrial complex and Ukraine's priority defense needs.
20:16 Zelensky said in an evening video address that in the Kursk region "hundreds of Russian soldiers have already surrendered, and all of them will receive humane treatment - they have not seen such treatment even in their own Russian army." The president also emphasized that "the more the Russian military presence is destroyed in the border regions, the closer peace and real security will be for our state."
19:56 The Russian army is experiencing a shortage of troops to wage war against Ukraine, so this could force Moscow to begin a new wave of mobilization, Bloomberg writes, citing sources. The source said that the scale of Russian losses and the insufficient level of replacement are making it increasingly difficult to maintain the war strategy.
19:44 The first thematic conference on the implementation of the third point of the Peace Formula "Energy Security" will be held in August in an online format, Yermak said. According to him, the total generation losses as a result of Russian shelling amount to 9 GW, and the most difficult month for Ukrainians and the economy due to the unprecedented electricity shortage was July of this year. "Now our energy workers have managed to stabilize the situation, and there have been no outages for more than two weeks. But the autumn-winter season is ahead, and we must coordinate efforts to prevent new destruction and facilitate the restoration of the energy sector," the head of the OP added.
19:32 Ukraine controls 74 settlements in the Kursk region, Zelensky said following a conversation with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky. "Despite the difficult, intense battles, the advance of our forces in the Kursk region continues, the exchange fund for our state is replenished. Inspections and stabilization measures are being carried out there. The development of humanitarian solutions for these territories continues," the president added.
18:26 Latvia will transfer 500 domestically produced drones to Ukraine, the country's Defense Minister Andris Spruds said. According to him, this year the department has allocated 20 million euros for the drone coalition, of which more than 10 million is intended for the purchase of drones from the Latvian defense industry. In total, the coalition, created in February 2024, includes 14 countries.
17:33 Russian troops shelled Berislav in the Kherson region, one person was wounded, OVA reported. A resident of Dniprovske, who came under enemy fire at midnight, also went to the hospital.
16:36 Sabotage and arson are an element of subversive activities organized by the Russian special services with the aim of destabilizing the socio-political situation in Ukraine, said Nadezhda Maksimets, a spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office. According to her, most often, arson is committed by young people aged 18-23 who are looking for a quick way to make money on the Internet. At the same time, most of the perpetrators either do not receive the promised money at all, or receive a significantly smaller amount, Maksimets added. She noted that the real goal of these actions is not the destruction of property, but the obstruction of the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and such crimes are punishable under several articles of the Criminal Code.
15:07 Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState reports that the Russian army has occupied Lisichnoye, Ivanovka, Sviridovovka of the Pokrovsky district of the Donetsk region and advanced in Grodovka, Konstantinovka, Nevelskoye, near Sergeyevka, Peschanoye and Novotoretske. At the same time, the enemy has been pushed back near Stelmakhovka of the Luhansk region.
13:58 Ukraine has received 4.2 billion euros from the European Union under the Ukraine Facility program, Shmyhal said. The government will direct these funds to social programs, the humanitarian sphere, and other important budget programs. Ukraine continues to finance military expenses exclusively from its own resources. Since the beginning of the year, the EU has already provided Ukraine with more than 12 billion euros in budget support.
12:46 People's Deputy, Secretary of the Parliamentary Defense Committee, SBU Colonel Roman Kostenko said in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda that the new law on mobilization has allowed the number of personnel in the Armed Forces to increase, but there is a problem with the quality of those mobilized: "We often have this situation where the TCC chases numbers: you are told - there should be ten per day, you go, catch them and send them to the training center. And as a result - one is a drug addict, another is sick, another has some other problems. These people come to the training center, and then people from military units come and simply do not take them." According to the people's deputy, then these mobilized "sit in training centers, receive wages, but they cannot be fired," and thus it turns out that "our army seems to be growing, but the quality of personnel is not."
In addition, according to Kostenko, the mobilization age in Ukraine should be from 20 to 50 years: "We really have a problem in that the category of people who are currently being called up to the army is quite old... If we want to provide combat units with adequate supplies so that people go healthy and can perform combat missions, this should be the age range of 20-50 years." In his opinion, everyone over 50 years old "can be mobilized at their own request, but not into combat units."
11:50 At night, Russian UAVs attacked energy facilities in the northern region, resulting in the de-energization of industrial and household consumers in certain areas of the Chernihiv region. As of this morning, all consumers have been healed, emergency recovery operations are ongoing, Ukrenergo reported.
11:39 Restrictions on the movement of all categories of citizens in the 20-kilometer border zone have been introduced in Sumy Oblast, the General Staff reported. The corresponding decision was made by the military command "in connection with the increase in the intensity of military actions, the intensification of the activities of sabotage and reconnaissance groups, special operations forces of the enemy and in order to preserve the lives of civilians and military personnel." Admission to the specified territory is carried out on the basis of passports of citizens of Ukraine with a corresponding mark on registration of residence in this zone.
