Prepared by Sofia Oliynyk, Maryana Zaviyska, Anna Dovha
David Guttenfelder for The New York Times
Energy security.
During the sixth and seventh of August, the Russian troops shelled the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. As a result of the shelling, the 4th power unit of the Zaporizhzhia NPP was disconnected from the power system, rockets hit the site near the nuclear waste and one of the station’s workers was injured. Three radiation monitoring sensors at the Zaporizhzhia NPP were damaged due to Russian rocket attacks. Therefore, timely detection and response in case of deterioration of the radiation situation or leakage of radiation from containers of spent nuclear fuel is currently impossible. At the moment, the biggest in Europe, Zaporizhzhia NPP operates with the risk of violating radiation and fire safety regulations. Energoatom emphasized that the Russian military is shelling the Zaporizhzhia NPP in order to destroy its infrastructure and disconnect it from Ukraine’s energy system. The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Raphael Grossi, called for the IAEA mission to be allowed to the Zaporizhzhia NPP after it was shelled by Russian troops. ‘In order to help prevent the situation from spiraling even more out of control, the IAEA’s presence to provide technical support for nuclear safety and security is of paramount importance,’ he said.
Foreign policy.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again stated that his country is ready to hold talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. ‘From the beginning, I emphasized that there will be no winner in the war in Ukraine. Despite the difficulties, I also maintain a firm belief that the crisis will be resolved at the negotiating table,’ Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. The President of Turkey also reported that 5 Turkish banks are currently working on the use of the Russian payment system ‘Mir’ that will be useful for Russian tourists in Turkey.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a conversation with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. During the conversation, the President of Ukraine called for the introduction of additional sanctions on the Russian nuclear industry and nuclear fuel in response to the attacks on the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
Human rights.
Amnesty International has apologized for the ‘distress and anger’ caused by its report accusing the Ukrainian military of endangering civilians. The organization assured that their priority in this and any “conflict” is to ensure the protection of the civilian population, but reiterated its conclusion. As a response, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said – ‘And despite the fact that the Russian shelling of the nuclear power plant is one of the most dangerous crimes against Ukrainians and all Europeans, against the right to life of every person, for some reason there is no report or even just a message from Amnesty International about it. A very eloquent silence, which once again indicates the manipulative selectivity of this organization’.
Oleksiy Kiselyov, a volunteer and former commander of the command ship of the Naval Forces of Ukraine ‘Slavutich’, who was kidnapped in occupied Genichesk, was beaten and subjected to electric current torture by Russian security forces.
Cities under attack.
The Head of the Mykolaiv Regional Council, Anna Zamazeyeva, reported that on August 6 as a result of shelling of the town of Berezneguvate in the Mykolaiv Region, five people were injured and one person died. The mayor of Mykolaiv Oleksandr Sienkovych reported that on the night of August 6, the Russian military shelled seven neighborhoods of Mykolaiv. As a result of the shelling, the residential buildings were damaged and two people were seriously injured.
According to the Head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, on August 6, the Russians killed 5 civilians of Donetsk region: 3 in Bakhmut, 1 in Avdiivka, and 1 in Blagodatny. Another 8 people were injured. Currently, it is impossible to establish the exact number of victims in Mariupol and Volnovakha.
During the night of August 7, Russian troops shelled several districts of Dnipropetrovsk region. According to the Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, Valentin Reznichenko, several buildings, private cars, the bus stop, the gas pipeline and electricity network were destroyed, and five people were injured.
In the evening of August 7, Russian occupation forces opened fire on the Vinnytsia region. Several Russian missiles hit military facilities in the Vinnytsia region. As a result of hits on military facilities in the region, there are casualties.
Cities under occupation.
Head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, Serhii Gaidai reported that under the guise of providing food or construction materials, the occupying authorities and the collaborating public movement organize meetings with the population of the recently occupied territories of the region to extort personal data of residents and to campaign among the residents in support of the pseudo-referendum.
According to the Mariupol City Council, the Russian occupiers in Mariupol plan to carry out a show ‘trial’ of Ukrainian defenders in September. For this, the Russian occupiers are building prison cells on the stage of the Mariupol Chamber Philharmonic.
In the temporarily occupied Mariupol, the Russians resumed the exhumation of the bodies of the dead people. Reburial in a mass grave takes place without a preliminary attempt to identify people.
The mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said that the Russian occupiers are planning to hold a pseudo-referendum in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, for seven days, walking around the apartments with machine guns. ‘They [the occupiers] want to hold a “referendum” for seven days… with the help of the elders of the houses, who will go around the apartments and interview the residents, but accompanied by machine guns and a member of the police or the FSB,’ he said.
Serhii Khlan, the member of the Kherson Regional Council, reported that the Russian occupiers promise that those parents who take their children to Russian schools will be financially rewarded, and those who refuse will be prosecuted up to arrest.
In the Kherson region, the Russian occupiers take cover from the shelling of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by transporting civilians in order to ferry military equipment across the dam of the Kakhovskaya HPP.
Russian occupiers drive military equipment under the guise of civilians through the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam. The occupiers use civilian transport.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced that the Ukrainian military has already freed a total of 1,060 settlements of Ukraine from the Russian occupiers. ‘A total of 1060 settlements have already been liberated, and the absolute majority of them require significant restoration work, demining, and the construction of social facilities. And I thank all our partners who joined the relevant work,’ the President said.
Food Security.
For the first time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, the bulk carrier FULMAR S under the flag of Barbados entered the Ukrainian port for loading as part of the ‘grain initiative’ signed on July 22 in Istanbul.
According to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, the second caravan with Ukrainian agricultural products left the Ukrainian ports ‘Odesa’ and ‘Chornomorsk’. More than 160 000 tons of agricultural products are on board of the four bulkers. The vessels are heading to the ports of Italy, China, and Turkey.
Sanctions.
Bulgaria suspended the issuance of tourist visas and visas for real estate owners to Russians. The reason for this decision is the declaration of persons non grata of 14 employees of the diplomatic mission and consular institutions of Bulgaria in Russia.
Technologies.
Meta has announced that it has disabled more than a thousand fake accounts that were posting numerous comments in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and were spreading Russian propaganda. ‘Troll Farm’ was associated with a Russian businessman, Yevhen Prigozhin and his ‘Internet Research Agency’.
Iran denies that it will allow Russia to use its satellite. Iran’s space agency said that the Khayam satellite, which is planned to be launched on August 9, is subordinated only to Iran and is not suitable for military purposes of other countries.
Reading corner.
- The Children of War | The New York Times – ‘More than 2,000 of Ukraine’s approximately 17,000 schools have been damaged by war, while 221 have been destroyed, according to United Nations statistics. Another 3,500 have been used to shelter or assist the seven million Ukrainians who have fled to safer parts of the country. No one knows how many will open when the academic year starts a month from now. The social destruction is even harder to repair. Thousands of families have been ripped apart as brothers and fathers have been conscripted or killed, and children forced to flee, leaving grandparents and friends behind.’
Statistics.
- General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the total estimated losses of the Russian military as of 10 a.m., August 08, 2022: personnel – around 42 340, tanks ‒ 1811, APV ‒ 4070, artillery systems – 960, MLRS – 261, anti-aircraft warfare systems – 132, fixed-wing aircraft – 223, helicopters – 192, operational-tactical level UAV – 754, cruise missiles – 182, boats and light speed boats – 15, soft-skinned vehicles and fuel tankers – 2993, special equipment – 83.
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