Freed journalist Evan Gershkovich lifts his mother, Ella Milman, as US President Joe Biden looks on, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, August 1, 2024 (Al Drago/Bloomberg)

Wednesday’s Coverage: Russia’s Mass Drone Assault on Kyiv

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1641 GMT:

The Kremlin has admitted that Vadim Krasikov, the convicted assassin released by Germany in Thursday’s prisoner exchange, is an operative of the State security service FSB.

Krasikov was embraced by Vladimir Putin as eight freed Russians landed at a Moscow airport.

A German court sentenced Krasikov to life imprisonment in 2021 for the murder two years earlier of Georgian activist Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, who fought against Russian forces in Chechnya in the early 2000s and claimed asylum in Germany in 2016.

The German court said that Krasikov had acted under orders from the Kremlin and had been issued a fake passport to travel to Berlin to kill Khangoshvili. The Kremlin denied the claims at the time.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged on Friday, “Krasikov is an employee of the FSB.”

UPDATE 0946 GMT:

The bodies of 250 Ukrainian soldiers have been repatriated from occupied territory and from Russia.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said the bodies will be sent for forensic analysis and identification before being handed over to families for burial.

“We managed to bring back the bodies of fallen defenders from the Luhansk, Bakhmut, Marinka, Avdiivka, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia sectors, as well as from Mariupol, Horlivka, and [Russian] territory, to their homeland,” the headquarters said in a statement.

UPDATE 0926 GMT:

At least two civilians were killed and at least 16 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine in the past 24 hours.

In Nikopol in south-central Ukraine, a regular target of shelling from Russia’s base at the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant across the Dnipro River, a 40-year-old woman and her 72-year-old mother were killed.

A 46-year-old man was also injured as dozens of Russian shells hit high-rise buildings, houses, a fire department building, two schools, and buses.

In the Donetsk region in the east, five people were wounded. In neighboring Kharkiv, six construction workers were injured, one critically, when a bus was hit.

Three civilians were wounded in the Kherson region in the south. Nineteen houses, gas pipeline, a car repair shop, and other civilian property were damaged. There were power outages from strikes on an energy facility.

In the Sumy region in the north, one person was injured.

UPDATE 0800 GMT:

A new Ukrainian anti-submarine warship has been launched in Turkey.

Ukraine First Lady Olena Zelenska attended the ceremony for the corvette Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi.

Defense Minister Rustem Umerov spoke of “a significant addition to our fleet…with cutting-edge weapons”.

Ukraine has already broken the dominance of the Russian fleet at sea, destroying dozens of ships. We are actively expanding the capabilities of the Ukrainian navy in the Black and Azov seas.

UPDATE 0742 GMT:

Ukraine’s missiles and drones struck Russian-occupied Crimea overnight, according to Russian proxy officials.

Residents reported multiple blasts in Sevastopol, Simferopol, and Yevpatoria.

The governor of the Kursk region in southwest Russia also reported aerial attacks.

Ukrainian officials have not commented on the claims.

UPDATE, AUG 2:

Sixteen foreign nationals and Russian dissidents released by Moscow in Thursday’s prisoner exchange have reached their destinations.

At Andrews Air Force Base near Washington D.C., three Americans — journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva and security director Paul Whelan — have been greeted by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Gershkovich embraced Biden and Harris, lifted his mother Ella off the ground, and hugged his father Mikhail, sister Danielle, and friends and colleagues.

The Wall Street Journal correspondent told reporters, “I feel fine,” continuing:

There’s one thing I would like to say. It was great to get on that bus today and see not just Americans and Germans but Russian political prisoners.

I spent a month in prison in Yekaterinburg where everyone I sat with was a political prisoner. Nobody knows them publicly, they have various political beliefs, they are not all connected with Navalny supporters, who everyone knows about. I would potentially like to see if we could do something about them as well. I’d like to talk to people about that in the next weeks and months.

Whelan also said he felt fine. He only believed that he was free as the flight flew from Turkey over continental Europe and then the UK. Now, his plan was to “eat a steak”.

In Moscow, Vladimir Putin welcomed eight freed Russians, including convicted spies, hackers, and the assassin Vasim Krasikov.

UPDATE 1902 GMT:

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has confirmed the release of Mikhail Mikushin, a suspected senior Russian military intelligence officer arrested in Norway in October 2022.

For the Norwegian authorities, it has been important to contribute in such cooperation with our close allies. A close collaboration across several countries has made this possible.

Mikhushin entered a Norwegian university, in the guise of a Brazilian citizen, in the “hybrid threats” study program in 2021.

He was initially charged on suspicion of entering Norway under false pretense. Later, authorities established that he was a senior officer in Russia’s GRU military intelligence service and prosecuted him for espionage.

UPDATE 1900 GMT:

US President Joe Biden has shared a photo of the three released American nationals, aboard the plane taking them home.

