Up to date August 19, 2023 at 10:31 a.m. EDT|Revealed August 19, 2023 at 3:54 a.m. EDT
Video launched by President Zelensky’s workplace exhibits the aftermath of the strike on a theater in Chernihiv. Editor’s observe: The video has no audio. (Video: Volodymyr Zelensky by way of Storyful)
A strike on a theater within the northern metropolis of Chernihiv killed at the least seven individuals, together with a 6-year-old baby, and injured at the least 117, the town’s appearing mayor mentioned Saturday. The assault hit the middle of the town, which lies round 90 miles north of the capital Kyiv, and “in all probability” concerned a ballistic missile, the regional governor mentioned. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of turning “an strange Saturday … right into a day of ache and loss.”
Zelensky is visiting Sweden for conferences with the nation’s leaders, together with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and King Carl XVI — and expressed his “full assist” for Sweden’s bid for NATO membership. Sweden utilized to hitch the navy alliance as a direct results of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though its accession has not been ratified by Turkey and Hungary.
Right here’s the most recent on the warfare and its ripple results throughout the globe.
Ukraine’s Inside Ministry shared footage of firefighters in Chernihiv engaged on a flattened rooftop, whereas a Zelensky posted a separate video of broken vehicles and particles on the streets. Twelve kids had been among the many injured, the ministry mentioned. Daytime assaults are uncommon for a central Ukrainian metropolis removed from the entrance strains. Chernihiv was besieged by Russian troops for weeks early within the warfare, with greater than half the town’s inhabitants fleeing — however Ukrainian troops later managed to regain full management.
The venue reportedly hosted a gathering for drone demonstrations on Saturday. Mariya Berlinska, an activist, mentioned she took half within the occasion, which had been permitted by the native authorities, however mentioned it was stopped as quickly because the air raid sirens rang out. “Individuals had been instructed a number of time about the necessity to take shelter,” Berlinska wrote on Fb. “Sadly, some individuals nonetheless went exterior.”
The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine condemned the assault. “It’s heinous to assault the principle sq. of a giant metropolis, within the morning, whereas persons are out strolling, some going to the church to rejoice a non secular day for a lot of Ukrainians,” Denise Brown mentioned in a press release.
Ukraine and neighboring Romania signed an settlement Friday to work collectively on grain exports, following Russia’s departure final month from the U.N.-backed grain deal, which had allowed for the protected wartime transport of foodstuffs over the Black Sea. Ukraine is likely one of the world’s main grain producers, and its exports play an important position in world meals safety.
Zelensky and Kristersson mentioned Ukraine’s want for Gripen fighter jets from Sweden, Zelensky mentioned, which Sweden agreed earlier this summer time to permit Ukrainian pilots to check. The 2 leaders additionally signed an settlement to fabricate Swedish-provided CV-90 infantry preventing automobiles in Ukraine. On Telegram, Zelensky expressed his because of Sweden “for supporting our battle for freedom and independence.”
It’s “untimely to make assessments concerning the general success” of Kyiv’s counteroffensive, the Institute for the Research of Struggle mentioned a report Friday, responding after individuals acquainted with a labeled forecast from the U.S. intelligence neighborhood instructed The Put up that Ukraine would fail in its goal of severing Russia’s land bridge to Crimea on this 12 months’s push. The ISW mentioned it continues to evaluate that “the general degradation of the Russian defensive position creates alternatives for any Ukrainian breakthrough to be probably operationally vital.”
A lot of the entrance line in Ukraine “has remained static” over the previous week, in keeping with the British Protection Ministry’s intelligence replace Saturday. Each Russian and Ukrainian forces face the same problem of “making an attempt to defeat well-entrenched forces whereas having restricted uncommitted forces to open new assaults,” the ministry wrote.
America will approve the switch of F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands to Ukraine as soon as pilot coaching is full, nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan instructed reporters Friday. He mentioned the method was “formalized” in a letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to his European counterparts and is a “pure extension” of Biden’s announcement in Might that america wouldn’t block the switch of the jets. Dutch International Minister Wopke Hoekstra described the transfer as “a significant milestone for Ukraine to defend its individuals and its nation” on social media.
Russian International Minister Sergei Lavrov defended Moscow’s nuclear weapons, claiming they’re for safety functions solely in an interview revealed on the International Ministry web site Saturday. “Possessing nuclear weapons is for as we speak the one potential response to sure vital exterior nationwide safety threats,” he mentioned. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev mentioned final month that Russia must use nuclear weapons if Kyiv’s counteroffensive had been profitable, Reuters reported.
Russia added a former Putin adviser to its record of “overseas brokers,” state-owned information company Tass reported. The designation was expanded in recent times to use to anybody who’s brazenly vital of the authorities or who’s accused of receiving funds or donations from overseas. Andrey Illarionov, who relies exterior the nation, resigned from his place as Putin’s high financial adviser in 2005, after stating publicly that Russia “is not a democratic nation.”
Canada is imposing sanctions on 15 Russian people and three entities over human rights abuses, the overseas ministry introduced Friday. The people embody senior Russian officers and federally funded courts which have been “straight concerned in human rights abuses in opposition to opposition leaders” together with Alexei Navalny, the assertion mentioned.
A courtroom in Russia on Friday ordered the dissolution of the Sakharov Heart, a human rights group that ran a museum and cultural area in Moscow named after Nobel Peace laureate and Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov. “All the things that’s taking place as we speak is the precise reverse of what Sakharov fought for,” Sergei Lukashevsky, the middle’s director, mentioned in a non-public Fb submit.
The Biden administration will prolong protected standing for Ukrainians in america via April 19, 2025, resulting from “ongoing armed battle and extraordinary and short-term circumstances in Ukraine that stop people from safely returning,” the Division of Homeland Safety mentioned in a press release.
Contained in the Russian effort to construct 6,000 assault drones with Iran’s assist: A billion-dollar weapons take care of Iran has come to life at a facility 500 miles east of Moscow as Russia strives to make 6,000 drones by the summer time of 2025. If the plan succeeds, the brand new drone manufacturing facility may thwart Ukraine’s counteroffensive and considerably advance Moscow’s place within the drone arms race that’s remaking trendy warfare, Dalton Bennett and Mary Ilyushina write.
Paperwork leaked from this system and obtained by The Washington Put up present new details about the efforts of two self-proclaimed enemies of america to develop the Kremlin’s capabilities.