WAR IN UKRAINE: August 16, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 539
First images released of the overnight Russian drone attacks on Ukraine Danube port infrastructure: elevator, warehouses, granaries, admin premises & agricultural machinery damaged/destroyed. Investigators are still compiling a full list of the damage. It’s clear that huge amounts of grain intended for desperate world markets destroyed. Small ports on the Danube have become vital for Ukrainian grain exports following the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal last month. It’s even clearer now, that after several attacks on the port infrastructure here in Odesa and Danube River region, that Russia wants to completely cripple Ukraine’s ability to export agricultural products to world markets. People here beginning to ask - where’s the outrage from western leaders and from capitals in the Middle East and Africa which rely on this grain?
A container ship departed Ukraine's southern port of Odesa on Wednesday, becoming the first vessel to use a temporary Black Sea shipping corridor established following the breakdown of a UN-brokered grain deal last month, a Ukrainian official said. In a Facebook post, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the Hong Kong-flagged ship, Joseph Schulte, was en route to the Bosporus carrying more than 30,000 metric tons of cargo, including food products. The vessel had been stuck in the port since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February last year - CNN
Ukrainian troops made further gains in the area of Donetsk Oblast’s Urozhaine, entrenching the regained positions, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces wrote on Aug. 15 - Kyiv Independent
Three suspected spies for Russia in UK arrested and charged in a major national security investigation. All Bulgarian nationals, they were nabbed in Feb and have been remanded in custody since. They’ve lived in UK for years, working in a variety of jobs, and living in a series of suburban properties, reported BBC. While European countries have expelled hundreds of Russian diplomats since The full scale invasion of Ukraine, Canada has not booted a single one…
Russian air defenses intercepted three Ukrainian drones over the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow early Wednesday, Moscow's Ministry of Defense said. "All [unmanned aerial vehicles] were detected and destroyed by Russian air defense systems in a timely manner," the ministry said in a Telegram post, adding there were no casualties or damage - CNN
Ukrainian officials slammed comments by Stian Jenssen, the director of the Private Office of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General, who said that ceding territory to Russia could be a way for Kyiv to achieve peace and join the military alliance. Jenssen made the comments in an interview with Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang - CNN