Day 526 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Kyiv Confirmed it was behind the New Attack on the Crimean Bridge

@novinite.com

Day 526 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

• Ukraine confirmed that it was behind the new attack on the Crimean bridge
• "Wagner" will try to destabilize NATO's eastern flank, the Polish prime minister said
• Shmyhal: The war costs Ukraine about 54 billion dollars a year
• Russia claims to have shot down six drones less than 200 km from Moscow
• Another drone attack against Kyiv
• Borrell: Russia offers cheap grain to create new dependencies
• Zelensky: We hope there will be a peace summit in the fall
• Putin will visit Turkey
• A Wagner fighter who returned from the front was arrested for mass murder in Karelia
• "Terrible night. Explosions and drones flying over our city'': Bulgarians from Izmail tell about the Russian strikes, Romania reacts sharply

Ukraine confirmed that it was behind the new attack on the Crimean bridge

The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, confirmed that the Ukrainian special services were behind both explosions on the Crimean bridge.

This comes after Kyiv was unambiguously connected with the first, since October last year, on the communication artery between the annexed Crimea and the internationally recognized territory of Russia.

But about the second attack last month, which partially disabled the bridge for weeks or months, Ukraine was more ambivalent.

"Our military is breaking the invulnerability of many objects that in Russia were considered 100% protected. Such is the Crimean bridge, which was talked about by representatives of our Security Service (SBU), who participated in both the first and in the second case," Danilov told Ukrainian television.

The head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk, earlier confirmed that Ukraine carried out the first attack. Before him, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar listed the October raid among Kyiv's successful missions in the first 500 days of full-scale war with Russia.

Unlike previous attacks, the latest one on July 17 was accompanied by accounts of Ukrainian and Russian-language media "sources" within the services themselves, confirming their involvement.

Until recently, this has been uncharacteristic of Ukraine's approach of silence about attacks on targets in territory that Russia has for years called its own (Crimea) or those within internationally recognized borders.

This week, after a wave of drone attacks in Moscow, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak promised Russia more drones. Last night, Belgorod Region (opposite Kharkiv, but on the Russian side of the border) announced that it had taken down some. Today, according to the governor of Kaluga, Vladislav Shapka, another six were brought down, without destruction or damage. The Russian Ministry of Defense blames the "Kyiv regime".

"Wagner" will try to destabilize NATO's eastern flank, the Polish prime minister said

Fighters from Russia's private Wagner mercenary force are moving close to NATO's eastern flank to destabilize the military alliance, Poland's prime minister was quoted as saying on Thursday by Reuters.

Wagner soldiers began training with the Belarusian national army, prompting Poland to begin moving more than 1,000 troops closer to the border. On Tuesday, it accused Belarus of violating its airspace with military helicopters.

"We must be aware that the number of provocations will increase," Mateusz Morawiecki said after a meeting with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in eastern Poland.

"The Wagner group is extremely dangerous and they are moving to the eastern flank to destabilize it."

The politicians met in the Suwalki Corridor, a sparsely populated but strategically important area of Polish territory between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Nauseda said that the number of "Wagner" fighters in Belarus may exceed 4 thousand people.

"We must not only talk about measures at the national level, but also... what should be done if this situation becomes even more complicated, including closing the border with Belarus," stressed Nauseda.

"This should be done in a coordinated way between Poland, Lithuania and Latvia."

Belarus allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to use its territory as a staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine, but did not commit troops to the war.

Shmyhal: The war costs Ukraine about 54 billion dollars a year

Maintaining the Ukrainian armed forces and opposing Russia in the war it started costs Ukraine about 2 trillion hryvnias ($54 billion) a year, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors, quoted by the Ukrinform agency.

"Actually, support for the armed forces and the war cost Ukraine about 2 trillion hryvnias. This is more than the revenue part of the budget in peacetime," Shmyhal said.

According to him, in peacetime, the revenue part of Ukraine's budget amounted to 1.3 trillion hryvnias ($35 billion). Currently, the state survives thanks to the financial support of partners, as well as grants and loans.

