Russia-Ukraine war updates for August 16, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested individuals in Crimea and different closely occupied areas of Ukraine to not go close to Russian navy installations amid studies of explosions.

“Every day and every night we see new reports of explosions on territory that is temporarily taken by the occupiers. And I am asking now all our people in Crimea, in other regions in the south of Ukraine, in occupied areas of Donbas and Kharkiv region to be very careful,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app throughout a night handle.

“Please, do not go near the military installations of the Russian army and all those places where they store ammunition and equipment, where they place their headquarters,” he added.

— Amanda Macias

Swedish furnishings large IKEA has determined to liquidate its Russian unit, restricted legal responsibility firm IKEA Dom, additional scaling again its operations after greater than a decade-long presence within the nation, a company file confirmed on Tuesday.

IKEA, the world’s largest furnishings model, shut down its shops in March and mentioned it will promote factories, shut places of work and cut back its 15,000-strong workforce in Russia.

Ingka Group, IKEA shops proprietor and one of many world’s main purchasing middle house owners, nonetheless, has saved its “Mega” purchasing malls in Russia open.

According to the file at Interfax information company’s Spark database of Russian corporations on Tuesday, Ingka Holding Europe B.V. determined to liquidate IKEA Dom the place it’s the sole proprietor. IKEA Dom was established in July 2006.

In June, Ingka Group mentioned it was open to returning to Russia sooner or later however the situations weren’t in place proper now. read more Ingka Group didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for a touch upon Tuesday. 

— Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned he mentioned Russia’s war in Ukraine with former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“The topic of the war in Ukraine should remain in the world information space. This indicates the support for our state. And therefore helps us bring the victory closer,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Zelenskyy mentioned he additionally had a productive assembly with ex-Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.

“Thank you for this visit and sincere desire to help our country and our people,” he added.

— Amanda Macias

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will journey to Lviv this week to satisfy with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The trio is predicted to debate the continuing Black Sea Initiative to export grains from Ukraine.

“It’s a chance for [the Secretary General] to see firsthand the results of an initiative that he first presented when he went to Moscow,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric mentioned throughout a every day press briefing.

“An initiative that is so critically important to hundreds of millions of people, that is part of a bigger package, which includes the export of Russian grain and add fertilizer to market,” he added.

The secretary-general can even meet with Zelenskyy to dsicuss the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant. He will not be anticipated to talk with any Russian officers whereas on the U.N. mission.

Later within the week, Guterres will go to the port of Odesa.

— Amanda Macias

A bit of over a month earlier than Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, CIA Director Bill Burns traveled to Kyiv to satisfy with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in response to new particulars in a Washington Post report.

Burns shared U.S. intelligence assessments with the Ukrainian chief that indicated the Kremlin would try to seize Kyiv and topple the central authorities.

Burns advised Zelenskyy in the course of the Jan. 12 assembly that the dangers of the president remaining within the nation had been mounting and that he ought to contemplate fleeing.

“Let people discuss in the future whether it was right or not right,” the Ukrainian chief mentioned in an interview with the Post, “but I definitely know and intuitively… I had the feeling that they wanted to prepare us for a soft surrender of the country. And that’s scary.”

Zelenskyy advised Burns that he would stay in Kyiv.

— Amanda Macias

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy concerning the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant, in response to a French presidential workplace readout of a telephone name between the leaders.

Macron expressed his concern concerning the risk posed by the Russian navy’s actions close to Ukrainian nuclear installations and known as for the rapid withdrawal of those forces.

“[Macron] expressed his support for the proposal of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency to send a mission on site as soon as possible, and the two presidents discussed the terms of such a mission,” in response to the readout.

 The two leaders additionally mentioned the export of Ukrainian agricultural merchandise by way of a U.N.-brokered sea hall.

— Amanda Macias

The 21 vessels which have left Ukrainian ports are taking lots of of 1000’s of metric tons of corn, wheat and different agricultural merchandise around the globe, in response to the group overseeing their export.

The Joint Coordination Center, a humanitarian initiative of Ukraine, Russia, the United Nations and Turkey, mentioned the breakdown of exports contains the next:

• 451,481 metric tons of corn
• 50,300 metric tons of sunflower meal
• 41,622 metric tons of wheat
• 11,000 metric tons of soybeans
• 6,000 metric tons of sunflower oil
• 2,914 metric tons of sunflower seed

The group additionally mentioned that the preliminary locations for Ukrainian meals exports are Turkey, Iran, South Korea, China, Ireland, Italy, Djibouti and Romania.

