Skip next section Zelenskyy dismisses air force commander after F-16 crash
08/30/2024August 30, 2024
Zelenskyy dismisses air force commander after F-16 crash
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Ukraine’s Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk on Friday, a presidential decree stated.
The dismissal was announced a day after the Ukrainian military reported that crashed and its pilot died while repelling a major Russian strike on Monday.
“I have decided to replace the commander of the Air Forces … I am eternally grateful to all our military pilots,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address.
He did not state a reason for the dismissal or mention the F-16, but said that personnel must be protected and that there was a need to strengthen the command level.
Ukraine’s military General Staff said that General Lieutenant Anatoliy Kryvonozhka would temporarily perform the commander’s duties until a replacement was appointed.
The crash took place on Monday and the fact than a US-made F-16 was involved was announced on Thursday.
The military has not provided a reason for the crash other than to say it took place while the plane was approaching a target.
Oleshchuk had previously said that partners from the US were helping to investigate.
The arrival of the first F-16s in Ukraine, around the end of July and beginning of August, was a milestone for the country, . Most of Ukraine’s air force is comprised of Soviet-era warplanes like MiGs.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k7al
Skip next section Governor updates Kharkiv death toll to 6, with more than 50 wounded
08/30/2024August 30, 2024
Governor updates Kharkiv death toll to 6, with more than 50 wounded
The governor of Kharkiv oblast in Ukraine, Oleh Syniehubov, said on Friday evening in an update that six people had died following the shelling of the northeastern city of .
Syniehubov said on the Telegram app that at least 59 people had been injured, nine of them children.
He said that people were still arriving at hospitals for treatment and that more information would follow.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k7a5
Skip next section EU agrees to train 15,000 more Ukrainian troops — Borrell
08/30/2024August 30, 2024
EU agrees to train 15,000 more Ukrainian troops — Borrell
The EU has agreed to raise the training target for Ukrainian soldiers to 75,000 by the end of 2024, EU top diplomat Josep Borrell said.
He made the comments at a press conference following informal discussions with the bloc’s defense ministers.
Borrell said the program was “the most successful training mission that the European Union has ever performed.”
and Poland.
Ministers also discussed a plan to run some training operations in Ukraine but did not reach an agreement. Borrell said that training would instead “be as close as possible to Ukraine, but not in Ukrainian territory.”
Borrell said the EU has trained 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers so far this year.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k7Nd
Skip next section Russian publisher sentenced to 8 years for criticizing Ukraine war
08/30/2024August 30, 2024
Russian publisher sentenced to 8 years for criticizing Ukraine war
A Russian newspaper publisher has been sentenced to eight years in prison after his paper reported on Russia’s attacks on civilians in Ukraine, according to local media and rights activists.
The court in the Siberian city of Gorno-Altaysk convicted Sergei Mikhailov, a prominent journalist in the Altai region and publisher of the local newspaper Listok, or “Leaflet” in Russian, of “spreading false information” about the Russian army, the rights group Net Freedoms said.
Under a new law adopted days after , it is a criminal offense in Russia to criticize the war.
Hundreds of Russians, including several journalists, have been prosecuted under the law in a government crackdown of unprecedented scope and severity.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k6r0
Skip next section Ukraine urges Mongolia to arrest Putin during visit
08/30/2024August 30, 2024
Ukraine urges Mongolia to arrest Putin during visit
Ukraine has called on Mongolia to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin on an international warrant when he visits the country next week.
Mongolia is a member of the (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader in 2023 accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.
Moscow has dismissed the allegation, calling it politically motivated.
The warrant obliges the court’s 124 member states, including Mongolia, to arrest Putin if he sets foot on their territory.
“The Ukrainian side hopes that the Government of Mongolia is aware of the fact that Vladimir Putin is a war criminal,” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said. “We call on the Mongolian authorities to execute the binding international arrest warrant.”
However, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the threat of arrest.
“We are not worried. We maintain a wonderful dialogue with our friends in Mongolia,” he said.
This will be Putin’s first trip to an ICC member state since he launched his in February 2022.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k709
Skip next section Russian attacks on Kharkiv leave 4 dead, including child
08/30/2024August 30, 2024
Russian attacks on Kharkiv leave 4 dead, including child
Russian strikes have killed at least four people in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, including a young girl in a playground, the city’s mayor, Igor Terekhov, said, adding that at least 28 people were wounded in the attacks.
“The occupiers killed a child right on the playground. At least three other people were injured in the area,” Terekhov said on social media.
Three other people were killed in a 12-story apartment building which caught fire as a result of the attack, he added.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, is about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Russian border and has been since they launched their invasion in February 2022.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k6vx
Skip next section Russia claims capture of 3 more villages in eastern Ukraine
08/30/2024August 30, 2024
Russia claims capture of 3 more villages in eastern Ukraine
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces had captured three more villages in eastern Ukraine, where it is advancing even as Kyiv mounts a major cross-border assault.
In a briefing posted on its Telegram page, the ministry said its forces had seized settlements in Ukraine’s Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkiv regions.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Ukrainian forces had advanced up to 2 kilometers in over the past 24 hours.
