The 12-year-old boy who was critically injured in the Russian artillery shelling in Shiroka Balka in the Kherson oblast – a shelling that killed his father, mother and 23-day-old baby sister – has died.
Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, updated a recent post from the ministry after the boy succumbed to his injuries at a hospital: “The whole family died in Shiroka Balka,” he wrote.
That brings the total of people killed this morning in the Kherson oblast to seven: another local resident was killed alongside the family in Shiroka Balka, and two men were killed in Stanislavov.
Key events
Germany will deliver a Luna New Generation drone system to Ukraine, Bild am Sonntag is reporting.
The equipment will include a ground control station with several drones, a launch catapult and military trucks.
⚡️Media: Germany’s Rheinmetall to deliver Luna drone system to Ukraine.
Rheinmetall, Germany’s automotive and arms manufacturer, will deliver a Luna New Generation drone system to Ukraine by the end of 2023, Bild am Sonntag reported on Aug. 12, citing company sources.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) August 13, 2023
Russian warship fires warning shots at a Black Sea cargo ship
A Russian warship fired warning shots at a Palau-flagged cargo ship in the south-western Black Sea today.
This marks the first time Russia has fired on a merchant ship beyond Ukraine since exiting a UN-brokered grain deal last month.
“The captain of the dry-cargo ship did not respond to the request to stop for inspection for the carriage of prohibited goods,” the Russian ministry of defence wrote on Telegram. “To force the ship to stop, a warning fire from automatic small arms was opened from a Russian warship.”
According to the Russian ministry of defence, the ship then stalled and allowed an inspection team to board. The ship, Sukra Okan, was operating under the flag of Palau.
Last month, Russia dropped out of the Black Sea grain deal that allowed Ukraine – the agricultural bread basket of Europe – to continue exporting agricultural produce via the Black Sea. Moscow said all ships heading to Ukrainian waters could potentially be carrying weapons.
The Ukrainian air force is warning the eastern and southern regions of the country of a ballistic missile threat.
The air force also issued a warning about missile danger in Mykolaiv oblast and an air alert in the Zaporizhzhia oblast for tactical aviation activity to the east and south-east directions.
Here are some of the latest images of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk coming in from the agencies:
Yuriy Malashko, head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, has warned residents of the threat of Russian ballistic missiles in the city of Zaporizhzhia as well as through the region.
He also warned of the threat of aviation weapons around the edge of the Zaporizhzhia region.
Summary of the day so far
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Seven people – including an entire family of four – were killed in Russian attacks on Kherson oblast this morning. Artillery shelling in Shiroka Balka killed a husband, wife and their 23-day-old baby daughter. Their 12-year-old son was rushed to a hospital for treatment, but later succumbed to his injuries. Another person in the village was also killed. Two men were killed in Stanislavov.
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Three people were injured on Saturday after Russian troops fired 13 shells at the city 0f Kherson. The regional governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said: “The Russian military targeted the residential quarters of the populated areas of the region; territories and premises of factories in Kherson; mobile communication towers in Beryslav.”
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Ukrainian troops destroyed two Russian ammunition storage points early this morning in the occupied town of Oleshky in Kherson oblast.
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Russian air defence systems shot down a Ukrainian drone over the Kursk oblast this morning, according to the Russian ministry of defence. There were no injuries or damage reported. This comes after Russian air defence shot down three Ukrainian missiles near the Kerch bridge in Crimea, hours after shooting down 20 Ukrainian drones targeting the Crimean peninsula.
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Russia’s defence ministry says its air defence systems destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod border region, which has been repeatedly hit by unclaimed attacks since the start of the conflict.
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Britain’s defence ministry said on Sunday there was a realistic possibility that Russia no longer funded the activities of the mercenary Wagner group. The defence ministry said in a daily bulletin that the Russian state had acted against some other business interests of the Wagner owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, after he led a failed mutiny against the Russian army’s top brass in June.
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Russia lost 560 personnel on Saturday, bringing the total to 253,850 since the start of the invasion in February 2022, according to the latest numbers from the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces.
