The destruction of the ship full of fuel tank train cars at a port in the Kerch Strait yesterday will hamper Russia’s ability to supply troops and the Crimean peninsula with fuel and lubricants, according to the Ukrainian Navy and the popular Crimean Wind Telegram channel. As we reported yesterday, the Conro Trader, a Russian Roll On Roll Off (RORO) vessel with a reported 30 fuel tank cars aboard, erupted in a ball of flames at the Port of Kavkaz.
The Ukrainian Navy on Friday took credit for that attack, which was suspected to have been carried out by a converted Neptune missile.
“We can confirm the information that this target was destroyed by the [Ukrainian] Navy,” spokesman Captain Dmytro Pletenchuk said Friday, according to Ukrainian Pravda. “This ferry is one of the most important chains of Russian military logistics for supplying the occupation forces, primarily with fuel and lubricants, but it also transported weapons, of course. Therefore, this is a legitimate target. And, accordingly, this should reduce the potential of our enemy’s capabilities in those locations where they are actively engaged in hostilities.”
“The ferry sank, Plentenchuck added. “The work of this part of the port is blocked. They still have one more platform to load wagons onto the ferry. But there are no ferries. This is the problem. No wonder the locals in the occupied Ukrainian Crimea immediately reacted with mass visits to petrol stations.”
Plentenchuk’s explanation of the target’s value lends credence to the claims that Ukraine used one of its prized Neptune missiles to strike the ship.
Crimean Wind said the attack on the ferry is a sign for residents to stock up on fuel or find alternative energy sources ahead of the coming winter.
The Conro Trader was the last of three vessels ferrying fuel to the peninsula, Crimean Wind noted.
“The ferry Avangard was hit on May 30 and was seriously damaged,” Crimean Wind said. “The ship’s starboard side was practically torn apart. Now Avangard is under repair, when it will return to service is unknown.”
The Ukrainian Armed Forces “damaged the Slavyanin on July 23. The ferry is currently awaiting repairs and is located in the Sea of Azov,” Crimean Wind explained.
The Conro Trader “sank after an attack on August 22 in the port of Kavkaz, paralyzing the work of the Kerch ferry crossing for an indefinite period,” the Telegram channel stated. “Fuel is not being delivered to Crimea via the Kerch Bridge by rail, as the structures are weakened after the explosion on the bridge and the burning freight train. There are also concerns that the train carrying fuel could be hit by a missile. Therefore, our advice, Crimeans, remains the same: stock up on fuel. Or switch to electric transport.”
New satellite imagery shows the extent of the damage at the port, including the destroyed Conro Trader and smaller ships there that could have been damaged. Part of the rail line leading to the water was also damaged. In addition, nearby vehicles also appear to be burned.
In another Ukrainian attack on Russia’s energy infrastructure, a fire at a Russian oil facility in Proletarsk, Rostov Oblast continues to burn for a sixth day after being hit by Ukrainian drones on Aug. 18. There are growing concerns that it could spread to the oil depot’s kerosene tanks. That would make the conflagration even harder to battle.
Russian media claims the facility, about 250 miles from the front lines, was again by a Ukrainian drone on Friday.
The drone struck at 5 a.m. local time, the Russian SHOT news outlet said on Telegram Friday. “There were no casualties,” SHOT said. “Presumably, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are trying to spread the flames to the kerosene tanks, which could significantly increase the area of the fire. At the moment, the fire has not reached the kerosene tanks. There has been no official information about the incident.”
The War Zone cannot independently verify that claim.
Meanwhile, the area outside the oil depot has caught fire, with local authorities saying arson is to blame.
“Reeds have caught fire over a decent area,” the Rostov Main Telegram channel said. “The fire has already reached private houses and several of them have burned down. There are 40 firefighters and 12 units of equipment on the scene.”
“A fire in Proletarsk, Rostov Region, where residential buildings, dry grass and reeds are burning, has been assigned a higher level of complexity, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported,” according to TASS.