"We lost about 30 percent of our economy and our businesses. We lost 3.5 million jobs. In the first year of the war, we lost 29.5 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP). Businesses adapted and continue to adapt. This year we expect even a slight increase compared to last year," specified the Ukrainian Prime Minister.

Russia claims to have shot down six drones less than 200 km from Moscow

Russia said today it had shot down six Ukrainian drones in the Kaluga region, less than 200 km southwest of Moscow, amid an increase in such attacks targeting the Russian capital, AFP reported.

Russian forces "prevented an overnight attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack with drones over the Kaluga region", about 180 km from Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a press release.

"Six drones were shot down by air defense systems," according to the same source.

Regional governor Vyacheslav Shapsha specified on Telegram that the drones were destroyed when they tried to cross Kaluga region, implying that it was not their target.

The incident did not cause "casualties or damage," the Ministry of Defense said.

Ukrainian drone attacks have multiplied in recent weeks on Russian territory, often targeting Moscow and the annexed Crimean peninsula.

Russia said on Tuesday it had neutralized a Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, but acknowledged that one of the drones had hit a building in the capital that was already hit last weekend in a similar attack.

Another drone attack against Kyiv

Ukraine announced an air alert in Kyiv and several other areas. The local authorities specified that the eighth consecutive attack by "Shahed" drones against the capital Kyiv took place last night. According to preliminary data, there were no casualties or damage, as the Air Defense intercepted and destroyed 15 drones.

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, has meanwhile warned developing countries that Russia is offering them cheap grain to create new dependencies in the way of global food insecurity.

The Chinese ambassador in Moscow accused NATO of provoking a confrontation in the Asia-Pacific region after Ukraine.

The EU's No. 1 diplomat, Josep Borrell, has called in a letter to developing countries and the G20 countries for a unified position to get Russia back to the agreement that allowed safe grain exports through the Black Sea.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Moscow could rejoin the grain deal, but its conditions must be met.

In a phone call yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked his Turkish counterpart Recep Erdogan to help Russian grain reach African countries vulnerable to food shortages.

Russian authorities have restricted passage through the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov. The Crimean bridge was built there, which connects Russia with the annexed peninsula in 2014. Since the beginning of the war, the bridge has been attacked and damaged twice.

Last night, an air alert was announced in a number of Ukrainian Oblasts - Sumy, Poltava and other.

The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov commented on the possibility of elections in the country. He stressed that they cannot take place when hundreds of thousands of men are at the front and millions of Ukrainian women have left for Europe. Earlier, the Speaker of the Parliament stated that the constitution does not prohibit voting during martial law. According to the schedule, parliamentary elections in Ukraine should be held in October, and presidential elections in March next year.

In an interview with TASS, the Chinese ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui stated that "after confusing Europe, NATO now wants to destroy peace and tranquility in the Asia-Pacific region as well. The alliance insists on conducting military exercises there and deploying so-called operations to freedom of navigation, which fuels tension and creates confrontation between the camps," the Chinese diplomat said. He emphasized that there is no force in this region that poses a threat to NATO.

Borrell: Russia offers cheap grain to create new dependencies

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, has warned developing countries that Russia is offering them cheap grain to create "new dependencies by exacerbating economic vulnerabilities and global food insecurity", reported Reuters.

The agency said it was familiar with the contents of a letter Borrell sent on Monday to developing countries and the G20 countries. The text contains a call to speak "with a clear and united voice" so that Moscow can be forced to return to the agreement that allowed the safe export of grain through the Black Sea.

"As the world tries to deal with supply disruptions and higher prices, Russia is targeting vulnerable countries with bilateral offers to send grain at lower prices, claiming to be solving a problem it created," says Borrell.

"This is a cynical policy of deliberately using food as a weapon to create new addictions by exacerbating economic vulnerabilities and global food insecurity," added the head of European diplomacy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week told the leaders of a number of African countries that his country is ready to replace Ukraine's grain supplies both on a commercial basis and in the form of humanitarian aid, Reuters recalls.

