Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy warns of 'ugly' Russian attack

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday warned Ukrainians to be vigilant in the coming week as they prepare to celebrate their Independence Day.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said Ukrainians must not allow Moscow to "spread despondency and fear" among them as they celebrate the 31st anniversary of independence from Soviet rule on August 24.

"We must all be aware that this week Russia could try to do something particularly ugly, something particularly vicious," Zelenskyy said.

August 24 also marks six months since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

During his address, Zelenskyy also referenced Crimea in a cryptic fashion following a series of blasts there, none of which Ukraine has claimed responsibility for.

"You can literally feel Crimea in the air this year, that the occupation there is only temporary and that Ukraine is coming back,"  Zelenskyy said.

Here's an overview of some of the other major stories concerning the war in Ukraine on August 20.

Damaged Russian tanks displayed on Kyiv’s main street

Kyiv residents could inspect a number of damaged and captured Russian tanks in the capital on Saturday as Ukraine gets ready to commemorate its independence day.

A video shared on Twitter showed people in the Ukrainian capital taking pictures and even climbing on the destroyed armored vehicles.

Ukraine commemorates its independence from the Soviet Union on August 24.

Ukrainian lawmaker Roman Hryshchuk tweeted "Russian tanks at the parade in the center of Kyiv."

"But, there is one nuance," he said, in an apparent ironic reference to the lack of Russian military personnel accompanying the vehicles.

On Thursday, a UK Ministry of Defense intelligence update reported "heavy attrition" of Russian tanks in Ukraine, which it partially attributed to "Russia's failure to fit and properly employ adequate explosive reactive armor."

Austria summons Russian diplomat for inhuman statements about Ukrainians

Austria's Foreign Ministry has summoned for Sunday Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov.

The ministry is reacting to Ulyanov’s tweet interpreted by many as a call to eliminate Ukrainians. Russian diplomat wrote "No mercy to the Ukrainian population!" under a tweet by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who thanked the US for the latest arms package.

Ulyanov later deleted his post and stated that its content had been misinterpreted.

However, Austria's Foreign Ministry said that they are outraged by Ulyanov’s inhuman statements and "by his attempts to relativize what cannot be relativized."

"We stand for freedom of expression. But we are also free to take a firm stand against such inflammatory statements," the ministry wrote on Twitter.

Ukrainian officials have called on Austria to expel Ulyanov.

Moscow accuses Ukraine of poisoning some of its soldiers in Zaporizhzhia region

Russia's defense ministry accused Ukraine on Saturday of poisoning some of its servicemen in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia in late July.

According to the Russian defense ministry, a number of Russian servicemen had been taken to a military hospital with signs of serious poisoning on July 31. Tests showed a toxic substance, botulinum toxin type B, in their bodies, it said.

"On the fact of chemical terrorism sanctioned by the (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy regime, Russia is preparing supporting evidence with the results of all the analyses," the ministry said in a statement.

An adviser to Ukraine's interior ministry said in response that the alleged poisoning could have been caused by Russian forces eating expired canned meat.

Botulinum toxin type B is a neurotoxin that can cause botulism when ingested in previously contaminated food products, but it can also have medical uses.

Russian missile targets Ukrainian town not far from Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear plant

A Russian missile hit a residential area of a southern Ukrainian town of Voznesensk not far from a nuclear power station on Saturday, wounding 12 civilians and heightening fears of a nuclear accident.

The town is about 30 km (19 miles) from the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant, the second largest in Ukraine after Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

State-run Energoatom, which manages all four Ukrainian nuclear energy generators, described the attack on Voznesensk as "another act of Russian nuclear terrorism."

"It is possible that this missile was aimed specifically at the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant, which the Russian military tried to seize back at the beginning of March," Energoatom said in a statement.

UN chief Guterres: Russian food and fertilizer must reach global markets

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that governments and the private sector should cooperate to help the export of Russian food and fertilizers and Ukrainian grain.

This cooperation would be carried out under a deal brokered by the UN and Turkey that would allow Ukrainian ports to restart grain exports. The ports had been blocked since February, worsening the global food crisis.

Two dozen ships have left Ukrainian harbors since the end of the blockade.

"The other part of this package deal is the unimpeded access to the global markets of Russian food and fertilizer, which are not subject to sanctions," Guterres said.

"It is important that all governments and the private sector cooperate to bring them to market," he stressed.

The UN chief said that the deal was a necessary measure to calm commodity markets. Prices of consumer goods have soared amid inflation and disruptions in the global energy market.

"Getting more food and fertilizer out of Ukraine and Russia is crucial to further calm commodity markets and lower prices for consumers."

