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Interviews
All future wars will be unmanned wars - Vadym Sukharevsky, Commander, Unmanned Systems Forces
Ukrinform’s new project, “Victory Commanders" highlights the leaders of various ranks and branches of the military who, with their knowledge, skills, experience, authority, and unyielding faith in Victory, have already written their names into the modern history of Ukraine.
This conversation is with Vadym Sukharevsky, call sign Barsuk (“badger”) -- a Hero of Ukraine, Ukrainian Armed Forces Colonel, commander of the newly organized Unmanned Systems Forces.
Publication
News briefing without questions and peace plan without a peace Chinese envoy for Ukraine peace reported about his latest shuttle diplomacy mission
China seems to care more to counteract Western sanctions for providing support to Russia’s war machine than to foster a just peace in Ukraine
On August 27, the Chinese government’s Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs, Li Hui convened a briefing in Beijing to report about the results of his latest round of "shuttle diplomacy" to Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia, focused on a negotiated end to the "Ukrainian crisis", as the Chinese leaders refer to the war Russia is waging in Ukraine.
The briefing, which was not announced in advance, took place twenty days after the end of this basically routine mission. This article seeks to reveal why Beijing decided to remind again of its peacekeeping efforts in the Russian-Ukrainian war and what its genuine goals could be like.
Fact Check
Russian propaganda creates fake about British journalists illegally crossing Russian border to justify attack on them in Kramatorsk
On the night of August 25, 2024, Russian troops launched a missile attack on a hotel in Kramatorsk, where foreign journalists were staying. The strike killed Ryan Evans, a Reuters team member, and injured several other journalists.
The international human rights organization Reporters Without Borders believes that the Russian attack on Kramatorsk was aimed directly at journalists and is preparing to file a lawsuit. Russian officials have traditionally refuted such accusations. In particular, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not provide a direct answer to the question whether Moscow deliberately targeted the hotel in Kramatorsk but said that Russia allegedly launched strikes “only on military infrastructure” or sites that are “somehow connected to military infrastructure.”
Fake about ‘NATO mercenaries’ to justify shelling of Aurora Hotel in Kryvyi Rih
Propagandists created a fake screenshot from the Facebook account of a Polish volunteer
On August 26, Russian troops launched a missile attack on the Aurora Hotel in Kryvyi Rih, killing four people and injuring five others. After it became known that the Russians had once again targeted a civilian facility, Russian propaganda promptly started to disseminate disinformation via z-Telegram channels and media outlets claiming that mercenaries and instructors from Poland and Canada were allegedly staying at the Aurora Hotel.
Video
Ukraine and Ireland signed a bilateral security agreement
Soldier and activist Nataliia Kuznetsova said goodbye on the Maidan
"Right Sector" activist, soldier of the 67th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Nataliia Kuznetsova with the call sign "Iranka" died on August 26 in the village of Primorske in Odesa region. She was 31 years old. According to Natalie's friend, the woman died from a gunshot wound to the temple. Her husband Viktor Panasco with the call sign "Iranets" died near Bakhmut in May 2023.
The city of Huliaipole in Zaporizhzhia region suffers from constant shelling
On the night of August 24, the Russian military launched an artillery attack on the local history museum in Huliaipole, Zaporizhzhia region. As a result of the shelling, a fire started in the building, which destroyed the historical monument.
The Russian army made 252 strikes on the territory of 13 towns and villages of the Zaporizhzhia region. Huliaipole and Novodanilivka were shelled five times from rocket salvo systems.
News:
War
Mongolia to face minor punitive measures for failure to comply with ICC decision to arrest Putin – lawyer
Mongolia's decision not to arrest Putin under the ICC warrant is clearly a political one. Two critical factors influenced the decision. The first issue is the absence of a procedure for excluding a state that does not comply with the ICC's orders from an international treaty. In fact, no sanctions are in place for failure to execute an arrest warrant. In the event of non-compliance, the Court is limited to referring the matter to the General Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. However, the General Assembly unable to exert influence over national sovereign jurisdictions, - told lawyer Nikolai Polozov in a commentary to an Ukrinform correspondent.
Ukraine trying to change war discourse with Kursk operation – German expert
The Armed Forces of Ukraine still lack resources for effective offensives in eastern and southern Ukraine. However, Kyiv is trying to “reformat” the war through its operation in Russia’s Kursk region.
