Russia-Ukraine war: Kremlin insists invasion going to plan despite counterattacks; first-grain ship docks in Africa – live

The Guardian - Léonie Chao-Fong (now); Joe Middleton and Samantha Lock (earlier) Tue 30 Aug 2022 16.58 BST

• Show key events only from 4h ago12.09

Kremlin says military operation going to plan as Ukrainian counterattack begins

The Kremlin has insisted that its so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine is going to plan despite the news that Kyiv’s troops have launched a long-awaited counteroffensive in the south of the country.

At his regular briefing with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was asked to respond to Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s comments that Russian troops should flee after his military reportedly broke through several of their defenses on Tuesday.

Peskov replied:

The special military operation continues, it continues methodically, and in co-ordination with the current plans. All objectives will be fulfilled.

He also commented on calls by some European leaders for a ban on tourist visas for Russians, describing the proposals as “irrational” and the latest manifestation of the west’s anti-Russian agenda.

He said Europe’s actions towards Russia were “bordering on insanity” adding:

Of course, such decisions cannot go unanswered.

• Updated at 12.50 BST39m ago16.01

A selection of images showing recent developments in Ukraine has dropped on the picture wires.

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1h ago15.37

The former head of Britain’s secret intelligence service, MI6, has welcomed Ukraine’s counterattacks in Kherson, saying it is a key moment in the war.

Sir Alex Younger told the BBC that the fightback from Kyiv showed the two opposing forces had “reached some kind of balance, which is an unexpected and frankly welcome situation”.

He added that western help had strengthened Ukrainian capability and that there was a long-term trend showing Russian military capability had slowly weakened. He said the new offensive in Kherson from Zelenskiy’s forces was “all about the urge of Ukraine to demonstrate they can get on the front foot”.

• Updated at 15.46 BST1h ago15.22

Summary of the day so far

It’s nearly 5.30 pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:

• Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has urged Russian soldiers to flee for their lives after his forces launched an offensive to retake southern Ukraine. A senior presidential adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, told Ukrainians not to expect rapid gains and described the offensive as a “slow operation to grind the enemy”.
• The Kremlin has insisted that its so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine is going to plan despite the news that Kyiv’s troops have launched a long-awaited counteroffensive in the south of the country. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “The special military operation continues, it continues methodically, and in coordination with the current plans. All objectives will be fulfilled.”
• Kherson has been hit by a partial power outage and a partial shutdown of the water supply, Russian state news agencies have cited pro-Russian officials as saying. Traffic lights and building lights have also been reported going off in the Moscow-held region, according to Russian media.
• At least four people were killed and four wounded in the Russian shelling of Kharkiv, the regional governor said. Writing on the Telegram messaging app, Oleh Synehubov said: “As a result of the shelling of the central part of Kharkiv, at least 4 people died and 4 more were injured.”
• A team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog have arrived in Kyiv en route to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Rafael Grossi, said a team will visit the plant from Wednesday to Saturday. A key adviser to Ukraine’s president accused Russian forces of deliberately shelling corridors for the IAEA inspectors to force them through Crimea and parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions temporarily occupied by Moscow’s forces.
• The European Commission has said it will donate 5.5m potassium iodide tablets to Ukraine amid fears that fighting in the area of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could lead to nuclear catastrophe. The Commission said it had received a request from the Ukrainian government for potassium iodide tablets “as a preventative safety measure” to increase the level of protection around the nuclear plant.
• The first shipment of grain from Ukraine to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa since the war began has docked in Djibouti. The UN-chartered vessel Brave Commander is carrying 23,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat and will soon be followed by another carrying 7,000 tonnes. The total shipment, which will be unloaded in Djibouti and transported to Ethiopia, is enough to feed 1.5m people for a month.
• Ukraine has deployed a fleet of dummy rockets to trick Russian forces into wasting expensive long-range missiles on pointless targets, according to reports. At least 10 Russian cruise missiles have reportedly been fired by Moscow’s naval fleet in the Black Sea at the dummy targets, which are made of wood but look like US-supplied advanced rocket launcher systems when spotted by Russian drones, the Washington Post reports.
• Russia is reportedly struggling to find more soldiers to fight in Ukraine and has expanded recruitment efforts by eliminating the upper age limit and by tapping into prisons. The Pentagon believes that any more recruits added may not effectively expand overall combat power by the end of the year, according to a US official.
• Several brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces increased the weight of artillery fires in frontline sectors across southern Ukraine early on Monday, according to British intelligence. Ukrainian long-range precision strikes continue to disrupt Russian resupply; however, it is not yet possible to confirm the extent of Ukrainian advances, the UK Ministry of Defence said in its latest report.
• Germany and France have issued a joint warning against a ban on tourist visas for Russians, saying such a step would be counter-productive. The split on tourist visas will be at the heart of a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Prague on Tuesday and Wednesday, as they discuss what further steps they can take to sanction Russia for its six-month-old invasion of Ukraine.

