After explosions: bridge to Crimea could be the next target

Created: 2022-08-18 04:59

By: Tobias Utz, Nail Akkoyun

The fighting in the Ukraine war continues.

More details about the explosions in Crimea are now known: the news ticker on Wednesday, August 17th.

• Explosions in Mykolaiv and Odessa:

  extent unclear

• Emergency zone in Crimea extended:

  The measure is seen as a reaction to the explosions.

• New explosions on the Crimean peninsula:

  Selenskyj confidante speaks of "masterpiece"

• Editor

  's note: You can read all the news about the Ukraine conflict in this news ticker.

  Some of the information comes from warring factions in the Ukraine war and cannot be checked directly and independently.

+++ 10:00 p.m .:

According to Ukrainian intelligence, the Russian Air Force is trying to get fighter planes and helicopters to safety in Crimea after several explosions.

Some of the aircraft would be transferred to the interior of the peninsula annexed in 2014, and some would be withdrawn to the Russian mainland.

This was announced by the Ukrainian military intelligence service on Facebook.

The transfer of at least 24 aircraft and 14 helicopters was observed.

+++ 8:00 p.m .:

Ukraine seems to have envisaged a new goal after the explosions in Crimea.

Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak has now indirectly threatened a military attack on the bridge to Crimea across the Kerch Strait, which is strategically extremely important for Russia.

The bridge, which Russian President Vladimir Putin personally inaugurated in 2018, is an "illegal object" and must be dismantled - "no matter how: voluntarily or not," explained Podoljak.

Ukraine War: An attack on this target would mean a great loss for Russia.

(Archive image) © Sergei Malgavko/dpa

News about the Ukraine war: All Himars rocket launchers are said to be still intact

+++ 7:00 p.m .:

According to Ukrainian information, the Himars rocket launchers that the United States has made available to Ukraine are all still intact.

This is what Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said in an interview with the Ukrainian-language edition of the US newspaper

.

Since the war began, Ukraine has received at least 20 Himars missile launchers and has used them to attack Russian ammunition depots, command posts and air defense installations.

Russia has repeatedly claimed to have destroyed a number of the systems.

The Ukraine War in Pictures - Destruction, Resistance and Hope

View photo gallery

+++ 18:15:

Ukraine has received six self-propelled howitzers from Latvia.

"Together we will win!" Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov wrote on Twitter.

There are six self-propelled guns of the US type M109.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February, Ukraine has received seven different types of NATO caliber 155-millimeter howitzers.

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Ex-intelligence chief: Vladimir Putin will experience an 'unpleasant end'

Navalny's confidant is already talking about "deputinization" - and draws a comparison with Germany

+++ 16.45:

Russia replaces the head of the Black Sea Fleet after the explosions at Russian military bases in Crimea.

Viktor Sokolov has been appointed as the new commander, reports the

news agency , citing insiders.

+++ 3:00 p.m .:

On the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia, explosions shook an ammunition depot of Russian troops today.

Crimea's Russian-appointed chief of administration, Sergey Aksyonov, said a helicopter was helping to extinguish the fire from the air.

Ukraine war news: Russia arrests "terrorist cell" after explosions in Crimea

+++ 1 p.m.:

Sergei Aksyonov, a senior official deployed by Russia to the annexed peninsula of Crimea, has claimed that members of a six-strong "terrorist cell" have been arrested.

The accused are said to be behind the recent explosions in Crimea.

It is not known whether those arrested are linked to Tuesday's (16 August) detonations in the north of the peninsula, or last week's explosions in western Crimea.

"Everyone has been arrested.

The activities of the terrorists, as was to be expected, were coordinated from the territory of the terrorist state of Ukraine,” Sergei Aksyonov said on Telegram.

The suspects are said to belong to the group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia - an Islamist group that was founded in 1953 in East Jerusalem, which was then under Jordanian control.

News about the Ukraine war: Volodymyr Zelenskyj warns compatriots

+++ 10.50 a.m .:

In the Donetsk region, according to Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, two civilians have been killed by Russian shelling in the past 24 hours.

In addition, seven people were wounded.

The deaths were reported from Avdiivka and Zaitseve, as reported

.

Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged his compatriots to stay away from Russian military bases and ammunition dumps after another series of explosions on the annexed Crimea peninsula on Tuesday.

According to Moscow, this was “sabotage”.

In his daily address, the Ukrainian President explained that the explosions could have a number of causes.

