A blood transfusion center burns in Kupyansk in northeast Ukraine after a Russian missile strike, August 5, 2023

Saturday’s Coverage: Drone Strike on A Russian Tanker

Map: Institute for Study of War

UPDATE 1825 GMT:

The death toll for Russia’s overnight missile and drone attacks has risen to at least four, with information still being collected.

UPDATE 1758 GMT:

The Chonhar Bridge between Russian-occupied areas of the Kherson region and Crimea has been damaged by a Ukrainian attack for the third time in less than seven weeks.

The Ukraine military said they “hit two key routes of communication” for Russia — the Chonhar bridge and a smaller bridge connecting the Arabat Spit on Crimea’s east coast and the Ukrainian city of Henichesk.

The Russian proxy head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, initially reported the strike. The proxy “acting governor” of the Kherson region, Volodymyr Saldo, posted on Telegram that the bridge and a school were damaged. A gas pipeline was interrupted, leaving 20,000 people without supply.

Saldo claimed that Ukraine used recently-delivered 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.

UPDATE 1128 GMT:

A “senior American official” has spoken of a US-China meeting on the sidelines of the Saudi-hosted, 43-country summit seeking a resolution of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The official said US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland met the head of the Chinese delegation, Beijing’s envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui.

“It was very good to have the Chinese here,” the official said.

The 43 countries in Jeddah included Ukraine but not Russia. Officials said there was “agreement on pursuing more detailed work on the global impact of the war”. They emphasized thata most countries, including China, seemed willing to meet again in the coming weeks in the same format.

Working groups were established to focus on elements of the Ukraine Peace Formula, such as nuclear safety, food security, the environment, and prisoners of war.

The Kremlin is scrambling for a response, as not only China but states like South Africa and India — who have refrained from even calling Russia’s assault on Ukraine an “invasion” — were in Jeddah.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov maintained, “There are no grounds for an agreement at the moment. We will continue the operation for the foreseeable future.”

He insisted that Russia would continue its “annexation” of four Ukrainian regions as well as Crimea: “We just want to control all the land we have now written into our Constitution as ours.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov was more cautious:

From the point of view of conveying common sense to the sponsors of [Ukraine], I think the participation of BRICS [Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa] colleagues in this event may have brought some benefit. But we still need to figure out what happened in Jeddah.

UPDATE 1028 GMT:

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will chair a Cabinet meeting on Monday, discussing Vladimir Putin’s shredding of the July 2022 deal — brokered by Ankara and the UN — lifting Russia’s blockade of three Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

The Government pointedly notes that the Cabinet will consider details of a phone call on Wednesday in which Erdoğan “told Putin that the long-term inactivation of the grain deal ‘will not benefit anyone’ and that the countries in need would suffer the most”.

Erdoğan also noted that grain prices increased by 15% in the two weeks after Russia’s burial of the deal, comparing to a 23% decrease since July 2022.

Three days before Putin announced Russian withdrawal, Erdoğan said that the Kremlin had agreed to an extension and that Putin would soon visit Ankara. Moscow denied that any meeting had been scheduled.

Erdoğan said again last week that Putin would come to Turkey. The Kremlin said the details of time and location are being considered.

UPDATE 1021 GMT:

Two people have been killed and four injured in the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine by the Russian airstrikes.

UPDATE 0754 GMT:

The Deputy Governor of the Khmelnytskyi region in western Ukraine, Serhiy Tiurin, says Russian airstrikes damaged civilian sites as they aimed at a military airfield.

Tiurin said explosions damaged several private houses, a cultural institution, and the bus station in Starokostiantyniv. A grain silo was set on fire.

Missiles also struck a Motor Sich factory, which makes plane and helicopter engines and other components, near Khmelnytskyi.

UPDATE 0721 GMT:

Under pressure from Russian authorities, Apple Podcasts has removed the What Happened broadcast of the independent Russian outlet Meduza.

In a letter to Meduza, Apple did not give a reason for the removal.

However, last month Apple told Meduza that the Russian regulator Roskomnadzor had notified the company of a “violation of the procedure for disseminating information” and demanded a ban on the podcast.

Apple also removed the program of Kholod Media after Roskomnadzor alleged “violations”.

What Happened is Meduza’s flagship daily news podcast. It is still available on Meduza’s website, applicaition, and Telegram, as well as other platforms such as Castbox, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and YouTube.

UPDATE 0701 GMT:

UK military intelligence notes the tension within Russia’s leadership after the commander of airborne forces — unwittingly or intentionally — pointed to the scale of casualties in Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

In a recorded address for Wednesday’s VDV Day, celebrating Russian paratroopers, Col. Gen. Mikhail Teplinsky said 8,500 of them had been wounded in Ukraine. He praised them for later returning to duty or refusing to leave the frontline at all.

But Teplinsky’s revelation, using the standard killed-to-wounded ratio in warfare, indicated that at least 50% of the 30,000 paratroopers in Russia’s invasion have been slain or injured.

The video was initially posted by the Defense Ministry, but pulled from social media and a leading website within hours.

UPDATE 0649 GMT:

The latest Russian shelling of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine has killed two civilians and wounded two.

The fatalities were in the towns of New York and Torske.

UPDATE 0644 GMT:

Russian proxy officials have accused Ukraine of shelling the Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade in Donetsk city.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Russia has killed and wounded civilians in a strike on a blood transfusion center in northeast Ukriane.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned the “war crime” after a guided air bomb hit the center in Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region on Saturday night.

Zelenskiy posted:

This war crime alone says everything about Russian aggression. Beasts that destroy everything that simply allows to live. Defeating terrorists is a matter of honor for everyone who values life.

Kupyansk was liberated from Russian occupation by a Ukrainian counter-offensive last autumn. Trying to divert Ukraine’s forces from their two-month counter-offensive, Russia has been attacking in the direction of the city.

Russia’s Largest Air Attack in Weeks

In one of its largest aerial assaults in weeks, Russia fired 70 weapons, including cruise and hypersonic missiles and Iranian-made drones.

The Ukraine Air Force said it downed 30 of 40 missiles and all 27 Iranian-made Shahed “kamikaze” drone in two waves of Russian strikes.

In the first wave on Saturday night, air defenses downed 12 of 14 Kalibr sea-launched cruise missiles. The Air Force said information about three Kh-47 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles “is not to be disclosed”.

Ukraine downed 5 of 6 Kalibr missiles and 13 out of 20 Kh-101 and Kh555 air-launched cruise missiles in the second wave early Sunday.

Missiles struck a Motor Sich factory, which makes plane and helicopter engines and other components, near Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine.

Zelenskiy said in his nightly address to the nation, “No matter how many such Russian attacks there are, they will still do nothing for the enemy.”