Vladimir Putin has spoken at the BRICS summit in South Africa via videolink as an international arrest warrant prevented him from leaving Russia. And Moscow has sent two jets to forces reconnaissance drones away from Crimea.
Tuesday 22 August 2023 22:35, UK
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Russia may annex Georgia’s breakaway regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the country’s former president has said.
Dmitry Medvedev, who is now a deputy chair of the Russian security council, said “The idea of joining Russia is still popular in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
“It could quite possibly be implemented if there are good reasons for that,” he added in an article published by Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty.
Georgia is a former Soviet republic and has long been caught between Russia and the West.
It gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Situated in the northwest of Georgia, Abkhazia fought and won a war of secession with Georgia in 1992-93, and formally declared independence in 1999.
However, most countries regard it as a part of Georgia.
After the Georgian-Russian war in 2008, Moscow recognised it as an independent state and Georgia responded by declaring the region “occupied” by Russia.
South Ossetia withdrew from Georgia in 1992 and declared itself as an independent republic, but most countries do not recognise it as such.
Turkey’s foreign minister will visit Ukraine this week, state media has reported.
Hakan Fidan is due to land n the country on Friday, Turkish diplomatic sources told Anadolu.
Turkish officials have repeatedly expressed interest in a mediation role between Russia and Ukraine to re-initiate the Black Sea grain deal.
The visit would come a week after Ukraine announced a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea to release cargo ships that have been trapped in its ports after the deal was terminated by Russia last month.
Russia is planning to sink six ferries in the Kerch Strait to protect the Crimean Bridge from attacks, Ukraine’s military intelligence has reported.
Russian forces believe submerging the boats will create a “protective lane” in front of the bridge, it said.
It added one ferry has already been sunk, and Russia is “conducting preparatory work” to sink the second.
“According to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the occupiers plan to sink at least six watercraft of the specified type in order to create a protective lane in front of the Kerch Bridge,” it said on its website.
“The Russians intend to install barrier barriers between the sunken ferries.
“In this way, the enemy seeks to protect the Kerch Bridge from damage.”
The bridge connects Crimea to Russia’s mainland, carrying both road and rail traffic and is an important supply artery for Moscow’s troops.
It has come under several attacks throughout the war, with one of the most recent killing two people.
Ukraine’s Security Service claimed responsibility for the explosion, saying it had used an experimental sea drone in the operation.
The Ukrainian military intelligence has described the bridge as a “legitimate military target” and said attacks have resulted in “serious damage” to its structure.
Russia’s air force has scrambled two jets to stop two reconnaissance drones near Crimea, its defence ministry has said.
The unmanned aerial vehicles were gathering information near the peninsula over the Black Sea, it said.
After sending up planes to stop them, they “changed direction” and left the area.
“On August 22, the flight of two unmanned aerial vehicles MQ-9 Reaper and TB2 Bayraktar carrying out aerial reconnaissance in the area of the Crimean Peninsula was recorded over the Black Sea by means of the airspace control of the Russian Aerospace Forces,” the ministry wrote on Telegram.
“In order to prevent a possible violation of the State Border of the Russian Federation and counteract the conduct of electronic reconnaissance UAVs, two Russian fighters from the air defence forces on duty were raised.”
Across Russia, people have been celebrating National Flag Day.
Events have been taking place across the country to mark the occasion, with a flag of more than 1,000 square metres unfolded in Moscow.
In Donetsk, controlled by Russian forces, several cars drove with tricolours through the city.
But Ukrainians have marked the day in a very different way, burning the flag or stamping it into the ground.
Some have shared their “celebrations” on social media.
Three people have been killed and two others injured in a Russian artillery attack in Lyman, a Ukrainian official has reported.
Two villages in the eastern city in the Donetsk region came under fire – Torsk and Zakitny, Pavlo Krylenko said.
“The enemy beats civilians in Donetsk region every day – especially this applies to frontline communities,” he wrote on Facebook.
He shared these photos purporting to show the aftermath of the attacks.
A person has been killed in Donetsk after Russia launched 12 attacks on the region in one day, Ukraine’s National Police has said.
Ten settlements came under fire today, with civilians “hit by Strela-10 air defence systems, grad rockets launchers and artillery”, it said in a Telegram post.
Eight residential buildings and a gas pipeline were damaged in the strikes.
The eastern city has become the flashpoint for fierce fighting between Moscow and Kyiv’s forces.
Ukrainian forces recaptured the village of Urozhaine in the region last week, but most of the area is still under Russian control.
General Sergei Surovikin, former commander of Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, has been dismissed as head of the country’s aerospace forces, a prominent Russian journalist has said.
Rumours of this first started swirling a week ago and were reported by Politico.
Alexei Venediktov, former head of the now defunct Ekho Moskvy radio station, said on his Telegram channel that Gen Surovikin had been removed by official decree, without providing any further details.
There has been no official confirmation of the report but it has been cited by some other Russian news outlets on social media.
The general has not been seen in public since a short-lived mutiny in June by the Wagner mercenary group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Since the mutiny, Russian and foreign news reports have said that Gen Surovikin was being investigated for possible complicity in the revolt.
He was nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian press for his aggressive tactics in the Syrian conflict.
Who is Sergei Surovikin? Our reporters Richard Williams and Michael Drummond examine Russia’s ‘savage’ commander – and what he knew about Prigozhin’s Wagner Group mutiny…
Over the past four days, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been very busy travelling to as many countries to strengthen support for Ukraine.
He has travelled to Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece, attending the Ukraine-Balkans summit in Athens in that time as well.
As he returns home, the Ukrainian president has shared a message about what has been achieved during his trip.
“We are coming home with new political support and new agreements,” he said on Telegram.
“Everyone clearly confirms the territorial integrity of Ukraine. There will be jets for Ukraine. There will be additional armoured vehicles. We will reinforce air defence.
“The overall summary of these days is that Ukraine has become stronger.”
Ukraine has long been calling for planes to help it defend its skies, but its demands had not been met over fears it could escalate the conflict.
Denmark and the Netherlands announced they will supply a number of F-16 fighter planes after the US gave its approval for them to be delivered.
Over the past few days, we have been discussing a claimed Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian airbase.
Moscow reported an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to Kyiv struck the Soltsy air base in Novgorod on Saturday, destroying a warplane.
Now satellite images released by Planet Labs PBC have revealed the aftermath of the strike.
What appeared to be 10 Tupolev TU-22M long-range bombers were parked on the apron of the airbase on 16 August.
By yesterday – two days after the attack – all those bombers had left.
A large black spot could be seen on one of the aprons where one of the Tupolev’s had been parked.
Earlier today, the UK defence ministry said the attack was likely launched from inside Russia and probably destroyed a nuclear-capable TU-22M3 supersonic long-range bomber.
Russia has used the TU-22M3 to bomb targets across Ukraine with conventional munitions, according to Kyiv.
Western military experts believe Vladimir Putin’s army has around 60 of the aircraft.
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