"But they all mean the same thing: Destroying the occupiers' logistics - their ammunition, military and other equipment, and command posts - saves the lives of our people," Zelenskyy said.

News on the Ukraine war: More details on the explosions in Crimea

+++ 09.15 a.m.:

After the explosions on the Crimean peninsula on Tuesday, the British Ministry of Defense issued an assessment of the state of the Russian military.

The situation report said that "two of the most important Russian military airfields in Crimea" had been hit.

Dschankoj is also a very important railway and road junction, which plays an important role for supplies to the south of Ukraine.

While the cause of the blasts and the extent of the damage in Crimea are still unclear, Russian troops in Crimea are "most likely increasingly concerned" about the apparent deterioration in security on the peninsula, which acts as a rear base for the crew.

The information from London, which is based on intelligence information, is not independently verifiable.

+++ 8.30 a.m .:

Ukrainian troops have apparently repelled a Russian offensive near Bilohirka, in the Cherson region in southern Ukraine.

This was reported by the military general staff on Wednesday morning in a situation report.

The information cannot be independently verified.

+++ 7.45 a.m .:

According to the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, Russian forces fired two rockets at the Petro Mohyla Black Sea University.

While the building was damaged, no one was injured, it said.

Ukraine War News: Attacks on Odessa and Mykolaiv

Update from Wednesday, August 17,

6:45 a.m.: Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odessa Oblast administration, reported on Telegram that Russia had fired several rockets at the region.

It is not yet clear whether the port city itself is affected.

Details of the damage and possible victims are still being checked.

In addition, several strong explosions are said to have occurred in Mykolaiv last night.

This was stated by Vitaly Kim, the governor of Mykolayiv Oblast, on Telegeram.

In this case, too, the extent of the Russian attack is not yet clear.

Ukraine war news: Donetsk region under fire

+++ 10:45 p.m .:

According to estimates by the Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valery Saluschnyj, the Russian army fires 40,000 to 60,000 rounds of ammunition at positions of the Ukrainian army every day.

The situation is currently the most difficult near Donetsk, where the Ukrainian positions at Avdiivka, Pisky and Marjinka are under heavy fire, Zalushnyj wrote on Facebook.

He also reported this to Canadian Chief of Staff Wayne Donald Eyre in a telephone call.

In its situation report for Tuesday evening, the Ukrainian general staff also spoke of violent attacks on Ukrainian positions on the north-western edge of the separatist stronghold of Donetsk.

Further north in the Donbass near Bakhmut and Soledar it was possible to fend off Russian assaults.

The enemy had to withdraw with casualties.

There was no independent confirmation of the military information.

+++ 9.30 p.m .:

The Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak

announced further attacks in an interview with the British newspaper

Podoliak said there could be more attacks in the "next two or three months," similar to the heavy hits on a railway junction and air base in Crimea.

“Our strategy is to destroy logistics, supply lines and ammunition depots and other objects of military infrastructure.

It creates chaos in their own forces,” Podoliak said.

For many Ukrainians, attacks against the Crimean rulers have a special meaning because for them the annexed peninsula has been the epitome of Russian aggression for more than eight years.

+++ 8 p.m .:

UN Secretary-General António Guterres meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj and Turkish Head of State Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ukraine on Thursday (August 18).

A meeting is planned in Lviv, as UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York.

After that, Guterres will travel on to Odessa on the Black Sea and visit a port.

Before returning to New York, the UN chief will visit the joint coordination center for monitoring grain exports across the Black Sea in Istanbul.

News about the Ukraine war: people leave Crimea

+++ 7.30 p.m .:

Russian state media reports that a record number of cars have crossed the Crimea Bridge, which connects Russian-occupied Crimea to Russia – suggesting that a number of Russians who have settled in the after the 2014 annexation settled in the region are now on the run.

+++ 18:15:

According to the Russian government in Moscow, Great Britain has applied for overflight rights over Russia for a spy plane.

This was "an intentional provocation," the Ministry of Defense said.

The Russian Air Force will ensure that the country's airspace is not violated.

News about the Ukraine war: emergency zone in Crimea extended

+++ 5.15 p.m .:

The administrative authorities deployed by Russia in Crimea have apparently expanded the emergency zone on the peninsula.

This state of emergency was last declared on August 9, when it imposed explosions in the village of Novofedorovka.

This is reported by the news portal

.

The measure of the regional administration is seen as a reaction to the explosions in Crimea on Tuesday.

