Russia claimed on Tuesday, August 22, to have “destroyed” a reconnaissance vessel of the Ukrainian army in the Black Sea, a place where attacks, both Russian and Ukrainian, have multiplied since the withdrawal of Moscow in July from an important grain agreement.
“Last night, the crew of a Su-30cm (a combat aircraft, editor’s note) of the Naval Aviation of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed a reconnaissance vessel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of Russian installations gas production in the Black Sea,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram. The ministry did not provide further details about this incident.
New Ukrainian drone attacks near Moscow
Early on Tuesday morning, Russia also announced that it had shot down Ukrainian drones for the fifth consecutive day in the Moscow region. “An attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out terrorist attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles was foiled” overnight from Monday to Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
“Two drones were detected and destroyed by air defense systems over the territory of the Moscow region,” the same source said. No one was killed in the attack, the ministry said.
According to the mayor of the Russian capital Sergei Sobyanin, who spoke on Telegram, a device was shot down in the Krasnogorsk area, located 20 km northwest of the Kremlin, and a second in the Chastsy area, in some 50 km southwest of central Moscow. The competent services are on the scene, added the elected official.
Greece offers to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s
Greece has offered to train Ukrainian pilots to pilot the F-16 fighters that their country will soon receive, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Monday during a surprise visit to Athens.
“Today we achieved an important result for the air coalition: Greece will participate in the training of our pilots on F-16. Thank you for this proposal”, he declared to the press, next to the Prime Greek Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Ukraine on Friday welcomed the United States’ decision to let Denmark and the Netherlands send it F-16 fighter jets once Ukrainian pilots have been trained.
Washington approves sale of 96 Apache helicopters to Poland
The United States approved on Monday a giant arms contract including the sale of 96 Apache attack helicopters with Poland, a country allied with Washington and a major support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Warsaw had asked Washington last year for Apache helicopters, a model built by Boeing, to replace its aging Soviet aircraft.
The sale, which totals 12 billion dollars, “will improve Poland’s ability to deal with current and future threats by providing a credible force capable of deterring adversaries and participating in NATO operations”, said writes the US State Department announcing that it has approved the sale and notified Congress.
Five Ukrainian soldiers sentenced by pro-Russian separatists
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine on Monday sentenced five Ukrainian servicemen to heavy prison terms accused of abuses against civilians, the Russian Investigative Committee announced.
Serving in the Azov regiment which distinguished itself in the defense of the city of Mariupol in 2022, Andrey Klementovitch, Ivan Melnikovich and Artur Sivitsky were found guilty of injuring civilians, according to a press release. They were sentenced to 20-year prison terms in a penal colony for “cruel treatment of civilians” and “attempted group murder of several people based on ideological hatred”.
A Ukrainian soldier, Bogdan Smaga, was also sentenced to seventeen years in prison for abuses against civilians near the city of Lugansk (east), according to the Russian Investigation Committee. And another soldier, Igor Lemechev, received twenty years in prison for the death of a civilian during the shelling of a nearby town.
Russian high school students will be able to train in the piloting of combat drones
Russian high school students will be able to train in piloting combat drones from the school year beginning in September, reads the program published Monday by the Ministry of Education, in the 18th month of the offensive in Ukraine.
According to this program, Russian teenagers will be able to familiarize themselves with “the means of military use of drones” or even the way of “carrying out reconnaissance missions using a drone”. They will also have the opportunity to “carry out concrete drone piloting actions”, as well as learn ways to ward off “adversary drones”.