The pro-Russian, so-called Donetsk People’s Republic has claimed to have hit Ukrainian positions near Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region using Grad MLRS artillery, as allegedly seen in this footage.
The images allegedly show soldiers loading ordnance into the weapon system before it moves it is targeting system into place and opens fire on unseen Ukrainian positions.
The footage was obtained from the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on Sunday, 21st August, along with a statement claiming that their artillerymen destroyed Ukrainian positions near Avdiivka.
They also claimed: “BM-21 ‘Grad’ units of the People’s Militia of the People’s Republic of Donetsk are firing at the Kyiv, systematically destroying the enemy’s fortified areas, which contributes to the advance of the allied forces and the liquidation of the enemy’s Avdiivka group.”
We have not been able to independently verify the claims or the footage.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 180th day of the war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 22nd August, Russia had lost about 45,400 personnel, 1,919 tanks, 4,230 armoured combat vehicles, 1,032 artillery units, 266 multiple launch rocket systems, 145 air defence systems, 234 warplanes, 198 helicopters, 815 drones, 194 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 3,149 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 99 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower, but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that “Russia may try to do something particularly ugly, something particularly vicious” as Ukraine prepares to celebrate 31 years of independence from the Soviet Union on Wednesday, 24th August. Large gatherings have been banned in Kyiv for four days beginning today (Monday, 22nd August).
Ukraine’s military has warned that Russian forces are positioning missile-capable warships and submarines in the Black Sea and air defence systems in Belarus.
Zaporizhzhia Regional Governor Valentyn Reznichenko has said that the city of Nikopol, which is located on the right bank of the Dnipro River not far from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – Europe’s largest – was shelled during the night of Sunday to Monday.
The US, the UK, Germany and France have urged for military restraint around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed to send a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect the plant, the Elysee Palace said in a statement.
Ukrainian officials have said that five Russian Kalibr cruise missiles were fired from the Black Sea at the Odesa region. Two were shot down by Ukrainian air defences while three of the Russian missile hit agricultural targets and caused no casualties.
Russia claimed on Sunday that the missiles had hit an ammunition depot that contained US-made HIMARS rockets, but Ukraine said that the Russians had hit a granary.
Darya Dugina, 30, whose father is Russian political commentator Alexander Dugin, 60, an ultranationalist Russian ideologue and Vladimir Putin ally, was killed in a car bomb on the outskirts of Moscow on Saturday night.
Former Russian MP and lawmaker Ilya Ponomarev, who is currently in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, has claimed that the attack was carried out by Russian partisans from a group allegedly called the National Republican Army.
Ponomarev claimed that the National Republican Army is an underground group in Russia geared towards overthrowing Putin’s regime. Ponomarev said: “This attack opens a new page in Russian resistance to Putinism.”
We have not been able to independently verify the claims.
Russian commentators have blamed Ukraine for the attack, which Kyiv has vehemently denied.
The Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement on Sunday that it believes someone planned and ordered the car explosion that killed Dugina, based on evidence collected at the scene.
