Saturday, August 10

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Ukrainian emergency service workers extinguish the fire at the supermarket attacked by Russian Armed Forces in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, on Aug. 09, 2024. The attack killed at least 14 and injured 43 others. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Russian attack against supermarket in Donetsk Oblast’s Kostiantynivka kills 14, injures 43. Russia struck a supermarket in the town of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast on Aug. 9, killing at least 14 people and injuring at least 43 others, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said.

Russia upgrades situation in Kursk Oblast to ‘federal emergency’ amid ongoing battles. The Emergency Situations Ministry said that a “federal-level of response” would be directed at the region, but did not specify what that entailed.

Ukrainian troops publish video from Sudzha’s outskirts in Kursk Oblast, media say. The video was allegedly filmed in an alley in the Zaoleshenka settlement on the western outskirts of Sudzha, where the Gazprom facility is located, two kilometers (1.4 miles) from the town’s center, according to the independent Russian media outlet Meduza.

Kursk region incursion may force Russia to redeploy troops, Estonian intelligence says. According to unofficial reports, Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 15 kilometers (9 miles) into the Kursk region. Kesselmann does not rule out that Ukraine could have partially скщііув the second line of defense in the Kursk region.

Russia implements ‘counter-terrorism operation’ in bordering Kursk, Bryansk, Belgorod oblasts amid ongoing fighting. Russian authorities have introduced a so-called “counter-terrorism operation” in bordering Kursk, Bryansk, Belgorod oblasts in response to Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region, Russian state-media outlet RIA Novosti reported on Aug. 10.

Russia prepares to defend Kursk nuclear plant as Ukrainian troops approach, IStories reports. The entrances to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant were blocked as of the afternoon of Aug. 9, the pro-government regional newspaper network Bloknot claimed, citing its undisclosed sources.

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Chechen commander admits Russian losses, Ukrainian advances in Kursk Oblast. Alaudinov became the first Russian commander to acknowledge losses since Ukraine launched a cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6. Despite Moscow claiming repeatedly that the Ukrainian advance has been halted, the fighting continues.

Russia says it sent more equipment to Kursk Oblast to repel Ukrainian offensive. The ministry has published a video showing convoys of military equipment allegedly on their way to Kursk Oblast.

Ukrainian FPV drone hit another Russian helicopter in Kursk Oblast, source says. This comes as the second reported case this week. A Russian Mi-28 attack helicopter was reportedly hit by an FPV drone in Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6 in what some called the first such successful attack in history.

Column of Russian vehicles, personnel destroyed in Kursk Oblast, multiple sources say. The attack was corroborated by Rybar, one of the most popular pro-Kremlin Russian Telegram channels, who claimed that a local resident who filmed the video and then handed it over to the Ukrainian media had been arrested.

700 bombs destroyed in Ukrainian strike against Russia’s Lipetsk airbase, source says. Six people were injured in the attack, Lipetsk Oblast Governor Igor Artamanov said, adding that they had been taken to the hospital.

Pokrovsk is now 16 km from front line, UK Defense Ministry says. “Russian Ground Forces have continued conducting offensive operations along multiple areas of the front line, with Russia achieving further tactical advances,” the British Defense Ministry said.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: At least 57 victims in Russian attack on Kostiantynivka; Kyiv strikes Russian airbase

Russia struck a supermarket in the town of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast on Aug. 9, killing at least 14 people and injuring at least 43 others, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said.

Photo: Ukraine’s State Emergency Service/Telegram

Ukrainian companies desperately need workers. There just aren’t enough

With millions of Ukrainians out of the labor force due to migration, internal displacement, mobilization, and avoiding recruitment, Ukrainian businesses are forced to rethink their operations.

Photo: Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images

Human cost of war

About 30 Russian soldiers killed during Ukrainian raid on Kinburn Spit, military intelligence says. Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Russian forces had stopped an attempted landing by a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group on the Kinburn Spit.

Up to 20,000 Sumy Oblast residents need evacuation amid fighting in nearby Kursk Oblast, police says. The evacuation from Sumy Oblast continues after the local authorities ordered further mandatory evacuation of 28 settlements in the region. They are located within a 10-kilometer zone that comes under Russian fire.

