War in Ukraine: update on the situation on Friday August 21

Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 Minutes takes stock for you every evening. Here is the gist of this Friday, August 21, on the 1,639th day of the conflict.

Fact of the day

Germany has announced the opening of an investigation after the discovery of hidden weapons near Berlin. A Ukrainian, detained in Romania, is suspected of being linked to this affair, in a context of hybrid warfare.

He was arrested with a compatriot last October in Romania for having plotted a parcel bomb attack in that country on behalf of Russia. The expression “hybrid threat” refers to attempts at espionage, sabotage and destabilization which have increased in recent months in Germany, Ukraine’s primary supporter after the Russian invasion.

The number of the day

14. New Russian attack in broad daylight. The Kryvyï Rig shopping center, in central Ukraine, was hit by attack drones, killing at least fourteen people and injuring 120 according to a new report from the authorities.

Russia attacked “the city’s largest shopping complex” with drones, explained the head of the Kryvyi Rig municipal military administration, Oleksandr Vilkul. “The attack drones struck in two waves – half an hour after the first strike and the fire, there was a second strike targeting the rescue services,” President Zelensky said.

In recent days, Russia has taken a new step in its strikes, using both drones, which are numerous and low-cost, and ballistic missiles, which are much more difficult for Ukraine to intercept. kyiv is demanding more means of defense from its allies.

Quote of the day

“Such attacks are nothing short of terrorist acts. »

The Ukrainian president strongly condemned the previously cited Russian attack, calling the strike “cynical and despicable”

“And the world must respond accordingly – with real pressure on the aggressor. »

If the situation on the front is rather stable, the increasing strikes on civilians could undermine the morale of the population, tested by years of war.

Today's trend

It is not only the West that Russia is alienating by increasing its provocations. Japan protested to Russia after being informed that Moscow planned to conduct missile tests off disputed islands visited this month by President Vladimir Putin.

Russia's Pacific Fleet said Thursday it had already carried out missile launches, but the date was not specified. Russo-Japanese relations are poisoned by a dispute surrounding four of these islands which the Soviet army seized in 1945, in the last days of the Second World War.

Our file on the war in Ukraine

“We believe that Russia's military buildup in the Northern Territories, including these missile exercises, is contrary to Japan's position and is unacceptable,” Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Thursday. The Japanese Prime Minister assured that the islands belonged to Japan.