UPDATE 1841 GMT:

Footage of US journalist Evan Gershkovich, Russian dissident and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, and other political prisoners boarding a plane to leave Russia:

UPDATE 1834 GMT:

Video of US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaking with journalists about the release of political prisoners from Russia:

Sullivan praised President Joe Biden’s “feat of diplomacy”: “Rallying America, rallying American allies to save American citizens and Russian freedom fighters, and doing it with intricate statecraft, pulling his whole team together to drive this across the finish line”.

He said Biden had “multiple conversations” with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other national leaders. The President was reaching out to express thanks to Scholz and the heads of Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey.

The US is “actively working” to get the release of Marc Fogel, an American soldier sentenced to 14 years of hard labor in Russia, Sullivan said.

It was the first time that a US official had classified Fogel as “wrongfully detained”.

Fogel’s family said in a statement:

It is inconceivable to us that Russian dissidents would be prioritized over US citizens in a prisoner exchange/

Marc has been unjustly detained for far too long and must be prioritized in any swap negotiations with Russia, regardless of his level of notoriety or celebrity.

UPDATE 1729 GMT:

A photo of the three US citizens released from Russia today — journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva and security director Paul Whelan:

UPDATE 1726 GMT:

Among other Russian political prisoners freed today are Oleg Orlov, involved in the Soviet-era dissident movement; anti-war artist Sasha Skochilenko; and Ksenia Fadeyeva, an associate of the late Russian oppositon leader Alexei Navalny.

UPDATE 1722 GMT:

US Vice President Kamala Harris has commented:

President Joe Biden said:

Now, their brutal ordeal is over.

Moments ago, the families and I were able to speak to them on the telephone from the Oval Office. They’re out of Russia….

The deal that made this possible was a feat of diplomacy and friendship.

UPDATE 1719 GMT:

The response in the Wall Street Journal newsroom to the confirmation of the release from Russia of their colleague Evan Gershkovich:

UPDATE 1713 GMT:

A spokesperson for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Steffen Hebestreit, has posted that the decision to release the Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov was not taken lightly. He cited the obligation to protect German citizens and to show solidarity with the US.

He noted that Krasikov “was sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany after murdering a Georgian citizen in Berlin”.

UPDATE 1709 GMT:

A third US national released by Russia today is Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.

Kurmasheva, 47, a mother of two and a Russian-American dual citizen, was seized in Kazan in October for “failing to register as a foreign agent” and “spreading false information” about the Russian military. She was sentenced in July to 6 1/2 years in prison after a quick, closed-door trial.

RFE/RL and human rights groups denounced the “mockery of justice”.

UPDATE 1658 GMT:

Before Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, a political prisoner condemned to 16 years, could leave Russia, he had to complete an official request for clemency from Vladimir Putin.

The Journal reports that at the end of the form, Gerskhovich proposed: After his release, would Putin be willing to sit down for an interview?

UPDATE 1651 GMT:

Another of the political prisoners freed from Russia is opposition leader Ilya Yashin.

He was serving an 8 1/2-year sentence for criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He maintained the challenge from prison, saying he believed Vladimir Putin had gone “mad from power”.

“I understand my own risks. I am behind bars, my life is in Putin’s hands, and it is in danger. But I will continue to push my line,” Yashin wrote.

Also released was Rico Krieger, the 30-year-old German medic pardoned by Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko this week. Krieger, who was paraded on State TV last week pleading for the intervention of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, was facing a death sentence.

UPDATE 1644 GMT:

Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) coordinated today’s prisoner exchange in Ankara. The process involved seven states from negotiations through the swap.

The 24 people involved in the exchange from prisons in the United States, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia, and Belarus were removed from the planes under the supervision of MIT employees and transferred to secure areas. Health checks were conducted and formalities completed, then the freed political prisoners and convicted Russians returned to destination countries.

Ten prisoners relocated to Russia, 13 prisoners to Germany and three to the US. They are from the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia, and Belarus.

UPDATE 1231 GMT:

Russia is reportedly releasing two Americans, journalist Evan Gershkovich and security director Paul Whelan, and dissident Russian journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza as part of a prisoner exchange.

“People familiar with the situation” confirmed that the swap will take place on Thursday outside Russia. Gershkovich and Whelan have already been freed and are en route to the destination.

Other Russian political prisoners will reportedly be free, in return for numerous Russians deatined in the west for espionage, murder, and other crimes.

Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal correspondent, was seized by Russian security forces in late March 2023 as he worked on stories in the city of Ekaterinburg. He was sentenced last month to 16 years in prison for espionage.

Whelan was arrested on December 28, 2018, and accused of spying. On June 15, 2020, he was condemned to 16 years in prison.