— Amanda Macias

Russia’s naval fleet within the Black Sea is “struggling to exercise effective sea control,” the British navy mentioned in an intelligence replace.

“It has lost its flagship, Moskva; a significant portion of its naval aviation combat jets and control of Snake Island,” the British Ministry of Defense wrote in a press release on Twitter. The British navy mentioned that Russian warships are firing long-range cruise missiles at targets on the bottom in Ukraine.

“The Black Fleet’s currently limited effectiveness undermines Russia’s overall invasion strategy, in part because the amphibious threat to Odesa has now been largely neutralized. This means Ukraine can divert resources to press Russian ground forces elsewhere,” the British navy added.

— Amanda Macias

Russia has “no need” to make use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, its protection minister mentioned, describing media hypothesis that Moscow would possibly deploy nuclear or chemical weapons within the battle as “absolute lies.”

“From a military point of view, there is no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine to achieve the set goals. The main purpose of Russian nuclear weapons is to deter a nuclear attack,” Sergei Shoigu mentioned throughout a speech at a world safety convention in Moscow.

“The media are spreading speculation about the alleged use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in the course of the special military operation, or about the readiness to use chemical weapons. All these informational attacks are absolute lies.”

Shoigu additionally alleged Ukrainian navy operations had been being deliberate by the United States and Britain, and that NATO had elevated its troop deployment in japanese and central Europe “several times over.”

Referring to the New START Treaty to manage U.S. and Russian nuclear arms, Shoigu mentioned talks to increase the treaty had been “a two-way street,” and the scenario round it was “difficult.”

“A difficult situation is also developing with regard to the Treaty on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. The agreement remains in force until 2026,” Shoigu added.

“On the Russian side, obligations are being fulfilled, the declared levels of carriers and warheads are maintained within the established limits.”

— Reuters

The group overseeing the export of agricultural merchandise from Ukraine mentioned that 21 ships carrying agricultural merchandise have left Ukrainian ports previously two weeks.

The Joint Coordination Center, an initiative of Ukraine, Russia, the United Nations and Turkey, mentioned that 15 vessels have additionally entered Ukrainian ports.

Additionally, 5 ships are anticipated to depart from Ukrainian ports on Tuesday.

— Amanda Macias

European nations Finland and Estonia, each of which border Russia, are taking steps to restrict the variety of Russian civilians that may enter their territories.

Finland will slash the variety of visas issued to Russians to 10% of the present quantity from Sept. 1, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto mentioned on Tuesday, Reuters reported, amid a rush of Russian vacationers certain for Europe.

Haavisto mentioned the choice had come as many Russian vacationers had begun to make use of Finland and its Helsinki-Vantaa Airport as a gateway towards European trip locations.

“And this maybe is not very appropriate if we, for example, think of the airspace restrictions put in place for Russia,” Haavisto mentioned.

The transfer by Finland comes a day after Baltic nation Estonia (which was beforehand part of the Soviet Union) mentioned it will prohibit the issuance of Estonian visas to Russian residents. It additionally barred entry to Russian residents with visas for the aim of tourism, enterprise, sports activities or tradition.

The restriction goes into impact on Aug. 18. Estonia’s international ministry mentioned yesterday that the restriction “means that if a Russian citizen arrives next week at a border crossing point at Narva, Luhamaa or Koidula with a Schengen visa issued by Estonia and the purpose of their visit is tourism, business, sports or culture, they will no longer be allowed to enter Estonia.”

Separately, Estonia introduced Tuesday that it will take away Soviet memorials within the majority Russian-speaking metropolis of Narva, which lies on the border with Russia, amid issues that Moscow might attempt to foment divisions in Russian-speaking components of the nation.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia’s Defense Ministry has mentioned that explosions reported at an ammunition depot close to the city of Dzhankoi in northern Crimea, which Russia has occupied since 2014, had been brought on by “sabotage.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian information businesses and native officers reported a sequence of explosions at an arms depot following a fireplace at a navy base. One Ukrainian official urged the fireplace and explosions had been the results of a “precision strike.”