“Ukraine has attempted to change the war discourse and reformat it in a new way, to change the situation on the ground, to change the whole discussion around the war. This is, of course, a risky strategy, but the operation is overall very successful,” - said Andreas Umland, an analyst at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.
Economy
Ukraine’s state budget to receive UAH 2.8B per month from increased excise duties on fuel – expert’s opinion
Having the excise duties on fuel raised from September 2024 will generate an additional UAH 2.8 billion per month for Ukraine’s state budget as soon as this year.
Initially, the excise duties were supposed to be raised from July. Thus, the state budget had lost UAH 5.5 billion in revenues over two months, according to Kuiun.
Most EU countries support liberalization of road transport with Ukraine – Derkach
With the agreement on the liberalization of road transport, the number of transport companies and motor vehicles in Ukraine has increased twofold in the past year.
“This agreement allowed us to increase the number of transport companies. The number of carriers has doubled, as well as the number of transport vehicles, which our companies purchased to operate under the ‘visa-free’ terms,” said Ukrainian Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Deputy Minister Serhiy Derkach.
In his words, during the full-scale invasion, increasing road transport logistics by 45% for exports and 44% for imports became Ukraine’s key economic component.
European integration of transport sector requires eliminating monopolization, opening market – Derkach
“European integration, including in the transport sector, remains one of the main challenges for the country. There have been monopolies in the railway transport market, which is taboo for Europeans, as the market must be open. The corresponding bill has already been registered in the Verkhovna Rada,” Derkach emphasized.
Large volumes of cargo handling by ports not reduce demand for road transport – Derkach
“When the sea was ‘operating’ at full capacity, the road traffic flow was remaining at a decent level. Today, we have got stuck at the bottleneck of the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border checkpoint, which is unable to handle the number of vehicles driving towards the Baltic countries. The demand for road transport will remain in place, because there are goods and logistics that are always covered by cars, and there will not be less of them either,” Derkach noted.
Ukraine’s grape harvest likely to decline by 30% in 2024
The decline in the yielding capacity was caused by several factors, such as the full-scale invasion, weather conditions, and a reduced number of employees, which makes it difficult to work in the vineyards. According to the preliminary estimates, the yield level may decrease by 30% compared to last year
Vinnytsia region’s farmers planning to harvest 2.6M tonnes of sugar beets this year
As of August 30, 2024, sugar beets were harvested from about 500 hectares with a yielding capacity of 352.5 quintals per hectare and the gross harvest indicator of 17.6 thousand tonnes.
The total area of sugar beet plantations across the Vinnytsia region came to 63.8 thousand hectares in 2024, which is 17% higher compared to the previous year. In particular, agricultural enterprises are handling 58.8 thousand hectares of sugar beet plantations, which is 19% higher compared to 2023.
According to the regional administration, as of August 30, 2024, the yielding capacity across the Vinnytsia region was 35% lower compared to the same period last year.
Five sugar refineries to be running in Vinnytsia region this season
The 2024/2025 sugar refining season started in the Vinnytsia region on August 24, 2024.
A reminder that Zhdanivka Sugar Plant, which is part of Astarta-Kyiv Agri-Industrial Holding’s Khmilnytske LLC, had started the production of sugar. As of August 29, 2024, the enterprise processed 17.6 thousand tonnes of sugar beets and produced 1.7 thousand tonnes of sugar.
Grain crops harvested from 85% of areas in Donetsk region – regional administration
In the Donetsk region’s fields, grain crops have already been harvested from 85.2% of areas, i.e. the harvesting campaign is near completion. Overall, 286.8 thousand tonnes of grain was threshed across the region. The average yielding capacity is 20.9 quintals per hectare.
This year, grain crops had been sown across 161.5 thousand hectares in the Donetsk region. As of early September 2024, grain crops were harvested from 137.5 thousand hectares. The harvesting of corn and late grain crops continues.
Society
Three European microsurgeons perform 15 operations in Ukraine in one month
Microsurgeons from Latvia and Italy spent a month working as volunteers in hospitals in Lviv, Vinnytsia, Odesa, and Zhytomyr, consulting and performing difficult surgeries on wounded soldiers.
See you next Friday!