Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,285

On Monday, September 1, 2018, this is how things are going.

Fighting

• Regional governors reported that at least five people were killed by Russian attacks on Ukraine on Monday, including two in Kherson, one in Zaporizhia, and two in Donetsk. Difficult to name just how many people were injured by the attacks.
• Governor Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram that in the Zaporizhia region alone, Russian forces carried out 286 drone strikes, 10 missile strikes, and 5 airstrikes on 16 settlements in a single day.
• More than 29, 000 customers were without electricity on Sunday morning as a result of a Russian drone attack that occurred overnight near the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, according to the governor of the area. The Chornomorsk seaport was the hardest-hit city.
• A civilian bulk carrier carrying Belize’s flag also suffered minor damage after hitting an unidentified explosive device close to Chornomorsk, according to the Reuters news agency.
• Russian drones targeted northern Chernihiv in Ukraine early on Sunday, damaging the country’s energy infrastructure and leaving 30 000 households without electricity, including a portion of Nizhyn, according to Governor Viacheslav Chaus.
• Russia reportedly used 142 drones to attack Ukraine overnight, and 142 of them were shot down by the country’s air defense forces, hitting 10 locations.
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, promised to retaliate against Russian strikes deep inside Russia.

• Russia’s military criticized Russia’s claims of a successful summer offensive, saying Russian forces failed to take control of any significant Ukrainian city or “grossly exaggerated” figures regarding captured territory.
• Two Ministry of Internal Affairs employees were among the injured in Russia as a result of Ukrainian drone attacks targeting the Kursk region, according to Governor Alexander Khinshtein in a post on Telegram.
• According to TASS, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that its forces had destroyed 112 Ukrainian drones, two aerial bombs, and three rocket launchers in a single day.
• The third reactor at Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant, which had been hacked after a drone attack, was completely restored, according to a report from TASS on Sunday, citing the facility.

diplomacy and politics

• Russia continued its operations in Ukraine until Moscow saw tangible signs that Kyiv was ready for peace, according to the Kremlin, accusing European powers of stifling US President Donald Trump’s peace efforts.
• From the sidelines of the SCO summit in China, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the eurocrats are on their fundamental course and aren’t giving up.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz predicted that the Russia-Ukraine conflict would “last a long time.” He claimed that “the price of Ukraine’s capitulation” would be the end of diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
• During a visit to Poland’s border near Belarus, where she called Putin a “predator” who could only be kept in check through “strong deterrence,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, made announcements about additional funding for member states of the European Union bordering Russia and Belarus.
• Von der Leyen added that as part of proposed post-conflict security guarantees, Europe is “pretty precise plans” for a multinational troop deployment to Ukraine.
• She claimed that Trump had promised to “as part of the backstop” that “there will be]an] American presence in Europe.”
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in an article published in the People’s Daily, the state newspaper of China, that his nation would “continue to pursue” its “peace diplomacy” with “patience.”
• Pope Leo urged dialogue and a ceasefire in the conflict in Ukraine. In his Sunday prayer with pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, he said, “It is time for those responsible to renounce the logic of arms and to follow the path of negotiation and peace with the support of the international community.”

Weapons

• Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, inspected a new missile production line and automated manufacturing process, according to state media KCNA on Monday. To support Moscow in its conflict with Ukraine, North Korea has sent missiles, soldiers, and artillery ammunition to Russia.
  • Norway, which has a border with Russia, announced that it will make the largest military investment ever, purchasing new frigates worth 10 billion pounds ($13.51 billion) from the UK.