WAR IN UKRAINE: August 5, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 163
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba criticized Amnesty International latest report about the Ukrainian military allegedly endangering civilians by locating forces in residential areas. “I consider Amnesty International’s statement unfair. I understand that in response to criticism Amnesty International will say that ‘we criticize both sides of the conflict.’ But it is not about finding and telling the world the truth — it’s about creating a false balance between the perpetrator and the victim,” Kuleba said.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine reports that Russia has committed 26,465 crimes of aggression and war crimes in Ukraine. According to a post on the PGO’s Telegram channel, the total included crimes against national security and crimes against children.
Russia’s vow to annex pockets of occupied Ukraine has presented the United States and its partners with a pressing dilemma, as trepidation grows in Washington and Kyiv over whether the West is positioned to avert a pivotal shift in the war. Russian leaders have signaled they could hold votes in the country’s east and south on Sept. 11, alongside regional elections already scheduled to take place. And while Secretary of State Antony Blinken and senior White House officials have warned that any attempted land grab through “sham” referendums would bring “additional costs imposed upon Russia,” critics of the Biden administration’s response thus far — including some Democrats — contend that the president and his advisers appear largely unfazed by the Kremlin’s pronouncements - Washington Post
US intelligence officials say Russia is looking to plant false evidence to make it appear that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the 29 July attack on Olenivka Prison that left 53 dead and wounded dozens more, according to White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. Separately, a Western government official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, said explosive experts who have reviewed photos of the prison released by the Russians following the incident have determined that the destruction wasn’t likely caused by “a high-explosive strike from the outside” and that it was “much more likely to be incendiary and from inside the location” - Euronews
American women's basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted of deliberately smuggling drugs into Russia and sentenced to nine years of jail time Thursday in a case that has raised concerns she is being used as a political pawn in Russia's war against Ukraine, reports CNN. The verdict comes about six months after the 31-year-old was arrested at a Moscow airport and accused by Russian prosecutors of trying to smuggle less than 1 gram of cannabis oil in her luggage. The two-time US Olympic basketball gold medalist pleaded guilty to drug charges last month and said she accidentally packed the drugs while in a hurry. Her lawyers will appeal the decision however Russia’s judicial system is notoriously corrupt and politicized. Expect Griner to be released as part of a prisoner swap in the future. My analysis is that as much as a strident campaign is launched in the US this will fall on deaf ears in Moscow. They just don’t respond to calls for compassionate treatment and unfortunately the athlete will be used as a pawn for such things as sanctions relief or prisoner swaps.
Ukrainian media experts in Lviv today slammed a presidential office-mandated TV marathon, saying it will kill off media organizations. The dire forecast was made at a media panel at the Ukrainian Media Centre. (More to come)
The map below is the latest UK Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 04 August 2022
Required reading…
Ukraine grain deal: World must still confront Putin’s Black Sea blackmail
While the departure of Ukraine’s first grain shipment since February is good news, it is still far too early to celebrate. Crucially, the Kremlin’s record of disregard for international law and treaty commitments during its war in Ukraine raises grave doubts over Russia’s reliability as a partner in the grain deal. Read the full Ukraine Alert OpEd by Ukrainian Member of Parliament Oleksiy Goncharenko here