A satellite image shows black smoke still rising from the site of a purported Russian drone strike on port infrastructure in southwestern Ukraine, more than 24 hours after Ukrainian authorities reported the attack.
The image, taken Thursday morning by the company BlackSky, shows the smoke rising in a port area along the Danube River in the city of Izmail, near the border with Romania.
It appears four large tanks were hit.
Meanwhile, Russian officials said seven Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow.
Here are other headlines you should know:
On the ground: The United Nations warned about the impact of a “new wave of attacks” on civilians in Ukraine, including aid workers, in a statement Thursday. Ukrainian officials continue to cool expectations for the progress of the counteroffensive as fighting is still concentrated in two parts of the southern Zaporizhzhia region. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Ukrainian television Wednesday that there were no deadlines for Ukraine’s counteroffensive. A shopping center and hospital were damaged during shelling of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Thursday, according to a Telegram post from the Kherson regional military administration.
Warnings from Poland and Lithuania: Wagner mercenaries who have moved from Russia to Belarus may try to destabilize NATO’s eastern flank, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda warned Thursday. Morawiecki also warned of “further provocations and intrigues” that may arise from the other side of his country’s eastern border with Belarus and Russia, amid growing tensions between Warsaw and Minsk.
Russia’s economy: Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a combination of military spending and domestic demand is driving the Russian economy, with employment in manufacturing stable at 10 million people — the same as in 2021. Two-thirds of the growth in industrial production was being provided by the defense, and consumer demand was responsible for the other one-third, he said during a meeting with industry leaders at the Kremlin on Thursday.
Dnipro dam recovery: Ukrainian officials have given details of a large pipeline being built to supply water to communities affected by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam on the river Dnipro in June. According to Oleksandr Kubrakov, the minister in charge of infrastructure, the goal is to launch the project’s first link by the end of the month.
Sanctions and fines: The European Council adopted new sanctions and further restrictive measures Thursday in response to Belarus’ involvement in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission said in a statement. Also, Russia fined Apple for failing to delete war-related content in a podcast, state news agency TASS reported Thursday.
Lethal cooperation: The US has concerns that North Korea is considering providing lethal aid to Russia, with American intel showing the Kremlin is looking to increase military cooperation between the two nations to help Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to John Kirby, the US National Security Council’s strategic communications coordinator.
Source link: https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-08-03-23/index.html