Zelenskiy tells officials to stop leaking military tactics; UN sounds nuclear plant warning – as it happened

The time in Kyiv is just coming up to 9pm. Here is a round-up of today’s headlines:

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday told government officials to stop talking to reporters about Kyiv’s military tactics against Russia, saying such remarks were “frankly irresponsible”. In the wake of major blasts that wrecked a Russian air base in Crimea on Tuesday, the New York Times and Washington Post newspapers cited unidentified officials as saying Ukrainian forces were responsible. The government in Kyiv, on the other hand, declined to say whether it had been behind the explosions.

• Ukraine’s security agencies issued a joint statement on Friday calling for the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to send representatives to locations where Russia is holding Ukrainian prisoners of war (PoWs). The request follows earlier allegations by Kyiv that Moscow’s forces have tortured and executed prisoners, including by staging an explosion in a Ukrainian POW camp in Olenivka.

• The UK Ministry of Defence has said the explosions at the Russian-operated Saky military airfield in western Crimea earlier in the week were “almost certainly” from the detonation of up to four uncovered munition storage areas, though the original cause of the blasts remains unclear. At least five Su-24 fencer fighter-bombers and three Su-30 flanker H multi-role jets were almost certainly destroyed or seriously damaged in the blasts, according to British intelligence.

• The devastation at the Russian air base in Crimea suggests Kyiv may have obtained new long-range strike capability with potential to change the course of the war. The base is well beyond the range of advanced rockets that western countries acknowledge sending to Ukraine so far, with some western military experts saying the scale of the damage and the apparent precision of the strike suggested a powerful new capability with potentially important implications.

• The UN has urged a demilitarised zone around Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as Russia and Ukraine trade accusations over more shelling of the plant on Thursday. Ukraine’s nuclear energy company said it had been shelled five times by Russian forces on Thursday, resulting in staff being unable to change shifts.

• The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted that he has spoken with Pope Francis today. “Informed about the aggression that the Russian Federation is carrying out against Ukraine, about the terrible crimes of Russia,” he president wrote on Twitter.

• Russian ex-president Dmitry Medvedev issued a veiled threat on Friday to Ukraine’s western allies who have accused Russia of creating the risk of a nuclear catastrophe by stationing forces around the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia power station. Ukraine has accused Russia of firing at Ukrainian towns from the site in the knowledge that Ukrainian forces could not risk returning fire, Reuters reported. It says Moscow has shelled the area itself while blaming Ukraine.

• Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksii Reznikov has said that a shipment of M20 MLRS tanks have arrived in Ukraine. In a tweet, he thanked the UK’s defence minister Ben Wallace and British people for the donation, which had been pledged earlier. “Your support is amazing and so important for Ukraine,” he said.

• Jose Andres, whose World Central Kitchen group has served more than 130m meals in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February, called for better coordination of food relief efforts in the country ahead of what promises to be a brutal winter. Donations were easing as the war drags on, he warned, which meant that WCK, which provides short-term emergency relief, must start winding down operations just as cold weather is likely to exacerbate problems facing millions of displaced Ukrainians.

• India said on Friday there was no pressure on it from western countries or anywhere else over its energy purchases from Russia, as Indian firms step up imports of oil and coal from the country shunned by some governments for its invasion of Ukraine. India, the world’s third-biggest crude importer, overtook China to become the biggest buyer of Russian oil in July based on sea-borne volumes, having bought very little from the country before the start of the war in Ukraine in February.

That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the Ukraine live blog for today. Thanks for following along. Goodbye for now.

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted that he has spoken with Pope Francis today.

“Informed about the aggression that the Russian Federation is carrying out against Ukraine, about the terrible crimes of Russia,” he president wrote on Twitter.

“We are grateful to the pontiff for his prayers for Ukraine. Our people need the support of the world’s spiritual leaders, who must convey to the world the truth about the horrors that the aggressor is committing in Ukraine,” he added.

A Ukrainian artist Olena Yanko paints sunflowers on cars which were destroyed by Russian attacks in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine.

View image in fullscreen

India said on Friday there was no pressure on it from western countries or anywhere else over its energy purchases from Russia, as Indian firms step up imports of oil and coal from the country shunned by some governments for its invasion of Ukraine.

India, the world’s third-biggest crude importer, overtook China to become the biggest buyer of Russian oil in July based on sea-borne volumes, having bought very little from the country before the start of the war in Ukraine in February.

Also in July, Russia became India’s third-largest coal supplier, up from the sixth position historically, as discounts drove shipments to a record, Reuters reported.

The US has tried to lure India away from its main arms supplier Russia, but New Delhi says its own needs as an emerging country are paramount. India has not condemned the invasion.

Ukraine’s security agencies issued a joint statement on Friday calling for the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to send representatives to locations where Russia is holding Ukrainian prisoners of war (PoWs).

The request follows earlier allegations by Kyiv that Moscow’s forces have tortured and executed prisoners, including by staging an explosion in a Ukrainian POW camp in Olenivka.

Moscow claims Ukraine shelled the facility, killing over 50 PoWs, Reuters reported.

View image in fullscreen

In case you missed it earlier …

The UK Ministry of Defence has said the explosions at the Russian-operated Saky military airfield in western Crimea earlier in the week were “almost certainly” from the detonation of up to four uncovered munition storage areas, though the original cause of the blasts remains unclear.

At least five Su-24 fencer fighter-bombers and three Su-30 flanker H multi-role jets were almost certainly destroyed or seriously damaged in the blasts, according to British intelligence.

Saky’s central dispersal area has suffered serious damage, but the airfield probably remains serviceable, the report added.

