Prepared by Sofia Oliynyk, Maryana Zaviyska, Anna Dovha
Photo: The Village Ukraine
Foreign policy.
Discussions over visa ban for Russians continue. On the eve of the meeting of the foreign affairs and defence ministers of the EU countries in Prague, Germany and France sent a letter in which they propose not to introduce a complete ban on entry for residents of Russia, but to slow down the process of issuing visas. At the same time, the head of the German Foreign Ministry, Annalena Berbock, proposed to the EU countries to suspend the simplified visa regime with Russia due to Russian aggression against Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Netherlands supports the ban on issuing Schengen visas to Russians.
The European Court of Human Rights will resume consideration of complaints against Ukraine that was suspended due to the full-scale Russian invasion.
The ambassador of Turkey to Ukraine was summoned because of the alleged transportation of Russian S-300 missile systems through the Bosphorus. Turkey allegedly transported them from Syria by the ship Sparta II, which falls under the definition of a warship. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed concern to the Turkish ambassador about the transportation of missile systems from Syria to Russia through the Bosphorus Strait.
Energy security.
On August 30, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky met with International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi after the IAEA inspectors arrived in Kyiv. Volodymyr Zelensky said that strategic decisions are needed ‘regarding the urgent demilitarization of the station, the withdrawal of all, any, military personnel of the Russian Federation with explosives, with any kind of weapon.’ A day before, the spokesman of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmytro Peskov, stated that Russia is not considering the issue of demilitarization of the zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The IAEA is going to begin its 4 day visit to the Zaporozhzhia NPP on August 31. However, Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the President’s Office, reported that Russia is deliberately shelling the corridors through which the IAEA mission is supposed to reach the ZNPP. The EU will donate five million potassium iodide tablets to protect Ukrainians from potential radiation exposure, according to the statement of the European Commission.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called on Europe to use Ukrainian gas storages during his speech via video link at the ‘Nordic Sea Shelf’ conference in Norway. In addition he called to buy Ukrainian electricity and invest in Ukraine’s ‘green energy’. Meanwhile, Norway will allocate 2 billion kroner (over 200 million euros) for the purchase of natural gas for Ukraine. This week Baltic Sea coast countries discussed how to abandon Russian energy sources during the Copenhagen energy security summit. As a result it has been agreed to increase offshore wind power generation capacity sevenfold by 2030 to decrease dependency on Russian energy. The EU reached its gas storage goal two months ahead of target despite Russian supply cut, Bloomberg reported. The European Union has reached an average level of gas storage capacity of 80% two months ahead of target.
Cities under attack.
Mykolaiv. On August 29, Mykolaiv was violently shelled by Russian troops. Civil facilities and port infrastructure were damaged or destroyed. As a result of the shellings, 5 people died and 33 were injured. On the same day, the Russian invaders attacked the outskirts of Mykolaiv and settlements of the Mykolaiv region. On August 30, another civilian was killed and one was injured as a result of shelling by the Russian military.
Kharkiv. As a result of Russian shelling, a civilian was injured and residential buildings were damaged in Kharkiv on August 29. Administrative buildings in the city center were partially destroyed. On August 30, as a result of the shelling of the central part of Kharkiv, 5 people were killed and 7 were injured.
Sumy region. On August 29, 6 districts of the region were under attack. In total, the Russian occupiers fired 82 munitions: mines and shells.
Dnipropetrovsk region. On August 29, the Russian invaders shelled 3 districts of the region. One person was killed and one was injured. Private houses, a church, an enterprise, and power lines were damaged and destroyed. In Nikopol, 2600 families were left without electricity. The next day, the shelling repeated. One person was injured, one house was destroyed and 10 were damaged. In Nikopol, the bus station, shops, a children’s library, and power lines were damaged.
Sloviansk. On August 30, the Russian military fired on the base of the evacuation detachment of the Ukrainian Red Cross. The building was destroyed, three cars were damaged.
Cities under occupation.
Mariupol. Due to a lack of food, people staged a riot at the distribution point of humanitarian aid.
The Russian occupiers announced the opening of 16 schools: four of them have bare walls, and one has no roof.