Zelensky: We hope there will be a peace summit in the fall

Ukraine's air defenses were activated again tonight due to a Russian drone attack on Kyiv and its surroundings. Several explosions were reported, but no casualties or injuries. The air alert lasted for three hours and was lifted after 4 a.m. this morning.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed hope that a peace summit could be held this fall.

He identified this week's international meeting in Saudi Arabia as a cornerstone to that goal.

"This is already the second meeting, and nearly 40 countries will participate in it. The first meeting was in Copenhagen, Denmark. The third step will be the organization of the global peace summit. We are working so that it will be held this fall. At the meeting of the summit can be attended by the majority of the world. Representatives of the North and the South, the East and the West. Autumn is very soon, but there is still time to prepare for the summit and include most of the countries of the world," Zelensky pointed out.

Putin will visit Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held another telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin yesterday. The two agreed on Putin's visit to Turkey. No date was given.

This was announced by the Communications Directorate of the Turkish Presidency, Turkish state TV TRT-Haber reported.

The press service of the Kremlin also confirmed that a possible meeting in Turkey is being prepared.

During the telephone conversation, the two also discussed options for resuming the agreement on the export of grain from Ukrainian ports. Erdogan has indicated that Turkey will continue to make active efforts and use diplomacy to reactivate the so-called “grain deal”, according to Turkish state television.

Last month, Moscow suspended its participation in the "grain deal".

"Stopping it for a long time will not benefit anyone, and the least developed countries that need grain will suffer the most," Erdogan said, adding that grain prices had risen 15 percent since termination of the deal by Moscow.

The Kremlin's press office confirmed "Moscow's readiness to return to the grain deal when the West fulfills its conditions", informed TASS.

"Russia is determined to cooperate with Turkey and other interested parties in developing options for supplying Russian grain to countries in need," Putin was quoted as saying.

Erdogan emphasized during the conversation that steps should not be taken to escalate tensions within the framework of the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict, TRT-Haber pointed out.

He thanked Putin for the amphibious aircraft sent by Russia to extinguish the forest fires in Turkey. He expressed satisfaction with the growing interest of Russian tourists in Turkey.

Yesterday’s telephone conversation between Erdogan and Putin is the tenth since the beginning of the year.

Since the beginning of the war, which Russia started with the attack on Ukraine, Putin has avoided foreign trips, writes the Ukrainian agency UNIAN. An arrest warrant has also been issued for him by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The Turkish side announced its plans to organize Putin's visit already in the spring. There he is not threatened with arrest, since Ankara has not ratified the Treaty of Rome and does not recognize the judgments of the court in The Hague.

A Wagner fighter who returned from the front was arrested for mass murder in Karelia

A former mercenary from the private military company "Wagner" was arrested in Karelia on charges of murdering 6 people, "Svoboda" reports. The detained 37-year-old Igor Sofonov denies his guilt.

The publication refers to the site Север.Реалии, according to which on August 1 in the village of Derevyannoe in the Prionezh region of Karelia, the bodies of six local residents were found, who were stabbed with a knife. The murders took place in two private homes located 200 meters from each other. In the first, two men were found murdered - father and son, in the second, three men and a woman.

Six hours later, Sofonov, the suspect in the mass murders, was arrested, as was 38-year-old Maxim Bochkarev.

The two had previously served sentences in the same colony. Sofonov for attempted murder, robbery and theft. The second was detained for rape, violent acts of a sexual nature, also for robberies and thefts. It was in the colony in 2022 that Sofonov was recruited by the Wagnerites and went to Ukraine to participate in the hostilities. He was pardoned by a decree of Vladimir Putin.

Local residents say that he returned from the war in the spring of this year. According to his fellow neighbors, he drank a lot. Nothing is reported about Bochkarev's biography. His lawyer says he denies the charges and that he was beaten by the police.

In the summer of last year, after a series of military defeats of the Russian army in Ukraine, "Wagner" and personally its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin began to recruit prisoners to become mercenaries and fight at the front. The convicts who accepted had to fight for half a year, under threat of being shot, they were forbidden to give way or surrender in captivity. Those who survived that half year were promised that they would regain their freedom.

