Russian artillery on the frontline in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Photo: EPA-EFE/ALESSANDRO GUERRA
It is day 569 of the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian military has announced the capture of Andriivka, a fiercely contested village in the Donetsk region.
Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued to families with children living near the frontline in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Kherson region
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has slammed the Berlin Staatsoper for its decision to recommence working with Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko.
Novaya-Europe’s news round-up will brief you on the main developments overnight.
Ukraine’s General Staff: Donetsk region village south of Bakhmut captured
The Ukrainian General Staff reported early on Friday that Ukrainian forces had liberated the village of Andriivka in the country’s eastern Donetsk region.
Russian forces were suffering “significant losses of personnel and equipment”, the General Staff said, adding that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had also “enjoyed partial success near Klishchiivka”.
Both villages are located several kilometres south of Bakhmut, which has been reduced to rubble after months of fighting. The General Staff suggested that the recapture of Andriivka pave the way to encircling Russian forces in Bakhmut or force them to withdraw from the town.
Photo: Operativno ZSU Telegram channel
Families with children ordered to evacuate from frontline areas of Kherson region
Authorities in Ukrainian-controlled areas of the Kherson region have issued mandatory evacuation orders to families with children living near the frontline, as Russian shelling intensifies, Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Friday.
Produkin said that the authorities were working to avert power outages in the region, and preparing key facilities to deal with emergencies during the coming autumn and winter.
The evacuation order covers several dozen villages on the right bank of the Dnipro river, BBC News in Russian reported on Friday.
Russian forces again launched multiple overnight attacks on Ukraine with Shahed kamikaze drones, with air-raid sirens sounding in seven regions, Ukrainian media outlets reported.
Kyiv slams Berlin opera house for rehiring Russian opera singer
A decision by Berlin’s Staatsoper to resume working with Anna Netrebko, a Russian opera singer who has not taken a clear public position on the war in Ukraine, represents the “normalisation” of Russia’s invasion of its neighbour, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
“The voice of Ukraine in Germany should always be louder than Anna Netrebko’s soprano,” the ministry said, noting that its embassy in Berlin had been monitoring the development of the collaboration closely.
On 1 September, Berlin’s Staatsoper announced that it would be resuming work with Netrebko, noting that it was “important to proceed in a differentiated manner here and to distinguish between before and after the outbreak of war”.
Anna Netrebko performs during the opening ceremony of the traditional 63rd Vienna Opera Ball at the State Opera, in Vienna, Austria, 28 February 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/FLORIAN WIESER
Netrebko is a world-famous Russian opera singer who also holds Austrian citizenship. In the past, she has publicly endorsed Russian President Vladimir Putin and has even posed with a pro-Russia separatist flag and donated money to a theatre in Donetsk following the region’s secession from Kyiv.
Put under pressure to clearly state her position after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Netrebko condemned the war but stopped short of criticising Putin. In August, she filed a lawsuit against New York City’s Metropolitan Opera for dropping her from scheduled performances.
