(Image by NEIVANMADE)
A quick housekeeping note added at 7:23 PM EDT: Hey NotMax and any of our other readers, commenters, and/or lurkers in Hawaii, please check in in the comments, let us know you’re okay, and let us know if you need anything!
The Russians just finished unloading on Zaporizhzhia:
Two killed. Doctors managed to save one life. pic.twitter.com/1aRKKhwNab
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) August 9, 2023
Another missile attack by russian terrorists on the civil infrastructure of Zaporizhzhia. A church, shops, and a high-rise apartment building were destroyed.
Once again, they deliberately hit a peaceful city without any military value, only to compensate for their own defeats. As… pic.twitter.com/kuh7Q4SEgW— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 9, 2023
Another missile attack by russian terrorists on the civil infrastructure of Zaporizhzhia. A church, shops, and a high-rise apartment building were destroyed.
Once again, they deliberately hit a peaceful city without any military value, only to compensate for their own defeats. As of now, two people are reported dead. Rescue work has just begun.
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump. The awful dubbing is back. Sorry!
The task of everyone in Ukraine is to increase the potential of our capabilities at the front and weaken the occupiers – address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
9 August 2023 – 22:34
Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!
A brief report on the day. The key thing today is long and very detailed important meetings with our military.
First, there was the Staff. A special format – a narrow circle, only key people.
We analyzed the current situation at the front, the main directions of our offensive actions. What is going well. What needs to be reinforced. What we are planning for the near future.
There were reports from the Commander-in-Chief, the commanders directly responsible for the eastern and southern directions, as well as the report from the Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate.
Separately, there was also a special communication between our commanders, the Head of the Office, international relations officials and partners to provide our warriors with ammunition and equipment.
Everyone in Ukraine has the same task: to increase the potential of our capabilities at the front and to weaken everything the occupiers are trying to use to put pressure on our warriors or restrict Ukraine.
Today we have good news from Germany – exactly what we agreed upon with Olaf Scholz. We have additional Patriot launching stations. Thank you very much, Olaf, for this – it is necessary to protect our people from Russian terror. I thank Germany and Mr. Chancellor personally for fulfilling this agreement – it will definitely save thousands of lives of our people. It will definitely bring us closer to creating a full-fledged sky shield for Ukraine. This will help people, cities and villages.
Today, Russian terrorists hit Zaporizhzhia again – an ordinary building was hit, a church and a residential building were damaged…
As of now, unfortunately, it is known that there are dead… there are wounded. My condolences to the families and friends who have lost their loved ones.
Every day, every week, we work to ensure that our defenders of the sky have more air defense systems and missiles for them.
Tomorrow I will continue this work, trying my best to provide more protection for the sky.
Our entire territory needs much more air defense systems than we have now. Step by step, we are turning this “much more” into concrete capabilities of our Air Force, our anti-aircraft gunners, our mobile firing brigades.
We are also preparing more specifics on modern fighters for our warriors: I have no doubt that F-16s will be in our skies.
I thank everyone who helps us protect people from Russia’s terror! Thank you to everyone who shares our aspiration for the complete liberation of Ukrainian land from the occupier!
Of course, I thank each of our soldiers, each sergeant, officer and general who give Ukraine the results it needs at the front! Today, I would like to thank the 35th separate marine brigade and the 55th separate artillery brigade. You are simply brilliant, warriors!
Glory to all those who are fighting for the sake of Ukraine, for the sake of each of us!
Glory to all who save lives!
Glory to Ukraine!
This will help!
+2 Patriot launchers coming from 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪
— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) August 9, 2023
You can find the full list of Germany’s military aid to Ukraine at the German Federal government’s Germany4Ukraine page.
We now have some confirmation of a rumored riverine attack by Ukrainian forces across the Dnipro River.
Kosachi Laheri:
Yesterday, a group of 18 Russian soldiers headed by Major Tomov, commander of 1882 Battalion, disappeared in the area of Kosachi Laheri, on the left bank of the Dnieper River. Tomov's group was reportedly ambushed after Ukrainians captured a radio station and requested "support".…
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) August 9, 2023
Yesterday, a group of 18 Russian soldiers headed by Major Tomov, commander of 1882 Battalion, disappeared in the area of Kosachi Laheri, on the left bank of the Dnieper River. Tomov’s group was reportedly ambushed after Ukrainians captured a radio station and requested “support”.
The group apparently had mobile phones with detailed maps of Russian positions in the area.
Information about the incident was coming through all day yesterday, so we can bring more details now.
I suspect that we might soon see actual footage from the incident by Ukrainians if it was indeed a landing operation.
