Russian air defense downed three Ukrainian drones in Moscow and its region, targeted by a sixth consecutive day of attacks, Russia said on Wednesday (August 23rd). A drone “was neutralized by means of electronic warfare and, having lost control, collided with a building under construction in the Moscow City complex” without causing any casualties, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram .
Two other devices were destroyed by air defense in the districts of Mojaysky, 12 kilometers from the center of Moscow, as well as Khimki in the capital region, some 20 kilometers northwest of the Kremlin. , said the Ministry of Defense. Russian territory is now targeted almost daily by drones, like Moscow and its region, targeted every day since Friday.
Two dead in eastern Ukraine
In Ukraine, Russian forces “hit the villages of the Lyman community”, “with artillery” in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday evening. “Three people were killed and one injured in Torske, another civilian was injured in Zakitne,” the head of the military administration of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, wrote on Telegram. Moscow also said it repelled on Tuesday from its territory an armed incursion from Ukraine into the border region of Bryansk.
Damaged grain infrastructure
On the side of the Black Sea, where maritime skirmishes have multiplied since Moscow slammed the door on an agreement to export Ukrainian cereals, Russia reported on Tuesday having “destroyed” two Ukrainian military ships as well as a patrol boat. American made. During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, a Russian drone attack also damaged Ukrainian grain infrastructure in the Odessa region (south), local governor Oleg Kiper said this morning. Russia “attacked the southern Odessa region with attack drones for three hours,” he said.
Since Moscow withdrew from the grain agreement in July, Russia has stepped up the bombing of Ukrainian port infrastructure. Kiev for its part targeted with drones the Russian fleet, an oil tanker or even the bridges leading to Crimea, annexed in 2014. Ukraine has also organized a maritime corridor for the “Joseph Schulte”, a cargo ship which joined Turkey last week without Russia attacking it.
Russia hunts foreign drones in the Black Sea
Russia announced on Tuesday evening that it had sent two jets to intercept two drones, an MQ-9 Reaper and a Bayraktar TB2, over the Black Sea, without specifying who owned the devices. “To prevent a possible violation of Russia’s border and to block the electronic reconnaissance mission of the drones, two Russian jets took off,” the Ministry of Defense said, following which “the drones changed course and left the areas where they were carrying out aerial reconnaissance”.
And in recent months there have been numerous incidents involving Russian and Western aircraft over the Black Sea and the Baltic. Tensions were particularly high when an American Reaper drone crashed into the Black Sea after colliding with a Russian fighter jet in mid-March. In May, Moscow said it intercepted four US strategic bombers in two separate incidents in a week over the Baltic Sea. Russia has also announced over the months that it has intercepted French, German, Polish and British aircraft.
A “very changing” situation in Ukraine
The situation on the battlefield in Ukraine is “very fluid”, the White House cautiously commented on Tuesday, after press reports quoted American and Western officials worried about the evolution of the Ukrainian counter-offensive. “I cannot establish probabilities or predict how things will ultimately evolve in this war, but we continue to support Ukraine in its counteroffensive efforts,” added Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser of the American executive, considering that according to him, the conflict was not in “an impasse”.
“It is true that the Russians are attacking in the northeast, it is also true that the Ukrainians are defending the northeast with some effectiveness,” assured Jake Sullivan. “Ukraine is also attacking” and “gaining ground in the south” of the country, he detailed. “The Biden administration is ‘doing its best to give the best possible advice,’ but ‘Ukraine makes its own sovereign decisions’ when it comes to military strategy, he said. The United States is the main supplier of military aid to Ukraine, in addition to being coordinators of Western support in Kyiv.
The International Court of Justice will hear Russia
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hear Russia’s objections in September in a case launched by Ukraine shortly after the start of the invasion of its country on February 24, 2022. Ukraine, which seized the highest UN jurisdiction shortly after the start of the offensive by Russian forces, accuses Russia of having wrongly used genocide allegations (based on the UN convention) in eastern Ukraine to justify its invasion, and to have itself planned a genocide.
Russia will present its objections on Monday September 18 and Ukraine will develop its arguments the following day. The day after Wednesday, 32 countries, all Western allies of Ukraine, will be able to intervene. In June, the ICJ authorized the 32 countries to intervene alongside Ukraine in this case. However, the ICJ rejected the US request. A second presentation of arguments will take place on September 25 and 27. A court decision could take months or even years.
Moscow has previously shunned hearings, saying in a written statement that the ICJ lacks jurisdiction over the case because Kiev’s petition falls outside the scope of the 1948 Genocide Convention. In March 2022, judges of the ICJ had urgently ordered Russia to suspend its military operations, but this was only a preliminary decision, pending a decision on whether it falls within its jurisdiction.
Russian delegation invited to Libya
A delegation of Russian military officials, led by a deputy defense minister, arrived in Libya on Tuesday at the invitation of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the strongman in the east of the country. “During the visit, it is planned to discuss the prospects for cooperation in the fight against international terrorism and other issues of joint action,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
Libya has been in the throes of a major political crisis since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, plagued by divisions between East and West and by foreign interference. Khalifa Haftar, who opposes the UN-recognized western Tripoli-based Libyan government, notably used fighters from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner in a failed attempt to seize the Libyan capital in 2019 -2020. According to experts, a few hundred Wagner fighters are still in the country to ensure the security of military bases and oil infrastructures.
During this “official” visit, the Russian delegation had talks with the chiefs of staff of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (FAAL), under the command of Marshal Haftar, said Ahmad al-Mesmari, his spokesman. , in a press release. The two sides discussed their “cooperation and coordination” regarding the “training and maintenance of Russian weapons and equipment owned by the General Command which considers them the backbone of the Libyan National Army’s armament”, according to this press release. .
Russia has been leading a diplomatic offensive in Africa for several years to supplant the traditional Western powers there. Wagner’s boss, Yevgueni Prigozhin, thus claimed in a video on Monday evening that fighters from his group were in Africa to “make Russia even greater” there and “fulfill tasks” which he did not have. clarified the nature.