Zaporizhzhia region. In the temporarily occupied Pology district of the Zaporizhia region, a propaganda newspaper was launched, which will be distributed free of charge. 10 people were injured as a result of the night shelling of Enerhodar. At least 20 cars were destroyed or damaged. Also in Enerhodar, the Russian occupiers kidnapped several teachers from their homes and took them to an unknown destination. In Berdyansk, Russian invaders failed to passporting the population. In the temporarily occupied city, less than 1% of the population received Russian passports in two months.
Crimea. In Simferopol, occupation security forces detained five teenagers who were shouting Ukrainian slogans and singing Ukrainian songs in the park. They were accused of ‘discrediting’ the Russian army.
Kherson. As of August 29, Ukrainian armed forces liberated four villages in the southern direction not far from Kherson from the Russian occupiers. However, police in the Kherson region have already recorded 15 war crimes of the Russian army against the civilian population.
Since February 24, 311 cases of enforced disappearance of Ukrainians in the newly occupied territories were documented. The victims are active members of local communities, including representatives of local governments, journalists, volunteers, educators, religious and cultural figures, activists who did not agree with the occupation, or members of their families.
Human rights.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russian occupiers have attacked the medical infrastructure every day. 927 medical facilities have already been affected. Of them, 800 objects of medical infrastructure were damaged and another 127 objects were completely destroyed and cannot be restored.
On August 29, the Russian invaders fired on an evacuation convoy of cars in the gray zone in Zaporizhzhia region.
On the website of the ‘RussianWarCriminals’ project, information was collected about 148 631 Russian military personnel related to war crimes in Ukraine.
Environmental security.
As of August 30, the amount of damage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine’s nature reached 395 billion UAH.
Church.
The government of Ukraine has approved proposals to apply personal sanctions against the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, and seven more of its representatives. Meanwhile, The Vatican on Tuesday for the first time said that Russia was the aggressor in the Ukraine war, condemning Moscow’s invasion in strong terms after earlier comments by Pope Francis prompted criticism from Kyiv, reports the New York Times.
Heritage.
UNESCO supported Ukraine’s application to include Odesa on the World Heritage list. Odesa is considered to be included on the List of World Heritage in Danger, as well as World Heritage sites Kyiv and Lviv, which are also under threat, reports Reuters.
Digital security.
The Ukrainian IT army disabled more than 450 Russian online resources in two weeks. Moreover, the Ukrainian IT army suspended the work of Russian domestic analogues of banking services, through which Russians could still issue international virtual cards and transfer money. The Russian job search site SuperJob that began operating in the occupied regions of Ukraine was also disabled. Unknown hackers hacked the live broadcast of ‘Radio Crimea’ and turned on the national anthem of Ukraine.
Food security.
For the first time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a ship with Ukrainian grain arrived in Africa.
Language.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, more than 80% of Ukrainian citizens have switched, are switching or demand to communicate with them in the Ukrainian language.
Reading corner.
- Opinion: I’m a Ukrainian Soldier, and I’ve Accepted My Death | The New York Times – ‘We want to believe that we and our beloved ones, the modern people of the 21st century, no longer have to die from medieval barbaric torture, epidemics or detention in concentration camps. That’s part of what we’re fighting for: the right not only to a dignified life but also to a dignified death. Let us, the people of Ukraine, wish ourselves a good death — in our own beds, for example, when the time comes. And not when Russian missiles hit our houses at dawn’.
- Inside occupied Ukraine: A photographer’s first-hand account | The Washington Post – Photo reportage from the Kremlin organized press-tour to Donetsk region.
Statistics.
- General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the total estimated losses of the Russian military as of 10 a.m., August 31, 2022: personnel – around 47 900, tanks ‒ 1974, APV ‒ 4312, artillery systems – 1091, MLRS – 285, anti-aircraft warfare systems – 152, fixed-wing aircraft – 234, helicopters – 204, operational-tactical level UAV – 849, cruise missiles – 196, boats and light speed boats – 15, soft-skinned vehicles and fuel tankers – 3236, special equipment – 103.
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