War in Ukraine: four dead in Donetsk, large drone attack against the Russian region of Lipetsk… update on the situation

Au moins 10 morts dans un bombardement sur Kostiantynivka en Ukraine. MAXPPP – Donetsk Regional State Administration HANDOUT

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Friday, August 9, 2024, discover the latest news about this conflict.

Russian bombings kill four in the Donetsk region

At least four people were killed Thursday by Russian shelling in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. The region's Ukrainian governor, Vadim Filashkin, said at least two people were killed in a shelling that targeted a residential area in Kostiantynivka, west of Bakhmut. He later said two people were killed and 11 others wounded in Selydove, in the southwest. The Donetsk region remains Moscow's main offensive axis, with Russian forces concentrating their fiercest assaults near the strategic city of Pokrovsk.

Massive drone attack on Russia's Lipetsk region

The Ukrainian military said Friday it struck a Russian military airfield in the Lipetsk region in western Russia, damaging a stockpile of guided bombs and triggering a series of detonations. Ukraine is targeting Russian military bases used by Moscow to target the frontline with missiles and guided bombs. “A major fire broke out and several detonations were observed”, the Ukrainian military said on Telegram. Russian SU-34, SU-35 and MiG-31 aircraft were at the military base, according to Ukrainian authorities. The attack was carried out by drones while dozens of planes and helicopters were at the airfield, a security source told Reuters.

The attack also hit a warehouse containing 700 guided bombs, the source said. Residents of some areas of the Lipetsk region were evacuated on Friday after a “large attack”Ukrainian drones, the region's governor Igor Artamonov said earlier on Telegram. The attack caused explosions and disrupted the power supply. Six people were also injured, Artamonov said. Four villages were being evacuated, and a state of emergency was declared in the city of Lipetsk, Artamonov said. The governor of the region also announced the cancellation of some entertainment events and increased security for sporting events.

“We will not be afraid, we will not give up, but we will not risk the lives of our people either”, he said. The Russian-appointed governor of the Crimean city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, also said on Telegram that Russian forces had destroyed three drones and three naval surface drones near the city. The Russian Defense Ministry said 75 Ukrainian drones had been destroyed over Russia overnight, according to the RIA news agency. Most of the drones were shot down over the Belgorod and Lipetsk regions.

Ukrainian authorities have not reported any strikes in the region. The attack on the Lipetsk region comes as Ukrainian forces crossed the border into Russia on Tuesday to launch an offensive in the Kursk region, one of the largest Ukrainian incursions into Russian territory since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia says it continues to “repel” a Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region

Russian forces “continue to repel”Ukrainian military offensive in the Kursk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday. Ukrainian forces crossed the border into Russia on Tuesday in one of the largest incursions into Russian territory since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A video posted on social media on Friday and verified by Reuters showed a convoy of Russian military trucks burning along a highway in the Kursk region in southern Russia.

The video shows about 15 trucks, including one bearing the Z marking that Russia uses as a symbol of its “special military operation” in Ukraine. Reuters was able to verify that the truck was from the village of Oktyabrskoye but was unable to establish exactly when the video was filmed. Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry declared a federal state of emergency in the Kursk region on Friday. Meanwhile, Ukraine said on Friday it had struck a Russian military airfield in the Lipetsk region in western Russia overnight. The Russian governor of the region reported a “large attack” by Ukrainian drones.

A Russian oligarch openly criticizes the conflict in Ukraine and calls for a ceasefire

Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska is under fire at home for speaking out against the “mad” war in Ukraine and calling for an unconditional ceasefire. The founder of Basic Element, one of Russia's leading industrial groups, spoke about the Russia-Ukraine conflict this week in an interview with Nikkei Asia magazine on the sidelines of a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, where he represented Russia. “If you want to stop the war, you have to stop the fire first,”, he said, condemning the inflation of Russian military spending.

Oleg Deripaska calls for an “immediate, unconditional ceasefire,” to end the conflict that has been ongoing since February 2022. These are the most critical remarks heard from a Russian industrialist – and still based in Russia – against Vladimir Putin's strategy since February 2022. Alexander Dugin, an ultra-nationalist Russian intellectual known for his pro-war positions, denounced Oleg Deripaska's statements on his Telegram account on Friday.

“Until now, Deripaska's position on the special military operation was ambiguous. Now his position is clear. He is on the other side,” he wrote. “This is a stab in the back for our forces, and support for the terrorists of the Ukrainian army who invaded the Kursk region”, he added. Asked for comment, Oleg Deripaska's entourage did not immediately respond. Oleg Deripaska, who made his fortune in aluminum, has been under US sanctions since 2018 and under European and British sanctions since 2022. His fortune is estimated at $2.8 billion by Forbes.

Russia sends military reinforcements to Kursk region

Russia sent military reinforcements to the southern Kursk region on Friday, on the fourth day of the incursion by Ukrainian forces that appears to be shaking the Russian military apparatus. The Russian Defense Ministry said Friday that Russian forces “continue to repel an attempted invasion of the Ukrainian armed forces into the territory of the Russian Federation”. Two days ago, General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, told President Vladimir Putin that the incursion, which took place on August 6, had been stopped.

The columns engaged in combat with the Ukrainian "invaders" will receive more military equipment, such as BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers, artillery pieces and tanks, the Russian Defense Ministry reported, as quoted by Interfax. A video posted on social media on Friday and verified by Reuters shows a convoy of Russian military trucks set on fire along a highway in the Kursk region. About 15 trucks are seen, one of which bears the Z marking that Russia has used as a symbol of its "special military operation" in Ukraine since February 2022.

Dead bodies are also visible in some of the vehicles. Meanwhile, Ukraine announced on Friday that it had struck a Russian military airfield in the Lipetsk region, in western Russia, overnight. The Russian governor of the region reported a "vast attack" of Ukrainian drones.

Ukrainian intelligence also announced in a press release that Ukrainian special forces carried out an amphibious raid on Friday on the Kinbourn spire, a " arrow" coastal area on the Black Sea occupied by the Russian army since February 2022, in the Mykolaiv region (South). Six Russian armored vehicles were destroyed and the Russians lost around forty men, according to the same source. The Russian Defense Ministry, quoted by Interfax, claims for its part that the attack was repelled. The Ukrainians, it adds, suffered human losses – men died in the explosion of underwater mines, others were shot down. It reports 16 “saboteurs” killed.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry declared a state of emergency in the Kursk region on Friday. The Russian Defense Ministry released a video it said showed a drone destroying a Ukrainian tank and howitzer near the town of Sudja. It added in a statement that the fighting had left 945 Ukrainians dead since the start of the incursion, and that 102 armored vehicles had been destroyed. It does not mention any losses on the Russian side.

Moscow also claims to have taken control of the village of Vesele, near Pokrovsk, in eastern Ukraine. Pokrovsk is located on a strategic supply route for Ukrainian-controlled localities Chassiv Yar and Kostiantynivka (Donetsk region). A missile attack on a supermarket in Kostiantynivka killed at least 14 people and injured 43 on Friday, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry reported on Telegram. “Russian terrorists targeted an ordinary supermarket and a post office. There are people under the rubble,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X. Houses, shops and about ten vehicles were also damaged in the attack