Because the struggle enters its 904th day, these are the primary developments.
Right here is the state of affairs on Saturday, August 17, 2024.
Combating
- At the very least two folks have been killed and extra injured after Ukrainian shelling hit a buying centre within the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in jap Ukraine, Russian state information businesses cited native authorities as saying. Earlier, Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed governor, stated {that a} sequence of Ukrainian assaults wounded at the least seven folks.
- Russia’s Belgorod area bordering Ukraine will evacuate residents from 5 villages and shut entry to them, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov stated, as the realm comes underneath heavy assault from invading Ukrainian forces.
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The heaviest preventing between Ukrainian and Russian troops was reported within the strategic Ukrainian hub of Pokrovsk. Officers stated Russian forces have been 10km (6.2 miles) from the outskirts of Pokrovsk and about 6km (3.7 miles) from close by Myrnohrad. There have been no rapid reviews of casualties.
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Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Syrskii stated that Kyiv’s forces have been advancing 1-3km (0.6 and 1.8 miles) in some areas in Russia’s Kursk region. Kyiv has claimed to have taken management of 82 settlements over an space of 1,150sq km (444 sq. miles) within the area since August 6.
- Ukraine’s Air Drive commander Mykola Oleshchuk stated on Telegram that aviation was an lively a part of the operation in Kursk, focusing on Russian provide routes and logistics centres. He posted a video of a strike on a bridge.
- Kursk regional Governor Alexei Smirnov later stated that Ukraine had destroyed a highway bridge over the Seym river within the area’s Glushkovsky district. The strike is hindering civilian evacuations by land, Russia’s state-run TASS information company reported, citing native safety providers. An estimated 20,000 individuals are reportedly evacuating from the realm.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence stated its troops repelled Ukrainian assaults in a number of areas, together with close to the villages of Gordeevka, Russkoe Porechnoe and others.
- Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian reconnaissance and sabotage unit, which was armed with weapons from NATO nations, within the Kursk area, Russia’s RIA state-run media company reported on Friday, citing unidentified safety sources.
Politics and diplomacy
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Ukraine has arrange storage services in its northern Sumy area to carry and ship humanitarian help to Russian civilians within the Kyiv-held a part of Russia’s Kursk area, Ukraine’s Minister of the Inside Ihor Klymenko stated.
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Nikolai Patrushev, an influential aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, advised the Izvestia newspaper in an interview that the West and the United States-led NATO alliance had helped to plan Ukraine’s shock assault on Russia’s Kursk area. With out “direct help” from the West, Kyiv wouldn’t have ventured into Russian territory, he stated.
- Russia’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs stated it had summoned Italy’s ambassador in Moscow to launch “a robust protest” over what it stated was “unlawful border crossing” by a staff of correspondents from the Italian state broadcaster RAI, who reported from Ukrainian-held parts of Russia’s Kursk region this week.
- Baza, a Telegram channel near Russian regulation enforcement, reported that the nation’s Inside Ministry was planning to open prison circumstances towards two RAI journalists for crossing the Russian border.
- The Italian Overseas Ministry advised the Reuters information company that Italy’s ambassador to Russia, Cecilia Piccioni, had defined to the Russian authorities that RAI and its information groups “plan their actions in a very unbiased and autonomous means” from the federal government.
- The US is about to announce extra safety help for Ukraine within the coming days, White Home Nationwide Safety spokesman John Kirby advised US tv information media on Friday. He didn’t give particulars.
