- It has been revealed how much Russian billionaires have “contributed” to Putin’s war against Ukraine
- Lavrov responded to Japan over the Kuril Islands: “You have crossed the bounds of decency”
- Record strike: Ukraine launched 637 drones at Moscow
- London received a warning from Moscow: “You will pay”
All news about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can be found HERE.
Britain struck back at Russia: do not doubt our resolve
10:54
The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence responded to Russia’s threat to London over military aid to Ukraine, which attacks targets deep within Russian territory, emphasizing that it stands “shoulder to shoulder” with Kyiv, writes BBC.
“Russia should not doubt our government’s determination to resist Russian aggression in Ukraine,” the ministry statement said.
London also added that the country “is committed to providing Ukraine with the necessary equipment to defend itself against Putin’s illegal invasion.”
Among other things, as stated by the Ministry of Defence, the United Kingdom does not intend to reduce military support to Ukraine, even after new Russian threats.
The day before, the Russian embassy in London issued a threat to the United Kingdom, warning of consequences after media reports that Ukraine is using British drones for strikes against targets in Russian territory.
A military source confirmed to the publication that British drones were indeed used in attacks against Russia, causing economic damage of about 38 billion euros.
In April, the United Kingdom announced the transfer of tens of thousands of drones, including long-range ones, to Ukraine – the largest support of this kind in history.
These drones, developed by two separate British companies, were used in large-scale and successful attacks on Russian military and industrial facilities, including oil refineries and warehouses of the online retail giant Wildberries.
According to reports, British systems have been used for nearly half a year by Ukrainian forces to attack oil refineries and other facilities in Russian territory.
Russia launched missiles at Kharkiv: 10 people killed
10:39
Russian forces carried out a missile strike on the town of Pechenihy in the Kharkiv region, reported the head of the regional military administration, Oleh Synyehubov.
Preliminary data indicates that 10 people were killed during the Russian attack. Additionally, 8 people were injured. They are currently receiving all necessary medical assistance.
The Russian attack damaged 10 private houses, a café, a post office, a store, and at least 7 cars. Rescue services are currently working on site to clear the consequences of the Russian strike.
As reported by The Kyiv Independent on Monday, Ukraine and Russia have effectively entered a “total war” phase. This is characterized by, besides fighting on the front and strikes on military targets in the rear, the countries trying to inflict as much damage as possible to civilian infrastructure and the very foundations of the opponent’s economy. The goal of such attacks is to attempt to cause the opponent such significant damage that their economy cannot withstand it.
It has been revealed how much Russian billionaires have “contributed” to Putin’s war against Ukraine
10:02
Russian billionaires have transferred nearly 400 billion rubles (about 4.055 billion euros) to the federal budget in response to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s call to voluntarily contribute to the treasury replenishment caused by his aggressive war against Ukraine, reports the news portal The Moscow Times.
In mid-August, unpaid inflows amounted to 383.69 billion rubles, announced the newspaper Vedomosti, citing data from the “Electronic Budget”.
Meanwhile, before the March meeting between Putin and business representatives, during which, according to The Bell sources, he proposed that businessmen contribute to the country’s budget replenishment, non-governmental organizations’ contributions to the treasury amounted to 15.6 billion rubles.
Within the next month, the amount of donations increased tenfold – to 159.7 billion rubles. In May, it increased by 45.5%, in June by 27%, and in July and the first half of August by another 30%.
“The fact that Russian business is helping the budget is a fact,” emphasized Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, quoted by the magazine Expert.
At the same time, he noted that this is not about transferring specific amounts, and the assistance itself is exclusively “voluntary” in nature.
However, sources from Expert magazine reported that the government expects to receive about 300 billion rubles in “voluntary” contributions from businessmen by the end of the year. Shokhin also noted that business representatives transferred funds not only from corporate but also from family funds.
“The most important thing for business is that voluntary donations are not associated with increasing the fiscal burden. Not in the sense that business is trying to buy its way out, but there must be a balance of interests between the companies’ capabilities and budget support,” he noted.
According to Shokhin, the topic of “voluntary” contributions was discussed at the meeting between Putin and business representatives along with other mechanisms to cover the budget deficit. A tax on last year’s unjustified profits (windfall tax) was considered, but, as he noted, conditions for introducing such a tax do not exist because many companies “are experiencing losses”.
As The Moscow Times writes, the Russian federal budget deficit for January–July reached 6.455 trillion rubles (about 64.8 billion euros). Compared to the same period last year, this figure increased 1.4 times and already almost doubles the plan for the entire current year.
Since the start of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian budget has allocated nearly 50 trillion rubles for the war. To cover expenses for the army and weapons production, the government spent three-quarters of the National Wealth Fund’s free funds, introduced export and currency exchange taxes, increased the natural resource extraction tax, and confiscated private individuals’ assets worth 4 trillion rubles.
In 2025, profit tax and income tax for wealthy citizens were also increased, and in 2026, VAT and small business taxes.
Lavrov responded to Japan over the Kuril Islands: “You have crossed the bounds of decency”
08:20
Moscow announced on Monday that it summoned the Japanese ambassador after Tokyo condemned the recent visit of President Vladimir Putin to the Kuril Islands in Russia’s Far East, which Japan also claims.
