Ukraine Day 902: LIVE UPDATES BELOW.
Yesterday’s live coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here.
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An Invasion By Any Other Name: The Kremlin’s Dirty War in Ukraine
Fighting is hot and heavy in Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian military report earlier on Sunday, August 7, three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and four wounded over the previous 24 hours.
Andriy Lysenko, spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s Anti-Terror Operation (ATO) warned that Russian soldiers are rotating in and out of the country and new weapons have crossed into Ukraine. Ukraine Today reports:
“In the north of Crimea Russian troops carry out their maneuvers, and at certain time movement at the Crimean checkpoints was stopped at the initiative of the Russian side. We have to realize that at any moment the occupation forces may begin an offensive of any scale” said Lysenko.
The military spokesman specified that not only militants, but their commanders from Russia’s Armed Forces are stationed on the other side of the contact line.
“We know that Russian officers, who command and plan all the military operations, are undergoing constant rotation,” he added.
According to Unian.info, the Ukrainian military is on alert and preparing for possible Russian aggression, since there is troop movement across the entire line of demarcation in eastern Ukraine. Lysenko was asked by a reporter whether a Russian attack was possible, to which he answered, disconcertingly, “we’re expecting it at any time,”
In a separate report, Ukraine Today warned that, according to the Ukrainian military, Russian armor and troops were building up in northern Crimea:
“Witnesses report that large groups of Russian military hardware have been massed near Armyansk and Dzhankoy. Dzhankoy has been cordoned off by troops with tanks and other equipment,” Deputy Chairman of the Crimean Mejlis Nariman Dzhelalov wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
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“At about 07:00 local time today [Sunday, August 7], the Russian occupying authorities suspended, for unknown reasons, the handling of citizens and vehicles crossing the administrative border with Crimea,” the press center of the State Border Service of Ukraine told UNIAN on Sunday.
These developments have many people on edge, though Unian.info reported, citing Ukraine’s border guard services, that by later in the day on Sunday the Russian checkpoints to the Ukrainian mainland had been reopened:
“At about 14:30 local time, the Russian occupying authorities resumed operations at the checkpoints in occupied territory in Crimea, which are over against the Kalanchak and Chaplynka checkpoints [in Ukraine]. Yet, they handle only those persons and vehicles that are heading for Crimea,” the border guards said.
Ukraine-Crimea checkpoints resume operations
"At about 14:30 local time, the Russian occupying authorities resumed operations at the checkpoints in occupied territory in Crimea, which are over against the Kalanchak and Chaplynka checkpoints [in Ukraine]. Yet, they handle only those persons and vehicles that are heading for Crimea," the border guards said.