International response

US provides Ukraine with new aid package worth $125 million. The new US aid package is the sixty-third tranche allocated under the Presidential Drawdown Authority program, according to the Pentagon’s statement.

‘Ukraine has the right to self-defense,’ German Foreign Ministry says on incursion into Kursk Oblast. In a statement issued to Politico on Aug. 9, Germany’s Foreign Ministry said that “Ukraine has the right to self-defense enshrined in international law,” adding that the principle of self-defense “is not limited to its own territory,” in reference to the ongoing battles in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.

Russia to receive hundreds of ballistic missiles from Iran in near future, Reuters reports. Russia will receive hundreds of Fath-360 and other ballistic missiles from Iran in the near future following an agreement signed in December 2023 between Moscow and Tehran, intelligence sources revealed to Reuters on Aug. 9.

Mexico denies Ukraine’s request to detain Putin during visit. “We can’t do that,” Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told journalists, adding that “it’s not up to us.”

Family of Georgian oligarch Ivanishvili has undeclared real estate in Russia, investigation finds. When Bidzina Ivanishvili entered politics in 2011 and created the Georgian Dream party, he promised to give up his Russian passport and divest from business interests in the country.

Russia’s economy will face sharp decline after second quarter of 2024, Bloomberg reports. Russia is on track for an intense economic slowdown due to significant labor shortages and constraints placed on the key sectors that backed growth until now, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 9.

Rheinmetall to deliver 8 more rescue stations to Ukraine. The FSTs are container-based rescue units for mounted operations that are intended for use on the frontline.The systems are equipped with modern medical equipment, including an X-ray container, operating room and intensive care unit, in line with the standards of a modern hospital, the company said.

UK imposes sanctions against Lukashenko’s regime on anniversary of rigged vote. The British sanctions list includes Denis Tolstenkov, Andrei Palchyk, Filip Sturchanka, and Aleksey Lazarenko, the heads of four Belarusian penal colonies where political prisoners and activists are illegally detained.

Ukraine enters Russia’s Kursk region. What’s next?

Ukraine at Olympics

Olympic gold medalist Darja Varfolomeev competed in occupied Crimea, social media post suggests. Darja Varfolomeev, a Russian-born German athlete who won gold in the rhythmic gymnastics’ individual all-around event at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 9, competed in Russian-occupied Crimea in 2021, a social media post on her account suggest.

Ukrainian canoeists win silver in 500-meter double sculls at Olympics. Ukrainian canoeists Liudmyla Luzan and Anastasiia Rybachok won a silver medal in the 500-meter double sculls at the Olympic finals on Aug. 9.

Ukrainian wrestler Koliadenko reaches finals at Paris Olympics. In the semifinals in Paris, Koliadenko faced the current world-ranking leader, Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan, winning 9-2.

In other news

Russia claims it has issued 2.2 million passports in occupied Ukrainian territories. Russia systematically coerces residents of the occupied territories to accept Russian passports, the U.S. research group Ukraine Conflict Observatory reported last year.

Legal violations identified in probe into NABU leak scandal, top anti-corruption official says. The whistleblower, whose name is unknown, revealed information on the NABU allegedly leaking case material to suspects in a high-profile corruption investigation, and warning them about upcoming searches.

Statistics service: Inflation drops to 0% in July. After several large-scale Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the spring and summer, the rise in electricity prices in June fueled both consumer and industrial price inflation in Ukraine.

Russia blocks Signal messaging app, reportedly plans to block WhatsApp. Earlier, Signal users in Russia complained about problems with the messaging app. It no longer opens without a VPN or other bypass tools enabled, the Russian English-language newspaper Moscow Times reported.

Ukraine launches debt restructuring, avoiding default. Ukraine’s Finance Ministry announced on Aug. 9 the terms of the exchange of old bonds for newly issued securities, launching the process of restructuring Ukraine’s external debt on Eurobonds.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Daria Svitlyk, Kateryna Hodunova, Oleg Sukhov, Marin Fornusek, Nate Ostiller, Francil Farrell, Olga Rudenko, and Dmytro Basmat.

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