Ukraine ticker Russian pilot films own crash +++ Did the USA stop an attack on Putin?
On February 24, 2022, Russia began its large-scale war of aggression against the whole of Ukraine in violation of international law. The front line has remained virtually unchanged since fall 2022. Almost 18 percent of Ukraine is occupied by Russian troops. An end to the war is not in sight. The developments in the ticker.
The most important facts at a glance
- "The F-16s are in Ukraine": President Volodymyr Zelensky had himself filmed with the US jets in his home country.
- You can read about what was important beforehand here.
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18:03
Attacks near Kursk and Kharkiv
Russian attacks on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and Ukrainian attacks on the southern Russian region of Kursk have resulted in casualties on both sides. According to the Ukrainian authorities, at least eight people were injured in a Russian missile attack on the center of Kharkiv alone. The "Iskander" ballistic missile caused severe damage to buildings.
In the southern Russian region of Kursk, residents reported heavy Ukrainian attacks on social media. At least 18 people were injured by combat drones, Governor Alexei Smirnov announced on the Telegram platform. Videos circulated on social media show, among other things, a burnt-out tanker truck at an unspecified location.
Russian media also reported on a possible advance by several hundred Ukrainian soldiers, supported by tanks, on the border in the Kursk region. Attempts to break through to Russian territory had failed, it was reported. The fighting has been going on since the morning, according to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, among others. Russian fighter planes supported the ground troops.
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3.44 p.m.
Did the US stop an attack on Putin?
"Kiev prepared an assassination attempt on Putin on 'Navy Day'": At least that's what Sergei Ryabkov, one of the ten deputy foreign ministers, claims on Russian broadcaster "Rossiya.
According to this, Vladimir Putin's new Defense Minister Andrei Beloussov averted the whole thing by phoning his American counterpart. Lloyd Austin was supposed to dissuade the Ukrainian armed forces from the plan.
![Vladimir Putin waving) and Defense Minister Andrei Beloussov the whole take off a parade in St. Petersburg on July 28.]()
Vladimir Putin waving) and Defense Minister Andrei Beloussov the whole take off a parade in St. Petersburg on July 28. KEYSTONEThere was no attack on "Navy Day" on July 28 in St. Petersburg. Ryabkov emphasizes that "the signal from our military leadership and the defence minister must have had an effect".
The "New York Times" at least confirms that the two defense ministers spoke on the phone on 12 July and that the Russian informed the American about a secret operation uncovered by the Ukrainians. However, the Americans knew nothing about this, according to anonymous sources.
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2.23 p.m.
"Too late": Criticism of the White House over ATACMS
The US magazine "Forbes" criticizes its own government for its blockade stance on ATACMS in an unusually clear manner. "For months, Ukrainian officials" have been begging their Western partners to allow their weapons to be deployed on Russian territory.
In particular, long-range ATACMS missiles were requested in order to attack the military airfields behind the border where the jets were parked in the open. "Ukraine had a chance to blow up Russia's best fighter jets on the tarmac," headlines "Forbes". "The White House said no - and now it's too late."
![Openly visible and barely protected Russian aircraft at the base in Morozovsk.]()
Openly visible and barely protected Russian aircraft at the base in Morozovsk. Google EarthThe reason: Because no green light came from the USA, Kiev finally attacked the Morozovsk military airbase in Rostov Oblast, which is around 140 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, with domestic drones on 3 August - see yesterday's entry from 4.39 pm.
Only one Su-34 bomber was destroyed in this way. The other aircraft were relocated after the attack and are now out of range. According to "Forbes", up to 100 Russian glide bombs rain down on Ukraine every day.
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1.47 pm
Russian pilot films own crash
The video of a Russian pilot is making the rounds on the internet, recorded by the man himself after he got out of his fighter plane. He calmly captures himself gliding to the ground by parachute, implying that his jet did not get into trouble over enemy territory.
The clip was allegedly distributed via pro-Russian Telegram channels. The plane falling out of the sky could have been a Su-35S, Su-30SM, Su-34 or Su-27, according to The War Zone. The pilot reportedly says into the camera: "We were attacked and didn't have time to do anything."
It is unclear who attacked the jet and with what. It is also not known when and where the video was taken.
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1.20 pm
Moscow quantifies Ukrainian losses since mid-June
Since mid-June, Russian troops have conquered around 420 square kilometers of territory in Ukraine, according to former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who is now Secretary of the Russian National Security Council.
In addition, the Ukrainian armed forces have since lost 115,000 soldiers and more than 3,000 pieces of armored equipment. The information cannot be independently verified. Ukraine also points to huge losses in the ranks of the Russian armed forces.
