Here is the situation on Saturday, August 24, 2024.
Diplomacy and aid:
- The United States has announced a new round of military assistance to Ukraine, following a phone call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Joe Biden. The package would be worth $125m and Biden said it would include air defence munitions, ammunition and antiarmour missiles.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine is “moving at incredible speed towards joining the European Union”, in a video posted to X to mark Ukraine’s independence day.
- India’s Narendra Modi urged Zelenskyy to sit down for talks with Russia to end the war and offered to act as a friend to help bring peace as the two leaders met in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. It was the first visit to the country by an Indian prime minister since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Zelenskyy said after the meeting that India supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
- Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said military aid from Latvia would amount to about 112 million euros ($125m) this year.
Fighting:
- Russia declared a state of emergency in part of the Voronezh region bordering Ukraine after an overnight drone attack, local governor Alexander Gusev said on his Telegram channel. While Russian forces intercepted five drones, he said falling debris ignited a fire, leading to the detonation of explosive materials.
- Ukraine’s Navy confirmed that it had destroyed a ferry in the Russian port of Kavkaz that was used to deliver fuel and weapons to occupied Crimea.
- Russia suspended a ferry service between the south of the country and Crimea after a Ukrainian attack hit a vessel loaded with rail cars carrying fuel, Russia’s Ministry of Transport said.
- A Russian attack on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region killed at least two civilians and injured two more, the regional governor said.
- Former United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin would not risk a catastrophe at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant amid mounting international concern over its safety, the AFP news agency reported.
Sanctions
- The US imposed sanctions on more than 400 entities and individuals, including several Chinese companies, for supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
- The European Commission declined Hungary and Slovakia’s request that it mediate a consultation procedure with Ukraine over sanctions imposed by Kyiv on Russian oil producer Lukoil, a spokesperson for the EU’s executive body said.
