Key events
In Kyiv today, mourners attended the funeral of Daria Filipieva, a Ukrainian army combat medic who was killed in the Donetsk oblast.
The Russian foreign ministry has decried Ukraine’s attacks on the Crimean Bridge as “terrorist attacks” on “civilian infrastructure”.
“The Crimean Bridge is an object of purely civilian infrastructure, attacks on which are unacceptable,” spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.
Russian forces have repeatedly targeted civilian infrastructure since the beginning of the invasion, conducting air strikes on power grids, dams, parks, schools, private homes, churches and hotels.
Two people were injured by Russian forces today in the Kherson oblast, where “the shelling has not stopped since morning”, said the regional governor, Oleksandr Prokudin.
A 70-year-old man suffered multiple injuries after a projectile hit a residential building in Poniativka, while a 72-year-old man was seriously injured from explosives dropped from a drone in Odradokamyanka, Prokudin said.
Russian forces also shelled the city of Kherson, but there were no casualties.
Russia: another missile shot down over Kerch Strait
Shortly after Russian air defence shot down two missiles in the area of the Crimean Bridge in Kerch, Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed head of Crimea, said air defence has shot down another missile over the Kerch Strait.
The Crimean Bridge, also called the Kerch Bridge, spans the Kerch Strait and connects Russian-occupied Crimea to Russia. It was built after Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, and has been a frequent target of Ukrainian forces since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. In October, an explosion caused parts of the road bridge to collapse. In February, however, Moscow announced that the road bridge had been reopened to traffic. The rail bridge was fully reopened in May.
The Guardian has put together a map of Ukraine showing the current Russian-occupied territories as well as the areas where Ukrainian forces have regained control.
Reuters reports that a Su-30 fighter jet crashed during a training flight on Saturday in Russia’s Kaliningrad region, killing the two pilots on board, according to the RIA news agency.
“The Su-30 aircraft crashed in a deserted area. The flight was being carried out without ammunition. The crew of the aircraft died,” the ministry said in a statement cited by RIA.
It said the likely cause of the crash was a technical malfunction but gave no further information.
Kaliningrad is a Russian exclave sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, both Nato member states, on the Baltic Sea.
Russia’s defence ministry has said that Ukraine had tried unsuccessfully to strike the Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait with S-200 rockets, but that no damage or casualties had been caused.
Reuters reports:
The 12-mile (19-km) bridge, which links Russian-annexed Crimea to Russia, has come under repeated attack from Ukrainian forces since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
“The Ukrainian missile was detected in a timely manner and was intercepted in the air by Russian air defence systems. No damage or casualties were reported,” the ministry said in a statement.
In a statement posted earlier on the Telegram messaging app, Russian-installed Crimea governor Sergei Aksyonov said two rockets had been downed by anti-aircraft defences near the bridge. He also said the bridge was undamaged.
Footage circulating on Russian social media on Saturday appeared to show the bridge wreathed in smoke. Reuters could not verify the footage. Interfax news agency reported that the bridge was briefly shut to traffic but that it later reopened.
Separately, Russian forces destroyed 20 Ukrainian drones launched onto the Crimean Peninsula earlier on Saturday, Russia’s Defence Ministry said.
There were no casualties and no damage as a result of the drone attacks, the ministry said on Telegram. It said 14 drones were destroyed by air defence systems and six were suppressed by electronic warfare.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
It was not immediately clear what was targeted in those reported attacks on the Black Sea peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.Drone attacks on Russian-controlled territories in Ukraine and deep inside Russia have increased since a drone was destroyed over the Kremlin in early May.
Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for the attacks but has said destroying Russia’s military infrastructure is crucial for Kyiv’s counteroffensive.The Crimean Bridge was badly damaged last October in a powerful blast that Russian officials said was caused by a truck that blew up while crossing the bridge, killing three people.
Summary of the day so far
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Explosions were reported in Kerch near the Crimean Bridge that connects the Russian-occupied Crimea with Russia. The Russian-appointed head of Crimea said Russian air defence was able to shoot down two drones, and that there was no damage, but footage and photos show smoke billowing up from the bridge itself. This comes after an explosion in October shut down both the road bridge and rail bridge for months.
