28 Aug – 17:50 Prigozhin, Russian media: bomb in jet air conditioner
Prigozhin, the bombers may have placed a bomb in the air conditioner: the reconstruction (Monday 28 August 2023) Military point 554 According to «Moskovsky Komsomolets» the air conditioning system of the crashed jet had a breakdown in July and was replaced. But a bomb could also have been placed under a seat
28 Aug – 16:54 Kremlin: there is still no date for Prigozhin’s funeral
A date has not yet been set for the funeral of Yevgeny Prigozhin and the other victims of the plane crash in the Tver region, the Kremlin said. “I don’t have any information yet,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “As soon as a decision is made, it will most likely be made public,” he added.
28 Aug – 16:08 Explosion in the police headquarters in Energodar
Another explosion occurred in the police headquarters of the Russian-occupied city of Energodar, known to host the Zaporizhzhia power plant. The intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Kiev (Gur) declares it on its Telegram channel by publishing the video. “Following the operation of the local resistance movement, coordinated by the Gur, an improvised barracks of the ‘Ahmat-1’ unit of the Russian Guard of the Omon (special mobile police unit, ed.) was ‘damaged'”. The headquarters would be used by Kadyrov’s troops. The “number of dead and wounded Kadyrovites are being clarified,” writes the Gur.
28 Aug – 12:09 Zelensky backs down: “Negotiations for Crimea”
It is “preferable and possible to negotiate a political solution for Crimea”, annexed to Russia in 2014, rather than bringing it back to Ukraine by military force. Also because this would avoid other victims. This was stated by the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with the 1+1 broadcaster. The Ukrainian military is gradually advancing towards the south of the country towards the Black Sea coast.
28 Aug – 10:37 Ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet docks in Algiers
A ship from the Russian Black Sea Fleet has called at the port of Algiers as part of the military cooperation program between the two countries. This was reported in a statement by the Algerian defense ministry, published yesterday evening on its Facebook page. “As part of the implementation of the Algerian-Russian bilateral military cooperation program, the Corvette MERKURIY 734 of the Russian Black Sea Fleet has docked at the port of Algiers,” the statement reads, without providing further details. The two countries periodically hold joint naval exercises, such as those that took place in the Mediterranean in October 2022. In late July, Algerian army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Said Chanegriha, went to Moscow at the invitation of the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. In mid-June, the president of the North African country Abdelmadjid Tebboune had made an official working visit to Russia, which led to the signing of a declaration on the “deep strategic partnership” between Algiers and Moscow.
28 Aug – 10:33 Kiev: “Russia has at least 585 cruise missiles”
Russia currently has at least 585 missiles (excluding the X-22s), which have a range of over 500 kilometers and are being used by Moscow’s forces increasingly to attack various regions of Ukraine: the representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Vadym Skibitsky. “If we talk about Iskander ballistic and cruise missiles, according to our data there are currently about 270 of them,” he said. Kalibr reserves amount to about 140 missiles. They have fewer Kh-101s, while the total number of Kh-101s, Kh-555s and X-55s with warheads, therefore, according to our calculations, there are about 100 missiles,” Skibitsky said. In addition, according to Skibitsky, the Russians may have about 75 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles in stock.
28 Aug – 10:32 Kiev: “4 cruise missiles shot down in the night”
Kiev forces destroyed four Russian cruise missiles last night, the Ukrainian Air Force reported, Ukrinform reports. Overall, the Russians fired four Kalibr missiles from the Black Sea near Feodosia and two Kh-59 air-to-air guided missiles from a Su-34 aircraft towards Kryvyi Rih. The missiles shot down are two Kalibr and two Kh-59.
28 Aug – 10:11 Kiev: “F-16 could be operational in spring 2024”
US F-16 fighters to be operational in Ukraine in the spring of 2024: Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in an interview with the German tabloid Bild. Ukraine has to prepare the infrastructure for the use of aircraft and this should take at least six months, “maybe a little more,” he added. “I would say that this (the use of F-16s at the front, ed.) could happen next spring, because we have started training courses for our pilots, engineers and technicians,” said Reznikov.
28 Aug – 10:10 Kiev: “261,310 Russians have been killed since the beginning of the war”
Russia has lost 490 men in the last day, bringing the losses among its ranks up to 261,310 since the day of Moscow’s attack on Ukraine, last February 24th. This was announced by the daily bulletin of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, just released on Facebook, which reports figures that cannot be independently verified. According to reports by the Ukrainian military, Russian losses to date would be 261,310 men, 4,400 tanks, 8,562 armored vehicles, 5,425 artillery systems, 730 multiple rocket launchers, 499 anti-aircraft defense systems. According to the bulletin, which specifies that the data is being updated due to the intense fighting, Russian forces have also lost 315 aircraft, 316 helicopters, 7,866 automotive equipment, 18 naval units and 4,383 drones.
28 Aug – 10:08 Zelensky: “Corruption and high treason must have the same penalty”
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, will ask Parliament to equate the crime of corruption with that of high treason in wartime. During an interview with the 1+1 television channel, Zelensky said that next week “my proposals for equating corruption with high treason in wartime will be presented to Ukrainian deputies”. Ukraine ranks 116 out of 180 countries in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index compiled by the Transparency International group. Zelensky hopes that fighting corruption will make it easier for partners to support reconstruction efforts that will cost billions of dollars.
28 Aug – 10:07 Zelensky: “We lose support if the war moves to Russia”
“Ukraine risks losing military support from some major powers if the battlefield of the war shifts to Russian territory.” This was stated – as reported by the Kiev Independent – by the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyj in an interview. «If the war moves to Russia – he added – there is a great risk that we will be definitively left alone. There are large states in our world for which there is only one point on which they are not on the side of Russia – the territorial integrity of the state. If I deliberately direct my troops and decide to go to Russian territory, I must know for sure that this state will not be with me. We need to think about what is more important now for the people and for Ukraine».
28 Aug – 08:03 Kiev: “Robotyne village liberated”
Ukrainian forces have liberated the village of Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region, Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said on a live broadcast from the Military Media Center. This was reported by Rbc-Ukraine. Kiev troops are moving southeast of Robotyne and south of Mala Tokmachka, she added. On Wednesday, the 47th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that it had hoisted the Ukrainian flag on Robotyne.