“On the morning of August 16, as a result of sabotage, a military warehouse near the village of Dzhankoy was damaged,” the Russian Defense Ministry mentioned, in response to a report by state information company Tass.

As a end result, civilian amenities, together with energy strains, energy vegetation, railway tracks and residential buildings had been broken, the report added. No severe casualties had been reported.

Videos appeared on social media purportedly displaying the explosions going down thoughUkraine has not commented on the explosions, the most recent in a sequence of comparable incidents in current weeks.

Separately, nonetheless, Reuters reported that Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported that plumes of smoke had been seen over a Russian navy airbase in Gvardeyskoye in Crimea on Tuesday.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed on Tuesday the United States desires to extend the war in Ukraine and that it had fomented anti-Russian sentiment.

“The situation in Ukraine shows that the U.S. is trying to prolong this conflict,” he mentioned throughout a welcome handle at a convention in Moscow on worldwide safety.

Putin additionally claimed that the U.S. was attempting to take care of its hegemonic standing on the planet and that it had “prepared the fate of cannon fodder for the people of Ukraine, implemented the ‘anti-Russia’ project, turned a blind eye to the spread of neo-Nazi ideology, to the massacres of Donbas residents, pumped up and continues to pump up the Kyiv regime with weapons.”

In addition, he mentioned U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s current go to to Taiwan, which angered Russia’s ally China, had been a “thoroughly planned provocation.”

Russia has claimed that its invasion of Ukraine, which it calls a “special military operation,” is geared toward “liberating” pro-Russian, breakaway areas within the Donbas in japanese Ukraine which it has supported since 2014, resulting in a simmering battle between separatists and Ukrainian forces that has left round 14,000 individuals useless.

Moscow has additionally often labeled the federal government in Kyiv as neo-Nazi, regardless of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy being Jewish. Such claims, geared toward justifying the war (notably to the Russian public) and demonizing Ukraine’s leaders, don’t have any foundation in actuality.

The United States and its Western allies in Europe and Asia have sought to help Ukraine’s protection of its territorial sovereignty with help within the type of weapons, monetary and humanitarian assist.

Russia has mentioned the West’s assist for Ukraine is the fruits of longstanding anti-Russian sentiment and has made additional unfounded claims blaming NATO, the Western navy alliance, for beginning the war.

— Holly Ellyatt

A Russian ammunition depot has exploded in Russian-occupied Crimea, in response to numerous sources together with Russian state information retailers, the Russian Ministry of Defense and a neighborhood Ukrainian official.

The explosion had occurred on account of a fireplace in a navy unit within the Dzhankoi district of Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry mentioned on Tuesday. One local official said explosions were still going on.

The fireplace had then led to the detonation of ammunition being quickly saved in a close-by depot, the ministry mentioned. No accidents had been reported and Russia mentioned it was looking for the reason for the fireplace.

A Ukrainian official urged the fireplace and explosions had been the results of Ukrainian forces placing the amenities in Crimea, nonetheless, a area that was annexed by Russia in 2014.

Refat Chubarov, a frontrunner of the Crimean Tatar neighborhood, mentioned on Facebook that studies had been coming in of “a precision strike on the military unit of the orcs in the village of Qalay (currently known as Azovske) in the Dzhankoi district.”

Ukrainian officers often consult with Russian invading forces as “orcs,” in reference to characters from the Lord of the Rings sequence.

Social media movies have been posted on-line showing to point out an explosion and plume of smoke. CNBC has not been in a position to instantly confirm the studies.

— Holly Ellyatt

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is looking for worldwide motion to stop a disaster on the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant — Europe’s largest such plant — in southern Ukraine.

“Any radiation incident at the Zaporizhzhya NPP could be a blow to many countries,” Zelenskyy mentioned on Telegram final night time. “Everything depends only on the direction and strength of the wind,” he added.

The president as soon as once more known as for “new tough sanctions against Russia, against Rosatom [Russia’s state-owned nuclear power giant] and the entire nuclear industry” throughout the nation.

Zelenskyy and different Ukrainian officers have repeatedly mentioned Russia has stationed troops and weapons on the energy plant, and used it as a base from which to launch assaults on surrounding areas. Ukraine has known as {that a} technique of “nuclear blackmail.”