A dynamic map of the 18-day-old Kursk invasion posted on Twitter shows how Ukrainian forces have advanced from an initial incursion to a full-fledged invasion now involving nearly 10,000 Ukrainian troops. It shows the fluctuations in the front lines of this fight. with Ukrainian forces spreading their footprint in larger swaths of the Kursk.
However, the map’s designer cautioned that it does not show who controls the territory, just where the fighting has raged.
“Frontline movements should be viewed as an approximation rather than an exact depiction,” said the @TarmoFella Twitter handle. “The numbers hovering over the map represent the approximate soldier numbers. The map does not indicate the level of control over individual zones, but the extent/limit of advances – and is based on reports from soldiers and civilians in the area.”
An advisor to the governor of Kursk Oblast is urging residents of Rysk to evacuate. The town is about 12 miles northwest of the most current known advance of Ukrainian troops in the region. The key E38 highway runs through the middle of it.
“Fellow countrymen, don’t wait until the last minute, like Sudzha, Korenevo Glushkovo. Your life and the lives of your relatives are more valuable than the life of a dog,” Roman Alekhine urged on Telegram. “By delaying the decision to leave, you are putting not only yourself at risk, but also those who will later risk their lives to evacuate you. And they also have families. I think that today it would be better to evacuate from Rylsk, while it is possible and safe to do so.”
So far, more than 133,000 residents of Kursk have evacuated, according to Gov. Alexei Smirnov.
Russia on Friday again claimed that Ukraine tried to attack the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) with a drone and repeated its call for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate, according to Russian media. The plant is located in Kurchatov, about 15 miles from the front lines.
This is the second such accusation in as many days and the IAEA executive director said on Thursday that he will personally visit the site next week.
“A Ukrainian kamikaze drone has been discovered near the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant’s spent nuclear fuel storage facility,” the official Russian TASS news agency said on Telegram, citing a law enforcement source. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the news outlet that “the Kyiv regime’s attempt to attack the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant with a kamikaze drone is an act of nuclear terrorism.”
TASS posted a photo it claimed shows “a downed Ukrainian drone near the KNPP.” In addition to the drone, TASS posted photos of munitions it claims were found near the plant as well. Both the drone and the munitions are relatively intact. While it is possible that a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance team could have gotten close enough to the plant to launch such a drone, the motive remains unclear.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not specifically address the claim, but said on Telegram that “over the past night, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using an aircraft-type UAV against targets on the territory of the Russian Federation was thwarted.”
In addition, “four Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed by air defense systems on duty over the territory of the Belgorod region and three over the territory of the Kursk region.
The IAEA said it will investigate claims made by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that Ukraine tried to attack KNPP. At a meeting with cabinet officials Thursday to discuss the situation in Kursk, Putin charged Ukraine with trying to strike the plant but did not say how. The IAEA said Putin later told them Ukraine tried to attack with a drone.
IAEA “has been informed by the Russian Federation today that the remains of a drone were found within the territory of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plan,” the nuclear watchdog organization said in a statement.
“The drone fragments were reported to have been located roughly 100 meters from the plant’s spent fuel nuclear storage facility, said IAEA, adding that it was told the drone was suppressed in the early morning of 22 August.”
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said he will “personally assess the situation at the site during his visit next week.”
“Military activity in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant is a serious risk to nuclear safety and security. My visit to KNPP next week will provide us with timely access to independently assess the situation,” Grossi said.
Meanwhile, KNPP “is operating in normal mode, radiation levels are at natural levels, Rosenergoatom reported,” according to the official Russian RIA Novosti news organization.
A former high-ranking Ukrainian officer with direct knowledge of the operation told us it was unlikely that Kyiv would target the plant.
“I strongly believe that Ukrainians are not attacking KNPP,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational details. “It is Russian propaganda and manipulation with the strategic aim to undermine and discredit international support for Ukraine.”
However, another source with direct knowledge suggested that Ukraine could be attempting to destroy the plant’s transmission lines or transformers and switching lines.
“Ukraine is trying to make ordinary citizens pay a price for Putin’s war of ambition,” said the second source, also speaking on condition of anonymity. “They have been generally spared thus far, but Ukraine is turning up the thermostat to erode domestic consensus on Putin’s ability to keep them safe and secure from Ukrainian and Western/NATO weapons.
