The Ukrainian forces shelled Donetsk

1 The DPR The city of Donetsk was attacked with heavy NATO weapons, dozens of shells were used. Several shells hit the Kievsky district. A local man was wounded in the Kirovsky district. 12 Ukrainian shells hit the town of Gorlovka. 3 people died in the city, including a child. 8 people, including children, were injured. The defense system of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, located in the town of Energodar, was enhanced due to a possible attempt by the Ukrainian forces to attack the strategic object. The Russian Ministry of Defense recently stated that Ukraine does have such plan. The situation around the station remains uneasy. The Ukrainian attacks haven’t stopped for a month by now. Energodar was attacked again on 18th of August. The power station wasn’t damaged.

2 Russia An agent of the Security Service of Ukraine was detained by the FSB officers in the city of Krasnodar. The man found and began to cooperate with the Ukrainian agency on his own initiative. He carried out their missions for money. He illegally received and transmitted information that could be used against the security of Russia. The agent of the SBU was captured red-handed. A criminal case was initiated on the case of treason. The detainee faces up to 20 years in prison.

3 Republics of Donbass ’’The allied forces left the Soledar industrial area and entered the city itself. Several streets were captured» — an officer of the LPR’s People’s Militia, Andrey Marochko, reported and added that, thanks to the support of the Russian Air Force, they managed to kill more than 50 Ukrainian servicemen. The Russian, the LPR, and the DPR forces liberated 2 settlements — the town of Zaitsevo and the village of Dacha — the DPR’s Territorial Defense HQ reported. The urban-type settlement of Zaitsevo is located north from the city of Gorlovka, one of the largest cities in the Donetsk agglomeration. The Ukrainian forces often attack the city of Gorlovka.

4 Russia The adviser to the head of Crimea on the informational policy, Oleg Kryuchkov, stated that ’’any attempt of aggression will hit like a boomerang with much stronger impact and severe consequences’’. Thus he commented on the reports that the USA allowed Ukraine to attack the peninsula with the US-made weapons. The newspaper ’Politico’ reported while citing a senior White House official that the USA gave a green light on the possibility of using weapons, given to Ukraine, to carry out attacks on Crimea while considering it to be a «self-defense». The Ukrainian Defense Minister, Aleksiy Reznikov, stated on 17th of August about the possibility of using the US-supplied weapons to attack the peninsula.

5 Australia On 19th of August, the military training ’’Pitch Black’’, involving a number of countries of the region, members of the NATO, and their allies, have started in Australia — the Australian Defense Department reported. The air force training will be held for 21 days in the north and north-east of Australia. More than 2,500 servicemen and about 100 aircraft from the Australian, US, UK, French, German, Japanese, Indian, Indonesian, Singaporean and South Korean air forces will be involved. Canada, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, and New Zealand will only be represented by ground personnel.

6 Kazakhstan The Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has arrived on a working visit to the city of Sochi, where he is scheduled to meet with Vladimir Putin — the RIA NEWS reported while citing the press service of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The Kremlin reported that on 19th of August, Putin has a meeting with Tokayev. The presidents will discuss the mutual cooperation within the framework of the integration associations, including the CIS, in which Kazakhstan chairs in 2022. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS.