Liberation of Urozhaine and ship's departure from Odesa port: August 16 highlights

Liberation of Urozhaine

Ukrainian troops have de-occupied Urozhaine village in Volnovakha district, Donetsk region.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar noted that the Defense Forces are consolidating their positions. Offensive actions continue.

It is a strategically important southeastern village in the Donetsk region that Ukrainian fighters have been recapturing for several days as part of a counteroffensive, The Independent wrote, quoted by UNIAN.

A ship leaves the port of Odesa

For the first time since July 16, a vessel left the port of Odesa using the temporary corridor for merchant ships.

The container ship JOSEPH SCHULTE (flying the flag of Hong Kong) is moving through the temporary corridor established for civilian ships to/from the Black Sea ports of Ukraine.

The vessel is heading for the Bosphorus. It is carrying over 30,000 tons of cargo (2,114 containers), including food.

The corridor will primarily be used to evacuate ships that were in Ukrainian ports at the time of Russia's full-scale invasion.

Attack on the port infrastructure of the Odesa region

On the night of August 16, Russian occupation forces attacked southern Ukraine with Shahed-136/131 attack drones.

In total, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed 13 Shaheds, and another part of the drones attacked the port infrastructure of the Odesa region.

One of the Danube ports was hit, damaging warehouses and granaries. Fires broke out there, which were quickly extinguished by the State Emergency Service.

Russia is preparing a staged video with the "Ukrainian military"

The Russians are preparing a staged propaganda video about the alleged "destruction of 150 Ukrainian saboteurs" in the temporarily occupied village of Kozachi Laheri in the Kherson region.

The video will show a local cultural center.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine says that the video will actually feature Russian soldiers, as the building was occupied by occupation forces as of August 13 this year.

The murder of volunteer Shcherbyna: suspects were allowed to be released on bail

According to the decision of the Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv, two defendants in the case of the murder of Svoboda volunteer Oleksii Shcherbyna were remanded in custody until October 12.

At the same time, they were allowed to post more than 800 thousand hryvnias in bail for each of them.

A law enforcement source told Hromadske that Leonid Ihnatenko, one of the defendants, had already posted bail.

The prosecutor's office said it would appeal the court's decision.

According to the investigation, on October 21, 2022, in Kyiv, a conflict arose between the victim, who was driving a Hyundai, and the driver of a Lexus car regarding the priority of passage. During the dispute, the passengers of the Lexus beat the victim. The driver then shot the victim and fled with his friends.

Soldier Oleksii Shcherbyna died from his injuries.

NATO apologizes for a statement on Ukraine's membership in the Alliance 

NATO Secretary General's Chief of Staff Stian Jenssen has called it a "mistake" to suggest that Ukraine could gain membership in the Alliance in exchange for territorial concessions.

He noted that the military situation on the ground and control over the territories would be central to possible negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. At the same time, he emphasized that only Ukrainians need to decide on what conditions they are ready to negotiate.

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko said that talk of Ukraine joining NATO in exchange for giving up part of its territories was absolutely unacceptable.

The situation at the front 

Commander of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi said that in the Kupiansk sector, the occupiers are trying to break through the defense of Ukrainian troops every day, using assault units staffed mainly by prisoners. The occupiers' goal is to block and then capture Kupiansk.

Syrskyi and the commanders in this area have made several important decisions that will ensure the reliability of the defense.

In the Lyman sector, Russian troops are regrouping, replacing units that have lost their combat capability due to casualties and are not abandoning plans for new offensives.

At the same time, the situation in the Bakhmut sector is complicated but controlled. Russian troops are counterattacking, mining, intensively shelling, and using aircraft. In such difficult conditions, the Defense Forces are gradually advancing.

Other news for the day

• Russia has started its own production of Shahed kamikaze drones, British intelligence reports.
• Ukraine has disabled four large landing ships of the Russian Navy.
• The NACP invites CEOs of international companies on the list of war sponsors to Ukraine.
• The European Commission will transfer 135 million euros to Ukraine and Moldova, which were originally intended for Russia and Belarus.
• The US imposes sanctions on companies involved in arms trade between Russia and North Korea.
• More than 30% of this year's state budget expenditures in Ukraine are payments to the military, the Ministry of Finance reported.
• Another 2.4 million Ukrainians who fled Ukraine because of the war have not returned, Opendatabot reports.
• Fire destroyed 16 km of the area of the occupied Dzharylhach, the director of the Dzharylhach reserve reported.
• Switzerland joins the 11th package of EU sanctions against Russia.