Updated August 11, 2023 at 4:55 p.m. EDT|Published August 11, 2023 at 3:37 a.m. EDT
The U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine said a Russian strike hit a hotel used by aid workers in Zaporizhzhia on Aug. 10. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters)The U.S. Department of Treasury imposed sanctions Friday on four men who had served as members of the supervisory board of Alfa Group, one of Russia’s largest financial and investment giants. The step builds on a raft of sanctions targeting Russian financial elites.
Earlier Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed all the heads of regional military recruitment centers as part of what he called a crackdown on corruption, and said “the system should be run by people who know exactly what war is.”
Zelensky said recruiters face accusations including taking bribes, and helping to illegally transport people liable for military service across the border, though the details remain unclear. “There are already 112 criminal proceedings against officials of the territorial recruitment centers,” he said, adding that the recruiters should be replaced by people who know “why cynicism and bribery in times of war constitute treason.” The Ukrainian president recently acknowledged that an audit of the recruitment centers discovered “revolting” practices among some officials.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Key developments
“Wealthy Russian elites should disabuse themselves of the notion that they can operate business as usual while the Kremlin wages war against the Ukrainian people,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, said in a statement of the individuals targeted in the new round of U.S. sanctions — which includes Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, two Russian billionaires behind Alfa Group. The two have been battling sanctions imposed on them last year by the European Union and Britain, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday’s drone crashed in a forest in the Moscow region after being intercepted by electronic warfare systems. It said the drone was targeting a facility in Moscow and did not provide further details. Moscow’s mayor said the drone had attempted to fly over the city; he reported no injuries or serious damage. A day earlier, Russian authorities said they thwarted two drones near the capital and 11 others over the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed illegally in 2014.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence said security was “increasingly distant” for Moscow residents. “Given the dynamics of recent months … it would be logical to assume an increase in daily attacks,” Andriy Yusov said in an interview with the Kyiv Post published Friday. The Kremlin has blamed mounting drone attacks in Moscow on Ukraine. While Kyiv has not officially claimed responsibility, Ukrainian officials are increasingly asserting that they see targets in Russia as part of the war.
The co-founder of Russian technology giant Yandex called the war in Ukraine “barbaric,” in a rare display of dissent among the Russian elite. Arkady Volozh, who has lived in Tel Aviv since 2014, told the Bell news outlet that he had friends and family in Ukraine and was “horrified by the fact that every day bombs fly into the homes of Ukrainians.” Volozh resigned from the company last year after being placed under European Union sanctions. He said he felt a “share of responsibility” for Russia’s actions.
Zelensky continues to face homegrown challenges involving corrupt officials, months after a widespread anti-corruption shake-up led to high-level dismissals, including Zelensky’s deputy chief of staff and deputy defense minister. In May, Gennadiy Trukhanov, the mayor of major port city Odessa, was detained for suspected corruption and had been under investigation over embezzlement allegations since 2017.
Battleground updates
In Kyiv, officials said fragments of a missile hit a children’s hospital after the sound of explosions rang out in the capital on Friday. The Kyiv military administration said air defense systems worked to foil the attack, and there were no reports of casualties. In Moscow, Russian officials said they intercepted yet another drone, the latest in a wave of drones targeting the capital.
The military administration of Ukraine’s Kupiansk ordered an evacuation of civilians from the area in the northeastern Kharkiv region. Authorities have said thousands of civilians would need to leave towns and villages near the combat zone around Kupiansk, where Ukrainian and Russian officials separately reported a raging battle.
Kyiv will probably go another year without F-16 fighter jets, The Washington Post reports. A first group of six Ukrainian pilots is not expected to finish training on the U.S.-made aircraft before next summer, after delays in an instruction program, according to Ukrainian officials. Although the Ukrainian pilots are fluent in English, they must first undertake English lessons in Britain to learn terminology associated with the jets before combat training, officials said.
Washington would be prepared to bring the aviators to the United States, where the Air Force trains some 400 F-16 pilots a year, if European capacity proves insufficient to meet Ukrainian demand, said a U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid.
Ukrainian forces have recaptured the heights over Bakhmut as they fight to encircle Russian troops in the eastern city, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar told the Guardian. Maliar cited progress in outflanking enemy forces after months of deadly battle. The Washington Post could not immediately verify the claims.
Global impact
About 1,000 Ukrainian marines are returning home after six months of training in Britain, the British Defense Ministry said Friday. The marines received training that included conducting beach raids using inflatable boats. Ukrainian units have had to cross waterways, including the Dnieper River, when attacking Russian positions.
Britain will host an energy conference around the second anniversary of the Ukraine war in February, focusing partly on energy security, the government said. It said Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps will invite senior government ministers and industry leaders to the conference in London, which follows European efforts to reduce dependence on Russian energy.
President Biden has asked Congress to approve $20.6 billion more in funding for Ukraine, including $13 billion to be allocated to military aid. The United States has committed more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine during the war.
From our correspondents
A look at the amount of U.S. spending powering Ukraine’s defense: The United States has committed more funding to Ukraine during the war than it distributes in aid to any other country, Ruby Mellen and Artur Galocha report.
The amount includes $43.1 billion in military support and over $20 billion in economic assistance. “A year and a half into the conflict, U.S. public support for funding the war is wavering, particularly among Republicans,” they write.
Natalia Abbakumova, Catherine Belton, Isabelle Khurshudyan, Serhiy Morgunov, Emily Rauhala and Missy Ryan contributed to this report. » …
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