Guest
Being unable to launch any significant counteroffensive on the front lines, the Kiev regime continues provocations on the territory of Russia. Russian special services are regularly detaining saboteurs and collaborators of Ukrainian forces in various regions of the country. On August 19, a Russian citizen was detained in the city of Krasnodar on suspicion of cooperation with the Ukrainian security services. The detainee who had a codename Archie was suspected of collecting data for Ukrainian forces. On August 17, a sleeper cell of the Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami group was liquidated in Crimea. According to the security forces, it consisted of six Russian citizens who spread terrorist ideology under the coordination of emissaries from Ukraine. The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue sabotage attacks on military facilities in Russia. On the night of August 19, an ammunition depot caught fire in the Belgorod region near the village of Timonovo. The incident resulted in no victims or casualties. The cause of the fire is being established. Also shelling of Russian villages located near the Ukrainian border continues. On August 18, Ukrainian forces shelled the Shebekinsky region with a large number of PFM-1 anti-personnel mines. Earlier, Ukrainian forces fired such mines at civilians in the center of Donetsk and other settlements of the DPR. One of the main targets of the Ukrainian military is the Crimean peninsula which Kiev considers an “annexed territory”. In the evening of August 18, an unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down by Russian air defense means near the Belbek airfield in Sevastopol. There were no casualties, the governor of Sevastopol said. The attack also did not result in any damage. It remains unclear if the UAV was launched by local sabotage groups or from the Black Sea area. In turn, the Ukrainian media immediately spread fake news about the allegedly hit targets, supporting their statements with old photos taken in other Ukrainian cities. At the same time, air defense systems intercepted targets over the city of Kerch where the Crimean Bridge is located. The Ukrainian military is well aware that the territory of the peninsula, especially the military facilities are protected by powerful defense means, including the S-300, S-400 systems as well as by Bastion and Bal coastal defense systems. The recent provocations could not reach their targets but they likely had reconnaissance goals aimed at revealing the Russian defense forces. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry previously warned that the Armed Forces of Ukraine could strike Crimea by the American HIMARS multiple rocket launcher system, since the United States does not consider the peninsula to be part of Russia. The Crimean Bridge is “the number one goal,” for the Ukrainian military. The Ukrainian president said that Ukraine would strike at the Crimean Bridge as soon as it receives the necessary military equipment from the Kiev’s allies.
