Heading towards World War III?

Ukraine War Frontline Update: Donetsk - Marinka - Peski

Ukraine uses US Himars to strike key bridge into Russian-occupied city of Kherson

Authorities in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Kherson have closed the city's only bridge across the Dnieper river after it came under fire from US-supplied high mobility artillery rocket systems (Himars), according to Interfax and TASS reports on Wednesday.

The Antonovsky bridge has been closed for civilians but its structural integrity has not suffered from the shelling, Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-appointed city administration, told Interfax.

Separately, TASS quoted the official saying that Himars had targeted the bridge.

Ukraine's shadow army resisting Russian occupation

As Ukraine's military steps up its strikes on Kherson, hinting at a new offensive to recapture the region, there is another force working alongside. They are Ukraine's shadow army, a network of agents and informers who operate behind enemy lines.

Our journey to meet the resistance fighters takes us through a landscape of sunflower yellow and sky blue to Mykolaiv. The first major town on Ukrainian-controlled territory west of Kherson, it has become the partisans' headquarters on the southern front.

Driving through military checkpoints, we pass giant billboards showing a faceless, hooded figure alongside a warning: "Kherson: The partisans see everything." The image is designed to make the region's Russian occupiers nervous and boost the morale of those trapped under their rule.

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62333795

Alexander Ionov case: US charges Russian with interfering in US politics

US prosecutors have charged a Russian national with conspiring to use US citizens as "illegal agents of the Russian government".

The US Justice Department indictment also alleges that Alexander Viktorovich Ionov, a resident of Moscow, tried to interfere in US elections.

It says he ran the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR), a body which recruited US political groups to further Russian state interests.

He has denounced the US accusation.

The indictment says Mr Ionov worked under the direction of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and controlled certain unnamed political groups in Florida, Georgia and California.

One of the Russian goals, it alleges, was to "promote California's secession from the United States".

He could face a maximum of five years in jail if found guilty.

Denouncing the indictment on Facebook, Mr Ionov said: "I have never met such nonsense and deception.

"There are no specific names of officials, there is no evidence of funding and there are no intelligible arguments."

He went on: "The Ukrainian crisis has driven American officials crazy! Comrades, now you see what kind of 'democracy' exists in the USA!"

Mr Ionov has told CNN he is currently in Russia. As with other Western indictments of senior Russian figures, he is likely to be tried in absentia.

www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62359884

UN and Red Cross should investigate prison deaths, says Ukraine

Ukraine has called for the United Nations and the Red Cross to be allowed to investigate the deaths of more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in an attack in occupied territory.

The Red Cross said it is seeking access to the prison in order to help with evacuating and treating the wounded.

Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of attacking the camp.

Unverified Russian video footage of the aftermath shows a tangle of wrecked bunk beds and badly charred bodies.

Exactly what happened at the prison camp in Olenivka, which is controlled by the Russian-backed separatist Donetsk People's Republic, remains unclear.

Ukraine says the site was targeted by Russia in an effort to destroy evidence of torture and killing. President Volodymyr Zelensky described the incident as a "deliberate Russian war crime."

For its part, Russia said the camp was hit by Ukrainian precision rockets.

Those detained at the prison are said to have included members of the Azov battalion, who were captured defending the southern city of Mariupol in May and whom Russia has sought to depict as neo-Nazis and war criminals.

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62356211

German weapons failing in Ukraine

German artillery guns are breaking down a month after they were delivered to Ukraine, Der Spiegel reported on Friday. The weapons are reportedly struggling to deal with the high rate of fire the Ukrainian military is subjecting them to.

Some of the seven Panzerhaubitze 2000 guns sent to Ukraine at the end of June are showing signs of “wear and tear,” the German news site reported, citing anonymous sources. Some of the hardware is displaying error messages and are in need of repair.

The German military believes that the problems stem from the sheer number of shells fired on a daily basis by Ukrainian forces, which is damaging the howitzers’ loading mechanism. Discharging 100 rounds per day is considered high-intensity use, the report noted, adding that the Ukrainians are firing “far more” than this number.

www.rt.com/news/559864-german-artillery-fail-ukraine

www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/ukraine-panzerhaubitze-2000-mit-verschleisserscheinungen-a-e0a3bc00-5e4b-40fa-821a-c2d158079133