Leaders at the Ukraine-Balkans Summit, Athens, Greece, August 22, 2023

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Map: Institute for Study of War

LATEST:

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group mercenaries who briefly rebelled and advanced on Moscow in late June, was listed as a passenger on a private jet which crashed north of the Russian capital on Wednesday evening.

All three pilots and seven passengers were killed.

See our special entry Has Vladimir Putin Assassinated Wagner Group’s Yevgeny Prigozhin?.

UPDATE 1922 GMT:

A Russian pilot has reportedly been convinced to defect in a six-month intelligence operation.

According to a Russian military observer, one of Moscow’s twin-engine Mi-8 AMTSh helicopters crossed the border into Ukraine with three people on board “a couple of weeks ago”, with the pretense that the aircraft lost its way.

The helicopter was transporting parts for Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets on a flight between two air bases, said defense intelligence sources.

The pilot’s family was already in Ukraine as part of the defection operation. The Russian military observer and Ukrainian reports said the other two crew members were killed.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Ukraine military, told State TV, “There will be official information. We need to wait a little bit – we are working on it, including with the crew.”

UPDATE 1908 GMT:

Ukraine says it destroyed a Russian S-400 advanced anti-aircraft system on in occupied Crimea.

The Ukraine Defense Ministry said an explosion destroyed “the system, its missiles, and personnel” about 10 a.m. near the village of Olenivka. It posted a video of the blast and a large column of smoke billowing into the sky.

UPDATE 1339 GMT:

The toll from Russia’s drone attack on a school in northeast Ukraine this morning (see 1011 GMT) has risen to four killed and four injured.

The bodies of the school director, deputy director, secretary, and a librarian were pulled from the rubble in the city of Romny in the Sumy region.

Four residents were injured as they walked past the school.

UPDATE 1331 GMT:

Russia’s overnight strikes on the port of Izmail on the Danube River (see 0601 GMT) destroyed 13,000 tons of grain scheduled for export.

Ukraine’s Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said the grain was to be shipped to Egypt and Romania.He said the export capacity of the port — recurrently attacked by Russia in recent weeks — was reduced by 15% overnight. The port of Reni lost 35,000 tons of grain

“In total, 270,000 tons of grain have been destroyed in a month of attacks on ports,” Kubrakov summarized.

UPDATE 1011 GMT:

A Russian drone strike on a school, in the city of Romny in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine, has killed at least two people and wounded three.

Ukraine Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said two school workers are still under the rubble.

In Kherson city in southern Ukraine, six people were injured by Russian bombing of a kindergarten and residential buildings.

“The attack caused a fire, which was quickly extinguished by firefighters,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson region’s military administration.

UPDATE 0842 GMT:

Russian officials are reportedly confirming the dismissal of Gen. Sergey Surovikin, the former commander of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, as head of the country’s Aerospace Forces.

On Tuesday, Alexei Venediktov, the former head of Moscow radio station Echo, broke the news of Surovikin’s removal. Outlets such as RBC and Rybar, a Telegram channel linked to the Russian Defense Ministry, soon followed.

On Wednesday, RIA Novosti cited an unnamed source:

Ex-chief of the Russian Air and Space Forces Sergey Surovikin has now been relieved of his post, while Colonel-General Viktor Afzalov, head of the main staff of the Air Force, is temporarily acting as Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force.

Surovikin was interrogated and reportedly put under house arrest within days of the rebellion by Wagner Group mercenaries and their advance on Moscow on June 23-24.

UPDATE 0746 GMT:

UK military intelligence says bridges between the Russian-occupied Kherson and Crimea regions are still closed weeks after they were damaged in Ukrainian strikes.

The closures are causing “bottlenecks” for Russia’s military, as pontoon bridges are unable to support the movement of heavy vehicles with ammunition and weaponry.

“This is adding further friction to Russia’s logistics network in the south,” say the British analysts.

The Chonhar Bridge was struck for the third time this summer on August 6. The Henichesk Bridge was hit on the same day.

See also Ukraine War, Day 530: Ukrainians Again Hit Bridges Used by Russia’s Military

UPDATE 0601 GMT:

Russia has attacked grain facilities on the Danube River in the Odesa region in southern Ukraine overnight.

The Ukraine military said, “The enemy hit grain storage facilities and a production and transshipment complex in Danube region. A fire broke out in the warehouses and was quickly contained. Firefighters continue to work.”

It posted photographs of piles of grain under the burnt-out skeleton of the storage facility.

UPDATE 0552 GMT:

Another Moscow building has been struck in the sixth consecutive night of drone attacks.

Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said the building was under construction in the center of the capital. He claimed two more drones were downed over the western part of the Moscow region.

Flights were again suspended at Moscow’s four airports.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the drone had been “suppressed by electronic warfare” before it hit the building, and declared that all three drones had been “thwarted”.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy obtained a series of political and military commitments at the Ukraine-Balkan summit in Greece on Tuesday, his latest success in a four-nation European tour.

Greece joined the declaration of G7 nations — the US, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Japan, and Canada — of security guarantees for Ukraine. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Russia’s war crimes during its invasion “must be punished under international law”.

Bulgaria said it will transfer 100 Soviet-era armored vehicles to Kyiv, as Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov and Zelenskiy discussed further cooperation, Black Sea security, and alternative grain corridors amid Russia’s renewed blockade of Ukrainian ports.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said Croatia will provide Ukraine with a new €30 million ($32.6 million) military aid package. Plenković also announced a “major international demining conference”, focused on Ukraine, in October.

Even Serbia, whose President Aleksandar Vučić has been a long-time ally of Vladimir Putin, joined the statement of the 11 Balkan and eastern European countries pledging “unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders” in the face of Russia’s aggression.

The leaders expressed their “support and appreciation for the earnest efforts by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in setting out the principles for peace in line with the UN Charter”.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who attended the summit, announced the disbursement of another €1.5 billion ($1.63 billion) in European Union financial assistance to Ukraine.

Zelenskiy began his tour in Sweden last Saturday. He travelled on Sunday to the Netherlands and Denmark, who made the first public commitments of US-made F-16 fighter jets — up to 61 — to Ukraine.