The Russian Guard detained two employees of the Zaporizhzhya NPP who

1 Republic of Donbass News about the special military operation. Igor Konashenkov stated during a briefing that about 160 Ukrainian servicemen refused to fight due to the advances of allied pro-Russian forces. Ukrainian ammo depots, command posts, and some military equipment were destroyed. Ukrainian MLRS ’’Uragan’’ and «Smerch’’ were hit. 7 Ukrainian UAVs were shot down. The Ukrainian forces used the US-made MLRS ’HIMARS’ to hit a shopping mall in the city of Donetsk. A big fire started. All people inside the shopping center were evacuated — no-one was injured. The town of Gorlovka is under attack as well. 1 person died, several people were wounded. A local oil refinery caught fire after a Ukrainian shell hit an oil pipeline. The local firefighters extinquished the fire. The beach and the industrial zone of the town of Energodar were attacked by the Ukrainian forces as well.

2 Kherson region (Ukraine) The press service of the Russian National Guard announced the detention of 2 employees of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant who collaborated with Ukraine. They transmitted the information about the location of the Russian servicemen and military equipment on the territory of the NPP. Additionally, a violator of the access regime, and an accomplice of Ukraine, who transmitted the coordinates of the movement of Russian convoys, was detained as well. Starting from 7th of August, the Ukrainian forces began repeatedly attacking the NPP with US-made GMLRS. On 18th of August, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported about a preparation of a large-scale provocation on the territory of the NPP by Ukraine. The goal is to accuse Russia of a nuclear terrorism to create an exclusion zone of up to 30 kilometers.

3 Ukraine Ivan Sushko, the head of the administration of the Mihailovka settlement, in the Zaporozhye region, was killed in a car explosion — Vladimir Rogov, a member of the chief council of the region administration, reported. The adopted daughter of Ivan Sushko was inside the car as well — thankfully she survived. The head of the Russian investigative committee ordered to open a criminal case into the murder of Ivan Sushko.

4 Iraq The Iraqi Air Force carried out several air attacks in several regions of Iraq. The ’’Kurdistan 24’’ reported, while citing the spokesman for the Iraqi Air Force Command, Major-general Tashin al-Hafaji, that the military intelligence had discovered some hideouts of the ISIS in the province of Anbar. The air attacks on the identified targets were carried out by the Iraqi F-16s. «According to the confirmed data from the intelligence agency — the Iraqi Air Force destroyed the shelters to the west from the city of Rutba, in the province of Anbar» — Tashin al-Hafaji stated. The exact number of the killed terrorists is still unknown.

5 Russia The Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, stated on 24th of August, during a meeting with his colleagues from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, that Russia intentionally slowed down the pace of the special military operation in Ukraine in order to avoid the civilian casualties. He added that the operation is going on according to the plan, and all the objectives will be completed. The on-going supply of the Western weapons to Ukraine only prolongs the conflict, and increases the number of victims — he concluded.

6 Russia — Armenia A telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, took place on 24th of August. They discussed the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Kremlin press service reported that during the conversation, the importance of the consistent implementation of the agreements between the leaders of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan was confirmed. The role of the Russian peacekeeping forces in the ensuring of stability in the region was mentioned as well. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS