Ukrainian missile forces attack Russian military airfield in Crimea Ukraine said on Friday that the missiles had been used for long-range attacks, the latest in a series of strikes against Russian forces in its occupied Crimea peninsula. The Ukrainian General Staff said the target was Russia’s Saki airfield in the west of the Crimean peninsula, adding that it was investigating the ensuing situation. “This is one of the operational airfields used by Russia to control airspace, especially the Black Sea, and to bomb Ukrainian territory.” There was no immediate comment from the Russian Defense Ministry or local officials appointed by Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tacitly authorized the attack. In a video address on Friday night, the Ukrainian president praised “our soldiers attacking Russian military bases and logistical formations in the occupied territories.” “I thank our soldiers for your precise actions,” he said. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for attacking a series of Russian air defense systems, including S-300 and S-400, deployed in Crimea in recent months.
Russian air defense forces intercepted 12 Ukrainian drones in one hour An explosion occurred late Friday in Russia’s southern border region of Bryansk, the region’s governor, Alexander Bogomaz, announced on Telegram. No casualties or serious damage were reported. Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the southeastern Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine, said: Three drone attacks and several artillery attacks shattered windows. It also caused some damage to buildings.
Russia has sentenced a string of people convicted of treason and “terrorism” charges to prison for up to 22 years. A Moscow military court sentenced two men to prison on Friday for plotting to blow up fuel tanks at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on the orders of Ukrainian intelligence. Mikhail Daliy and Ilya Kobylkov were sentenced to 22 and 15 years, respectively, on “terrorism” and other charges. Daliy said he did not carry out the planned attack because he wanted to minimize civilian casualties, independent media outlet SOTAvision reported. Prosecutors said Ukrainian intelligence agents offered the men $2,000 in return for carrying out a drone attack, state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Two other men were convicted in a separate case for attempting to enlist in the Russian Free Corps.The Libyan-backed Squadron, a group of pro-Kiev fighters including Russian nationals, has conducted armed border incursions into Russian territory throughout the war. A military court in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don sentenced Ivan Kovtunovsky, 23, to 11 years in prison for plotting treason and joining a “terrorist organization.” In Moscow, a military court sentenced another man, Vyacheslav Rutl, 34, to 10 years in prison for attempting to join the same group, Interfax reported, citing Russia’s FSB security service. Rutl was detained after buying a ticket to Turkey to travel to Ukraine and taking photos of an “industrial facility” in St. Petersburg that could be a target for “future Ukrainian drone attacks,” the news agency said.
A former senior Russian defense official has been arrested and charged with corruption. This is the latest high-profile incident in an ongoing purge within the Russian military’s top brass. Dmitry Bulgakov, who served as deputy defense minister in charge of military logistics for nearly 15 years until his dismissal in September 2022, was detained by the FSB security service on Friday and jailed in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo prison. He was widely blamed for Russian military logistical failures during the early months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which left soldiers severely undersupplied and stalled the Moscow advance. A recipient of several of Russia’s highest military and civilian awards, including the Hero of Russia award, Russia’s highest honor, Bulgakov was one of the longest serving defense officials.
A Ukrainian court has detained an 18-year-old man for his involvement in the murder of a former nationalist lawmaker.State media reported. Irina Falion, a controversial hardline activist opposed to the use of the Russian language, was shot dead on July 19 near her apartment in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. A court in Lviv on Friday ordered the detention of a suspect, who called himself Vyacheslav Zinchenko, for at least 60 days, according to state media outlet Sassline. Zinchenko was arrested this week in Dnipro, 800 kilometers east of Lviv. Investigators said they were still determining the motive for the attack. Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said he was inclined to believe the gunman was acting on orders.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary said prospects for the G7 to agree to terms for a $50 billion loan to Ukraine were “good.” The freeze on Russian central bank assets backed by Russian assets will be completed by October.Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Brazil that talks to move the loan forward had been constructive, in part because of a U.S. request to extend the asset freeze period.The $50 billion loan, agreed in principle by G7 leaders in June, will be repaid in 2022 with proceeds from revenues from about $300 billion in Russian central bank assets frozen in Western countries after Moscow’s 2019 invasion of Ukraine.
Slovakia said on Friday it had offered Ukraine a technical solution to restore the suspension of Russian oil supplies to Slovak and Hungarian refineries.The Ukrainian government announced the supply cuts following warnings that a partial cut could lead to fuel shortages as early as September. Eastern European EU members Slovakia and Hungary have been affected by the cut in supplies through Ukraine from Russia’s Lukoil after Kiev imposed sanctions on the company. The Slovak government office said Prime Minister Robert Fico met with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhali on Friday and “Prime Minister Fico proposed to Ukrainian partners a technical solution that would have to involve several countries, including Slovakia,” but did not provide details.
A German man sentenced to death in Belarus appeared on Belarusian state television in tearful protests, pleading with the German government to intervene. In his case, Rico Krieger, handcuffed in his cell, pleaded with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz: “Mr. Scholz, please, I’m still alive… it’s not too late.” Krieger is pictured handcuffed in his cell, pleading with Belarusian Prime Minister Olaf Scholz. Belarusian authorities claim that Krieger, 30, traveled to the country last fall on the orders of Ukrainian intelligence, intending to carry out a terror attack on a railway line.