According to various estimates, between 50 and 70 thousand people were recruited to "Wagner" under this scheme. According to Prigozhin, 32,000 of them have already returned to Russia and have been pardoned for their participation in hostilities. He also claims that the number of crimes committed by freed Wagnerites is less than the average for other freedmen from the colonies. However, it is not possible to verify this, "Svoboda" notes.

Recently, in the Russian media, there is regular news about serious crimes, among them murders and rapes, committed by Wagnerites who returned from the front. At the end of May, a mercenary was arrested in the Novosibirsk region, suspected of raping two children aged 10 and 12. In St. Petersburg, at the beginning of June, a Wagnerite robbed a store. Another was arrested for double murder.

"Terrible night. Explosions and drones flying over our city'': Bulgarians from Izmail tell about the Russian strikes, Romania reacts sharply

"We experienced a terrible night - explosions and sounds of drones flying over the city," said Bulgarians from the Ukrainian city of Izmail, which was hit by Russian forces Wednesday night.

On the night of August 2, Russian drones attacked the Danube city from 00:59 to 03:59 in the morning.

Izmail is in Odesa Oblast, on the border with Romania, and is home to one of Ukraine's largest river ports for grain transportation.

“We woke up from the first explosions. It was scary, our house was shaking from the blast waves. For three hours the whole city was in terrible tension, constant explosions. It's good that we took our daughter, who is still small, to the village. It's safer there” - said Anastasia Georgieva. She works at the Danube Shipping Company in the city, the 12-story building of the department was hit and almost destroyed. "We managed to save almost nothing. A lot of equipment, furniture, information was destroyed. We are currently looking for other buildings in the city , to continue our business."

Another Bulgarian - Maria Mihailova, also shared about the night explosions and horrors in Izmail:

"We are scared, for the first time since the beginning of the war there has been such an attack in our country. My son and daughter are currently in Odesa, I was alone at home. From 1 o'clock in the morning until the attack ended, we were constantly on the phone in touch with the children . They supported me the whole night".

The chairman of the Izmail Bulgarian Society "Hristo Botev" Georgiy Chilik informed about tension among the population after the night attacks.

"Thank God there were no casualties. There was destruction at the port, the infrastructure was damaged. Our center for national cultures in the city was fortunately not damaged. We thank the Ukrainian anti-aircraft forces for the defense," Chilik also said.

The Bulgarian community in Odesa Oblast is the third largest and numbers over 150,000 people according to the official census in Ukraine in 2001. The largest compact Bulgarian population is concentrated in the Bolgrad, Izmail and Belgorodnist regions. 7,700 Bulgarians live in the city of Izmail, which makes up 10% of the total number of the city's population. According to data from 2022, Izmail has 69,932 inhabitants.

Russia attacked the Port of Izmail last night

It’s Ukraine’s largest port on the Danube delta & is located just across the border from Romania (NATO member)

15% of the city’s population are Romanians & Bulgarians

Many ethnic Turks also live there. pic.twitter.com/dOfQxmONd1

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 2, 2023

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis reacted sharply to the night attack on the border with Romania. He called the attacks on the Danube "unacceptable" in view of Izmail's proximity to Romania, writes CNN.

"Russia's continued attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure along the Danube River, near Romania, are unacceptable," Iohannis wrote today, calling what was being committed "war crimes" that "further affect [Ukraine's] ability to transfer its food products to those in need".

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attacks on port infrastructure an attack on global food security and called for a response from the international community.

The Russian attacks on the Danube River are the closest Moscow has come to NATO territory, CNN notes, and reminds that Article 5 of the NATO Treaty treats an attack on one member country as an attack on all. It ensures that the resources of the entire alliance can be used to protect each individual country within it.

---

Novinite is still the only Bulgarian media that publishes a summary of events and highlights related to the conflict, every single day. Our coverage began on day one - 24.02.2022 and will not stop until the war has concluded. Despite the pressure, our independent media will continue to provide its readers with accurate and up-to-date information. Thank you for your support! #stayinformed

Follow Novinite.com on Twitter and Facebook

Write to us at editors@novinite.com

Информирайте се на Български - Novinite.bg

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!