The Chonhar Bridge between Russian-occupied areas of southern Ukraine, damaged by Ukrainian missiles, August 6, 2023

Sunday’s Coverage: “War Crime” — Russia’s Deadly Strike On A Blood Transfusion Center

Map: Institute for Study of War

UPDATE 1910 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reports another Russian missile strike on a residential building, with civilian casualties.

UPDATE 1858 GMT:

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has spoken by phone with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, a day after China participated in the Saudi-hosted summit of 43 countries — but not Russia — seeking a resolution of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wang told Lavrov that China will uphold an independent and impartial position, actively promote peace talks, and strive to find a political settlement.

Ukraine Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak told a briefing in Kyiv that the summit dealt a “huge blow” to Russia, with participants agreeing to hold another meeting of political advisors within six weeks.

Yermak said only Ukraine’s peace initiatives was discussed, and all countries at the talks fully supported Ukrainian independence and territorial integrity.

UPDATE 1632 GMT:

Russia’s artillery attacks on Nikopol, across the Dnipro River from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, have killed a 36-year-old man has died and wounded a 68-year-old man.

Private houses, farm buildings, gas pipeline, power lines, and cars were damaged.

UPDATE 1046 GMT:

Footage of the damage from Russia’s overnight shelling of Kherson city in southern Ukraine, which killed a 59-year-old woman and injured 12 other civilians:

UPDATE 0935 GMT:

On Russian State TV, a break in the Kremlin’s propaganda narrative….

UPDATE 0928 GMT:

Ukraine Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak says 22 more Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released by Russia.

The returnees include officers and wounded.

UPDATE 0917 GMT:

China has praised last weekend’s Saudi-hosted summit seeking an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Foreign Ministry said the special envoy for Eurasian Affairs, Li Hui, “had extensive contact and communication with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis…listened to all sides’ opinions and proposals, and further consolidated international consensus”.

More than 40 countries, including Ukraine, China, India, the US, and European nations — but not Russia — were involved in the discussions in Jeddah.

UPDATE 0909 GMT:

Ukraine has placed its trident coat of arms on the Motherland Monument, replacing the hammer and sickle on the 102-meter Soviet-era statue that dominates the Kyiv skyline.

UPDATE 0800 GMT:

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that the 2024 Russian Presidential election is an unnecessary extravagance as Vladimir Putin would be an overwhelming victor.

Peskov told The New York Times, “Our Presidential election is not really democracy, it is costly bureaucracy. Mr. Putin will be re-elected next year with more than 90 percent of the vote.”

Peskov later told a Russian outlet that he was “misquoted as usual” and that the statement was “completely my personal opinion”.

UPDATE 0750 GMT:

Two days after it was removed by Apple Podcasts, the flagship daily program of independent Russian outlet Meduza has suddenly reappeared on the platform.

What Happened disappeared on Saturday. Apple gave no explanation, but earlier in July, the Russian State censorship authority Roskomnadzor demanded that the podcast be blocked over “violation of the procedure for disseminating information”.

The independent outlet Kholod, also removed last week, is again available.

Apple made no statement about the restorations.

UPDATE 0741 GMT:

Russian forces have shelled a house in the village of Kucherivka in the Sumy region of northern Ukraine, killing two civilians and injuring three.

UPDATE 0639 GMT:

Overnight Russian shelling has killed a 59-year-old woman and injured 12 civilians, including a 93-year-old woman and two rescuers, in Kherson city in southern Ukriane.

The Russian attack targeted residential areas in the city center.

UPDATE 0629 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has praised air defense systems, supplied by the US and Germany, for limiting Russia’s mass killing and damage in missile and drone strikes.

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelenskiy said, “These are powerful systems, very effective.”

Overnight on Saturday-Sunday, Russia carried out its largest attack in week. It fired about 70 weapons, including cruise and hypersonic missiles and Iranian-made Shahed “kamikaze” drones.

Six civilians were killed as the Russians hit a blood transfusion center in northeast Ukraine and a factory in the west.

Zelenskiy noted casualties would have been far higher, if air defenses had not shot down a “significant number” of the 65 different missiles and 178 drones fired by Russia in the past week.

Here, in our skies, we can prove that terror is losing….Ukraine can win this battle, and our sky shield will eventually guarantee security for the whole of Europe.

UK military intelligence notes in its latest assessment:

Over the summer, Russian tactical combat aircraft have typically carried out over 100 sorties a day, but these are almost always restricted to operating over Russian-controlled territory due to the threat from Ukrainian air defences.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukrainian forces have again struck bridges used by Russia’s military between Russian-occupied areas of Crimea and the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian missiles hit the Chonhar Bridge for the third time in less than seven weeks, and a smaller bridge connecting the Arabat Spit on Crimea’s east coast and the Russian-occupied city of Henichesk.

The Ukraine military confirmed it “hit two key routes of communication”. The Russian proxy “acting governor” of the Kherson region, Volodymyr Saldo, posted on Telegram that the Chonhar Bridge and a school were damaged. A gas pipeline was interrupted, leaving 20,000 people without supply.

Saldo claimed that Ukraine used recently-delivered UK Storm Shadow or French SCALP long-range missiles.

The Chonhar Bridge was damaged on June 22 and again on July 29, resulting in queues up to 13 hours on other bridges from Russia to Crimea.

Russian officials and military observers spoke about the first assault but did not mention the second.

On Sunday, proxy officials said traffic will be rerouted along two other highways, and also claimed that traffic along the Kerch Bridge — badly damaged in October and last month — and the Kerch Strait ferry crossing is moving normally.

A prominent Russian military observer notes that the attacks are part of a systematic Ukrainian effort, amid Kyiv’s counter-offensive in southern Ukraine, trying to cut off Russia’s forces and disrupt their logistics.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War summarizes:

This major bottleneck in Russian GLOCs [ground lines of communication] will likely pose significant disruptions to logistics and chances for delays and traffic jams.

It is unclear how quickly Russian officials will be able to repair the Chonhar bridge and it is equally as unclear if Russian officials have repaired the Chonhar railway bridge that Ukrainian forces struck on July 29. The damage to the Henichesk Strait bridge will likely take Russian officials substantially longer to repair.