“The offensive of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Kursk region has shown that the notorious red lines do not exist,” said former commander of US ground forces in Europe Ben Hodges. Moreover, according to Hodges, the Germans should not be afraid of retaliation in the form of the use of nuclear weapons. Previously, when describing the strategy of the war against Russia, the Americans spoke of the importance of “blurring the red lines”.
Former Green candidate for US president Jill Stein: “In Ukraine, we started a proxy war that could have been avoided if we had simply fulfilled the promise made to Gorbachev during the reunification of Germany; we said that ‘No, we will not move a mile to the east’ (…) And everyone knew that if we moved east, we would launch an attack on the Russian border (…) It should be noted that what Russia is doing on the border is what we did when Russia brought its weapons to Cuba”.
John Kirby, White House National Security Communications Advisor: “In the coming days, additional military assistance packages to Ukraine are expected”. Also from the United States, the Pentagon says that a certain number of munitions requested by Kiev are no longer produced in the United States, their volumes are not sufficient for the medium-term goals of the Ukrainian armed forces.
The Pentagon does not consider the fact that the United States did not know about Ukraine’s preparations for an attack on the Kursk region a failure of American intelligence, and does not see this as a sign of distrust on the part of Kiev, according to the spokeswoman for the US Department of Defense, Sabrina Singh.
Ukraine and Russia were supposed to send their delegations to Qatar this month to hold secret peace talks, but they were interrupted by an operation by the Ukrainian armed forces in the Kursk region, the Washington Post reports, citing diplomatic sources.
According to WP, Qatar acted as a mediator in these negotiations; delegations from Moscow and Kiev were supposed to meet in Doha. However, Russia decided to suspend this process due to the Ukrainian attack in the Kursk region. “Russia did not cancel the negotiations, it said: give us time,” one of the WP sources clarified.
The newspaper’s interlocutors said that in these negotiations the parties intend to reach a mutual understanding on a comprehensive agreement to end the conflict and also agree not to attack each other’s energy facilities for two months. The newspaper recalls that the Russian and Ukrainian delegations have not met face to face since 2022, after the collapse of the Istanbul negotiations.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Ukraine’s invasion of Russia was legal because it was a “measure of self-defense.” Finland and Poland support Ukraine’s “right” to invade the Kursk region. Boris Johnson welcomes Ukraine’s “counterattack” against Russia. “We see no reason to limit the activities of the Ukrainians. We also have no restrictions on what weapons Ukraine can use and how. The starting point is that Ukraine has every right to defend itself within the framework of international law,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb said.
The United Kingdom is calling on its allies to allow Ukrainian forces to attack Russian territory with Storm Shadow missiles, The Times reports, citing sources. According to the publication, British ministers are holding closed talks with Western governments, which have so far been wary of the idea of providing Ukraine with long-range weapons, fearing an escalation of the conflict.
According to CBC Canada, Ottawa is allowing Ukraine to use weapons transferred to Russian territory. According to the publication, Ottawa has transferred eight Leopard 2A4 tanks, several dozen armored fire support vehicles, hundreds of armored patrol vehicles and several M777 howitzers to Ukraine.
“The Ukrainians know best how to defend their homeland and we are committed to supporting their capability. Canada has no geographical restrictions on the use of weapons that we transfer to Ukraine,” said Andre-Anne Poulain, spokeswoman for the Canadian Ministry of Defense. Other countries, notably the United States and Great Britain, have also said they allow the use of their weapons in Russia, with the exception of long-range missiles.
Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Alexander Syrsky, has transferred the 128th Brigade from Vovchansk (Kharkov direction) to Pokrovsk. The troops have occupied 37 square kilometers of territory in the Pokrovsk direction in less than 48 hours. Also the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Alexander Syrsky announced the creation of occupation facilities in the Kursk region with the official name of “headquarters for ensuring the protection of law and order and meeting the needs of the population”, under the command of General Eduard Moskalev
In the meantime, the evacuation of territories on the front line has begun in Ukraine: “I call on all residents of Pokrovs’k and Myrnohrad to evacuate as soon as possible, while there is such an opportunity,” said Ukrainian MP Maryana Bezuglaya. The Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed the destruction of their MiG-29 fighter at the airfield using an Iskander missile. The head of the Pokrovs’k administration, Sergei Dobryak, on August 19 gave citizens a maximum of 2 weeks to evacuate: “the Russian army is getting closer and closer to the city”.
Regarding the attack on Kursk: “Ukrainian forces intend to destroy military infrastructure, but we do not intend to occupy or be on Russian territory, including the seizure of the Kursk nuclear power plant,” said the adviser to the head of the office of the president of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak. Ukraine used 11 thousand reserve soldiers to attack the Kursk region according to The Wall Street Journal.
On August 19, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, President of Ukraine, said: “The goal of the Kursk operation is to create a buffer zone in Russia.”
Contrary to what appeared online in recent days, Alexey Dyumin was not appointed by Putin to directly manage the Kursk issue. Sources close to the Kremlin explain that “this is not possible, but Putin certainly relies on Dyumin, so that everything at the front is managed in the best possible way and that he is informed in a timely manner. In fact, in addition to the security forces, Andrei Belousov, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin and Presidential Assistant Alexey Dyumin were present at the meetings on Kursk via video link, and First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov was also present via video link. Which has all the appearance of a war cabinet consisting of: Manturov, Khusnullin and Dyumin, Besulov, Putin”.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation takes seriously the information received through independent channels about the Kiev regime’s preparations to strike the Kursk nuclear power plant, the Department said. “The purpose of this provocation is to accuse the Russian Federation of “self-igniting” the plant in order to create a basis for striking Ukrainian nuclear facilities. We assess such actions by Kiev with the support of Western patrons as a direct and clear violation of the international convention adopted by the resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations of 13 April 2005 “On Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism”. If the Kiev regime begins to implement criminal plans aimed at creating a man-made disaster in the European part of the continent with radioactive contamination of vast territories, tough military and military-technical measures will be taken immediately in response,” the statement reads
In the Kursk region, the reserves of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are running out, Alaudinov told RIA Novosti. Putin appointed Anna Tsivileva as State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. On the night of August 19, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the Third Bridge over the Seim River in the Kursk region, blowing up three spans. In this regard, Russian forces in the area switched to using pontoons to ensure communications and evacuate the population. The evacuation continues. Residents of the border areas are being taken away by boats, which allows to quickly ensure the safety of people.