“Russia does not stop its blackmail actions at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and around it,” Zelenskyy reiterated in his nightly handle, saying “provocative shelling of the Nuclear power plant territory continues. Under cover of the station, the occupiers are shelling nearby towns and communities. The Russian military hides ammunition and equipment right in the station’s facilities.”

Calling for Russian forces to withdraw from the nuclear energy facility and surrounding areas with none situations, Zelenskyy mentioned the world ought to know by now the hazards of uncontrolled nuclear exercise.

“For many decades, the world has struggled for proper control over all activities with nuclear materials and radiation safety. And if now the world lacks the strength and determination to protect one nuclear plant, it means that the world will lose. There is still a chance to prevent this loss,” he mentioned.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia’s Minister of Defense mentioned he spoke with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres concerning the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant.

Russia’s Sergei Shoigu mentioned the protected operation of the ability and gave an replace on occasions going down on the bottom, according to a Kremlin statement posted on the Telegram messaging app.

The two additionally mentioned the U.N. initiative to facilitate the export of Russian fertilizers in addition to Ukrainian agriculture merchandise.

— Amanda Macias

The spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General denied Russian claims that U.N. officers had been canceling or blocking visits from the International Atomic Energy Agency to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant.

“First, the IAEA is a specialized agency that acts in full independence in deciding how to implement its specific mandate. Second, the U.N. Secretariat has no authority to block or cancel any IAEA activities,” wrote U.N. Secretary-General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric in a press release.

Dujarric added that the U.N. helps a possible IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant, ought to each Russia and Ukraine agree.  

— Amanda Macias

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant is working with the danger of violating radiation and fireplace security requirements, in response to an replace from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s workplace.

Russian forces took management of the ability in March, a couple of days after the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started.

“Ukraine calls on the world community to take urgent measures to force Russia to give back control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant for the sake of the security of the whole world,” the assertion added.

— Amanda Macias

President Vladimir Putin claimed Russia’s weaponry is probably many years forward of its international counterparts.

“Promising models and systems that are future-oriented and will determine the future of the armed forces are of particular interest,” he mentioned. Putin was talking on the opening of the “Army 2022” worldwide military-technical discussion board on Monday.

“We are talking about high-precision weapons and robotics, about combat systems based on new physical principles,” Putin mentioned, according to Russian state news agency Interfax. “Many of them are years, maybe decades ahead of their foreign counterparts, and in terms of tactical and technical characteristics they are significantly superior.”

Speaking on the opening of the discussion board, Putin mentioned Russia was able to share its weapons expertise with its allies.

“Russia sincerely values ​​historically strong, friendly, truly trusting ties with the states of Latin America, Asia, and Africa, and is ready to offer its partners and allies the most modern types of weapons – from small arms to armored vehicles and artillery, combat aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles,” the president mentioned.

Commenting on the more and more polarized nature of worldwide geopolitics, notably amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, Putin mentioned Russia appreciated “that today our country has many allies, partners, like-minded people on different continents.”

These are states that, he mentioned, “do not bend before the so-called hegemon, their leaders show real masculine character and do not bend.”

— Holly Ellyatt

The U.S., U.Okay., EU and different nations have known as on Russia to instantly withdraw its navy forces from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and all of Ukraine.

“We urge the Russian Federation to immediately withdraw its military forces and all other unauthorized personnel from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, its immediate surroundings, and all of Ukraine so that the operator and the Ukrainian authorities can resume their sovereign responsibilities within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders and the legitimate operating staff can conduct their duties without outside interference, threat, or unacceptably harsh working conditions,” mentioned a joint assertion revealed on Sunday on the website of the EU Delegation to the International Organizations in Vienna.

The assertion, endorsed by 42 nations, mentioned Russia’s management of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — Europe’s largest nuclear energy plant — “poses a great danger” to the worldwide tenets relating to nuclear security and safety, as outlined by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“Deployment of Russian military personnel and weaponry at the nuclear facility is unacceptable and disregards the safety, security, and safeguards principles that all members of the IAEA have committed to respect,” the assertion mentioned.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is the biggest nuclear energy plant in Europe and there was widespread consternation when Russian forces captured the unit on March 4, with studies of navy gear and ammunition being positioned there.

Russian and Ukrainian forces have accused one another of shelling the ability plant in current weeks, elevating fears of a catastrophic incident on the plant.

— Holly Ellyatt