Russia will not hold its large military exercises "West" this year because of the war in Ukraine, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said, Reuters reports.
"No, this year we have exercises in Ukraine," Shoigu was quoted as saying by the state news agency RIA Novosti.
Russia last conducted the Zapad exercises with its ally Belarus in September 2021, five months before the invasion of Ukraine. At the time, it was said that 200.000 soldiers were participating.
Britain's Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence update last Sunday that it believed Russia would not hold the "West" exercises this year, as it lacked troops and equipment due to engagement on the fronts in Ukraine.
Kiev said Ukrainian troops had regained more territory on the eastern front and were advancing further south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces.
Deputy Defense Minister Hana Maljar said that last Sunday Kiev forces recaptured about three square kilometers around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which has been under Russian control since May after months of heavy fighting, reports Reuters.
She added that Kiev forces achieved "success" in the direction of the villages of Novodanilivka and Novoprokopivka in the southern region of Zaporizhzhya, without giving details.
Ukraine has now captured about 47 square kilometers of territory around Bakhmut since the start of its counteroffensive in early June, Malyarova wrote on Telegram.
Malyarova said last Sunday that Ukrainian troops had broken through the first line of Russian defenses, and the Ukrainian military now expects to advance faster.
Russian air defense successfully thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on a thermal power plant in the southern region of Bryansk, local chief Aleksandar Bogomaz said.
Bogomaz stated that there were no injuries and that no damage was caused to the buildings, Reuters reported.
He also added that another drone crashed in the field.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, that Ukraine should soften its negotiating position against Russia in talks on reviving the grain export agreement.
"Ukraine should soften its approach so that it is possible to take joint steps with Russia," Erdogan told reporters after the leaders' meeting in Sochi, reports Reuters.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy said that Kiev has photographs showing that Russian drones hit Romanian territory during an airstrike on Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube River last night.
Dmytro Kuleba told reporters after a press conference in Kyiv, Reuters reports. Romania, a member of NATO, denied this earlier today.
Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu says that no Russian drones or their remains fell on the territory of that country during the air attack on the Ukrainian port.
"Of course, there is a risk because what happened there is very close to our borders," Odobescu added on the sidelines of her visit to Berlin, Reuters reported.
"We have seen that Russia cynically continues to attack civilian infrastructure, not allowing Ukraine to export its grain. Of course, there is a risk of accidents or incidents, but so far this has not been the case," said the head of Romania's diplomacy.
Ukrainian authorities announced today that Russian explosive drones fell last night on the territory of Romania, Ukraine's neighbor and NATO member, during a new wave of fierce nighttime attacks on the south of Ukraine, and Bucharest denied these claims.
"According to information from the Ukrainian border guard, during a major attack carried out by Russia on the zone of the (Ukrainian) port of Izmail, Russian 'Shahid' drones fell and exploded on the territory of Romania last night," said the spokesman of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleg Nikolenko, via Facebook.
Today, Romania "categorically denied" Kiev's claims that Russian explosive drones fell on its territory last night.
The Ministry of Defense is "monitoring the situation in real time" and "at no time" did the Russian attacks on infrastructure on the Danube near its border "represent a direct military threat to the national territory or territorial waters of Romania," the ministry said in a statement.
(BETA)
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced today that in a strong counter-offensive on the southern front, it recovered three square kilometers from Russian forces near Bakhmut in the east of the country.
"Ukrainian forces are continuing offensive operations in the sector of Melitopolje... and have had success near Novodanilivka and Novoprokopivka," in the south, Deputy Defense Minister Gana Malijar told the public TV service.
Those two villages are located in the Zaporozhye region near Robotina, a strategic place that the Ukrainians recaptured from the Russians at the end of August and opens their way to the south under the occupation of the Russian army.
"The enemy has suffered significant losses in manpower, weapons and equipment in the south and is regrouping its units and troops using reserves," Gana Malijar said.
She said that on the eastern front, the Ukrainians achieved some success near Klichshivka, a village south of Bakhmut. Bahmut was at the center of the fighting for more than a year, and Moscow conquered it in May.
"Over the past week, the liberated zone has increased by three square kilometers" near Bakhmut, and a total of 47 square kilometers have been liberated on the outskirts of the city since the Ukrainian counteroffensive began in June, she said.
(BETA)
Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov announced today that he has submitted his resignation to the Parliament, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced his dismissal.
"I submitted a letter of resignation to Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament," Reznikov wrote via the X network. He has been in that position since November 2021.
"It was an honor to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the Ukrainian army during the last 22 months, the most difficult period in modern Ukrainian history," he added.
President of Ukraine Zelenskiy said yesterday that Minister of Defense Alexey Reznikov will be replaced this Sunday by Rustem Umierov, a representative of the Crimean Tatars.
"I have decided to dismiss the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. Alexey Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war. I believe that the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction both with the army and with society as a whole. Now the ministry should be headed by Rustem Umerov." Zelenski wrote.
As stated by the French press agency, the change at the head of the Ministry of Defense was announced after several corruption scandals since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(BETA)
The Ukrainian authorities received new reports today about planted bombs in all schools in Kyiv, three days after the first such alert, the city's military administration announced.
"Kiev police received new reports about planted bombs in all schools" in Kyiv, the city's military administration wrote via Telegram.
The previous tip, which was eventually established as false, was on September 1, the day of the start of the new school year in Ukraine.
More than 3,6 million Ukrainian children, including 400.000 displaced abroad, started the new school year that day, authorities said.
(BETA)
Ukrainian forces shot down 17 Russian drones in the south of the Ukrainian Odesa region, and buildings were damaged in the district of the port city of Izmail, the local governor announced today.
"Our air defense forces shot down 17 drones... warehouses and production buildings, agricultural machines and equipment of industrial companies were damaged in several neighborhoods in Izmail district," Governor Oleg Kiper said via Telegram.
He added that after the downing of the drones, several fires broke out in that territory and that they were extinguished.
According to the governor, the attack lasted three and a half hours and there were no casualties or injuries.
The operational command of southern Ukraine announced that it was a large-scale night attack carried out by drones against civilian infrastructure in the Danube area.
The river port of Izmail has become one of the main routes for transporting Ukrainian agricultural products since Moscow terminated the grain export agreement in July.
On the night of Saturday into Sunday, Russian drones hit industrial sites on the Danube, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office announced. The Russian army announced that it carried out an attack on the port of Reni, also in the Odesa region.
(BETA)
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced today that naval aviation destroyed four fast military ships carrying Ukrainian soldiers in the Black Sea.
"Tonight, in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, the naval aviation of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed four fast military ships 'Willard Sea Force', of American manufacture, which are transporting landing groups of the Ukrainian armed forces," the ministry announced via Telegram.
The announcement states that four ships carrying up to 50 members of the Ukrainian special forces were destroyed.
According to the Russian ministry, the Ukrainian ships were sailing in the direction of Cape Tarkhankut, west of the annexed peninsula of Crimea.
Moscow also announced that it shot down a Ukrainian drone near Crimea and another in the Russian region of Kursk, which borders Ukraine.
Earlier, on August 24, Ukraine announced that it had conducted a special forces operation on the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, and that it had raised the national flag there.
Ukrainian special forces then arrived from the direction of the sea and landed on the western part of the peninsula, without suffering any losses, it was stated in the press release of the Ukrainian intelligence service.
(BETA)
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