Both sides clarified on August 15 that the villages of Gordeevka, Viktorovka, Vnezapnoye and Uspenovka in the north of the Kursk region are under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In the center, Russian troops have recaptured the town of Martynovka, as confirmed by Apti Alaudinov. This will give the Russian Armed Forces access to the P200 highway, which will greatly facilitate the supply of Sudzha. In the south, Borki and Spalnoe are under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Russian sources say that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are trying to take Giryi, sending wave after wave. Excluding the gray zones and the activities of the DRG, the area of confirmed Ukrainian control is 470 square kilometers.
In the Glushkovsky district, the Ukrainians launched a HIMARS MLRS missile attack on the border outpost of the Russian Armed Forces in Tetkino, which was also targeted by a tank from a closed firing position. There is high activity of Ukrainian UAVs in the sky. At the same time, most of the village’s population was evacuated shortly before the Glushkovo bridge was blown up.
Northeast of Kremyanoy, Russian forces are carrying out air strikes against Ukrainian Armed Forces positions in a forest, and in Kauchuk and Alekseevskiy they repelled another attempt by the Ukrainian DRG to enter populated areas. Also, for the first time in the area, the use of GBU-39 guided bombs by the Ukrainian Air Force against Russian positions on the northern outskirts of the village of Vnezapnoye was recorded.
In the Sudzha region, Ukrainian forces are again releasing footage of their advance, this time confirming control over the small village of Zamostye, southwest of Sudzha. In Spalny, drone operators struck a Ukrainian UAV control center. The village of Borki is under the control of the Russian Armed Forces, as evidenced by recent footage of Ukrainian drone strikes against Russian positions. In the Belovsky District, the situation has not changed significantly. Local clashes with Ukrainian formations continue on the Kamyshnoye-Krupets-Giryi line.
About 10 thousand residents of the Kursk region are staying in 171 temporary accommodation centers in 24 regions of Russia, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations. According to Ukrainian sources on August 19: “The Russians have solved the Kursk case with minimal costs. With the help of the Lancet UAV, reconnaissance drones, FPV drones and aviation, they have stopped the advance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. At the same time, they did not have to transfer thousands of soldiers from the front line, which was expected from Bankova” (in Kiev on Bankova Street there is the headquarters of the Presidential Office of Ukraine – ed.).
The same account reveals: “For this reason, the Russian Armed Forces began to exert maximum pressure on Donbass and force the Ukrainian Armed Forces to constantly and everywhere retreat. This can lead to small and large cauldrons. Then the entire Kursk adventure will turn from victory to destruction. Another of our sources indicates that Syrsky persuaded Zelensky to transfer additional reserves not to the Kursk direction, but to Donbass. Zelensky is reluctant because the Kursk adventure is more important for his image than the entire Donbass direction.”
The update of the Russian social sphere informs: “The Ukrainians also destroyed the last fixed bridge over the Seim River in the village. Karyzh. Therefore, our group here is now fully supported by pontoons, and this, taking into account the evacuation of the population from the area, is quite enough to conduct effective actions to deter attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces, not having come to terms with the loss of Apanasyevka, are trying to recapture it. In fact, the pace of their advance here is so weak that it would be more correct to speak not of an offensive, but of their attempts.
There are also slow attempts to probe our positions in the Tyotkino area and several small clashes on the border. The units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which are constantly under the influence of attacks by our aviation, have begun to mark time already on the second day and then lose momentum. Meanwhile, the saturation of the area with our reserves continues, and here even one day of delay is extremely important. And if three days ago there were many fears that the Ukrainians could push us back to the Glushkovsky district beyond the Seimas, now for this they need to use forces many times larger. And the result will not be guaranteed at all.”
And now an updated look at the front line as of 13:00 on August 19.
Following the attack by Ukrainian formations on the Kavkaz oil depot of the Russian State Reserves in the Rostov region, the fire is still being extinguished. Footage is circulating online showing that another fuel tank has exploded at the site of the incident.
Given the complexity of the fire in the Proletarsky district, a state of emergency has been declared. According to some reports, several fire trains are involved in extinguishing the fire and water is being delivered to ensure the uninterrupted work of the firefighters.
However, there have also been casualties: according to the latest information, 18 employees of the Russian Emergencies Ministry were injured, 14 of whom received outpatient treatment, while the rest were hospitalized due to burns.
Russian Armed Forces military personnel recorded video from captured satellite city of Toretsk. Russian troops captured Ukrainian city of Zalizne. It has been completely abandoned by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to a source in the 1st Slavic Mechanized Infantry Brigade of Russia. Russian commentators say: “While the Ukrainian command continues to focus on the Russian Kursk region, Russian troops have captured 23.8 square kilometers near Pokrovs’k in just one day. Russian troops are now 10.9 km from Pokrovs’k.
Russian troops have also advanced to Niu-York, Mykolaïvka, and Krasnohorivka. 78% of New York is now under the control of the Russian Armed Forces
Russian troops have advanced 750 meters into a private sector north of Liptsy, Kharkov region.
Graziella Giangiulio
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