![Sergei Shoigu (left) meets Iranian President Massud Peseshkian in Tehran on August 5.]()
Sergei Shoigu (left) meets Iranian President Massud Peseshkian in Tehran on August 5. IMAGO/ZUMA Press WireAccording to Russian news agencies in Azerbaijan, Shoigu said that the troops would achieve the objectives of the special military operation, as the war is officially called in Russia. The confidant of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin criticized Ukraine for continuing to rely on aid from the West in the hope of winning the war.
Shoigu complained that Kiev was not accepting Putin's proposal to give up territory in order to end the war. "The window of opportunity for Kiev is getting smaller and smaller. And every day that it delays a decision on resolving the situation costs the Ukrainian people, who have to make a decision, dearly," said Shoigu.
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1 p.m.
Russians advance on Pokrov
Especially in the Donetsk region annexed by Moscow, Ukrainian troops have had to give up a number of positions in recent weeks under Russian pressure. There is already fighting on the outskirts of the small town of Torezk.
Moscow's troops are also advancing towards the mining town of Pokrovsk and the road to Kostyantynivka.
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12.30 p.m.
Gerasimov visits the front
During a visit to the war zone in eastern Ukraine, Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov awarded soldiers with medals for the fulfillment of military tasks following the recent conquest of territory.
He wished them continued success, Gerasimov said according to a video published by the Ministry of Defense, which shows him in various rooms in an underground command post.
The Chief of the General Staff was informed by commanders about the situation on the various sections of the front, according to a statement from the Ministry. According to the statement, Gerasimov also announced the next combat tasks. No details were given. The location of the recording is also secret.
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10.19 a.m.
Moscow and Kiev overrun each other with attacks
Russia and Ukraine have once again attacked each other with drones and missiles.
"Tonight, the city of Sudzha was shelled from Ukraine," announced the acting governor of the Russian region of Kursk, Alexei Smirnov, on Telegram. Several residential buildings were severely damaged and at least five people were injured.
Smirnov also published pictures of the affected houses. The authorities in the neighboring Belgorod region also reported damage to buildings and cars. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, 34 Ukrainian drones were shot down during the night and morning hours.
The Ukrainian air force announced that the Russian military had fired four ballistic missiles and two air-to-ground missiles at targets in Ukraine. Only two of the ballistic missiles were shot down. A video circulating on social networks showed a presumably damaged Russian missile falling and exploding in the eastern Kiev suburb of Browary.
According to reports, the Russian army also deployed 15 combat drones on targets in the areas of Kiev, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Khmelnytskyi. All of them are said to have been intercepted. Nevertheless, according to the authorities, there was damage in the Kiev area due to falling debris.
The Ukrainian military did not provide any clear information about the ballistic missiles used by Russia. It could have been either Russian Iskander missiles or KN-32 missiles from North Korea.
The day before, a Ukrainian portal specializing in military analysis had reported, citing its own sources, that Russia had again fired North Korean missiles in the direction of Bila Zerkwa near Kiev at the end of July. According to Ukrainian sources, KN-32 missiles were used against targets in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv in February.
According to Western and Ukrainian reports, Russia has long been relying on arms supplies from Iran and North Korea due to a lack of its own resources.
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5.15 a.m.
Heavy fighting continues in eastern Ukraine
Russian and Ukrainian troops continue to engage in heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine. The focal point of the fighting was once again the city of Pokrovsk, where Russian troops have been trying to break through Ukrainian positions for days, suffering heavy losses. The regional crisis management team ordered the evacuation of children and their families from over a dozen threatened villages due to the heightened danger level.
According to the General Staff in Kiev, repeated Russian attacks were also reported from Torezk. These were supported by fighter jets, which dropped ten glide bombs on the city.
![A destroyed residential building in the town of Torezk, which is located near the front line in the Donetsk region.]()
A destroyed residential building in the town of Torezk, which is located near the front line in the Donetsk region. Picture: Keystone/EPA/Oleg Petrasiuk/24th Mechanized BrigadeLate in the evening, air and missile alerts were sounded in several regions of Ukraine. Residents of the capital Kiev reported several explosions, possibly due to an air defense operation.
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5.01 a.m.
Selenskyj: Need timely weapons support for defensive battle
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warns against delays in the delivery of promised weapons or ammunition from the West for the defense of his country. "It is important for us that a minimum of time elapses between the announcement of the packages and their deployment on the front line," he said in his evening video contribution. He said he was grateful to all partners who kept their promises on time. In addition, his government is already working on new packages that could strengthen Ukraine's position in the fall. Selensky did not provide any further details.
