The events of August 16 in the “Babel” review: an ammunition depot exploded in the occupied Dzhankoy in the Crimea, the occupiers fired missiles at Zhytomyr oblast

Author:
Dmytro Rayevskyi
Date:

From the very beginning of Russiaʼs full-scale war against Ukraine, "Babel" conducts live text events every day and promptly informs about the main news in the Telegram channel. We also do a daily digest of the dayʼs highlights in case you werenʼt able to follow along live.

At night, the occupiers shelled the Dnipropetrovsk oblast. The Nikopol and Kryvorizky districts were hit by Russian "Grad" and "Uragan". Two women, aged 20 and 84, were injured in the Kryvorizka district. The Nikopol district received 40 "arrivals" from the "Grad" and 10 from the barrel artillery, there were no casualties. It is known about four wounded in Nikopol itself. In addition, Russian troops shelled five of the nine districts of Kharkiv. Shevchenkivskyi and Kyivskyi, Saltivskyi, Industrialnyi and Kholodnohirskyi districts came under fire. There is currently no information about the victims.

On the territory of Zhytomyr oblast, there were two explosions as a result of a missile attack. Vitalii Bunechko, the head of the Zhytomyr oblast, said that the missiles were probably launched from the territory of Belarus. There were no casualties.

In Zaporizhzhia, the occupiers shelled the town of Orikhiv for several hours, a woman was killed. Six people were injured, including three employees of the energy company. At the time of the shelling, they were restoring networks.

In the occupied Crimea, explosions rang out in the Dzhankoy district. Evacuation of people began in the village of Maiske due to the detonation of ammunition. About two thousand people have already been evacuated from the settlement. As a result of the explosion at the ammunition depot, the railway node, which the occupiers used to transport ammunition, was damaged. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation called the explosions in the Dzhankoy district "sabotage". The emergency state was introduced on the peninsula.

Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, called the explosions in Crimea "demilitarization in action." A high-ranking Ukrainian official told The New York Times newspaper that an "elite Ukrainian unit" was behind the explosions at the military base in Maisky Dzhankoy district, which was operating behind enemy lines. He did not disclose other details of the operation.

In occupied Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia oblast, there were two explosions in the area of the substation. After that, broadcasting of terrestrial television, which was previously seized by the Russians, stopped. According to preliminary information, the transit cable was damaged.

Russian occupiers seized two bank premises and a state institution in Kherson. A female volunteer was also kidnapped there. Another man was taken prisoner in the Kakhovka district of the oblast.

The Russians banned educators from leaving Mariupol. Passes are not issued to teachers and lecturers. Separate patrols of the occupiers visit the homes of educators. There are cases when people are forced to go to work by beatings.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with French leader Emmanuel Macron, telling him about the situation at the front and Russiaʼs nuclear terrorism at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. He urged him to increase sanctions pressure on Russia.

Latvia transferred six more M109 howitzers to Ukraine. They are already participating in hostilities. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov thanked Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks and all Latvians for their help in the war against Russia.