LIVE TEXT War in Ukraine, day 555. Alarm in all schools in Kiev, on the first day of the school year / Russian schoolchildren were told that Russia is invincible / Putin meets with Erdogan on Monday in Sochi / Kadyrov threatens to leave and correctly, after his mother was brought in to the list of approved

Kyiv: Russians returned 11 children illegally detained in Kherson

11 children aged 2 to 16, “illegally held by the Russians” in the occupied territories of the Kherson region, returned to the territory controlled by Kyiv. This was reported by the Kherson regional military administration, the words of which are quoted by Ukrayinska Pravda. “Lessons at school started today. And 11 more children will be able to study in educational institutions of Ukraine. They managed to return home after being illegally deported by the occupiers,” the Ukrainian authorities said. “These are children illegally detained in the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region. Among them are six children deprived of parental care. And five have families,” the regional administration added, emphasizing that “the youngest child is 2 years old, the oldest is 16.”

White House: Over the past 72 hours, notable successes in Kyiv

“Over the past 72 hours, we have seen significant progress by the Ukrainian military in the counteroffensive, especially in the south of the Zaporozhye region,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at a virtual briefing with a small group of journalists.

Kremlin: British multinational company Bae Systems in Ukraine will become a military target

If the British multinational company Bae Systems opens arms production lines in Ukraine, they will become military targets for Russian troops to strike. This was announced today by the official representative of the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov. “Obviously, any facility for the production of weapons, especially if it is used against us, will become the object of special attention of our forces,” the TASS news agency quoted Peskov as saying. Yesterday, the press service of President Zelensky announced an agreement to open production in Ukraine.

Putin to students: Russia is invincible

“Russia is invincible.” This was stated by President Vladimir Putin, speaking to a group of schoolchildren on the first day of school.

Kyiv: we work from the territory of Russia

This week, an attack on a Russian military airport in Pskov, a few kilometers from the border with Estonia, was carried out from Russian territory, Kirilo Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry, said, according to RBC-Ukraine. . “We are working from Russian territory,” Budanov said, referring to the attack on the Pskov airport that took place on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. Budanov did not specify whether the attack was carried out by Ukraine or by pro-Ukrainian Russian partisans.

Kadyrov, new threats

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a staunch ally of the Kremlin, has protested US sanctions against his mother, Aimani Kadyrov, calling them “a cynical disregard for ethical standards” and threatening a harsh response. “I stopped being surprised at the illogical sanctions adopted by the US and the West, and now suddenly my own mother is on the list,” Kadyrov said in a video on his Telegram channel, quoted by the TASS agency. press. “The whole world,” he adds, “knows that she is only doing charitable work.” Therefore, the Chechen leader is demanding the lifting of sanctions against his mother, saying that otherwise American diplomats will no longer be able to travel to Europe and Russia. “This unties our hands. If the United States has legalized such criminal methods, then we will not limit ourselves.”

Moscow, the new Sarmat strategic missile is ready for operation

Russia announced the commissioning of a new strategic ballistic missile “Sarmat”, capable of hitting any target around the world. This was announced by the head of the Roskomos space agency, Yuri Borisov, who is quoted by Russian agencies.

Kremlin confirms: Putin and Erdogan will meet on Monday in Sochi

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed today that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet on Monday, September 4, in Sochi, Russia. It is reported by RIA Novosti agency.

Police: explosion alerts in all schools in Kyiv on the first day of the new school year

The Ukrainian police reported that today, on the first day of the new school year, an explosion alarm went off in all schools in Kyiv, according to Ukrainian media. “We have received information about the presence of bombs in the schools of Kyiv. All educational units are controlled by the Kyiv police,” the statement says. The authorities, together with the police, will decide whether it is necessary to evacuate children and teachers, the statement continues.

The share of EU trade with Russia fell below 2%

Russia’s share of non-EU imports fell from 9.6% in February 2022 to 1.7% in June 2023, while its share of non-EU exports fell from 3.8% to 1.4% over the same period . This is precisely what follows from the data published by Eurostat, which show a sudden drop in trade after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, dictated, in part, by the restrictions adopted by the EU. In March 2022, a month after the invasion, the EU registered an increase in the trade deficit with Russia caused by high energy prices. The deficit amounted to 18.5 billion euros. By June 2023, it had been reduced to €0.4 billion, staying below one billion for four consecutive months in 2023 (€0.1 in March, €0.8 in April and €0.4 in May). This change was strongly impacted by a $18.6bn decrease in the monthly value of imports from Russia between March 2022 (€23.9bn) and June 2023 (€3.3bn). At the same time, the value of exports decreased from 3.4 billion euros in March 2022 to 2.9 billion euros in June 2023.

Ukraine has developed a weapon capable of striking at a distance of 700 km

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his country has developed a weapon that can hit a target 700km away, apparently referring to an airstrike this week on an airport in western Russia that destroyed several Russian military jets.

The weapon was produced by the Ministry of Strategic Industry of Ukraine, but he did not provide details.

“The range of our new Ukrainian weapons is now 700 kilometers. The task is to increase this figure,” Zelensky wrote in a post on the X social network, formerly known as Twitter.

Zelenskiy’s announcement about Ukraine’s new long-range weapons came before a Russian official announced early Friday that air defense units had “neutralized an unidentified facility” in the Pskov region in western Russia, the same region where Ukrainian air strikes could have damaged four Il-76s. military transport aircraft on Wednesday.

While Ukraine has rarely commented directly on specific attacks inside Russia, Zelensky appeared to suggest twice on Thursday that Ukrainian forces were behind the attack in Pskov.

UPDATE – Kyiv Independent: US supplies air-to-air missiles to Ukraine

The US Department of Defense announced on August 31 a contract for the supply of advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (AMRAAM) from the American company Raytheon for Ukraine.

UPDATE – Politico: 10 Abrams tanks to arrive in Ukraine by mid-September

According to US Department of Defense sources, 10 of the promised 31 Abrams tanks will arrive in Ukraine by mid-September, Politico reported on August 31.