+++ 4.30 p.m .:

According to an announcement on Tuesday, Russia will soon deliver new weapons to Ukraine.

Part of it should be nuclear-capable long-range missiles of the "Sarmat" type.

Vladimir Putin announced this after the first tests in the spring.

In addition, new fighter jets and air defense system should be included in the weapon delivery package.

The corresponding contracts were signed in the Ministry of Defense in Moscow.

News about the Ukraine war: Russian secret service is looking for Ukrainian elite unit

+++ 4:00 p.m .:

Now the Russian domestic secret service (FSB) is apparently also assuming that a Ukrainian elite unit is behind the explosions on the Crimean peninsula.

The FSB is currently searching for members of Ukrainian sabotage groups who are said to have blown up power lines to the Kursk power plant, for example, the Russian state news

reported on Tuesday, citing the FSB.

"Six pillars of high-voltage power lines (110, 330 and 750 kV) supplying electricity to the Kursk NPP were blown up," the FSB statement

.

From the Kremlin it was only said that it was probably an "act of sabotage".

+++ 3.15 p.m .:

The first ship chartered by the UN with grain for Africa has left Ukraine.

The MV Brave Commander, loaded with 23,000 tons of wheat, left the Black Sea port of Pivdennji in the city of Yuzhne in the direction of Djibouti on Tuesday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure announced in the online service Telegram.

From there, the grain should be delivered to Ethiopia.

According to the Ukrainian government, it is hoping for two or three similar deliveries of grain in the near future.

According to Ukrainian information, five ships with a total of 110,000 tons left Ukrainian ports on Tuesday.

The first ship with a grain load since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression at the end of February left Ukraine on August 1. According to Ukrainian port authorities, there have been a total of 21 ships since then.

Ukraine and Russia are the world's largest grain exporters.

Because of the Russian war of aggression, all of Ukraine's grain exports from its Black Sea ports were blocked for months, contributing to a global food crisis.

In July, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN agreed on a deal to break the blockade.

News about the Ukraine war: Elite unit is said to be behind explosions in Crimea

+++ 2.45 p.m .:

The explosions in the morning and at noon on the Crimea peninsula, illegally annexed by Russia, continue to raise numerous questions.

After a confidant of President Zelenskyj spoke of a "masterstroke" by the Ukrainian army (see update from 1.30 p.m.), this was now confirmed by another source.

A senior Ukrainian official, who wished to remain anonymous, told

the

So far, the only word from the Kremlin in Russia was that it was an "act of sabotage".

The above information is not independently verifiable.

+++ 2:00 p.m .:

There were apparently explosions again on the Crimean peninsula.

The Russian newspaper

reports black clouds of smoke in the sky over a Russian air base.

According to a report by the

, the base is near the city of Simferopol.

The information cannot be independently verified.

News about the Ukraine war: Explosions on the Crimean peninsula – confidant speaks of “masterpiece”

+++ 1.30 p.m .:

A confidante of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has indicated that the Ukrainian army could be behind the explosions in Crimea.

Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office, wrote on Twitter that the Ukrainian troops would continue their "delicate "demilitarization" operation".

Among other things, he described the action as a “masterpiece”.

"Crimea is Ukraine," Yermak added.

News about the Ukraine war: Putin again accuses the USA

+++ 12.45 p.m .:

Vladimir Putin has accused the USA of unnecessarily “prolonging” the Ukraine war.

The Russian President said this at a security conference in Moscow.

"And they are acting in the same way, promoting the possibility of conflict in Asia, Africa and Latin America," he said.

For example, US leader Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan is part of "a targeted, deliberate strategy to destabilize and create chaos in the region and around the world."

+++ 11.45 a.m .:

Ukraine has apparently returned the bodies of 19 Russian soldiers.

The Ukrainian Ministry for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories announced that a handover had taken place.

No further details were given.

News about the Ukraine war: Explosions in Crimea – rail traffic affected

+++ 11.15 a.m .: According to a

report

, the explosions also damaged railroad tracks in Crimea.

Therefore, rail traffic on the peninsula is now severely restricted.

This was explained by the head of administration employed by Russia, Sergei Aksjonov.

The Russian state news agency TASS reported that the Azovske and Rozizd train stations in particular were damaged.

+++ 10.45 a.m .:

A civilian was killed in a Russian rocket attack on Monday (August 15) in the Donetsk region.

news portal

.

This happened in the city of Kostiantynivka, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

According to the official, two other people were injured in the Donetsk region.

