Russia is stripping airplanes for parts amid sanctions-induced shortage
Aeroflot Russian Airlines and Rossiya Airlines jet aircrafts at Moscow-Sheremetyevo International Airport.
Leonid Faerberg | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Russia has started stripping jetliners of spare parts they can no longer obtain from overseas due to Western sanctions, Reuters reported, citing several anonymous sources.
The majority of Russia’s jetliner fleet is made up of Western passenger planes, and one fairly new Airbus 350 as well as a Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet 100 are already being dismantled, Reuters wrote.
Sanctions imposed by Western countries after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February have cut many of Russia’s business links to the countries it previously traded with, and have prevented its airlines from being able to get maintenance and spare parts in the West.
— Natasha Turak
Russia launches Iranian satellite into space via Kazakhstan
Russia launched an Iranian Khayyam satellite into orbit from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which it operates. Some Western officials suspect that Moscow will use it to aid in its efforts for the war in Ukraine before allowing Iran to fully control it.
Tehran has rejected such assertions, and Iran’s space agency over the weekend said that Iran would be in charge of the satellite “from day one.”
The launch comes about three weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.
— Natasha Turak
More ships carrying grain depart Ukraine, Turkish defense ministry says
An aerial view of the Turkish-flagged ship “Polarnet” carrying grain from Ukraine is seen at the Derince Port, Kocaeli, Turkiye on August 08, 2022.
Omer Faruk Cebeci | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Two more ships carrying grain have left the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk, Turkey’s defense ministry said, in an incremental continuation of a deal brokered by Ankara to lift the Russian blockade on Ukraine’s ports.
One of the ships, which set sail for South Korea, is carrying 64,720 tons of corn, while the other is transporting 5,300 tons of sunflower meal to Istanbul, the defense ministry said, according to Reuters.
Four other vessels departed Ukraine in previous days and are anchored close to Istanbul awaiting inspection, the ministry added.
— Natasha Turak
Russia makes incremental gains in the Donbas, Britain’s defense ministry says
Russian forces continue to gain ground in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, though more slowly than likely planned, the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence wrote in its daily intelligence update on Twitter.
“Over the last 30 days, Russia’s assault towards the town of Bakhmut has been its most successful axis in the Donbas; however, Russia has only managed to advance about 10km during this time,” it wrote.
“In other Donbas sectors where Russia was attempting to break through, its forces have not gained more than 3km during this 30 day period; almost certainly significantly less than planned,” the ministry added.
Russian and pro-Russian forces currently occupy the majority of the Donbas region.
— Natasha Turak
No indications of increased or abnormal radiation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, U.S. official says
A serviceman with a Russian flag on his uniform stands guard near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine August 4, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters
The U.S. has seen no indications of increased or abnormal radiation from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant following Russian missile strikes near the facility, a White House National Security Council official told NBC News.
The U.S. Energy Department and the National Nuclear Security Administration are monitoring radiation sensors at the Zaporizhzhia facility, the official added.
“Fighting near a nuclear plant is dangerous, and we continue to call on Russia to cease all military operations at or near Ukrainian nuclear facilities and return full control to Ukraine,” the national security official said.
— Amanda Macias
U.S. sends $4.5 billion in budgetary support to Ukraine
Paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, assist with unloading humanitarian goods in support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in preparation of potential evacuees from Ukraine at the G2A Arena in Jasionka, Poland, on Feb. 25, 2022.
Robert Whitlow | U.S. Army via AP
The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, will provide $4.5 billion in direct budgetary support to the government of Ukraine.
The funds are expected to alleviate Ukraine’s acute budget deficits caused by the Kremlin’s war.
“These funds provided by the United States, through the World Bank, allow the government of Ukraine to maintain essential functions to its people, including social and financial assistance to Ukrainians further pushed into poverty since the start of the war, children with disabilities and internally displaced persons,” wrote the U.S. Agency for International Development in a statement.
The agency wrote that Ukraine would begin receiving the money this month.
— Amanda Macias