/2. https://t.co/iZjK5LJnOC pic.twitter.com/A55x6M6edm
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 8, 2023
/4. Sergeant Kozlov Vladimir Viktorovich – The first officially confirmed captured Russian from the left bank of the Kherson region as a result of the raid / operation of Ukraine. https://t.co/hab3hjYEY4 pic.twitter.com/zOTCbhCryu
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 9, 2023
Nova Kakhovka, Kherson Oblast:
A bit earlier today there were reports about the strike on Elektromash plant territory in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region. Ukrainian sources reported that Russian command centre was targeted there.
P.S: Elektromash plant is known to be one of the favourite places for Russians in… pic.twitter.com/l3v0cacxFg
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 9, 2023
Moscow Oblast:
Meanwhile in Moscow Region.
Vladimir Putin’s Kyiv Will Fall Within 72 Hours, day 532. pic.twitter.com/xY0IPYCLUe— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) August 9, 2023
Major incident in Sergiev Posad, Moscow Oblast, today. Reportedly involving Zagorsky optics-mechanics factory. pic.twitter.com/mhVlJvt4Xi
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) August 9, 2023
/2. More footage of explosion in Sergiyev Posad, near Moscow. ~520km from Ukraine border.
The cause is not yet known. But in the morning Russian media reported the drone attack on Moscow.
The plant is known for producing military optics for the Russian army. pic.twitter.com/bXj1vXMgwc— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 9, 2023
/4. Russian media claim – “the cause of the explosion in the hangar with pyrotechnics in Sergiev Posad was the "human factor".
A warehouse on an area of 1600 square meters reportedly destroyed.” pic.twitter.com/oYupYERT3N— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 9, 2023
/6. Suddenly, footages of shells scattered near the site of the explosion began to appear in the media. pic.twitter.com/X85JJHtL22
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 9, 2023
/8. Area close to the epicentre of the explosion pic.twitter.com/7K8q4QWDBS
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 9, 2023
/10. Video showing the power of the shock wave during the explosion. pic.twitter.com/AwIku3TPF9
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 9, 2023
Stavropol, Russia:
A video of a large fire in a military location in Stavropol region, Russia. pic.twitter.com/8YPeCtExoW
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 9, 2023
Someone was asking about evidence for war crimes prosecutions.
A new exhibit at Ukraine's National Museum of World War Two History displays the handwritten diary of Olga Shevchenko, a russian literature teacher, which she kept during the occupation of Blahodatne, a village on the border of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.
For months without… pic.twitter.com/x72FM6Jbbp— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 9, 2023
A new exhibit at Ukraine’s National Museum of World War Two History displays the handwritten diary of Olga Shevchenko, a russian literature teacher, which she kept during the occupation of Blahodatne, a village on the border of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.
For months without electricity, running water, or food deliveries, risking their freedom and sometimes their lives every day, people protected their Ukrainian identity. Hundreds of thousands of stories like this will be told. And they will be used as evidence in court. As a lasting reminder of the war.
The Ukrainians are collecting and preserving it.
The cost part I’ve lost count:
40 days since Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina @vamelina passed away killed by a Russian missile. —
On this 🎥 – June 2022, Vika meeting children of Kharkiv – when the city was half empty and often shelled. Kids are so attentive to her.. listen to her voice pic.twitter.com/eVOGzIs15i
— Volodymyr Yermolenko (@yermolenko_v) August 9, 2023
Patron is going to love this!
Ukrainian company “Pozhmashina” has developed a "heavy class pyrotechnic machine" specially designed for the needs of deminers of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
The vehicle was created on the basis of Daewoo, received a manipulator crane with a boom reach of more than 8… pic.twitter.com/BIwMLBXTYX
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 9, 2023
Ukrainian company “Pozhmashina” has developed a “heavy class pyrotechnic machine” specially designed for the needs of deminers of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
The vehicle was created on the basis of Daewoo, received a manipulator crane with a boom reach of more than 8 meters and a winch with a capacity of 9 tons.
As mentioned, the equipment was designed in communication with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, taking into account their needs and experience,
https://mil.in.ua/uk/news/pozhmashyna-stvoryla-pirotehnichnu-mashynu-vazhkogo-klasu/
More details from the Defense Industry of Ukraine:
A new heavy-class pyrotechnic vehicle for rescuers was created in Ukraine by a local company.
The “Pozhmashina” company noted that they continue to develop, manufacture and provide the state with the necessary equipment.
A new vehicle based on Daewoo truck should greatly facilitate the demining of Ukraine.
“A completely new vehicle for us is a heavy-duty pyrotechnic vehicle. This car is able to save more than one life,” the company said.
Designers created a new vehicle after constant communications with sappers of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
The vehicle received a powerful crane manipulator with a boom out of more than 8 meters and a winch with a capacity of 9 tons.