Kara-Murza, who also holds UK citizenship, is Vice Chair of Open Russia, which promotes civil society and democracy. He was intially arrested in April 2022 on charges of disobeying police orders. The charges were later extended to “discrediting the military” and treason.

In April 2023, the dissident was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Transferred to the penal colony in Omsk in eastern Russia, he was hospitalized last month because of a deterioration in his health.

See also Ukraine War, Day 865: Russian Political Prisoner Kara-Murza Hospitalized

UPDATE 0828 GMT:

Ukrainian POW Oleksandr Ishchenko, 55, has died in Russia, still awaiting trial.

Russian authorities did not reveal the cause of death of Ishchenko, a military driver for the Azov Regiment. He was captured in April 2022 during the defense of the port city of Mariupol in southeast Ukraine.

Ishchenko is the fourth Ukrainian POW known to have died in Russian custody.

UPDATE 0813 GMT:

One civilian was killed and 10 wounded by Russian shelling of 20 settlements in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine on Wednesday.

In the Donetsk region in the east, one person was slain and 10 wounded.

UPDATE 0753 GMT:

Ukraine air defenses downed seven Iran-type attack drones launched by Russia overnight.

The UAVs were intercepted over the Kyiv, Poltava, Kherson, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Two people were injured in the Kyiv region by falling debris.

The Russians also attacked with Iskander-M ballistic missiles. The Ukraine Air Force did not say if any landed or if there were casualties and/or damage.

UPDATE 0739 GMT:

China says it will prohibit the export of all unregulated civilian drones that can be used for military or terrorist purposes.

The Commerce Ministry added that some drone features will be restricted, with infrared and laser technology for target indication and high-precision inertial measurement equipment put on an export control list.

China has been criticized by international partners of Ukraine for the export of its drones to Russia, and for alleged over the design of the UAVs.

UPDATE 0711 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has reiterated that Russia should join the international community at the second Global Peace Summit.

At and after the first summit in Switzerland in mid-July, more than 90 countries supported Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity against Moscow’s 29-month invasion.

See also Ukraine War, Day 844: Global Peace Summit To Blame Russia for “Large-Scale Human Suffering and Destruction”

Zelenskiy told French media on Wednesday, “The majority of the world today says that Russia must be represented at the second summit, otherwise we will not achieve meaningful results.”

Russia had refused any participation, as it demands recognition of its annexation of four Ukrainian regions and the Crimea peninsula.

Zelensky asked China to abandon its quest to mediate negotiations. Instead, he said:

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If China wants, it can force Russia to stop this war. China is an integral part of this world and an influential state….

I would like them to put pressure on Russia.

Speaking about the battlefield situation, Zelenskiy acknowledged Russian gains in eastern Ukraine. He said these were the outcome of ongoing restrictions, imposed by Ukrainian partners, on the use of Western-supplied weapons.

“It’s a serious challenge that we can’t use all the weapons we need to stop this enemy,” he said. “If you use the weapons of our partners, then they can say that we won’t not give you any more help, that’s the risk.”

Zelensky said Kyiv is “working very hard” to obtain permission to strike targets inside Russian territory: “Unfortunately, our partners are still afraid of this.”

The Biden Administration is maintaining a ban on the use of US-made ATACMS long-range missiles inside Russia.

Zelenskiy also noted that arms are arriving too slowly on the frontline: “We no longer keep it a secret that we were preparing 14 brigades. Do you think it is possible to stop them if only three out of 14 are equipped?”

The US-based Institute for the Study of War assesses that Russia seized around 200 square km (77 square miles) of territory, mainly in the Donetsk region, in July.

ORIGINAL ENTRY, AUG 1: The first US-made F-16 fighter jets have been delivered to Ukraine for its resistance of Russia’s 29-month invasion.

A US official and a Ukrainian MP confirmed the arrival of the jets, which will challenge Russia’s control of the air. An undisclosed source said they were six F-16s, pledged by the Netherlands.

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis commented:

Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway are planning to send more than 60 of the warplanes. Two weeks ago, the Netherlands and Denmark said six would be available for deployment this summer, and NATO officials said 20 are expected by the end of 2024. They will be flown by Ukrainian pilots trained in Denmark, Romania, and in the US.

On Tuesday, US officials said Washington will arm the F-16s with advanced American weapons including air-to-ground missiles, extended range guided bomb packs, and air-to-air missiles.

Ukrainian officials say they need at least 130 F-16s to neutralize Russian airpower completely.

On Wednesday, referring to a Russian overnight attack with 89 Iran-made drones on the Kyiv region, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said:

Ukrainians can fully protect their skies from Russian strikes when they have sufficient supplies.

The same level of defense is needed against Russian missiles and the occupier’s combat aircraft. And this can be achieved. We need sufficiently courageous decisions from our partners—enough air defense systems, enough range. And Ukrainians will do everything correctly and precisely.