Russia's Shoigu: potential EU-wide entry ban for Russians 'Nazi policy'

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu slammed the proposals which would keep Russian citizens from obtaining tourist visas.

"Today we're seeing another clear manifestation of a Nazi policy," said at the first International Anti-Fascist Congress near Moscow. He went on to accuse European officials of putting forward a "Russophobic idea."

Shoigu said that Ukraine had committed "terrible crimes against civilians" in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. He accused Kyiv of implementing nationalistic policies targeting Ukraine's Russian population and said that this represented a threat to Russia's security.

An EU-wide ban on issuing Schengen visas to Russians is due to be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Prague at the end of the month. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic have already stopped issuing tourist visas to Russians.

Germany's Scholz praises Russian opposition leader Navalny

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke on the two-year anniversary of the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a video published on Twitter.

Navalny was treated in the Charité hospital in Berlin. Scholz spoke with Navalny while the poisoned opposition leader was in hospital.

"I met a brave man, who returned to Russia because he wanted to fight for democracy, freedom and the rule of law," Scholz said in the video.

Navalny has been serving a 12-year prison sentence since his arrest in January 2021 following his return from Germany.

Scholz said that freedom of expression, which was already under attack in Russia before the invasion of Ukraine, is now "even more under threat."

Drone shot down at Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Crimea

An explosion was reported near the staff building of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, local Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.

Razvozhayev said that the fleet's air forces shot down a drone.

"It dropped onto the roof and burned," he said, adding that there were no casualties. Sevastopol's Moscow-backed governor urged residents to "keep calm and stay home for the next hour if possible."

According to Razvozhayev, a drone had already hit the building's courtyard at the end of last month, bringing about casualties. Ukraine has denied involvement in the attack.

A Russian ammunition depot exploded in the north of the peninsula this week, with Moscow blaming "saboteurs." Drones were also allegedly shot down over the city of Kerch, which is linked to Russia by the Crimean Bridge. Kyiv did not claim responsibility for the attacks, but said that further blasts were expected in the future.

Blasts were also heard yesterday near the Belbek air base in Sevastopol.

Early last week, several major explosions were heard at the Saky air base near Novofedorivka on the peninsula's western coast. Both Kyiv and Moscow denied Ukrainian involvement, with Russian authorities claiming the explosions were the result of an "accident" after munitions caught fire.

Sevastopol has been under Russian occupation since Moscow annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. The city is located in Crimea's southwest, but is governed separately from the rest of the peninsula.

US to buy 150,000 tons of Ukrainian grain in coming weeks

David Beasley, the head of the World Food Program, told AP that the US will purchase 150,000 tons of grain from Ukraine in the weeks ahead for an upcoming shipment of food aid.

Beasley said discussions are ongoing, with the final destinations for the grain not yet settled. The push to deliver more food aid comes at a time when the UN agency that fights hunger is struggling to stave off a major global crisis brought on by constricted supplies due to the war in Ukraine.

Beasley was speaking from northern Kenya where he sought to drive home the acute nature of the global food crisis at present. He said, "I think there's a high probability we'll have a declaration of famine" in coming weeks.

The first aid ship from Ukraine, carrying 23,000 tons of grain, is expected at the port of Djibouti late next week. Beasley said that ship will provide enough to feed 1.5 million people on full rations for a month, with much of the wheat on board scheduled to journey overland to northern Ethiopia.

China boosts Russian energy imports

China is importing an increasing amount of Russian energy, data from Beijing's Customs Office has shown.

Russia is now China's largest oil supplier for the third month in a row, having edged out Saudi Arabia. Last month, China imported a total of 7.15 million tons of oil from Russia, 7.6% more than in July 2021.

Beijing has also upped its intake of Russian coal, with imports rising to its highest level in more than five years, at around 7.42 million tons in July, or a 14% year-on-year increase.

While EU member states have been trying to reduce their reliance on Russian energy since February, China has increased imports in light of discounted prices provided by Moscow.

More on the war in Ukraine 

Russia's army is weakening following explosions at Russia's airfield in Crimea and Ukrainian artillery hits on dozens of Russian ammunition depots and commando units in occupied areas, Ben Hodges, commander-in-chief of US forces in Europe, told DW. This could have implications on the likelihood of success of a Ukrainian counteroffensive to recapture the country's south from Russian forces, a move which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been teasing over the past months.

A bulk wheat shipment set off toward Djibouti, weeks after a deal saw Russia allow exports to resume via the Black Sea. It was the first boat bound for Africa. 

However, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned that the food crisis is not over during a visit to the the southwestern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, despite the lifting of an effective blockade that lasted for months.

sdi/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)