An armored cabin with mine protection was installed on the Daewoo truck base.
“The protective panel is made of the best armored steel from SSAB,” the company emphasized.
The vehicle has convenient compartments that allow it to get to the necessary things and stand at full height in full gear without any problems.
The vehicle itself has additional hydraulic, power tools, gasoline and special tools, individual protective equipment, etc.
“We are already actively presenting our new product and collecting positive feedback from the teams of the State Emergency Service and sappers,” the company added.
Recall that Ukrainian manufacturers are ready to close the needs for the equipment for demining the territory of Ukraine from mines and unexploded shells.
There’s some more pictures at the link too!
That’s enough for today.
Your daily Patron!
There’s a new Patron slideshow at his official TikTok. Those don’t embed her, so click across to see it.
Open thread!
Anonymous At Work
Which is going to be more potent, the new front across the Dnipro or the series of attacks around Moscow on Russia’s military-industrial complex?
Adam L Silverman
@Anonymous At Work:
Alison Rose
But will Patron get to ride on the new truck?? I feel like the World’s Bestest Pupper has certainly earned it.
Bombing a church again. And yet, the religious right will still kiss putin’s boots because he hates the queers. Not very Christlike of them!
This photo made me smile. Just try to get past the tactical cat!
Thank you as always, Adam.
Anonymous At Work
@Adam L Silverman: I’d love both. Worried about expecting too much. One hopes the crossing will open a true new front and get to ZNPP. The title of the post made me worry that RU had targeted the ZNPP.
Adam L Silverman
@Anonymous At Work: If they’d targeted the plant I’d have made it explicit.
And misspelled it.
Adam L Silverman
Hey, NotMax and any other of you that live in Hawaii: please check in and let us know you’re okay!
Anonymous At Work
@Alison Rose: Low-Altitude Feline Airburst. Dropping angry cats on enemy positions from above. Pretty scary concept.
Alison Rose
@Anonymous At Work: There have been many Ukraine cat pics where the cats look like they are ready, willing, and able to eat the entire face of any orc they come across.
Anonymous At Work
@Alison Rose: Yes, those are just normal cat pictures, though. They either act cute or are sociopathic monsters. And people, including me, still pet them.
zhena gogolia
@Adam L Silverman: NotMax has been in threads all day. He’s okay. I don’t know that he “does” the Ukraine threads.
Adam L Silverman
@zhena gogolia: Thanks! Just wanted to make sure.
Gin & Tonic
Origuy
I’ve been to Sergiev Posad, in fact I did an On The Road post about the monastery there. It’s about an hour north of Moscow by train. I wonder if this was in fact a drone strike, some internal sabotage, or an industrial accident. It’s hard to know if the Russian government would rather admit Ukraine’s reach than sabotage. The bit about the explosion being in a pipe warehouse is belied by the shells everywhere.
Note that the explosion, whatever its cause, missed the Lavra of Saint Sergiev.
Skepticat
Putin is committing textbook war crimes, but I’d be surprised to see him held to account. He and his fat friend have much in common.
kindness
No doubt there are those who are wiser than me in the Foreign Office & military, but I think it’s high time to start giving Ukraine the long range missiles.
zhena gogolia
@Adam L Silverman: You’re welcome!
dr. luba
Damn. I have family there. Will need to email to check up on them…….
Betty
So happy to see the news about the demining equipment. The Ukrainians are doing so much to help themselves against these heinous attack.
Sebastian
What a great update, such great news! Thank you, Adam!
Big bavovnas everywhere. And Budanov is “smiling”:
“It will get worse. “
Roberto el oso
Not really a question, more of a random thought. Whenever there’s an explosion in Russia itself which is captured on someone’s phone, do the internal security services take notice and question the folks who filmed the incident as to why they were looking in that general direction at that specific time? I don’t mean images caught on stationary security cameras or videos of the smoke right afterwards, but right at the moment of impact. Maybe I’m overly paranoid but it seems to me that it would take some moxie to post the vids as just an average civilian.
Sebastian
Here is another video of the explosion in Moscow
https://www.threads.net/@pvt.chiwahwah.fella/post/CvvucdJMXOX/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
YY_Sima Qian
@Geminid A Twitter thread from Israeli China scholar Tuvia Gering that summarizes WSJ reporting of the ongoing Saudi-US horse trading as the U.S. tries to secure/facilitate/underwrite Saudi-Israeli normalization:
Given how MBS operates, I think he will try to secure US concessions & give only lip service to US demands vis-a-vis China.
