September 2, 2023 at 1:52 a.m. EDT
Ukrainian forces have in latest days achieved “notable progress” in retaking territory within the southern area of Zaporizhzhia, White Home spokesperson John Kirby informed reporters. The feedback comply with weeks of a close to stalemate that had sparked concern amongst Kyiv’s supporters.
Right here’s the most recent on the conflict and its ripple results throughout the globe.
The Sarmat missile doesn’t pose a big menace to america, the Pentagon stated in April final yr after the Kremlin efficiently check launched it. NATO has dubbed the weapon “Devil 2.” When Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced it in 2018, he claimed it may breach “any missile protection” system.
Kirby informed reporters Friday that Kyiv’s forces “have achieved some success alongside that second line of Russian defenses,” however “it’s not past the realm of the doable that Russia will react” to Ukraine’s push. He declined to touch upon Ukraine’s claims relating to its new long-range missiles and reiterated the administration’s coverage of not encouraging or enabling Ukrainian strikes inside Russia.
Moscow on Friday designated Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov a “overseas agent,” a label used to harass human rights organizations and journalists in Russia. Muratov is the editor in chief of the impartial Russian newspaper Novaya Gazet and has been an everyday critic of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. He shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Philippine journalist Maria Ressa in 2021.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that greater than 3.7 million kids began the brand new faculty yr Friday, most of whom have been in Ukraine. Each lesson that was taught was proof “that Ukraine will certainly endure” and that “life goes on,” he stated in his nightly tackle.
Russia’s Ministry of Protection claimed early Saturday it had repelled three makes an attempt to assault the Crimean Bridge utilizing drones. It blamed Ukraine, which has not taken accountability. The British Ministry of Protection stated Friday that Russia created an underwater barrier of submerged ships and floating limitations to forestall assaults on the Crimean Bridge, which was hit by Ukraine in July.
Russia stated Friday that any weapons amenities in Ukraine may turn out to be a goal, a day after Zelensky’s workplace introduced that BAE Programs — Britain’s largest protection contractor, which has been offering Ukraine with weapon resembling artillery techniques — will open an workplace in Kyiv.
Russia’s short-term navy reinforcement wants could also be impeding its supposed long-term reconstitution efforts, the Institute for the Research of Warfare stated in an evaluation Friday. Its latest redeployment of forces “suggests an rising Russian concern concerning the stability of Russian defenses in mild of Ukrainian advances round Robotyne” within the Zaporizhzhia area, the ISW stated.
German prosecutors launched an investigation Friday into an assault on a 10-year previous Ukrainian by a person insisting the boy communicate Russian. Investigators stated an unidentified man talking Russian accosted a bunch of Ukrainian kids within the city of Einbeck on Aug. 26, complaining that they have been talking Ukrainian and demanding they communicate Russian. He then pushed a 10-year previous over a canal bridge railing, the general public prosecutor’s workplace stated in a assertion, including that the person was being investigated for tried homicide.
Elon Musk’s X, previously Twitter, has performed a significant function in permitting Russian propaganda about Ukraine to succeed in extra individuals than earlier than the conflict started, based on a examine by the European Fee. The attain of Kremlin-aligned social media accounts has grown over the course of 2022, with additional development this yr “pushed specifically by the dismantling of Twitter’s security requirements,” the examine discovered.
Again in school, Russian college students get a lesson from Professor Putin: On the primary day of the college yr, Putin spoke by videoconference to kids at a brand new faculty within the occupied Ukrainian metropolis of Mariupol in 4 Russian areas. He mirrored nostalgically on the Soviet period and mentioned efforts to impose Russian training on “the brand new territories, new areas” — a reference to occupied Ukraine.
Putin’s claims that Ukraine is a part of Russia’s “historic lands” at the moment are a part of the official curriculum, Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova report, and there are new textbooks and new courses to serve the Kremlin’s narrative.