Hello, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong still with you today on the Russia-Ukraine war blog. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.

• 2h ago14.36

Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson has been hit by a partial power outage, Russian state news agencies have cited pro-Russian officials as saying.

Russian media also reported a partial shutdown of the water supply, as well as traffic lights and building lights going off.

It comes after Ukrainian forces launched their long-awaited counteroffensive to take back the southern region from Russia.

• 3h ago14.09

Russia has condemned the destruction of Soviet war memorials in the three Baltic states and accused them of persecuting their Russian-speaking minorities.

In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry accused Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia of being guilty of xenophobia and said they were treating their ethnic Russian minorities as “second-class people”.

It claimed Russian-language media, kindergartens and schools were being shut down.

Such “Russophobic approaches” will “certainly affect the state of bilateral relations with these countries, which are already in complete decline”, the ministry said.

• 3h ago13.45

First Ukraine grain ship docks in Africa

The first shipment of grain from Ukraine to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa since the war began has docked in Djibouti.

The UN-chartered vessel Brave Commander, carrying 23,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat, set sail from the Ukrainian port of Yuzhne, east of Odesa, two weeks ago.

The vessel is the first specially chartered by the UN’s World Food Programme to unblock food shipments stuck after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It will soon be followed by another carrying 7,000 tonnes. The total shipment, which will be unloaded in Djibouti and transported to Ethiopia, is enough to feed 1.5 million people for a month.

Michael Dunford, the UN’s World Food Programme director for eastern Africa, said:

This shipment, the first of many we hope, will allow WFP to deliver this grain to 1.53 million people in Ethiopia and cover their needs for a month. It’s a start but we must continue to keep the food flowing to save lives across the region.

• Updated at 14.19 BST3h ago13.28

EU to distribute 5m iodide tablets to Ukrainians amid nuclear risk

The European Commission has said it will donate 5.5m potassium iodide tablets to Ukraine amid fears that fighting in the area of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could lead to nuclear catastrophe.

The Commission said it had received a request from the Ukrainian government for potassium iodide tablets “as a preventative safety measure” to increase the level of protection around the nuclear plant.

The tablets would be used “in limited scenarios to avoid that inhaled or swallowed radioactive iodine is absorbed by the thyroid”, the commission said.

The EU is “pre-emptively” delivering the potassium iodide tablets to Ukraine to offer people protection “in case of exposure to high levels of radiation”, the commissioner for crisis management, Janez Lenarčič, said in a statement.

He added:

No nuclear power plant should ever be used as a war theatre. It is unacceptable that civilian lives are put in danger.

• Updated at 13.37 BST4h ago12.48

A key adviser to Ukraine’s president has accused Russian forces of deliberately shelling corridors for a team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.

Mykhailo Podolyak said Russia was attempting to force the mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) through Crimea and parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions temporarily occupied by Moscow’s forces.

