Thursday, August 3

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A man in downtown Kyiv sits among concrete blocks collected from military checkpoints, Aug. 2, 2023. (Photo by Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images)

Report: Half of Ukrainians held by Russians in Kherson Oblast tortured. Nearly half of Ukrainians held in Russian detention facilities in the liberated parts of Kherson Oblast were tortured when the territory was under Russian occupation, with many also being subject to sexual violence, according to a report compiled by Western lawyers and published on Aug. 2.

Zelensky: F-16 training for Ukrainian pilots to begin this month. In an address to heads of Ukrainian diplomatic missions on Aug. 2, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that F-16 training for Ukrainian pilots is to begin this month.

Prosecutor: 98,000 Russian war crimes identified in Ukraine. Yurii Bielousov, the head of the War Crimes Department of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, has stated that his team had recorded 98,000 war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Danube Port damaged in Russian drone strike. The Russian night strike against Odesa Oblast targeted Ukraine’s Danube River port of Izmail, causing substantial damage to grain warehouses and other infrastructure, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Defense Ministry reported on Aug. 2.

General Staff: Russian counter-attacks at Staromaiorske and around Bakhmut fail. Russian forces made unsuccessful attempts to regain lost positions west of Staromaiorske on Aug. 2, according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Russia was also unsuccessful in the Bakhmut direction.

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UK Defense Ministry: Russia likely builds ‘major new formations’ for deployment in Ukraine. Russia has likely started forming major new formations over the last two months to “add depth to its ground forces in Ukraine,” the U.K. Defense Ministry said in its latest intelligence report on Aug. 2.

Politico: Pentagon expects Ukraine’s counteroffensive to continue through fall. The Pentagon expects Ukraine’s offensive to last at least through the fall and possibly into the winter, Politico reported on Aug. 1, citing the Pentagon officials.

Ukrainian-made demining machine officially certified. The authorities have certified a Ukrainian-made demining machine, Ukraine’s Economy Ministry said on Aug. 2.

G7 ambassadors meet with PM, discuss reforms and reconstruction. Ambassadors to Ukraine from the Group of Seven (G7) met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Aug. 2 to discuss the reforms needed for their country’s private sectors to be involved in Ukraine’s reconstruction.

Media: 28 arson attempts on Russian military enlistment offices reported in 5 days. According to Russian independent media outlet Meduza, there have been at least 28 attempts to set fire to military enlistment offices and Defense Ministry buildings over the last five days in Russia and in Russian-occupied Crimea.

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Ukraine war latest: Kyiv, southern Ukraine ports hit by Russian strikes

Russian forces launched large-scale drone strikes against Kyiv and Odesa oblasts overnight, local officials reported on Aug. 2.

Photo: Ercin Erturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

‘Uncertainty and despair’: War taking heavy toll on mental health of Ukrainians

First Lady Olena Zelenska says the cost of Ukrainian “invincibility” is not just the lives of military and civilians but also the “mental health of the entire nation.”

Photo: Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Prosecutor: Over 10,000 Ukrainian civilians killed since Feb. 24, 2022. At least 10,749 Ukrainian civilians, including 499 children, have been killed since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Yurii Bielousov, the head of the War Crimes Department of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, said in an Aug. 2 interview with Interfax Ukraine.

Kyiv, Odesa oblasts hit by Russian strikes. Russian forces launched large-scale drone strikes against Kyiv and Odesa oblasts overnight, local officials reported on Aug. 2. Some 11 oblasts in total came under attack over the past day, leaving two people dead and 15 injured, according to the reports.

General Staff: Russia has lost 247,230 troops in Ukraine. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Aug. 2 that Russia had lost 247,230 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 last year. This number includes 540 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

International response

US delivers military aid to Moldova. The U.S. has delivered military aid to Moldova as part of the modernization process of the Moldovan military, the U.S. Embassy in Moldova announced on Aug. 1.

Kremlin: Erdogan, Putin discuss future meeting in Turkey. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone call on Aug. 2, discussing the grain deal and a possible meeting of the two leaders, the Kremlin announced on its website.

Zelensky: 12 countries join G7’s ‘security guarantees’ declaration for Ukraine. As of Aug. 2, 12 countries have already joined the G7’s joint declaration on “security guarantees” for Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated during an Aug. 2 meeting with the heads of foreign diplomatic missions.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Oleksiy Sorokin, Martin Fornusek, Elsa Court, Alexander Query, Sofiya Tryzub-Cook, Oleg Sukhov, Daria Bevziuk, and Abbey Fenbert.

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