Up to date August 20, 2023 at 5:49 a.m. EDT|Revealed August 20, 2023 at 2:00 a.m. EDT
Harm from the missile assault on the Chernihiv Regional Tutorial Ukrainian Music and Drama Theater that killed 7 folks is seen Saturday in Chernihiv, Ukraine. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Pictures)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the navy would “reply tangibly” to an assault on the northern metropolis of Chernihiv, which killed at the least seven folks, together with a 6-year-old baby. Ukrainian authorities stated 144 folks have been injured within the daytime strike on a theater. The regional governor stated the strike “in all probability” concerned a ballistic missile.
Drone assaults on Russian territory in a single day broken a prepare station and fell round two Russian navy models, officers there stated, blaming Ukraine. An uptick in assaults deep inside Russian territory doubtless means Russian navy leaders are underneath stress to tighten air defenses, Britain’s Protection Ministry stated.
Right here’s the most recent on the battle and its ripple results throughout the globe.newest on the battle and its ripple results throughout the globe.
The assault on Chernihiv turned “an abnormal Saturday … right into a day of ache and loss,” Zelensky stated. The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, condemned the assault — about 80 miles north of the capital, Kyiv, and much from the entrance strains of the battle — saying in a press release that it “is heinous to assault the primary sq. of a big metropolis, within the morning, whereas individuals are out strolling, some going to the church to rejoice a spiritual day for a lot of Ukrainians.”
Movies verified by The Washington Put up confirmed an explosion on the roof of the Chernihiv theater earlier than a fiery projectile slammed right into a constructing about 320 toes away. Appearing mayor Oleksandr Lomako stated some houses have been broken by the blasts. Among the many injured have been 15 kids and 15 cops, Inside Minister Ihor Klymenko stated.
Video launched by President Zelensky’s workplace exhibits the aftermath of the strike on a theater in Chernihiv. Editor’s notice: The video has no audio. (Video: Volodymyr Zelensky through Storyful)
5 folks have been injured after a drone assault on a prepare station in Russia not removed from the Ukrainian border. The governor of the Kursk area stated in a Telegram publish early Sunday {that a} Ukrainian drone strike on the station induced a fireplace on the roof, and the folks have been “barely injured” by falling glass.
Russia stated it stopped a drone assault it blamed on Ukraine early Sunday, the Russian protection ministry stated. The ministry stated it used digital means to disable the drone. It stated the assault did no injury and nobody was damage. The Put up couldn’t independently confirm the report. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Company stated that two airports round Moscow — Vnukovo and Domodedovo — needed to briefly divert flights to different airports in a single day to make sure the protection of these on board. The airports have been working usually Sunday morning, it stated.
Russian forces additionally thwarted a drone assault in its southern area of Rostov, regional governor Vasily Golubev stated early Sunday. Golubev stated two drones “fell on the territory of a navy unit in Kamensk,” a Russian city bordering the jap Ukrainian area of Luhansk, and stated one other drone fell close to Novoshakhtinsk, some 50 miles south. He stated there have been no casualties or injury. The Put up couldn’t independently confirm the report.
Russian navy leaders are “extremely doubtless underneath intense stress to enhance air defences over western Russia,” the British Protection Ministry stated, as Ukraine’s means to strike deep inside Russian territory has improved in current months, resulting in extra frequent drone and ballistic missile assaults. The stress to cease these strikes might be falling on “the management of Russia’s Aerospace Forces,” or VKS, and significantly on “VKS Chief of Employees, Colonel-Normal Viktor Afzalov,” the ministry stated Sunday in its each day intelligence evaluation.
It’s “untimely to make assessments concerning the total success” of Kyiv’s counteroffensive, the Institute for the Examine of Warfare stated in an evaluation, following a report by The Put up by which folks accustomed to a categorized forecast from the U.S. intelligence group stated Ukraine would fail in its goal of severing Russia’s land bridge to Crimea on this yr’s push. The D.C.-based assume tank stated it maintains that “the general degradation of the Russian defensive position creates alternatives for any Ukrainian breakthrough to be doubtlessly operationally vital.”
Kyiv has an settlement with Stockholm to provide armored autos often called CV-90s inside Ukraine, Zelensky stated in his nightly handle. He didn’t specify what number of, or what the settlement entailed. On his go to to Sweden this weekend, Zelensky and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson additionally mentioned Ukraine’s want for Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets, which Stockholm earlier this summer season agreed to permit Ukrainian pilots to check.
The US is predicted to quickly double its prewar month-to-month manufacturing of the usual NATO artillery spherical, The Put up reviews, rising its output from 14,000 models a month earlier than Russia’s invasion to ultimately 28,000 models a month. However trade consultants warn of challenges in sustaining the elevated manufacturing ranges, not simply to assist Ukraine battle efforts but in addition to make sure U.S. safety in potential conflicts with China or Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited navy officers in Rostov-on-Don, in line with reviews by state media. The journey to the town in southwestern Russia, close to the Ukrainian border, is his first since Wagner Group mercenaries briefly took management there throughout their short-lived June rise up.
Ukraine working out of choices to retake vital territory: Greater than two months into the extremely anticipated counteroffensive that officers touted as Ukraine’s essential alternative to retake territory from Russian forces, it seems that the hassle is stalling and Ukraine is working out of choices, The Put up’s Susannah George reviews.
The slogging effort has stoked fears in Washington and Europe that the battle may very well be reaching a stalemate and worldwide help might erode. Franz-Stefan Gady, a senior fellow with the Worldwide Institute for Strategic Research and the Middle for New American Safety, stated “the query right here is which of the 2 sides goes to be worn out sooner.”