WAR IN UKRAINE: August 4, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 527
A Russian Navy ship is seen listing heavily and being towed near a Black Sea naval base in videos circulating on social media Friday after the Russian Defense Ministry claimed it had foiled a Ukrainian sea drone attack. The videos appear to identify the vessel being towed as the Russian landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak. Several Russian bloggers also identified the vessel as the Olenegorsky Gornyak. CNN has been provided with video that shows an unmanned sea drone approaching a ship that appears to match the identity of the Russian naval vessel seen listing in the port of Novorossiysk. The 36-second video, shot from the sea drone itself, shows it approaching a ship at night. The video ends just as the drone reaches the ship. CNN is unable to conclusively verify the ship's identity.
Late in the evening of August 3, the Russian army shelled Kherson again, said the regional military administration. The military hit a shopping mall and a medical facility. During the day, residential areas, a church and a religious building, a park, a cinema, an infrastructure facility, etc. were damaged in the oblast. Nine people were injured.
Russia systematically coerces residents of the occupied parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts to accept Russian passports, the U.S. research group Ukraine Conflict Observatory reported on Aug. 2. Ukrainians living in the occupied territories "are subjected to threats, intimidation, restrictions on humanitarian aid and basic necessities, and possible detention or deportation," the Yale University researchers said. The analysis pointed out that these methods mirror those used by Russia in Crimea and occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts since 2014 - Kyiv Independent
Peace talks over the war in Ukraine get underway this weekend in Saudi Arabia. For the Jeddah summit, the 30 invitees include Chile, Egypt, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Zambia, according to the Wall Street Journal. Russia has not been invited, according to the Associated Press news agency. Citing an unnamed official, the AP said a high-level official from US President Joe Biden’s administration is also expected to attend the event. Ukraine is expected to stick to its 10-point peace plan - with main points being: restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops, the release of all prisoners, a tribunal for those responsible for the aggression and security guarantees for Ukraine. Russia has said the talks are a non-starter as the “Kyiv regime” will be participating
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has visited frontline troops in Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said, just days after Moscow's top general made a similar visit. Meanwhile, Wagner mercenaries who have moved to Belarus may try to destabilize NATO's eastern flank, the leaders of Poland and Lithuania warned Thursday. Meanwhile, the European Council adopted new sanctions on Minsk - CNN
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on August 3 took aim at Russia in a speech to the UN Security Council in New York, accusing Moscow of "blackmail" over its recent withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative - RFE/RL
Recently Kateryna Sadurska, a Ukrainian diver from Kharkiv, set New Absolute World Record in freediving. She successfully dived to a depth of 76m/249ft in the Bahamas. She descended and ascended vertically using only her own muscle power, without the aid of fins
The heads of Brazil, Russia, India, China & S. Africa will reportedly announce enlargement of BRICS when they meet Aug. 22-24 in Johannesburg. Twenty-two nations have asked formally to become full-time members, and +20 others have submitted informal requests