Ammunition, weapons and equipment for Ukraine - the United States is putting together the largest package of military aid to date for the country attacked by Russia for one billion US dollars (around 980 million euros). It is intended to cover the critical security needs in the defense of Ukraine, as US President Joe Biden said in Washington.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for an international travel ban for all Russians. This threat is intended to prevent Russia from annexing occupied Ukrainian territories.
For Ukraine, Tuesday marks the 167th day since the start of the Russian invasion. The country and the international community are concerned about the situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe has been occupied by Russian troops and has been fired at several times in the past few days. The warring parties blame each other. Zelenskyy accused Russia of "nuclear terrorism".
There is still no evidence of released radioactivity, as the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) announced. The White House in Washington made a similar statement. But the fear of possible damage is growing. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned: "Any attack on a nuclear power plant is a suicidal affair." Ukraine is demanding that a mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visit the power plant as a matter of urgency.
Zelenskyj calls for a travel ban for Russians
"The most important sanctions are to close the borders, because the Russians are taking their land away from others," Zelenskyy told the US newspaper "Washington Post". Russians should "live in their own world until they change their philosophy". He was reacting to the occupation authorities' announcement in the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhia that they would hold a referendum on joining Russia. Similar plans exist for the occupied territory of Kherson.
Zelenskyj's statements come up against a growing discussion in the EU to make it more difficult or to stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. Even if travel is made more difficult by the cut flight and rail connections, many Russians traveled to the EU in the summer despite the war. Russia's neighbor Latvia in the Baltic States has already tightened visa regulations. Finland is considering this, but demands a solution for the whole Schengen area. It is not fair that Russia is waging a brutal war, but Russians can visit Europe as tourists as normal, said Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
The demands met with harsh criticism in the Kremlin. The statements by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were received "extremely negatively," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax agency. "The irrationality of the train of thought exceeds every measure," he criticized.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called Zelenskyy "the greatest Ukrainian clown" on Twitter - and even compared him to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Since the start of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, Medvedev has repeatedly made derogatory remarks about the neighboring country. In the past, for example, he questioned the continued existence of Ukraine as a sovereign state.
Washington is helping Ukraine with billions
According to the Pentagon, the new US armaments package for Kyiv includes additional ammunition for the Himars and Nasams rocket launcher systems and 1,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles. There are also 50 armored medical treatment vehicles and medical material, including first aid kits, bandages and monitors. The equipment is to be given directly to Ukraine exclusively from the stocks of the Ministry of Defense.
Overall, since President Biden took office a good year and a half ago, the United States has pledged weapons and equipment worth around $9.8 billion to Ukraine with the new package, according to the information. The United States is also making $4.5 billion available for current Ukrainian government spending, according to the US Agency for International Development.
Pentagon estimates Russian losses at 80,000 men
The US Department of Defense estimates that between 70,000 and 80,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or injured in the Ukraine war. That's what Pentagon top official Colin Kahl said. There is no current information from the official bodies in Russia on the number of victims. Kahl further said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had not achieved any of his goals. "His overarching goal was to overrun the entire country, bring about regime change in Kyiv, and wipe out Ukraine as an independent, sovereign, and democratic nation. None of that happened."
London: Russia focuses on defense in southern Ukraine
According to British military experts, the Russian invasion troops in Ukraine have been concentrating their efforts in the past few days on repelling a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south of the country. Nevertheless, the Russian attacks in the eastern region of Donetsk have continued, according to the daily intelligence update from the Ministry of Defense in London on Tuesday.
The British experts concluded that the progress made by the Russian aggressors was still limited. The Russians achieved their greatest success in the past 30 days when advancing on the town of Bakhmut. But even there, the front line was shifted by just ten kilometers during this period. In other areas it was only three kilometers. The British see a lack of personnel among the Russians as one of the reasons for this.
Two more ships depart from Ukrainian port
In the course of the resumption of grain exports from Ukraine, two more ships left the port city of Chornomorsk. A total of more than 70,000 tons of food will be transported by the two freighters through a security corridor in the Black Sea, the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure announced on social networks. According to this, 5,300 tons of sunflower meal go to Turkey with the ship "Rahmi Yaggi". The "Ocean Lion" transported another almost 65,000 tons of corn to South Korea.
In July, the warring factions Ukraine and Russia signed agreements with Turkey and the UN for the export of agricultural products and fertilizers from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports. A dozen ships have since left the ports of Chornomorsk, Odessa and Pivdenny with over 380,000 tons of cargo.
Moscow: Ukraine has halted transit of Russian oil
The transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline to Hungary has been suspended, according to information from Moscow. The Russian pipeline monopolist Transneft blamed Ukraine for the delivery stop: "In fact, (the Ukrainian company) Ukrtransnafta completed pumping oil to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia via the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline on August 4 at 6:10 a.m stopped," Transneft announced, according to the Russian state news agency Ria Novosti. There was initially no confirmation from the Ukrainian side.
According to Transneft spokesman Igor Djomin, the end of the transit is related to payment problems: Ukraine is demanding payment in advance for the transit of Russian oil, but payments made by Transneft have been rejected because of new European sanctions. On the other hand, deliveries continue via the northern route of the Druzhba, which leads through Belarus and Poland to Germany.