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Russian troops launched seven missiles, and conducted 47 airstrikes and 43 multiple-launch rocket system attacks on Saturday across 120 settlements around the country, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said in the morning briefing.
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The number of Russian desertions in Ukraine is increasing, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said. Russian military patrols and military personnel have been going door-to-door searching for deserting servicemen in the Russian-occupied settlement of Hornostaivka in Kherson oblast.
Some areas of the city of Kherson are without electricity following a series of Russian attacks throughout the region, said Roman Mrochko, the head of the Kherson city military administration.
“Over the past day, the enemy shelled the Kherson territorial community 17 times and used 91 shells,” Mrochko said. “Damage was recorded in Kherson, Naddnipryansk, Sadovo and Antonivka. At night, the enemy carried out an artillery bombardment of Naddnipryanskyi.”
The shelling of Kherson city damaged a high-voltage power line. Mrochko asked that residents reduce their use of electronics as crews work to fix the damage.
The 12-year-old boy who was critically injured in the Russian artillery shelling in Shiroka Balka in the Kherson oblast – a shelling that killed his father, mother and 23-day-old baby sister – has died.
Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, updated a recent post from the ministry after the boy succumbed to his injuries at a hospital: “The whole family died in Shiroka Balka,” he wrote.
That brings the total of people killed this morning in the Kherson oblast to seven: another local resident was killed alongside the family in Shiroka Balka, and two men were killed in Stanislavov.
Russian air defence systems shot down a Ukrainian drone over the Kursk oblast this morning, according to the Russian ministry of defence.
There were no injuries or damage reported.
Yesterday, Russian air defence shot down three Ukrainian missiles near the Kerch bridge in Crimea – just hours after shooting down 20 Ukrainian drones targeting the Crimean peninsula. This came amid a new campaign of drone strikes targeting Moscow in recent days as Kyiv works to keep the Kremlin’s war in the hearts and minds of the Russian elites and others seeking to ignore the invasion.
Six – including 23-day-old girl – killed in Kherson oblast
Six people – including a 23-day-old baby girl – were killed in Russian attacks on the Kherson oblast this morning, the Ukraine ministry of internal affairs said.
Artillery shelling in Shiroka Balka killed a local resident and a family – a husband, wife and their baby. The family’s 12-year-old son has been hospitalised in serious condition.
In Stanislavov, two men were killed and another woman injured.
“Terrorists will never stop killing civilians voluntarily,” the ministry of internal affairs wrote on Telegram. “Terrorists must be stopped. By force They do not understand anything else.”
What is Ukraine’s goal and what does it consider victory? Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed these questions today.
“Ukraine’s strategic goal, in addition to the unconditional return of territories, is to create conditions that make it impossible for aggression to be repeated in the future,” he posted on Twitter.
“Conversely, any ‘war freezing scenario’ with Russia’s territorial annexations fixed, as some Western observers are considering, and without Ukraine’s NATO membership (because the war is not over) will only encourage Moscow to increase its appetite and return to war after a short break.”
“That is why there is no alternative to Ukraine’s Peace Formula: strengthening the army, accelerating the supply of weapons, de-occupation of the territory, regime change in Russia, compensation from the new government, and mandatory punishment of war criminals.”
We often hear the question: what is Ukraine’s goal and what does it consider victory? Here’s the answer. Ukraine’s strategic goal, in addition to the unconditional return of territories, is to create conditions that make it impossible for aggression to be repeated in the future.…
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) August 13, 2023
Ukrainian troops destroyed two Russian ammunition storage points early this morning in occupied Olesky in the Kherson oblast, said Vladyslav Nazarov, a spokesperson for southern command.
⚡️Two Russian ammunition storage points were destroyed on the night of August 13 in occupied Oleshky, #Kherson Region, Vladyslav Nazarov, spokesperson for Southern Command, said. pic.twitter.com/DufAVjVMIA
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) August 13, 2023
Three injured from Russian shelling of Kherson city
Three people were injured yesterday after Russia fired 13 shells at the city 0f Kherson, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
“The Russian military targeted the residential quarters of the populated areas of the region; territories and premises of factories in Kherson; mobile communication towers in Beryslav,” Prokudin said.