In addition to claiming Ukraine tried to attack the KNPP, Putin also addressed the failures that allowed Ukraine to invade Kursk.
“These are problems that lie in the area of responsibility of law enforcement agencies.he said during a cabinet meeting. “This is a separate topic. I hope that, as was reported today, interaction between local and regional authorities, the government, and law enforcement agencies has been established, and this will also play a positive role in achieving the goals that we have here. I will not repeat them, they are absolutely obvious.”
Putin additionally heard from the governors of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk oblasts, who have also been under Ukrainian attack, mostly from artillery and drones.
Russian regions under attack by Ukraine are forming civilian volunteer militias called Territorial Defense Regiments (TDRs) to better cope with those attacks.
Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov told Putin that so far, there are about 6,000 people in his TDR.
”The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be difficult,” he told Putin, adding that “19 civilians have been injured over the past week.”
“Damage to agricultural enterprises in the Belgorod region from attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces is estimated at around 3 billion rubles ($33 million),” he added.
Bryansk Gov. Aleksandr Bogomaz said that the TDR in his region is being led by an Airborne Forces major general. A reported Ukrainian attempt to fight into Bryansk was thwarted, he added.
“The situation at the site of the clash with the Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group has been stabilized,” he said.
Beyond the loss of territory, Russia is preparing to allocate about $30 million to deal with the border situation in Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk Oblasts. About a third of that is earmarked to directly assist residents. Putin also supported a measure to give residents leaving Kursk a $1,600 payment.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Ukraine Friday as part of an ongoing diplomatic effort by Kyiv “to engage non-Western nations in potential settlement talks in the war with Russia,” The New York Times reported.
Modi’s trip is “the highest-profile wartime visit of a leader of a nation with a neutral stance on the conflict,” the publication reported.
Ukrainian officials have said that they do not see a mediating role for India, but they portrayed Mr. Modi’s visit as a welcome show of support for their country during the war. The visit is the first by an Indian leader since Ukraine gained independence in 1991, according to The Times.
Modi also visited a memorial to Ukrainian children killed during this war.
While the Pentagon supports Ukraine’s use of some U.S.-donated weapons in Kursk, U.S.-produced Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) short-range ballistic missiles are still prohibited from being fired into Russia, a Pentagon spokesperson told us.
“In May, we gave Ukraine permission to use U.S.-provided munitions with the exception of ATACMS, to defend themselves against Russian troops north of the border and that is what Ukraine has said they are doing, the spokesperson told us. “Ukraine may only use long-range missiles provided by the United States inside its own territory. That continues to be our policy, which has not changed in the wake of Ukraine’s military operations in Kursk.”
On Thursday, Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Ukraine can use U.S. weapons in Kursk.
“Our policy does allow for Ukraine to conduct counterfires to defend itself from Russian attacks coming over that border region,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday. “And that border region does include Kursk. It does include Sumy, and so they are defending themselves from Russian attacks within that region.”
Singh did not specify what weapons and was not asked if the U.S. still prohibits the use of ATACMS.
The Pentagon is still trying to assess the nature of the Kursk invasion, how far Ukraine will try to go and how long it may stay.
“So when it comes to Kursk, we have an understanding from what President Zelensky laid out that they want to create a buffer zone,” Singh said. “We are still working with Ukraine on how that fits into their strategic objectives on the battlefield itself. When we feel confident that we have a better understanding of how that all knits together.”
Ukraine has used some of its best troops and equipment in Kursk. Singh said the Pentagon is unsure how that will affect Kyiv’s defense of its east, which is facing tremendous pressure from advancing Russian troops.
“It remains to be seen how Kursk impacts the east,” she said. “That’s something we’re still trying to get a better understanding from the Ukrainians on the long-term goals in that area, and also understanding how that fits into their strategic operations.”
During a visit to Sumy Oblast with his top general on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his forces captured one more town in its invasion. He also said Ukraine will bolster the defense of two key towns in Donetsk Oblast.
Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi “reported on the operational situation in all areas of active operations, and in particular on the most difficult areas of the front,” Zelensky stated on Telegram. “He informed about the steps taken to strengthen the defense in the Toretsk and Pokrovsky directions. In certain areas of the Kursk region under the control of Ukraine, there is one more settlement, and we have replenishment of the exchange fund.”
Zelensky did name the new town that was captured.
The invasion has reduced the number of attacks Russia has launched on Sumy Oblast, the head of the Sumy Military Administration told Zelensky.
“There is a decrease in shelling with barrel weapons and a decrease in civilian casualties,” said Volodymyr Artiukh.
Sumy abuts Kursk and serves as a staging area for the invasion.
“Special attention was given to the coordination between the military, police, and the State Emergency Service in the border area, particularly in organizing humanitarian convoys to designated areas of the Kursk region,” Zelensky added.
Russia claims it recaptured the town of Nechaev in Kursk, the Russian Vorposte Telegram channel claimed, using a photo of Russian troops holding up the tricolor flag there as proof. About 11 miles northeast of Sudzha, the town is on the eastern edge of Ukraine’s advance.
A prominent Russian milblogger shared his ire over the lack of shelters that were constructed near the KNPP and elsewhere in Kursk before the invasion.
“The Kursk region authorities have announced the start of installing reinforced concrete shelters in Kursk and Zheleznogorsk,” the Kotenok Telegram channel said. “They are also planning to provide them to Kurchatov. That is, the city of nuclear scientists, where the nuclear power plant is located, has not yet been provided. How is that possible?”
That, Kotenok said sarcastically, “is the most obvious evidence of the sanity and effectiveness of not only the regional ‘elites,’ but also the entire vertical of power of the Russian Federation.”
The Russian Air Force has dropped nearly 30 guided munitions on targets in Kursk, according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff.
“Russian troops are actively applying aviation in Kursk,” it said on Facebook. “At present, 17 aviation strikes are known, with the use of 27 controlled aviation bombs, on the settlements of the Russian Federation.”
Ukraine’s 95th Brigade compiled a video of drone operations against Russian forces in Kursk.
“I flay them on their land and they die and stink here and fertilize their lands, not ours,” said one soldier.
Russia has issued arrest warrants for three more journalists who filed reports in Kursk.
The FSB “has initiated and investigated criminal cases…against the American journalist Nick Peyton Walsh and Ukrainian correspondents Borovik Olesi Nikolaevna and Butsko Diana Vladimirovna, who illegally crossed the State border of the Russian Federation and conducted videotapes in the area of the Russian Federation. Sudzha of the Kursk region,” the FSB said in a statement.
The FSB previously opened a criminal case against Italian journalists Simoni Trini and Stephanie Traini and Stephanie Battistini “for illegally crossing the State Border of the Russian Federation on the territory of the Kursk region,” according to FSB.
The journalists face up to five years in prison.
“In the near future, they will be put on the international wanted list,” the FSB stated.
Paton Walsh, CNN’s chief international security correspondent, reported from the now-Ukrainian held town of Sudzha last week.
CNN did not respond to a request for comment.
Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) hacked into several Russian television broadcasts, inserting video from the Kursk invasion and forcing those stations to temporarily go off the air.
So many residents of the Russian town of Irkutsk have been killed in the war that there is now a crowd-funded effort to buy body bags, according to a local Telegram channel.
“Money for bags to evacuate corpses from the front line is being collected in the Irkutsk region,” said People of Baikal, citing a closed chat of the wives of three mobilized troops.
The chat owner wrote that she was “appealing for help, not for judgment.” according to People of Baikal. “She explained that the money for bags was being asked for by the military, who were ‘lifting bodies.’”
“We need a large number of pathological bags for evacuations! It will take a long time to wait for them to be provided. When leaving for evacuation, they may take the norm, but in reality it will turn out that there are more than the norm,” she wrote in the chat.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the fighting remains fierce in the east as Russian troops continue to approach the key cities of Pokrovsk and Toretsk. The video below shows Russian first-person view (FPV) drone attacks on a Ukrainian high-ground position near Toretsk.
That’s it for now.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com