Relations between Russia and Japan have long been overshadowed by disputes over these territories, called the Northern Territories in Japan, which the Soviet Union occupied in 1945.
73-year-old Putin visited the islands after a visit to nearby Sakhalin Island in Russia. This prompted Japan to protest and summon the Russian ambassador.
In response, Moscow summoned Japanese envoy Akira Muto.
Japanese officials, criticizing Putin’s trip, “crossed the bounds of decency,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
“We summoned the (Japanese) ambassador,” Lavrov told reporters, adding that Tokyo initially said Muto could not come immediately.
“We were told either that he was not in Moscow or that he was ill. We did not quite understand this situation,” Lavrov said.
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The ministry’s press secretary Maria Zakharova later told the state news agency TASS that after Lavrov’s comments, the ambassador “suddenly felt better” and will come to the meeting on Tuesday.
According to Lavrov, Muto’s summons was intended to discuss “the behavior of the Japanese leadership” and how ambassadors “should behave in the host country”.
Relations between Japan and Russia were further worsened by the large-scale conflict in Ukraine that began in 2022.
Japan joined other G7 countries in imposing sanctions on Russia and providing financial and non-lethal defensive aid to Kyiv.
Record strike: Ukraine launched 637 drones at Moscow
07:26
Moscow and the Moscow region experienced one of the largest drone attacks since the start of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine last night.
From the evening of August 17 to the morning of August 18, 637 Ukrainian drones were launched towards the Russian capital, said city mayor Sergey Sobyanin.
According to him, at least 180 of them were shot down directly in the Moscow region. In turn, Moscow region governor Andrey Vorobyov reported that more than 150 drones were “intercepted” in cities around Moscow.
It is reported that the roof of an apartment building caught fire in Pavlovsky Posad, residents were evacuated, and there were no casualties.
However, according to the Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova Plus, Russian air defense systems, trying to shoot down drones, hit a residential building in Pavlovsky Posad, located about 67 kilometers from Moscow.
In the Ramensky district, a drone fell on a private house, injuring a 10-year-old girl.
According to the governor, two people were also injured by falling drone debris in Kolomna and Bogorodsk.
There were also reports of a fire at an aluminum factory in the Moscow region. Another fire was observed in a burning house in the city of Lyubertsy, located right at the border of Moscow city.
Videos from the town of Staraya Kupavna (23 km east of Moscow) show Russian citizens running and cars speeding through the streets, with explosions heard in the background.
Wildberries burns again
One of the targets of the shelling was the Wildberries warehouse in Bogorodsk – a fire broke out in the logistics center. The company reported that staff were evacuated, consequences were “promptly eliminated,” and goods were not damaged.
According to Vorobyov, a shopping pavilion near the Globus shopping center caught fire in Kolomna, the civil registry office building and a store were damaged.
Reports of losses from other Moscow districts are also being published.
The company Mosoblenergo reported damage to electrical network equipment. As a result, electricity supply to 109 transformer substations was disconnected. More than five thousand consumers and 46 socially important facilities were left without electricity.
The previous largest attack on Moscow since the start of the war was on July 18. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, then the anti-aircraft defense forces near the Russian capital intercepted 194 drones.
As shown by the Ministry of Defence report, last night over 15 Russian regions and occupied Crimea “caught and destroyed” 791 Ukrainian drones.
London received a warning from Moscow: “You will pay the price”
06:40
Moscow warned the United Kingdom (UK) on Monday that it “will pay the price” following reports that British drones supplied to Ukraine were used in strikes deep inside Russia.
This warning came after the Sunday Times reported that Kyiv used drones produced by two British companies to attack military and industrial targets in Russian territory.
The Russian embassy in London accused the UK in its statement of becoming an “accomplice and co-author of attacks” who “consciously chooses escalation” in this conflict.
“The deeper it gets involved in the conflict and the more support it provides to Kyiv’s terrorist machine, the higher the price it will pay,” the statement said.
According to the Sunday Times, one of the companies is a subsidiary of the defense industry giant BAE Systems.
The newspaper did not name the second company, citing security reasons.
The UK Ministry of Defence has not yet responded to requests to comment on the situation.
The UK has been one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine since February 2022, when Russia launched a large-scale invasion.
Ukraine has intensified long-range strikes in Russian territory in recent months, while Moscow has in turn intensified missile and drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
“They will kill my son”: FSB threats forced a Ukrainian volunteer to go to Russia
06:31
The Russian Security Service (FSB) blackmailed well-known Ukrainian volunteer Mykhailo Purysev, threatening to conscript his son into the Russian army, the volunteer himself said on August 17, writes The Kyiv Independent.
“There are two options. The first – I cooperate with the FSB, they help my son, they don’t touch him, he is fine. But in that case, I betray my country and my children. The second option – I do not cooperate with them, and they will just kill my son,” Purysev said in a video posted on social media.
The volunteer, originally from occupied Mariupol, has four children in total. Two from a previous marriage live in Russia, and two in Ukraine.
“I decided there is a third option. Just to go there. When I am with them, they can do whatever they want with me. But my son will stay alive,” he said.
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