This cannot be independently verified.

+++ 10.15 a.m .:

Around 2000 people were evacuated from the immediate vicinity of the ammunition depot on the Crimean peninsula.

There had previously been several explosions.

+++ 9.45 a.m .:

After the alleged explosions on the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula, there is apparently a “high risk of death for intruders and thieves”.

This was announced on Twitter by Mykhailo Podolyak, presidential adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Demilitarization is currently taking place.

So far, the Ukrainian government has not claimed responsibility for an attack on the base near the town of Dzhankoy.

The above information cannot be independently verified.

News about the Ukraine war: after explosions – in Crimea “evacuation is underway”

+++ 9:00 a.m .:

The Crimean head of administration employed by Russia, Sergej Aksjonov, has reported further explosions at the military base near Dschankoj.

"An evacuation is underway, a five-kilometer security zone is being formed for the safety of residents," he said in a video message on Telegram.

According to Aksjonov, forces from the Ministry of Defence, the National Guard and civil defense are currently deployed.

There had previously been numerous reports of the alleged explosion in Crimea (see update from 8:15 a.m.).

None of the above information can be independently verified.

+++ 8.15 a.m .:

There were apparently further explosions in Crimea on Tuesday morning.

First, the Ukrainian broadcaster

published unconfirmed footage of a detonation said to have come from Jankoy in Crimea.

also reports on this

.

In addition, the Russian news agency

said that in the morning a substation in the city caught fire.

According to local media reports, an ammunition depot in the nearby village of Maiskoye also caught fire.

Russia's state news agency Tass quoted Crimea's Russian-appointed chief of administration, Sergei Aksyonov, as saying: "The detonation of ammunition occurred in northern Crimea," a Telegram update said.

The cause is still unclear.

Ukraine had not claimed responsibility for the devastating explosions in Crimea, which recently destroyed Russian fighter jets, among other things.

News about the Ukraine war: Russia bombs Kharkiv – heaviest attack in weeks

Update from Tuesday, August 16, 6:30 a.m.:

As Ihor Terekhov, Mayor of Kharkiv, announced on Telegram, Russian troops are said to have fired on five districts of the city of millions last night – including residential areas.

So far, however, no fatalities have been reported.

"Such a radius of impact of missiles on the city has not been observed for a long time," Terekhov wrote.

While "in some cases" infrastructure and some roads have been destroyed, no information is yet available on the number of people injured.

News about the Ukraine war: Putin announces goals

+++ 18:45:

Vladimir Putin has again

reaffirmed the goal of complete capture of the Donbass.

The Russian army is fulfilling its tasks in the "Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics", the Russian President told international guests at a military forum near Moscow in the "Patriot" park.

While Ukraine accuses Russia of the most serious war crimes and a bloody occupation policy, Putin claimed that "the soil of the Donbass is being liberated step by step" from Ukrainian nationalists. 

News about the Ukraine war: Explosive situation around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant

+++ 11.15 a.m .:

There have been fights in the Zaporizhia region for weeks.

In particular, the location of the nuclear power plant there makes the situation explosive.

Recently, a nuclear catastrophe was feared.

Now there is apparently movement in the negotiations.

Russian occupiers are said to have proposed a "ceasefire" in the contested area.

"The leadership of the United Nations and the chief diplomat of the EU should not be talking about demilitarization, but about introducing a ceasefire," Vladimir Rogov, a representative of the Russian occupation authorities, told Russia's state-run 

news agency .

For days, the warring parties have been accusing each other of who is responsible for the attacks on the nuclear power plant.

News about the Ukraine war: Zelenskyj threatens Russian troops in the battle for the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant

First report from Monday, August 15, 6:00 a.m.:

Kiev – As Ivan Fyodorov, Mayor of Melitopol, reports on Telegram, Ukrainian partisans have severely damaged a railway bridge near the occupied southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol.

"With the exception of a station in the east-west direction," no more Russian trains to Melitopol would get through on the Crimean side, Fyodorov wrote.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy threatened to target Russian troops firing at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear power plant or at Ukrainian forces from there.

This is reported by

.

Meanwhile, 42 countries have asked Russia to withdraw its troops from the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant so that Ukrainian authorities can resume work and the UN nuclear regulatory agency can conduct a review process.

In recent days, Kyiv and Moscow have repeatedly accused each other of shelling the area around Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

(nak/tu with dpa/AFP)