Following the arrival of the first US-made F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine, experts are already speculating about further aircraft types. "If we are already talking about the fact that we need 128 combat aircraft, it doesn't just have to be F-16s," said Valery Ryabych, head of the Kiev-based consulting firm Defense Express, which specializes in military issues. "It could also be the (French) Mirage 2000/5 or the (Swedish) Saab Gripen." Nothing should be definitively ruled out.
Ukraine will definitely continue to be armed with Western-made combat aircraft. Over time, Ukraine's air force could also be equipped with so-called fifth-generation fighter jets such as the F-35. "Because aircraft are not about tactics - they are about strategy," Ryabych said on television. "So if we have already received F-16s, our pilots will also master other Western aircraft."
President Zelensky presented the first F-16s in service with the Ukrainian air force on Sunday. According to various media reports, Kiev initially received between six and ten of the fighter jets. The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Belgium have promised Ukraine a total of more than 60 of these fighter jets. The aircraft are to be armed and equipped by the USA. Pilots and ground personnel have been trained in the West in recent months.
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1.30 a.m.
Germany warns against traveling to Russia
Following the spectacular exchange of prisoners between the West and Russia, German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann has issued an urgent warning against traveling to the country. "No one has been safe in Russia for some time now. And I strongly advise everyone against traveling to a country where no one is safe without compelling necessity," the FDP politician told Stern magazine. "I can't take away anyone's concern that Putin will take more political prisoners," the minister emphasized.
In the prisoner exchange on Thursday, Russia and Belarus released 16 people who had been imprisoned for their activities as journalists, artists, opposition members or activists, among other things.
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Tuesday, August 6, 2024, 0:10 a.m.
Air defense active over Kiev
An air alert was issued in Kiev on Tuesday night. Loud explosions could be heard over the city. Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram: "Stay in the shelters!" The air defense systems had been activated.
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7 p.m.
We end the ticker on Monday, August 5, 2024
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5.38 pm
Ukrainian secret service exposes Russian agents
The Ukrainian secret service has unmasked a Russian agent network and taken it out of circulation. The SBU intelligence service in Kiev announced that the Russian secret service had recruited potential employees in six regions of Ukraine via a chat page on the Telegram platform. They were supposed to pass on information about critical infrastructure and military targets. The SBU had been observing the spies for some time and has now struck.
A total of nine men have been arrested. Among those arrested were two municipal administrators from Dnipro and Yuzhne in the Odessa region. They had been recruited because they were active as "commentators" in pro-Kremlin chats. Their senior officer of the Russian secret service FSB was also exposed, the report added.
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4.39 p.m.
Kiev claims to have destroyed Su-34 bombers and ammunition
On Saturday, August 3, Kiev's armed forces attacked the Russian military airfield Morozovsk in Rostov Oblast, which is located around 140 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
Russia reported that it had intercepted 75 drones in various regions. Ukraine announced that oil and ammunition depots had been hit.
Volodymyr Zelenskyi's military intelligence service GUR, aka HUR, has now analyzed the damage using satellite images: The drones also hit an Su-34. The bombers regularly take off from this base to drop glide bombs over Ukraine.
The satellite images also showed destroyed ammunition depots in the north-east of the base. After the attack, jets were also moved further inland, according to the GUR.
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3.15 p.m.
Washington gives Kiev billions in aid
Ukraine, shaken by the Russian war of aggression, has received the equivalent of over 3.26 billion Swiss francs in new budgetary aid from the USA.
"This is an extremely important contribution to support Ukraine's state budget during the period of resistance to the Russian Federation's all-out aggression," said Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko in a statement.
The funds will be used to pay the salaries of teachers, civil defense workers and other state employees and to support internally displaced persons. They do not have to be repaid.
According to the ministry, since the Russian invasion in February 2022, the Ukrainian budget has received the equivalent of over 23 billion Swiss francs in direct support from the USA alone. In total, Kiev has received more than 83 billion francs from international donors to finance its state budget since then.
More than half of Ukraine's 2024 budget will be financed from abroad.
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2.45 pm
Middle East crisis: Shoigu arrives in Tehran
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has sent his confidant Sergei Shoigu to Iran for talks amid growing fears of a conflagration in the Middle East. The former defense minister, who is now secretary of the Russian National Security Council, arrived in Tehran to discuss regional and international security issues, according to Russian agencies.
Shoigu's program included talks with the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, and the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Mohammed Bagheri, according to reports. A reception by the new Iranian President Massud Peseshkian is also planned. In addition to security issues, the meetings will also focus on economic projects and strengthening bilateral cooperation.