China is the largest customer for Saudi oil, while the U.S. is a competitor. Saudi Arabia is incentivized to develop alternatives to USD pricing of oil, to reduce risk/impact of U.S. financial sanctions, either on itself or on its customers. China is not picky about the weapons it sells to SA, nor places any restrictions as to how they are used. MBS does have an ambitious plan/vision for SA’s economic transformation, away from a one based purely on hydrocarbon extraction, to one based on advanced telecommunications, AI, & green energy (especially solar & nuclear). Chinese companies are natural partners in these efforts, as they are often market & technological leaders in these sectors. The only concession I see SA actually following through on is not letting the PRC set up any military bases, but China is not looking to establish the kind of global military foot print that the U.S. has, anyway.
Carlo Graziani
@YY_Sima Qian: Much of this is reasonable, but this
…is analogous to saying that Saudi Arabia is incentivized to develop alternatives to the laws of gravitation, or those of thermodynamics.
The market for oil payable in currencies alternative to USD is relatively small, and the value of those non-USD payments amounts to a price penalty on that oil. The world currency is USD, together with Euro and Yen, for reasons that are completely and irrevocably outside the power of any government wishing for alternatives to affect. For any nation, or even coalition of nations, to attempt to change this would be ta tamount to a quixotic policy, analogizable to Wile E. Coyote denying that he is standing on thin air.
Carlo Graziani
@YY_Sima Qian: I agree that the bugaboo of Chinese military bases in the Gulf is an absurd conceit, and I find it difficult to believe that the Biden NSC would take it seriously enough to justify concessions to stave off such a remote and useless contingency. I also agree that the PLA would react to the offer of such bases with a “haha no,” because of the impossibility of their sustainment in any conflict justifying their presence.
YY_Sima Qian
@Carlo Graziani: I don’t think USD will be replaced as the global reserve currency any time soon, & certainly the Chinese government does not want to cede control over capital movements, & free convertibility is a necessary precondition for the Yuan to be a (let alone the) reserve currency. & there are enormous costs associated w/ being the world’s main reserve currency, alongside enormous benefits.
However, Saudi Arabia is pricing some of its crude in Yuan on the Shanghai Oil Exchange. It wants to be able to continue to sell oil to China, if the US for some reason sanctions China the same way it has sanctioned Russia (either because Xi went crazy & invaded TW, or because the US went crazy & elected another GOPer to the WH).
YY_Sima Qian
@Carlo Graziani: China has a small base in Djibouti, & is constructing a naval base in the Gulf of Thailand in Cambodia. A bunch of ports that China has constructed & developed (contracted by host country governments) in the Indian Ocean have been suggested as potential PLA bases in the future, but to me these reports lack credibility. China could be looking to secure agreements so that its naval task forces venturing into the Indian Ocean, & potentially the South Pacific & the South Atlantic, have places to resupply, & that the port facilities are designed/constructed to be able to support such activities. Beyond that, there is little evidence that China is looking to build the kind of forward military presence that would allow it to sustainably project military power from. There is also little appetite among the Chinese population for their children to die in far off foreign lands, w/ the possible exception to evacuate Chinese nationals from conflict zones.
Geminid
@YY_Sima Qian: Interesting that China has a base in Djibouti. I believe the US has a substantial presence in that country, including an important drone base. When the US evacuated its diplomats from Khartoum, a specialized Army unit staged the evacuation from Djibouti.
YY_Sima Qian
@Geminid: The US, China, France & Japan all have bases in Djibouti. China & Japan are there ostensibly to support their anti-piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden. The Japanese base is quite a bit smaller than the rest, while the US’ Camp Lemonier is the main base of operations for the Red Sea region, Horn of Africa & Yemen.
China has maintained a continuous anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden for over 15 years, typically a task force of 2 destroyers/frigates & a replenishment ship on 6 mo. rotations. The ships used to have to make supply stops at Oman or Pakistan mid-deployment. Now they stop at the base in Djibouti.
The Chinese & the American bases are not far from each other, & it has been a source of friction. The Chinese side has lodged complaints that the US conducts close in surveillance of the Chinese base w/ manned & unmanned aircraft, while the U.S. side has lodged complaints that China dazzles U.S. aircraft w/ lasers.
The U.S. had raised concerns that a facility Chinese firms has been contracted to build on an Emirati island in the Persian Gulf could be another Chinese base, & pressured the UAE enough to halt construction a couple of years ago. However, I have read reports that construction might be resuming. We will see if it turns out to be another PLA outpost.
The point of these outposts is to support/facilitate Chinese peacetime presence in these regions, enable rapid response to emergencies (such as evacuation of Chinese nationals from conflict zones in MENA, we have seen sudden escalation of internal strifes into civil wars in Libya, Yemen, Ethiopia & Sudan w/in the past decade plus), & the influence it brings in regional affairs, not any sort of utility in a peer level conflict w/ the U.S. These outposts would not last a day in the latter scenario.