EXTRAORDINARY ONLINE Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of attacks on the power plant: Ammunition was burning in a Russian village on the border – Topky.sk

Live from Ukraine Due to insufficient development of bridges in the Donetsk region, they have become a barrier for the Russians ONLINE 09:07 Ukraine is celebrating the Independence Day from the Soviet Union on Wednesday, as well as commemorating six months since the beginning of the invasion of Russia, which was launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 24th. February. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said in his regular address to the residents on Tuesday evening that it is an important day for Ukrainians and “for our enemy”. He warned the public to follow safety instructions and curfews as Russian attacks could be expected. The press agency DPA informed about it. Zelensky also said he plans to present awards to Ukrainians who have contributed to Ukraine’s strength. He will award them on the national holiday when Ukraine celebrates the 31st anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union. “We have many events planned – those that will emphasize the path we have traveled. They have traveled together – Ukrainians in Ukraine, on our entire territory – free and temporarily occupied, because our people are fighting everywhere,” Zelenskyy said in his speech. 08:50 Norway and the United Kingdom will jointly supply Ukraine with small unmanned aircraft to fight Russian invasion forces. This was announced by the Norwegian Ministry of Defense on Wednesday, Reuters reports. The cost of Teledyne Flir Black Hornet miniature drones for Kyiv will be NOK 90 million (roughly EUR 9.3 million), the Norwegian Ministry of Defense said in a statement. These devices are used for reconnaissance and target identification. 08:25 Latvian authorities have begun to demolish a monument commemorating the victory of the Soviet Union in the Second World War in the capital city of Riga. The DPA news agency reported on this on Tuesday evening. Construction workers removed several giant bronze statues from the memorial. It is not clear when they will also remove the 79-meter-high pylon with the Soviet star on top. The city office announced that explosives would not be used. The monument is surrounded by a protective fence and the police have closed its area. According to a resolution of the Latvian parliament, any object that glorifies totalitarian regimes must be removed by November 15. The resolution specifically deals with the demolition of the monument in Riga. Russia strongly protested against this. 08:17 The American Embassy in Kyiv called on American citizens on Wednesday to leave Ukraine if they can. The embassy had previously warned of an increased likelihood of Russian attacks around Independence Day. Reuters informs about it. “The State Department has information that Russia will intensify its efforts in the coming days to conduct attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure and government facilities,” the US embassy said on its website. 06:51 The Russian authorities detained the opposition politician Yevgeny Rojzman, the former mayor of Yekaterinburg, who is a well-known critic of the Kremlin and, more recently, of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This was reported by the Reuters agency on Wednesday, referring to the reports of the Russian state media. Rojzman is now being investigated for “discrediting the Russian army”, the TASS agency reported, citing members of Yekaterinburg’s security forces. 06:18 The superyacht Axioma, allegedly owned by the Russian oligarch Dmitry Pumpiansky, was auctioned in Gibraltar on Tuesday. This is the first auction of such a confiscated vessel since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Reuters and AFP inform about it. The 72.5-meter-long superyacht was confiscated by the Gibraltar authorities back in March based on a complaint filed by the American bank JP Morgan. In December 2021, this bank provided a loan of 20.5 million euros to a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, whose shareholder was a Cypriot firm owned by Pumpiansky. 06:11 Residents of the Russian village of Timonovo, located near the border with Ukraine, were evacuated on Tuesday after a cache of ammunition caught fire near their village. The governor of the Belgorod region, Viacheslav Gladkov, said that the fire was caused by high temperatures. It was the second such incident in less than a week, reports Reuters. Gladkov said the ammunition spontaneously combusted, adding that no one was injured in the incident. 06:08 At Tuesday’s meeting of the UN Security Council, Russia and Ukraine accused each other of the attacks on the Russian-occupied Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine. At the beginning of the meeting, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlova said that for the security of the area, it is necessary for both sides to agree on the demilitarization of the power plant and its surroundings, reports AFP. Tuesday’s session of the UN Security Council was held at the request of Russia, which wanted to discuss the danger and concerns about the release of radioactive radiation, which, according to it, the shelling by Kiev represents for this plant. 06:03 The Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasiliy Nebenzia, accused Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová of supporting and celebrating a terrorist attack against a Russian citizen at Tuesday’s session of the UN Security Council. Czech TV Nova reports on its website that Černochová later rejected the aforementioned accusations. Nebenzia was alluding to the minister’s statement about Saturday’s attack in which the 29-year-old Russian journalist Daria Duginová, the daughter of the well-known pro-Kremlin ideologue Alexander Dugin, was killed. In connection with this event, Černochová wrote on Twitter on Sunday: “I am suppressing the natural human reaction to a tragic death. But these are real murderers and warmongers. And I do not feel sorry for the daughter, nor for the grieving father. I feel sorry for the thousands of people murdered as a result of their propaganda and disgusting ideology. Tonight, 21 August, will be remembered in Russia.” The EU is Ukraine’s closest friend, it will never recognize the annexation of Crimea The European Union is Ukraine’s closest friend and a staunch defender of international law and will never recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation. The President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, stated this on Tuesday in her speech at the online summit of the Crimean Platform. At the summit opened by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the head of the EU executive stated that the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in February and March 2014 was carried out by brute force. “This brazen violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and international law marked the beginning of Putin’s deplorable attempt to deny Ukraine its freedom,” said the head of the European Commission. According to her, it was a direct reaction of Moscow to the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity, in which Ukrainian citizens demanded justice, democracy and the right to choose their own future in Europe. According to von der Leyen, since its annexation, Crimea has been used not only as a Russian military base, but also as a place where Russia tests the brutal methods it is now applying in other occupied parts of Ukraine. The head of the EC also stated that the EU is deeply concerned about human rights violations in Crimea in the form of disappearances, torture, killing and persecution of Crimean Tatars, as well as intimidation and imprisonment of journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders. Von der Leyen recalled that since the beginning of the invasion in February, the Union has massively intensified economic, humanitarian and military support for Ukraine, more than 7.5 million Ukrainian refugees have found refuge in its member states. According to her, EU sanctions undermine the Russian war machine and the Russian economy. On the other hand, more than ten million tons of Ukrainian grain were exported through the EU solidarity corridors. At the end of her speech, the President of the EC said that if Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to thwart Ukraine’s independence and break Ukrainians’ faith in a better future, he failed. On the contrary, Ukraine has become a candidate for joining the European Union.