This article summarizes the most important events of the war in Ukraine from Thursday, August 16, 2024. It is the 905th day of the war.
- Russian defense in Kursk completely messed up
- Ukraine destroyed an important bridge for Russia in Kursk
- 50 dollars was enough for treason in Russia
ISW: Russian defenses at Kursk completely messed up
In its recent review, the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) estimates that the Russian defense in Kursk is in serious trouble due to leadership-related ambiguities and overlaps.
According to ISW, the Kremlin has given the same tasks to the army and the security service FSB, so it is uncertain who actually leads the defense.
– The Coordination Council of the Ministry of Defense and the FSB’s anti-terrorist operation are likely to increase confusion about who is responsible for what in the defense of Kursk and increase friction between the FSB and the Russian armed forces, ISW writes.
According to the think tank, insufficient command structures are a significant disadvantage for the Russian forces in Kursk.
The Russian army’s dock cannon Giatsint-S fires at Ukrainian positions. Illustration picture. EPA/RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE /HANDOUT, EPA / AOP
Lukashenko pardoned political prisoners
The autocratic president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned 30 political prisoners, reports the news agency Reuters, among others
The opposition in exile in Belarus said it welcomed the amnesty, which it said would mean the release of some seriously ill prisoners.
According to the state news agency Belta, 14 women and 16 men were released from prison. According to Reuters, none of Lukashenka’s most prominent critics were on the list to be released.
Lukashenka, who has been in power in Belarus since 1994, was fraudulently elected president for the sixth time in August 2020.
Alexander Lukashenko pardoned political prisoners. EPA / AOP
The fake election result raised outrage in Belarus, and hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest the result of the vote. Lukashenko’s security apparatus, however, put an end to the demonstrations with great force and about 1,400 people were sent to prison.
Ukraine destroyed an important bridge for Russia in Kursk
Ukraine has successfully hit an important bridge for Russia with a Himas rocket launcher in the Kursk region, reports the Moscow Times.
According to Russian war bloggers, the destruction of the bridge over the Seim River cuts the connection between the areas under Russian control and the areas where Ukrainian forces have advanced.
The photo of the destroyed bridge has been shared on X by, among others, a reporter from the Wall Street Journal Yaroslav Trofimov.
The Russian army used the bridge to deliver weapons and equipment to its troops in the Glushkovo district of the Kursk region, reports the independent Russian media, Stories.
Conviction of treason for donation of $50
Russia sentenced an American-Russian woman to 12 years in prison, reports the BBC.
Lived in Los Angeles, got US citizenship in 2021 Ksenia Karelina was sentenced in Yekaterinburg to 12 years in prison for treason. Karelina had traveled to Russia to meet her family and her elderly grandmother.
After Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022, Karelina had made a donation of around $50 to a humanitarian organization that helps victims of war. Russia accuses Karelina of treason, and according to the security service FSB, the Ukrainian army used Karelina’s donation “for the purchase of tactical medicine, equipment, weapons and ammunition”, reports The Washington Post.
According to the newspaper, US authorities have warned of a dramatic increase in so-called hostage diplomacy. The phenomenon refers to the arrest of citizens of a foreign country so that the detainees can be used as political leverage or as a means of exchanging prisoners.
Russia is moving its troops
US officials believe that Russia has moved thousands of soldiers from the territories it has seized from Ukraine to support the defense of Kursk, reports CNN.
– It seems obvious to us that Putin and the Russian army have directed resources, some units, towards the Kursk region apparently to respond to what the Ukrainians are doing, the spokesman for the United States Security Council John Kirby told CNN on Thursday.
However, according to Kirby, the transfer of troops does not mean that Putin has given up military operations in the northeastern or southeastern parts of Ukraine. According to CNN’s sources, at least so far, Russia has not transferred its best-trained units from Ukraine, and untrained conscripts who have been transferred to Kursk from other parts of Russia seem to be responsible for the defense of Kursk.
According to American officials, Russia is believed to have hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the war zones of Ukraine, so the transfer of some thousands to Kursk is unlikely to affect the overall picture significantly, especially in the near future.
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