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Two people have been killed in Russian attacks in the Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv oblasts. A police officer was killed and 12 people were injured in a guided Russian aerial bomb attack on Orikhov, while an elderly woman was killed early Saturday morning due to shelling by Russian troops on Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi village in Kupiansk district.
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Russia has downed 20 Ukrainian drones targeting the Crimean peninsula, the defence ministry in Moscow has said. This comes amid a new campaign of drone strikes targeting Moscow in recent days as Kyiv works to keep the Kremlin’s war in the hearts and minds of the Russian elites and others seeking to ignore the invasion.
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Russian forces regained control of Urozhaine in the Donetsk oblast in an overnight counterattack, said Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in the Zaporizhia region under Moscow’s control.
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The general staff of Ukrainian armed forces has estimated that Russian forces lost 510 personnel yesterday. That brings the official Ukrainian estimate of total Russian personnel lost since the invasion began in February 2022 to 253,290.
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Wildfires have been destroying the nature reserve on Dzharylhach island in the Kherson oblast for the past week. The island has been under Russian occupation since the early days of the invasion in February 2022, and Ukrainians are expressing frustration and anger that Russia is apparently doing nothing to mitigate the damage. Because it is under Russian occupation, the national park administration can not take action.
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In the village of Lazurne of the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson oblast, residents will not be able to receive medicines like insulin or humanitarian aid if they do not apply for a Russian passport.
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Odesa, a Black Sea city famed for its beautiful shoreline, has opened several beaches for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Throughout the past year, suspicious objects and mines were routinely washing up along the coast, creating a hazard for any beachgoer.
The Russian defence ministry is now saying that Kyiv attempted to strike the Crimean Bridge with an S-200 anti-aircraft guided missile – not two drones.
”The Ukrainian missile was timely detected and intercepted in the air by Russian air defense systems,” the defence ministry said on Telegram.
Russian officials are still saying there was no damage or casualties.
Traffic over the bridge has reportedly been resumed, suggesting the bridge was not damaged. Russian officials said the smoke was a smokescreen to obscure the bridge https://t.co/jsNKXfKIdY
— Pjotr Sauer (@PjotrSauer) August 12, 2023
Russian-appointed officials of Russian-occupied Crimea are now saying that the smoke coming off the Crimean Bridge is “smoke cover” created by rescue services.
Locals who were near the beach are reporting seeing something hit the bridge, but Russian officials are saying air defence stopped two drones. Traffic was halted in both directions.
Two missiles shot down over the Kerch Bridge – “head” of Crimea Aksenov.
The crossing was allegedly not damaged.Aksenov’s “advisor” claims that the smoke on the bridge is a “smoke cover” created by rescue services. He says traffic will resume moving in the nearest future.
By… pic.twitter.com/XOwOT5f3pD
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 12, 2023
Here are some more videos from the attack on the Crimean Bridge in Kerch. While the Russian-appointed head of Crimea is saying the bridge was not damaged after air defence shot down two drones, the results of the attack are yet to be determined.
The Crimean Bridge, also called the Kerch Bridge, spans the Kerch Strait and connects Russian-occupied Crimea to Russia. It was built after Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. It has been a frequent target of Ukrainian forces – in October, an explosion caused parts of the road bridge to collapse. In February, however, Moscow announced that the road bridge had been reopened to traffic. The rail bridge was fully reopened in May.
Another day, another Ukrainian strike on the Crimea bridge. Degree of damage unknown so far. Russia claims it shot down two Ukrainian missiles. pic.twitter.com/j0EAyOcV5N
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) August 12, 2023
Two drones shot down near Crimean bridge
Following reports of explosions and the activation of the air raid siren in Kerch in Russian-occupied Crimea, Russian-appointed officials are now saying that two drones were shot down.
Though officials briefly stopped traffic on the Crimean bridge to Russia, they say the bridge was not damaged. Video of the bridge shows smoke billowing off the structure.
This comes after Russian troops shot down 20 drones over Crimea overnight.
