1/2 The day started in bad, but predictable fashion for the people of #Kharkiv
Virtually on the stroke of midnight the new round of shelling began. This was just hours after the murderous attack on the city yesterday which killed five.
An horrific tale reported by #Ukraine's "24 Kanal"
They claim Tropiny hospital in #Kherson was closed to residents for "several hours" to allow a truck load of #Russia's soldiers to be delivered, dead & alive together.
Doctors even mixed up severed legs!
The Russian installed Head of #Zaporizhzhia claims he's "had to leave" the region due to a 'family problem' & is now running things remotely from #Crimea
#Ukraine media mock he's too scared of the counter-attack. But disappearing just as @iaeaorg inspectors arrive is suspicious
I've been tipped off that #Ukraine has again attacked he #Anonivskyi bridge this morning.
A bumper day "fishing for Orcs" as Ukrainians have termed it, with the daily estimate of #Russia's losses well above the mean in many sectors.
350 more soldiers killed is around 100 up on the daily mean while tanks, artillery systems, MLRS and vehicles destroyed also above avg.
#Ukraine "has pushed back the frontline back by some distance" in the south of the country as a result of the fightback against #Russia's invaders in the south.
That's the highlight of the daily briefing from the UK MoD
2/2 However it quickly became clear the fire in #Crimea was at a hardware store, "Mega Stroya"
But the complex is completely destroyed while the building next door is untouched.
In a hardware store there will have been accelerants, but could well have been arson.
Definitely sabotage from the #Ukraine Resistance in occupied #Berdyansk.
Partisans have blown-up the HQ of the hated "We are together with #Russia" occupying organisation.
No injuries.
Looks certain that #Russia lost another base in Occupied #Tokmak too overnight.
This is in #Zaporizhzhia oblast and the town has been targeted before by #Ukraine forces during the initial days of the counter-attack.
Overnight the town-hall there was targeted by shells. Widely believed to be #Russia's last attempt to incriminate #Ukraine for the damage to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear plant.
📷TG: eto_zp
Putin finally offers his own grudging tribute to #Gorbachev who died yesterday.
The best thing Russia's warlord could say was that the former Soviet leader had a "huge impact on the course of history"
But he refused to directly praise Gorbachyov who "found his own solutions"
Almost 114,000 killed in #Mariupol' during #Russia's illegal war.
That's the new claim in #Ukraine as officials have documented 87,000 corpses with over 26,000 yet to be identified.
That's one in 4 of all people in a city the size of Miami or Liverpool
"Chemical Ali" Russian spokeswoman, sanctioned Mariya Zakharova, has said at her weekly briefing
that #Ukraine has made "no effort to hide the fact that it began preparations for an armed confrontation with Russia long ago"
The @iaeaorg team, pictured here leaving #Kyiv, has now arrived in #Zaporizhzhia and are now queuing at the checkpoint to cross into Russian-held territory.
One of #Russia's most famous young actors, Kristina Asmus, has been charged with "discrediting the army"
It's likely to refer to a post on Instagram on the day of the full invasion; no picture she just wrote "Fear + pain. Please stop all this. No war!"
Rather than just saying it was an attack by #Ukraine, they've come up with the idea it was an "American drone" which smashed into the council building.
Update to the last tweet, #Russia claims it killed "more than 1,700 #Ukraine servicemen" in two days of "unsuccessful attacks on #Mykolaiv-#KrivyiRih line" (i.e. #Kherson region)
I get a lot of trolls saying Ukraine exaggerates the figures for Russian losses. But really, 1.700?
Always scum willing to exploit any situation
In #Zaporizhzhia officials are accused of stealing humanitarian aid worth millions of $$
#Ukraine Intel conducts searches relating to stolen goods from:
📍22 shipping containers
📍389 railcars
📍220 trucks
then sold in 🇺🇦supermarkets
Another strike in #Kherson has seen flames and smoke rising from east of the city, near the Antonivskyi bridge.
There is to be no blanket-ban on people from #Russia applying for #EU visas.
