WAR IN UKRAINE: August 12, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 535
A 31-year-old police captain was killed and 12 more people were injured, including four policemen, as a result of a morning strike by a guided aerial bomb on Orikhov in Zaporizhzhia, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Klymenko said. Kryvyi Rih was previously hit with a ballistic missile, reported the head of Dnipropetrovsk OVA. People were not injured - Suspilne
Ukrainian conscription officials accused of taking bribes and smuggling people out of the country have been sacked in an anti-corruption purge. Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed more than 30 people face criminal charges, with all regional officials in charge of military conscription removed. He said bribery at a time of war is "high treason". A statement from the president's office said corruption allegations "pose a threat to Ukraine's national security and undermine confidence in state institutions". Replacement officials will be chosen from candidates who have battlefield experience and have been vetted by the intelligence service, it continued - BBC
The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, two Russian billionaires behind Alfa Group, a prominent financial services firm — a sign that the Biden White House is trying to increase pressure on Russian elites who have carved out international profiles while maintaining business operations in Russia. “Wealthy Russian elites should disabuse themselves of the notion that they can operate business as usual while the Kremlin wages war against the Ukrainian people,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement announcing the new punitive measures. “Our international coalition will continue to hold accountable those enabling the unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.” - Washington Post
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted tactically significant successes of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the western part of the Zaporizhzhia region. Geolocation footage shows that Ukrainian forces have advanced into Urozhane along the border of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions - Ukrainska Pravda
The Ministry of Defense of Russia says there was an attack on Crimea by allegedly 20 drones. The so-called authorities of the occupied peninsula announced the work of air defense "over various areas"