The loss of eight combat jets represents a minor proportion of the overall fleet of aircraft Russia has available to support the war. However, Saky was primarily used as a base for the aircraft of the Russian navy’s Black Sea fleet.

The fleet’s naval aviation capability is now significantly degraded and the incident is likely to prompt the Russian military to revise its threat perception, officials said.

Russian ex-president Dmitry Medvedev issued a veiled threat on Friday to Ukraine’s western allies who have accused Russia of creating the risk of a nuclear catastrophe by stationing forces around the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia power station.

Ukraine has accused Russia of firing at Ukrainian towns from the site in the knowledge that Ukrainian forces could not risk returning fire, Reuters reported. It says Moscow has shelled the area itself while blaming Ukraine.

Russia says it is Ukraine that has shelled the plant.

“They [Kyiv and its allies] say it’s Russia. That’s obviously 100% nonsense, even for the stupid Russophobic public,” Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote on his Telegram channel.

“They say it happens purely by chance, like ‘We didn’t mean to’,” he added. “What can I say? Let’s not forget that the European Union also has nuclear power plants. And accidents can happen there, too.”

View image in fullscreen

Jose Andres, whose World Central Kitchen group has served more than 130m meals in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February, called for better coordination of food relief efforts in the country ahead of what promises to be a brutal winter.

Donations were easing as the war drags on, he warned, which meant that WCK, which provides short-term emergency relief, must start winding down operations just as cold weather is likely to exacerbate problems facing millions of displaced Ukrainians.

Here is an interesting report from Reuters on the group:

Andres, whose work was hailed by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday in a televised address that usually focuses on the battlefield and diplomacy, is visiting some of WCK’s 7,500 distribution sites in Ukraine this month to drum up support for continued food relief in the country.

“The cash is sooner or later going to start finishing, that’€™s why I’m calling on … all the countries that want to support Ukraine … that we need to become one,” he told Reuters this week at a distribution site in Irpin, a city near Kyiv.

Irpin was reclaimed by Ukrainian forces after Russian attacks that killed nearly 300 people in early March.

“If everybody is doing their own thing, we may be doubling efforts, wasting money, not helping Ukraine, especially as winter is coming,” the Michelin-starred Spanish chef added.

The United Nations estimates that at least 12 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine since the invasion, with more than 5 million heading to neighbouring countries and 7 million believed to be displaced inside the country itself.

Children watch as workers clean up after a rocket strike on a house in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, this morning.

No injuries were reported in the strike.

View image in fullscreen

There are a couple of snaps from Reuters coming from the daily briefing from Russia’s defence ministry.

• Russia shot down two Himars missiles in Ukraine’s Donetsk region (from RIA news agency)

• A US-manufactured AN/MPQ-64 radar station was destroyed in eastern Ukraine (from Interfax)

Russia’s permanent representation in the UN, Vasyl Nebenzia, has said the country does not support a proposal to create a demilitarised zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Interfax quotes Nebenzia:

The demilitarisation of the station can make it vulnerable to those who want to visit it. No one knows what their goals and objectives will be. We cannot rule out any provocations, terrorist attacks on the station, which we must protect.

Earlier, the UN secretary general António Guterres called for the withdrawal of all military personnel and military equipment from the station and to avoid the deployment of any other military forces or military equipment in the area.

Guterres said:

The facility should not be used as part of any military operations. Instead, it is necessary to urgently reach an agreement at the technical level on the establishment of a security perimeter and demilitarisation in order to ensure the security of the region.

Eleven rockets hit the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine at 2am, according to the city’s mayor.

Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko posted on Facebook:

Private homes were destroyed. There is no information about victims. Occupiers destroy everything in their path – a terrorist tactic.

The UK has posted its daily defence intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine.

Key points as follows:

• On 9 August, explosions occurred at the Russian-operated Saky military airfield in western Crimea.

• The original cause of the blasts is unclear, but the large mushroom clouds visible in eyewitness video were almost certainly from the detonation of up to four uncovered munition storage areas.

• At least five fighter-bombers and three multi-role jets were almost certainly destroyed or seriously damaged in the blasts. Saky’s central dispersal area has suffered serious damage, but the airfield probably remains serviceable.

• The loss of eight combat jets represents a minor proportion of the overall fleet of aircraft Russia has available to support the war. Saky was primarily used as a base for the aircraft of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea fleet.

• The fleet’s naval aviation capability is now significantly degraded. The incident will likely prompt the Russian military to revise its threat perception. Crimea has probably been seen as a secure rear-area.

Night shelling took place in Kharkiv last night, according to a report on BBC Ukraine’s live blog.

The report cites Kharkiv OVA head Oleg Sinegubov as posting on Telegram:

Last night, the Russians launched rocket attacks on Kharkiv. Four rockets were fired from Belgorod at once. At around 3am, two rockets hit an educational institution in the Slobid district.

The report adds the following information from the Telegram post:

• In the Novobavar district, a rocket hit the road next to the administrative building. Shrapnel damaged the facade.

• The arrival of another rocket was recorded in the Kyiv region, with no casualties.

• Russian strikes were also recorded that night in the village of Tsirkuny and between Tsirkuny and Cherkasy Tyshky in the Kharkiv district.

• A 51-year-old woman died in the Zolochiv community due to shelling.

• At the same time, two more Kalibr missiles, launched by the Russians from the Caspian Sea, were shot down by Ukrainian air defences over the Kharkiv region.

Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksii Reznikov has said that a shipment of M20 MLRS tanks have arrived in Ukraine.

In a tweet, he thanked the UK’s defence minister Ben Wallace and British people for the donation, which had been pledged earlier. “Your support is amazing and so important for Ukraine,” he said.

He added that more “gifts” would arrive soon.