Explosions reported in Crimea
There are reports of explosions around Kerch in Russian-occupied Crimea, the location of the bridge to Russia.
Officials have halted traffic over the bridge.
Explosions heard in occupied Zaporizhzhia oblast
Residents are reporting hearing explosions and seeing plumes of smoke coming from Berdyansk in the Zaporizhzhia oblast, which is currently under Russian occupation. Some have reported seeing a Ukrainian drone flying overhead.
Odesa, a Black Sea city famed for its beautiful shoreline, has opened several beaches for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Throughout the past year, suspicious objects and mines were routinely washing up along the coast, creating a hazard for any beachgoer.
Alexander Dudka, the Russian-appointed head of the village of Lazurne in the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson oblast, is on video telling residents that they will not receive medicines like insulin or humanitarian aid if they do not apply for a Russian passport.
“There’s now an official document stating that medicine purchased using Russia’s budget by foreign nationals, that is, Ukrainian citizens, will not be possible,” he said. “This primarily concerns insulin-dependents who already felt what it means to be a citizen of another country.
“The same will apply to the distribution of humanitarian aid,” Dudka continued. “To those who have not received the passport of the country they live in, the country that is feeding them, giving them benefits and provides their security on this territory: things that the so-called ‘waiters’ (those who have not gotten a Russian passport) are doing are beyond all limits now, not just lawfully but in terms of common sense.”
A collaborator official tells Ukrainians who live in the occupied Lazurne in Kherson Oblast that they won’t get medicines if they do not apply for a Russian passport. This includes INSULIN. The collaborator cites issues with “waiters” i.e. those waiting for Ukraine to liberate… pic.twitter.com/5VjPomBX7z
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) August 12, 2023
Kyiv has repeatedly accused Russia of not protecting its people. As Kyiv ups its drone attacks on Moscow, Ukrainian officials are also criticising Russia’s air defences for not being able to handle the onslaught.
Here, a video shows a Ukrainian drone flying through the Russian capital, with no air raid signals.
BEAUTIFUL DAY IN MOSCOW 🇷🇺
⚡️⚡️⚡️ Russian Telegram is upset that there is a 🇺🇦 drone flying, peacefully and without any air defense disturbing it, towards downtown Moscow.
Like yesterday: 🇷🇺 air raid signals are silent. pic.twitter.com/ymnkGUfXd8
— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) August 12, 2023
Dzharylhach island in the Kherson oblast has been under Russian occupation since the early days of the invasion in February 2022.
Wildfires have been destroying the nature reserve on the island for the past week, and Ukrainians are expressing frustration and anger that Russia is apparently doing nothing to mitigate the damage. Because it is under Russian occupation, the national park administration can not take action.
For a week wildfires at the russian-occupied Dzharylhach island have been destroying the unique ecosystem of the protected zone, its flora & fauna are significantly endangered. russians use the island in the Kherson region as a military base. It’s the outright ecocide pic.twitter.com/tbWzavRoho
— Olena Halushka (@OlenaHalushka) August 11, 2023
A fire in a nature reserve on Dzharylhach Island in Kherson region has been burning for a week, destroying the entire protected area of more than 1,500 ha. The main rare species of animals and plants in the reserve were concentrated there. The fire on the island can be seen from… pic.twitter.com/vlRvRVWBFY
— Гюндуз Мамедов/Gyunduz Mamedov (@MamedovGyunduz) August 11, 2023
For 5 days, the steppe area of Dzharylhach island has been engulfed in flames 💔
This area houses all the rare steppe animals and constitutes the primary part of the island’s steppe ecosystems. It’s also home to the largest population of ungulates on Dzharylhach.
Since the first… pic.twitter.com/XMSbHglrH2— UAnimals.ENG 🇺🇦 (@UAnimalsENG) August 5, 2023
Amid air raid sirens, Yuriy Malashko, head of the Zaporizhia regional military administration, is on Telegram urging residents to take shelter, underscoring “the threat of the use of aviation weapons (KAB/KAR) for the front edge of the Zaporizhzhia region”.