Editor
Ukraine’s army mentioned its forces got here underneath repeated assault on August 21 across the city of Pokrovsk within the Donetsk area, the place Russian forces are urgent for a breakthrough.
Live Briefing: Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL’s Live Briefing provides you all the newest developments on Russia’s full-scale invasion, Kyiv’s counteroffensive, Western army support, world response, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL’s protection of the conflict in Ukraine, click on right here.
In a press release, the General Staff of the Ukrainian army mentioned there have been 46 Russian assaults within the Pokrovsk space over the course of day. Of these, 44 have been repelled and two have been ongoing into the night hours native time.
It additionally mentioned 238 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in the identical space on August 21. It didn’t disclose Ukrainian losses, and it was not potential to confirm the variety of Russian troopers killed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mentioned Ukraine’s army was responding to the Russian push by strengthening its forces round Pokrovsk, one of many hottest areas of the entrance.
The Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine has ordered a pressured evacuation of kids with their mother and father or authorized representatives from sure districts of the Donetsk area, together with Pokrovsk.
There have been dozens of different clashes throughout the entrance line on August 21. Most of them have been repelled, in keeping with the General Staff, however some continued into the late night hours.
The governor of the Bryansk area of Russia, Aleksandr Bogomaz, mentioned Russian forces prevented an tried incursion into the area by Ukrainian troops. Bogomaz mentioned the tried breakthrough occurred within the Klimovo district of the area, which borders the Chernihiv area of Ukraine.
“The enemy has been hit by fireplace. Currently, the state of affairs on the website of the conflict has stabilized,” Bogomaz mentioned on Telegram.
Ukraine mentioned individually that it had destroyed a Russian pontoon bridges with U.S.-made weapons in Russia’s Kursk area. A video posted by Ukrainian particular forces confirmed strikes on a number of pontoon crossings after Russia reported that Ukraine has destroyed no less than three bridges over the Seym River.
“Where do Russian pontoon bridges ‘disappear’ within the Kursk area? Operators…precisely destroy them,” Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces mentioned on Telegram.
Claims of battlefield success couldn’t be independently verified.
The Kremlin believes the preventing to repel Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk area will final for months and is making an attempt to arrange the general public for this “new regular,” sources near the Russian presidential administration and the federal government have informed the Meduza and Verstka information web sites.
The reviews got here as Russia is battling to repel the two-week-old Ukrainian incursion into its area bordering Ukraine, the place Kyiv’s forces say they management greater than 1,260 sq. kilometers and 92 settlements.
The information retailers mentioned the Ukrainian incursion “shocked” Russian elites, however now that the preliminary shock has handed, “they’ve gotten used to it.”
‘New Reality’
At the identical time, the Kremlin is utilizing its propaganda machine to attempt to put together Russians for all times within the situations of a “new actuality” and “new normality,” mentioned the sources, who spoke on situation of anonymity.
“The Kremlin proposes convincing Russians that an enemy that breaks by to Russian territory will face ‘inevitable defeat,’ however ‘the return of territories will take time and Russians want to attend,'” one of many sources mentioned.
Russian elites predict the resignations of these chargeable for the Ukrainian breakthrough, a supply informed Meduza.
Ukraine’s management has repeatedly clarified that its daring transfer into Kursk is supposed to determine a buffer zone inside Russia meant to guard Ukrainian civilians from cross-border Russian shelling.
The American Institute for the Study of War mentioned Ukrainian forces continued to advance alongside the whole entrance line in Kursk.
Earlier on August 21, Ukrainian naval forces struck a Russian S-300 antiaircraft advanced in Russia’s Rostov area, Ukraine’s General Staff reported, whereas Russia mentioned it was subjected to one of the crucial intense waves of Ukrainian drone strikes that ever focused the capital, Moscow.
Ukraine’s General Staff mentioned the strike towards the S-300 missile advanced close to the settlement of Novoshakhtinsk within the Rostov area was carried out by naval pressure models and the results of the strike are nonetheless being evaluated.
“Russian invaders additionally use S-300 missiles to assault peaceable Ukrainian cities, destroying residential buildings and terrorizing the civilian inhabitants,” the General Staff mentioned.
Rostov regional Governor Vasily Golubev individually mentioned a Ukrainian missile had been shot down within the area, with out giving particulars.
Meanwhile, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin mentioned Ukrainian drones focused the Russian capital in one of many largest such assaults, including that air defenses shot down 10 of the drones.
“This is among the largest makes an attempt to assault Moscow with drones of all time,” Sobyanin wrote, including no casualties or materials injury have been reported.
Russia’s Defense Ministry individually mentioned its air protection techniques shot down 45 Ukrainian drones.
“Eleven drones have been destroyed over the Moscow area, 23 over the Bryansk area, six over the Belgorod area, three over the Kaluga area, and two over the Kursk area,” it mentioned.
