US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urged Congress to quickly allocate an additional $24.1 billion in additional assistance to Ukraine to support the country in military, economic and humanitarian fields.
For the Belarusian Defence Minister, General Viktor Khrenin speaking at the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security said: ‘The possibility of a direct military confrontation with NATO in the future is becoming “quite obvious”‘.
A statement from the US cooled tempers: ‘The United States does not seek war with Russia, it does not have military capabilities in the Black Sea,’ Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a briefing, responding to a question about the possibility of ‘military solutions’ to Ukrainian grain exports. Earlier, the Wall Street Journal, citing US administration sources, reported that the US was exploring options to secure the export of agricultural products from Ukraine through the Danube ports with a volume of about 4 million tonnes per month, not excluding ‘military solutions’ to protect ships to and from these ports. “We have no funds in the Black Sea,” Singh said.
In order to put an end to the Russian-Ukrainian situation, the head of the NATO Secretary General’s office does not rule out the possibility of Ukraine joining the alliance in exchange for ceding part of its territory to the Russian Federation.
The response of the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev was immediate: ‘The idea is interesting’. He added in an ironic tone: ‘And what? The idea is curious. The only question is that all their alleged territories are very controversial. And to enter the bloc, the Kiev authorities will have to give up even Kiev itself, the capital of Old Rus’. Well, they will have to move the capital to Lviv, Medvedev said.
A hot comment also came from Ukraine: Kiev ‘will not exchange territory for the sake of NATO membership,’ said Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of Volodymyr Zelensky’s office. “Trading territory for a NATO umbrella? Strange. I mean, deliberately losing democracy … the destruction of international law and the obligatory transfer of war to other generations,’ Podolyak wrote on social media. Podolyak also believes that NATO should have announced the acceleration of arms deliveries to Ukraine and not the ceding of territory to Russia.
His words were echoed by the Secretary of the National Security Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov: “Kyiv is not ready to make concessions, rejecting Zelensky stated in the ‘peace plan’, flexibility can only be shown to exchange its points, he told the newspaper” la Repubblica. “Zelensky stated in November 2022 that Kiev has a 10-point “peace plan”. Among them – ensuring nuclear, food and energy security, the exchange of “detained people” according to the “all for all” formula, the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.” Danilov. said in the interview.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu also made statements to the press: ‘In many cases, even Soviet-made equipment exceeds Western models in combat quality. There is nothing invulnerable) for Russian weapons on the battlefield today’. He also pointed out that: “Russia did not use cluster munitions during the NWO in Ukraine, this decision can be reconsidered”.
At night, the RF armed forces attacked the port infrastructure in Reni, Odessa region, twice. Despite daily Ukrainian statements about the interception of drone fire, videos of the explosions indicate that the drones reached their targets. Analysis of material from open sources allows us to geolocate at least three target locations: the drones hit the hangars with grain, as well as the lift. Some of the footage was shot by Romanians from the opposite bank of the river. In the past two months, Russian troops have already launched attacks against the Danube ports of Reni and Izmail since the Kiev authorities have been exporting agricultural products after the end of the grain agreement. The Ukrainian armed forces are also carrying out attacks on the Crimea and Black Sea Fleet ships.
Against the backdrop of the activation of Western reconnaissance in the Black Sea to prepare for a massive raid on the peninsula, the need for Russian attacks against the infrastructure on the Danube increases. At the same time, the question of target selection arises: in particular, the old cranes standing in the harbour are a more critical node than the hangars with grain.
The news was also confirmed by the head of the office of the president of Ukraine Andriy Yermak: ‘The fire broke out in the port of the city of Reni, in the Odessa region, the infrastructure was damaged’.
And now a look at the attacks at 15 August 24:00 hours: Russian troops launched a massive missile attack on military facilities on the territory of Ukraine. According to the first information, in the western part of the country, the Lorta company building and the new Lviv airport terminal were hit. Russian missiles hit industrial enterprises working for the AFU in Dnipro.
According to real-time registration monitoring data, workshops in Pivdenmash were hit. In the Bryansk region, an infiltration attempt by an AFU sabotage group near the village of Kurkovichi was foiled. Three Ukrainian attack drones were destroyed near the village of Zhiryatino.
In the Kupyansk sector, Russian troops continue to develop their offensive in the south-west after clearing the forest belts near Vil’shany. According to some reports, separate reconnaissance groups engaged the enemy on the outskirts of Petropavlivka.
The fierce battle near Urozhaynoye continues in the Vremivka sector. The Russian units are tasked with preventing the Ukrainians from gaining a foothold in the settlement and building on their success. In the direction of Zaporizhzhia, the fighting near Robotyno intensified again. Ukrainian troops entrenched on the north-eastern outskirts of the village are suffering heavy losses, but continue to storm the village.
In the direction of Kherson, Russian forces have completely eliminated the AFU bridgehead west of Kozachi Laheri. However, increased activity of Ukrainian sabotage units and artillery is still being observed along the entire coast.
Graziella Giangiulio