10:44 Ukraine and Russia will maintain gas supplies to Europe through the Sudzha gas metering station in the Kursk region despite the fighting in the region, Bloomberg writes, citing sources. They explained that both sides have a financial incentive to continue gas supplies. For Kiev, transit provides critical funds for its war-torn economy - about $ 1 billion in 2021, while Europe remains one of the largest consumers of Russian pipeline gas.
09:26 In the morning, Russians fired at Zimovnik, Sadovoe and Tyaginka in the Kherson region, five people were wounded, including a foreigner, the prosecutor's office reported.
09:20 On the evening of August 12, Russians shelled the city of Bogodukhov in the Kharkiv region - one person was wounded, four children aged from several months to 11 years were diagnosed with an acute stress reaction, said the head of the OVA Oleg Sinegubov. Another person was wounded as a result of a rocket attack on the village of Zabrody in the Bogodukhov district. One person was also injured in Vovchansk as a result of an FPV drone attack.
09:11 In the Kherson region, over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was killed, 17 were injured, including two children, reported the head of the OVA Oleksandr Prokudin. Also today, a resident of Antonovka, who was attacked by a Russian drone several days ago, went to the hospital.
08:47 In Donetsk Oblast, four people were killed as a result of Russian shelling on August 12: two in Ukrainsk, one each in Toretsk and Konstantinovka. Another four people in the oblast were injured in the past 24 hours, said OVA head Vadim Filashkin.
08:25 In Sumy Oblast, as a result of a night missile strike, according to preliminary information, one person was wounded, OVA reported. A power line, a gas pipeline, and a hospital building were damaged. Part of the population of Sumy was left without electricity and gas.
07:58 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of August 13:
- personnel - about 593,160 (+1,160) people,
- tanks - 8455 (+5),
- combat armored vehicles - 16,385 (+17),
- artillery systems - 16,764 (+36),
- MLRS - 1146 (+0),
- air defense systems - 920 (+1),
- aircraft - 366 (+0),
- helicopters - 328 (+0),
- Operational-tactical level UAVs - 13,491 (+19),
- cruise missiles - 2426 (+0),
- ships/boats - 28 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 22,649 (+59),
- special equipment - 2806 (+5).
07:20 Air defense destroyed 30 of 38 Shahed-type attack UAVs in Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Sumy, Kirovohrad, Kherson, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy regions at night, the Air Force reported. In addition, Russia used two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles during the night attack.
06:32 The United States supports the advance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region, since this operation is aimed at self-defense, said Deputy Spokesman for the State Department Vedant Patel. He emphasized that Putin launched an illegal invasion of Ukraine, and if he does not like how the country defends itself, he can simply withdraw troops and end the war. At the same time, Patel added that Washington still does not allow the use of American weapons for strikes deep into Russian territory.
05:34 The IAEA said it had inspected a damaged cooling tower at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant but was unable to determine the cause of the fire that broke out there on August 11. "The agency's experts found no immediate evidence of drone remnants and concluded that it was unlikely that the primary source of the fire started near the cooling tower," the agency said in a statement. According to experts, the damage to the plant was likely concentrated in the interior of the tower at the level of the water nozzle distribution at a height of approximately 10 meters. "The team confirmed that there was no significant evidence of debris, ash or soot located at the base of the cooling tower," the IAEA added.
02:59 Russians attacked civilian infrastructure in Chernihiv Oblast, OVA head Vyacheslav Chaus reported. One of the strikes was carried out on civilian infrastructure in the city of Bakhmach. Preliminary - no casualties.
04:51 Trump called Putin a "good negotiator" in an interview with Elon Musk, while Biden "made a stupid mistake" by allowing Ukraine to join NATO: "When I left, they started building a big army on the border with Ukraine. I thought that with Putin, and he is a good negotiator, they do this to negotiate. And then Biden started saying stupid things. For example, he said that Ukraine could be in NATO. As long as NATO existed, Russia said that it would never do that. And then we go and say this... Russia defeated Germany together with us. Napoleon. They have enormous power. And Ukraine doesn't even have people now. They send young and old people to war. We are in a terrible situation."
Trump also once again said he planned to "get along" with Putin, saying he had threatened him during his presidency if he attacked Ukraine: "I told Vladimir Putin, 'Don't do it. You can't do it, Vladimir. There are going to be bad days. Don't do it.' I told him what I would do in response to his actions. He said, 'It's impossible.' I said, 'Oh, it's possible.' That was the last conversation we had. He would never do that. I got along with him. I hope to get along with him now. It will be a very good thing."