Attack on Odesa injures three people, Zelensky admits Ukraine’s involvement in Crimean Bridge shelling, Russia puts 3 Ukrainian generals on wanted list

It is day 537 of the war in Ukraine. Russian shelling of Odesa overnight injured three people and damaged several buildings. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Kyiv’s responsibility for the shelling of the Crimean Bridge on 12 August.

Russia issued an arrest warrant for three Ukrainian generals that it claims were involved in shelling the Donbas in 2016, 2017, and 2019.

Thousands were evacuated as typhoon and heavy rain pounded Russia’s Primorye region over the weekend.

Read the top overnight headlines in Novaya-Europe’s round-up.

Shelling of Odesa injures three people

Three civilians sustained injuries after Russia shelled the city of Odesa overnight, chairman of the Public Council at the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Bratchuk, reported Monday morning.

According to Bratchuk, Russia attacked the Odesa region three times during the night, using a total of 15 drones and 8 Kalibr seaborne missiles.

All the drones and missiles were shot down, with pieces of the wreckage damaging a supermarket and a dormitory. 

“Fires broke out in two facilities. The fire brigade is working to extinguish them. Preliminary reports claim three people in the supermarket were injured,” Bratchuk wrote.

The shock wave also broke the windows of several neighbouring windows and damaged multiple cars.

Zelensky suggests Ukrainian involvement in recent Crimea Bridge shelling

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky effectively took responsibility for the shelling near the Crimean bridge that took place on 12 August. 

“Every eliminated occupier, all the burned Russian equipment, fires in their headquarters and warehouses, the rather telling smoke on the Crimean Bridge, and much more — all this is evidence that we will not leave any crime of Russia unanswered,” Zelensky said in a video on Sunday evening.

On 12 August, the Russian authorities of annexed Crimea reported that air defence had shot down two missiles near the Crimean Bridge.Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Russian-installed head of the peninsula, wrote that “special services had created a smoke screen”.

The Russian Defence Ministry said the Ukrainian army had fired a “S-200 anti-aircraft rocket converted into an attack missile”, adding that Russian forces managed to intercept the projectile.

Russia puts 3 Ukrainian generals on wanted list

The Russian Interior Ministry has issued a warrant against Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Yevhen Moysiuk, as well as Major Generals Ihor Palahniuk and Andriy Kovalchuk, TASS reports.

The Russian Investigative Committee earlier brought charges against the generals, whom Russia accuses of having shelled the Donbas in the years 2016, 2017, and 2019, injuring about 100 people. 

At the time, Moysiuk commanded Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces, Palahniuk headed Operational Command East, and Kovalchuk was deputy chief of the JFO.

Thousands evacuated as typhoon and heavy rain flood Russia’s Primorye region

Nearly 2800 people were evacuated in the Primorye region in Russia’s Far East due to Typhoon Khanun, which hit the region last Thursday, local emergency services reported.

Heavy rain flooded 4600 houses and cut off 28 settlements. 

Primorye Governor Oleg Kozhemyako reported that the region has received equipment from Sakhalin region to help clean up after the flooding. The shipment includes forced air heaters, generators, pumps, and other means for eliminating excess water.

The local hydrometeorological centre warns that another typhoon will likely hit the south-eastern areas of Primorye on 17 August, exacerbating the flooding.