Dispatch for August 12

Developments in Novofedorivka

A Pentagon spokesperson stated that the USA did not give Ukraine any weapons capable of an attack on the Saki air base in Crimea. Therefore, the theory about the use of ATACMS is completely disproven.

In the comments section of the pro-Russian project “Lost Armour”, it was written that the main version of events that has been shared with the troops is that a UAV successfully hit the ammunition depot, whilst everything else is the result of a secondary detonation. 

Russian media outlet Mash published an article using eyewitness statements, which says that the attack on Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol was carried out using a kamikaze drone launched from the Sapun mountain. They note that the flight path of the drone infiltrated the blind spot of the air defense systems. We saw similar comments on “Lost Armour”. 

Situation on the front line: 

• Donetsk axis

The Russian “Izvestia” newspaper published a video filmed in the multi-storey housing area of Pisky. Judging by the geolocation of the video, the Armed Forces of Ukraine were pushed back to the outskirts of Pisky. We recall that the assault on Pisky was announced on July 27th.

• Bakhmut-Soledar-Siversk axis 

The General Staff of Ukraine reports of Russia's partial success in the Pokrovske-Bakhmut direction. Pro-Russian forces are gradually reaching the eastern outskirts of Bakhmut and attacking in the direction of Vesela Dolyna and Kodema villages.

Shelling of settlements by the Russian forces:

• Over the past 24 hours, about 40 rockets launched from Russian Grad MLRS hit Marhanets town in Dnipropetrovsk region. Three people were injured, two of them were hospitalized, including a 12-year-old boy.
• Nikopol was hit ten times by tube artillery; private houses and cars were destroyed.
• The Zelenodolsk community was shelled in Krivyi Rih district.
• 11 rocket strikes were carried out at Kramatorsk; Kurakhove was also shelled with rockets. Local residents were trapped under the rubble, two deceased were found so far.

Situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

The IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi claimed that both sides were not taking dangerous actions that pose a serious threat to the Zaporizhzhia NPP. At the moment, there is no threat to nuclear safety.

The US State Department believes that Russia bears full responsibility for all possible risks at the ZNPP.

At the UN Security Council meeting, China supported the visit of IAEA experts to Zaporizhzhia NPP and claimed that "Russia promised to provide the necessary assistance to this visit." Serhiy Kyslytsya, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN, suggested creating a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Vasily Nebenzya, the Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, did not support the proposal. 

The pro-Russian telegram channel Voenny Osvedomitel (Military Informant) published photos of fragments of a GMLRS rocket deployable by HIMARS, allegedly found in Enerhodar.

There are videos of the consequences of a fire at a brewery in Donetsk confirming that there was no ammunition. The video shows people in military uniform with armbands of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

On August 8 the Russian Ministry of Defense published a video in which Commander of Group of Troops “Center” Colonel General Lapin addresses a formation of soldiers. The video was geolocated to Lysychansk. If the video was recorded recently, then Group of Troops “Center” is still deployed along this axis.

On the average, 600-700 residents of the Ukraine-controlled part of Donetsk region are being evacuated daily. At the present time three-quarters of the population has left.

Sweden will consider the manufacture of weapons for Ukraine. This is a reference to the use of manufacturing lines in various countries for the production of weapons and munitions which can be delivered directly to Ukraine. Previously, Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic had announced that they were ready to assist with weapons production.

Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov reports that the M-270 MLRS systems promised by Great Britain have already arrived in Ukraine (as reported previously, the type of munitions accompanying these systems has not been clarified).

A video confirms that MaxxPro mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles are already in Ukraine. 

• Russian publication “Vaznhye Istorii” (“Important Stories”) published an article in which Pavel Filatiev, a parаtrooper from the 56th Airborne Assault Brigade, told the story of entering southern Ukraine as part of the Group of Troops West. We are a priori critical of such stories. As always in such cases, he insists that his unit never committed any war crimes. At the same time, he admits that he knows of a case of shooting civilians in their car.  We do allow the possibility that in the South direction, where, unlike the Kyiv direction, the paratroopers didn’t face such fierce resistance from the Ukrainian army, there could be fewer war crimes.  

Russian publication ”Mediazona” published a monologue of a convict who signed a contract with the Wagner PMC. He confirms that sometimes Yevgeпy Prigozhin personally conducts interviews with prisoners. He also reports that those who wish to sign a contract undergo a polygraph test, as is customary in the Wagner group (we have been aware of this practice since 2015). The prisoner says that the contract will be officially signed in Rostov, but he did not elaborate how the promised criminal record erasure will be handled.

In Mariupol, carports for paddy wagons are being built next to the cages that have been installed at the Philharmonic for “court martial”. Besides, the governor of self-proclaimed LPR Denis Pushilin claimed that “preparation to the court martial is under way…”, it's “inevitable” and one of the first “courts martial”, according to Pushilin, will take place in Mariupol.