Sunday 13 August 2023 15:04, UK
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Russian state media says authorities temporarily halted traffic going onto the Crimean Bridge, a pivotal link between mainland Russia and annexed Crimea.
But within 15 minutes, officials writing on Telegram said they had reopened the bridge,
No reason was given for the brief closure. But remember, this is the bridge that has been attacked a couple of times in the past year.
And yesterday, a huge white smoke screen could be seen on the bridge, after Russia accused Ukraine of firing three rockets at it – all of which were shot down.
The main fighting in Ukraine appears to be in three distinct areas at the moment, military analyst Sean Bell has said.
The Russians are making progress in a small settlement in the Donbas in the east, he said, while Moscow’s forces have also stopped a Ukrainian advance in Bakhmut.
Further west in Zaporizhzhia, however, there are reports of “limited breakthroughs for Ukraine”.
Watch his full analysis below.
Almost 18 months into the war, what is Ukraine’s current goal?
In a longish post on X (formerly Twitter), Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, has been explaining.
He writes: “Ukraine’s strategic goal, in addition to the unconditional return of territories, is to create conditions that make it impossible for aggression to be repeated in the future.”
Territory is crucial, Mr Podolyak says, adding that any “war freezing scenario”, in which current Russian annexations are kept, would be unacceptable.
That is because such a situation would “only encourage Moscow to increase its appetite and return to war after a short break”.
Mr Podolyak says there is “no alternative” to Kyiv’s peace formula, which is: “Strengthening the army, accelerating the supply of weapons, de-occupation of the territory, regime change in Russia, compensation from the new government, and mandatory punishment of war criminals.”
Russia’s air defences have shot down at least four drones today, Moscow’s defence ministry has said.
Three were taken down over the Belgorod region of southern Russia, the ministry said, while the other one was apparently intercepted over the Kursk region, to the north of Belgorod.
There were no casualties or damage, the ministry said.
Drone strikes within Russia have increased since one was destroyed over the Kremlin in early May.
Volunteers are designing fast attack vehicles in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
The buggies will be used by the Ukrainian armed forces for reconnaissance, rescue, special operations and the delivery of ammunition to the frontlines.
As we said in our 10.37 post, a number of people have been killed after Russia shelled two villages in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Initially, it was reported than a 12-year-old boy was critically injured.
The child has since died in hospital, Ukrainian interior minister Ihor Klymenko has said.
His parents and their other child, a 23-day-old baby, were also killed.
It raises the number of dead to seven.
Two Russian ammunition points were destroyed in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson overnight, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern command has said.
The Kyiv Post reported that the ammunition was wiped out in the “occupied” town of Oleshky, quoting Vladyslav Nazarov.
Video shows a large explosion.
The report has not been independently verified.
Six people including a baby have been killed after Russian forces shelled two villages in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, the Ukrainian interior minister has said.
A couple, their 23-day-old child and another man were killed in the village of Shyroka Balka, while the couple’s 12-year-old son was critically wounded, Ihor Klymenko said.
Two people were killed and one was wounded in the neighbouring village of Stanislav, which was struck 12 times with artillery, Mr Klymenko said.
“The terrorists will never willingly stop killing civilians,” he wrote in a Telegram post which contained two photographs of damaged houses.
“The terrorists must be stopped. With force. They don’t understand anything else.”
The Ukrainian military reclaimed the western part of the Kherson region from Russian occupation last November.
Kremlin forces, however, have continued to shell the area from across the Dnipro River.
Russia lost a further 560 personnel yesterday, Ukraine has claimed.
The general staff of its armed forces tweeted that the total number of Moscow’s casualties was now 253,850.
It puts the losses of tanks at 4298, and armoured personnel vehicles at 8335.
Sky News is unable to verify these claims.
A new Ukrainian border sign has been installed on Snake Island.
The Ukrainian territory became famous early in Moscow’s invasion when Russian officers on the Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, radioed Ukrainian guards stationed there and ordered them to surrender or die.
“Russian warship, go f*** yourself,” one of them replied.
The phrase became a national slogan, carried on Ukrainian billboards, T-shirts, and a postage stamp.
Snake Island overlooks sea lanes to Odesa, Ukraine’s main Black Sea port.
On April 14 last year, two Ukrainian missiles struck the Moskva.
It was the biggest warship sinking in 40 years.
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