Syrskyi briefed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via video link and said Ukrainian forces had taken control of 5 square kilometers (2 square miles) of of Russian territory.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k6lL
Skip next section Ukraine urges EU allies to contribute to air defense of its western regions
08/30/2024August 30, 2024
Ukraine urges EU allies to contribute to air defense of its western regions
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who was taking part in an informal meeting of EU defense ministers, said he had called on EU allies to contribute to an air defense shield over the western regions of Ukraine.
Strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses is crucial to protecting civilians and infrastructure, he said in a statement on social media.
Umerov also stressed the importance of increasing investment in Ukraine’s defense industry.
“This will contribute to the joint strengthening of Europe’s security and defense capabilities,” he said.
Russia fired a wave of attack drones and missiles into Ukraine on Monday and Tuesday, killing at least 11 people and .
https://p.dw.com/p/4k6jw
Skip next section Czechs will be fine if Druzhba oil pipeline stops, official says
08/30/2024August 30, 2024
Czechs will be fine if Druzhba oil pipeline stops, official says
A possible disruption of oil supplies from Russia through Ukraine via the Druzhba pipeline from next year would not be a problem for the Czech Republic, the country’s energy security envoy Vaclav Bartuska said.
Bartuska was responding to comments made by Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak. Podolyak said Ukraine would stop sending Russian oil and gas through its pipelines to the European Union by the end of this year.
According to Bartuska, Ukraine has also warned of a possible halt in the past. “This is not the first time, this time maybe they mean it seriously, we shall see. For the Czech Republic, it is not a problem,” he said.
Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are the last countries .
https://p.dw.com/p/4k6S8
Skip next section Ukraine says US partners help investigate F-16 crash
08/30/2024August 30, 2024
Ukraine says US partners help investigate F-16 crash
The commander of Ukraine’s air force said it has shared a preliminary report on Monday’s crash of an F-16 jet with U.S. counterparts.
Mykola Oleshchuk said on social media that the United States, where the F-16 is manufactured, is helping with the investigation.
The Ukrainian military said Thursday that the F-16 crashed and its pilot died while approaching a target during a Russian airstrike.
Earlier, a US defense official told Reuters that Monday’s crash did not appear to be the result of Russian fire and that possible causes ranging from pilot error to mechanical failure were being investigated.
was a milestone for Ukraine in the fight against the full-scale invasion by Russia.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k6CU
Skip next section Russian mercenaries leave Burkina Faso for Kursk, says Le Monde
08/30/2024August 30, 2024
Russian mercenaries leave Burkina Faso for Kursk, says Le Monde
Mercenaries from the Russian private military company Bears, which is linked to the Russian Defense Ministry, are leaving the African country of Burkina Faso due to the , the French newspaper Le Monde reported.
According to Le Monde, nearly a hundred mercenaries arrived in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, in May, presumably to support the local military junta, particularly its leader, Ibrahim Traore.
The reason for their departure, according to the newspaper, only three months after their arrival, was to take part in the Russian defense effort against the offensive launched by the Ukrainian army in the Kursk region on August 6.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k5aC
Skip next section EU defense ministers discuss training of Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine
08/30/2024August 30, 2024
EU defense ministers discuss training of Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine
EU defense ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss the European Union’s ongoing operation to train Ukrainian soldiers to defend their country against a full-scale Russian invasion, as well as a plan to move some of the EU training operations inside Ukraine.
Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said the move has to be “a careful decision” and the risks and benefits weighed up by the European Union. “We are open to talk about this,” he added.
His Latvian counterpart, Andris Spruds, stressed the importance of such a plan to be a “collective decision” before the meeting of his EU counterparts.
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said he was in favour of the idea, but top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said there was no EU agreement currently to train Ukrainian soldiers on Ukrainian soil.
Training is currently taking place in and Poland. The training mission began in November 2022.
So far, 52,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained, according to EU figures from May. The EU wants to train another 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers by the end of summer 2024. EU defense ministers are expected to discuss extending the mission until 2026.
French President , backed by Lithuania, has signaled his support for training Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine. But a number of EU countries, including Germany, are concerned about the move.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k5WX
Skip next section Russia’s attack kills 2, injures at least 8 in Ukraine’s Sumy
08/30/2024August 30, 2024
Russia’s attack kills 2, injures at least 8 in Ukraine’s Sumy
Russian strikes overnight damaged a factory in the northeastern city of Sumy, killing two people and injuring at least eight others, local officials said.
An airstrike caused a fire at the factory, which makes baby food packaging, prompting regional authorities to urge residents to stay inside and close windows.
A drone strike also hit an industrial facility in the eastern city of Poltava, causing no casualties, regional governor Filip Pronin said.
The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 12 of 18 Russian-made drones over five Ukrainian regions overnight. Four other drones fell over Ukrainian territory.
Russia also used an Iskander-M missile in the attack, the air force added.
dh/rc (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
https://p.dw.com/p/4k5RI
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