Ukraine has long accused Iran of supporting Russia militarily; Kiev complains that Tehran has supplied drones and missiles for Moscow's war of aggression in the past. From the point of view of the leadership in Kiev, Putin has an interest in a further escalation of the situation in the Middle East, as this could divert attention in the West away from the war in Ukraine.
Last week, Russia condemned the targeted killing of the foreign head of the Islamist Hamas, Ismail Haniya, in an Israeli attack and called on all sides to exercise restraint in view of the threat of retaliatory strikes. Moscow maintains close contacts with Tehran and Hamas. Russia, which also has contacts with Israel, has in the past put itself forward as a possible mediator in the conflict.
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1 p.m.
Mali breaks off relations with Ukraine
Following a rebel attack that left dozens of soldiers and Russian mercenaries dead, Mali has broken off diplomatic relations with Ukraine. This was announced by the Malian transitional government.
A representative of the Ukrainian military intelligence service had previously stated that Kiev had helped the rebel Tuareg in an ambush on a convoy of the Malian army and the Wagner mercenaries supporting them just over a week ago. As a consequence, Mali would in future regard Ukraine's support as support for international terrorism, it was said.
An unconfirmed photo showing Tuareg fighters with a Ukrainian flag was also circulating on the internet. "They received the necessary information that enabled them to carry out the successful military operation against the Russian war criminals," said Andriy Yusov on Ukrainian television last week.
At the same time, he announced further operations of this kind in Africa. "The monopoly of the Russian private armies in Africa is coming to an end and opposing forces are emerging that can put these criminals in their place," said the intelligence officer. According to the separatist Tuareg, 84 Russian mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers were killed in several days of fighting at the end of July around the village of Tinzaouatène on the border with Algeria.
Some channels close to Wagner also reported more than 80 casualties, the heaviest Russian losses to date in West Africa. The Islamist terrorist group GSIM, which is allied with Al-Qaeda, also attacked the convoy. Whether the Tuareg cooperated with the Islamists is unconfirmed.
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Monday, August 5, 2024, 5:01 a.m.
Ukraine celebrates the arrival of the first F-16 fighter jets
Ukraine is hoping that the celebrated arrival of the first American F-16 fighter jets will make a decisive contribution to its defense against Russian attackers.
"This is another important step towards our victory," wrote army chief Olexander Syrskyj on the Telegram platform. "F-16s in Ukraine - this means more killed occupiers, more intercepted missiles or planes with which the Russian criminals attack our Ukrainian cities."
"The F-16s are in Ukraine" - with these words, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented the first fighter jets with his country's national insignia at an unspecified military airfield. The occasion for the presentation was Air Force Day.
![President Volodymyr Zelensky in front of a Ukrainian Air Force F-16 at a secret location in Ukraine. (August 4, 2024)]()
President Volodymyr Zelensky in front of a Ukrainian Air Force F-16 at a secret location in Ukraine. (August 4, 2024) Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky"We have done a lot to bring the Ukrainian Air Force up to a new standard, that of Western fighter aircraft," he told the soldiers and pilots lined up for the parade.
He recalled the many previous meetings and discussions with foreign partners on ways to strengthen Ukraine's air defense. The word "impossible" had often been used - wrongly, as was now apparent. A video distributed on Platform X shows various fighter jets in flight, including the F-16, with Ukraine's yellow and blue cockades on the wings.
Selensky did not provide any information on how many fighter jets have now arrived in Ukraine. "So far, the number of F-16s available in Ukraine and the number of pilots already trained are not enough," he simply said. Western media had recently reported that between six and ten aircraft had been handed over to Kiev.
The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Belgium have together pledged over 60 of these US-made fighter jets to Ukraine and have taken over the training of Ukrainian pilots and ground personnel. According to American media reports, the weapons and equipment for the jets are to come from the USA.
The fighter aircraft is one of the most powerful military jets in the world and is used in more than two dozen countries. The aircraft from the US company Lockheed can be used both in air defense and against targets on the ground, i.e. to push back enemy formations. The F-16 is also capable of flying at extremely low altitudes and in all weather conditions.
Selensky did not provide any details on how the new fighter aircraft will be used. "You will certainly see the results, although not all of them," said Selenskyj in an interview with journalists. "We will then decide whether to say whether these were results from the use of F-16s."
According to Ukrainian military experts, the F-16s are unlikely to be flown in direct air combat with Russian aircraft over the front line, as Russia has built up a dense air defense network. In addition, the Russian military is likely to attempt to destroy F-16s parked at Ukrainian bases.
You can find the older entries here.