Instead the Bloc will suspend an agreement which made visa issuance much easier. A typical fudge, largely because #Germany refused to countenance an outright ban, but they were not alone.
"bunker boy" Putin is making a rare excursion tomorrow to #Kaliningrad. That's the exclave entirely surrounded by #EU countries
The 1st Day of September, signifying the start of the academic year, is always "Day of Knowledge" and the Kremlin says Putin will hold "an open lesson"
Meanwhile Hungarian leader Korbán is helping out his old "mate" Putin again.
#Hungary has signed a contract with Gazprom to supply an additional 5.8 million cubic metres of gas per day from tomorrow.
More blood money to enable more weapons to kill more Ukrainians. Toothless EU?
$3,300 - that will be the fine for anyone in #Russia posting anything deemed to "promote" LGBT+ views or material.
The punishment will rise to over $65,000 for any organisation breaching the proposed new law, with the bill almost certain to be voted through soon.
A little light relief...
Police in #Russia are searching for a monkey on the loose in #Magnitorsk. Witnesses say it's aggressive and has bitten people.
Sounds like a perfect candidate for Putin's party in the next "elections"
#Ukraine's fightback in #Kherson region continues.
Advance missile attacks continue - the latest in #Oleshky. That's just over the Dnipro river, east of #Kherson city.
The state of the nearby #Antonivskyi main and pontoon bridges is not known with no locals allowed near.
I'm told #Ukraine is close to re-taking #Kyselivka, indeed may have already done so (alternate transliterations: Kiselivka or Kiselevka)
The town is in #Kherson region and was previously liberated in late June before #Russia poured in extra troops and pushed the frontline back.
#Ukraine's Southern Command confirms a whole array of strikes at #Russia's forces in occupied #Kherson
Here's a translation of spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk's post. #Cjornovaivka (RU: #Chernobaevka) is indeed among the targets hit as the offensive continues.
Two senior ministry officials are being investigated after other staff shared concerns they showed too much sympathy for #Russia's view.
They tried to block a vote to end NordStream2, which was to boost the Kremlin war chest
#Ukraine claims to have achieved success on three parts of the Southern Front.
Specifics are not being given, but exiled Deputy Head of Kherson Region, Yuriy Sobolevskyi, said on TV news that the army has achieved successes in #Kherson, #Kakhovka and #Beryslav districts.
Maybe #Russia has some "cleaning up" to do and planting of evidence around the nuclear plant in #Enerhodar.
At the "checkpoint" entry into Occupied territory in #Zaporizhzhia, the @iaeaorg team are being made to wait in the general line with no VIP pass!
This made me laugh... #Russia has "introduced a temporary ban on the export of 'precious' scrap metal"
The ban comes in to effect tomorrow and lasts until at least 28 February 2023.
Of course sanctions don't work and they're not running out of ammo + weapons!
A new video today reported to show #Ukraine troops advancing towards #Kherson.
Another village was said to be liberated from #Russia's control by this band of International Legion fighters backed by regular Ukraine servicemen.
Unverified, but likely genuine.
Just look at the evening skyline in #Donetsk - multiple blasts becoming evident.
I think this is looking north-west from the centre of the Occupied city, towards the "October market"
#Ukraine's strikes against #Russia's positions & bases continue in the south.
News just in: Ukraine's destroyed a makeshift pontoon bridge at #Darivka in #Kherson oblast. The invaders were trying to replace the bridge over the Inhulets river.
Despite a slight problem yesterday evening with Twitter being unavailable via web, there was still a lot of news covered. In case you missed anything, here's the link to yesterday's thread:
There are indeed reports of firing in both directions, across the frontline which separates free and occupied ZP.
Reliable reports of explosions in occupied areas, while #Ukraine says its' air defence is working:
In #Kharkiv there are conflicting reports.
Some channels say air defences working well here too.
However others posting on social media about "arrivals" in the area, and the audio on this video clip is convincing
The good news is Friday has begun fairly quietly. This is in line with the general trend of fewer missiles being fired by #Russia, likely indicating some "rationing" of diminishing stocks.
They won't run out soon, but cannot replace as quickly as they were firing.