WAR IN UKRAINE: August 13, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 536
Ukrainians advance 16-20 kilometers in 'tactically significant' move: Ukraine made a "tactically significant" advance along two lines of attack towards the southern coast, according to Russian and Ukrainian sources. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces had "partial success" around Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, fortifying the territory they liberated and conducting counter-battery fire, according to the General Staff - Kyiv Independent
At least two people were killed in Russian military strikes in Ukraine on August 12. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on August 12 said Ukraine needs more demining equipment and the ability to manufacture such equipment itself - RFE/RL
Two Ukrainian missiles have targeted a bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula, Moscow says. Videos on social media show plumes of smoke rising near Kerch bridge. Russia's defence ministry said S-200 missiles had been used and shot down causing no damage. Russia's defence ministry said that Ukraine had targeted the structure on Saturday at around 13:00 (10:00 GMT). It identified the missiles used as S-200s - guided, Cold War-era surface-to-air weapons originally designed to destroy enemy aircraft that have apparently been adapted for ground-attack use. The country's foreign ministry meanwhile said that "such barbaric actions... will not go unanswered" - BBC
At least 500 children have been killed and over 1,000 injured since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine’s Prosecutor-General’s Office reported on August 13 - RFE/RL
Russia may have stopped funding the Wagner Group, according to the British Ministry of Defence. According to the information, the military group has now had to reduce the number of soldiers to save money. If it is true that Russian funding has been cut off, the second most likely scenario is that Belarus will take over that role, the ministry believes. After the Wagner uprising in Russia in June, the Kremlin is said to have gone against the business interests of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Russia was sending a clear message to Turkey when it bombed Ukrainian business Motor Sich, which makes engines for Turkish aircraft, analysts have told Defense News. The Aug. 6 missile and drone attack across Ukraine killed six people, Kyiv officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Zaporizhzhia-based facilities of Motor Sich, which his government took over in November, also came under attack. The privately owned business Baykar builds the Akinci and Kizilelma drones, for which Motor Sich provides engines. Eugene Kogan, a security and defense analyst based in Tbilisi, Georgia, said Russian President Vladimir Putin was essentially telling his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: “Despite our friendly relations and respect to each other, your son-in-law’s undertaking in Ukraine will cost him dearly” — a reference to Baykar chairman Selcuk Bayraktar, who is married to one of the Turkish president’s daughters. “Any military facility in Ukraine, local or foreign, is a legitimate target, and Russia is not going to be deterred by Ukraine to destroy such targets,” Kogan added. Motor Sich and Ukrainian firm Ivchenko-Progress have been providing AI-450 engines for the Akinci drone, as well as AI-25TLT engines for the Anka-3 and Kizilelma drones. Turkish Aerospace Industries produces the Anka-3, and Baykar’s Kizilelma is still under development - Defense News