He also reiterated Ukraine’s call to demilitarise the area around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

• 4h ago12.39

Ukraine using decoy rockets to trick Russia into wasting weapons, reports say

Ukraine has deployed a fleet of dummy rockets to trick Russian forces into wasting expensive long-range missiles on pointless targets, according to reports.

The decoys are made of wood but look like US-supplied advanced rocket launcher systems when spotted by Russian drones, the Washington Post reports.

At least 10 Russian cruise missiles have reportedly been fired by Moscow’s naval fleet in the Black Sea at the dummy targets, a senior Ukrainian official told the paper.

A source said:

When the UAVs see the battery, it’s like a VIP target.

The initial success of the replicas has left Ukraine to make more of these wooden decoys in a bid to neutralise Russia’s artillery advantage on the battlefield.

In addition, the destruction of Ukraine’s fleet of fake Himars may have been behind Russia’s claims that it has taken out a large number of the systems.

• Updated at 15.18 BST5h ago12.09

Kremlin says military operation going to plan as Ukrainian counterattack begins

The Kremlin has insisted that its so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine is going to plan despite the news that Kyiv’s troops have launched a long-awaited counteroffensive in the south of the country.

At his regular briefing with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was asked to respond to Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s comments that Russian troops should flee after his military reportedly broke through several of their defenses on Tuesday.

Peskov replied:

The special military operation continues, it continues methodically, and in co-ordination with the current plans. All objectives will be fulfilled.

He also commented on calls by some European leaders for a ban on tourist visas for Russians, describing the proposals as “irrational” and the latest manifestation of the west’s anti-Russian agenda.

He said Europe’s actions towards Russia were “bordering on insanity” adding:

Of course, such decisions cannot go unanswered.

• Updated at 12.50 BST5h ago11.33

Ukrainian troops have launched a counterattack in southern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as he vowed to take back Russian-controlled areas, starting with Kherson.

The Ukrainian president told the Russian military to flee after his military broke through several Russian defences on Tuesday.

“There will be no place [for Russian troops] on Ukrainian land,” he said during his latest address posted to Telegram.

• 5h ago11.27

Radiation levels at the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remain normal, according to Russia’s defence ministry.

In a statement, the ministry accused Ukrainian forces of firing two artillery shells into the territory of the nuclear power plant.

It also claimed that it had a downed Ukrainian drone had crashed into the roof of a building storing nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.

It is not possible to independently verify these claims.

• © 2022 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (Modern)

Editors Comments:

*Follow the WEF trail to Switzerland to discover the Khazarian Mafia hiding behind Klaus Schwab and his cohorts. The US and its people have nothing to do with the disasters caused to the ordinary people of the Earth.

The Khazarians have once again constructed an intricate web, whose aim is to destroy the world's economy by setting people up against each other, blocking each other's supply chains, leaving just death and ruins.

What everybody must be aware of is that this is not a war to prevent Putin from occupying Ukraine, but an attempt by the evil Khazarian Jews/WEF/NATO to control yet another country in their growing New World Order. They are simply using Ukraine as a battlefield. Their plan is to destroy totally the world's economy and turn the population into slaves.

Like the Freemasons, they have also life-threatening rules in their membership, one being REVENGE, 10 times harder than was ever perpetrated on them.

Russia in particular, in the past, has expelled the Khazars several times. I have all of 7 detailed articles in book format on the Khazarian Jews if anybody is interested in further information.

Putin, and earlier also Trump, are the ONLY Presidents who have enough guts to see what they are attempting to do to the world population and have sufficient courage to do something about it.

HUMAN SYNTHESIS

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WHO and WHAT is behind it all? : >

The bottom line is for the people to regain their original, moral principles, which have intentionally been watered out over the past generations by our press, TV, and other media owned by the Illuminati/Bilderberger Group, corrupting our morals by making misbehavior acceptable to our society. Only in this way shall we conquer this oncoming wave of evil.

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