UKRAINE
Russian invasion: Situation report day 558
September 4, 2023 - Russian drones struck the Danube port of Izmail, critical for Ukrainian grain exports, while Turkish President Erdogan is to meet Vladimir Putin to discuss a return to the Black Sea grain deal.
President Zelensky is to dismiss Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, in the biggest shakeup since the Russian invasion in February 2022. He will ask parliament this week to replace him with Rustem Umerov, head of the country’s privatisation fund, as Ukraine seeks a new approach to the war. Reznikov has been Defence Minister since 2021, and successfully secure billions of dollars worth of military aid but more recently the Ministry has been dogged by accusations of corruption.
Ukraine claims the first line of Russian defences have been breached in
multiple areas near Robotyne in Zaporizhya Oblast, with a supposedly weaker second line of defences ahead. Russia has been redeploying troops to Zaporizhya, apparently allowing Ukrainian troops to begin operating on the east bank of the Dnipro River near Kherson.
- Institute for the Study of War
- With grain deal in focus, Putin to meet Erdogan in Russia (Reuters)
- Russian drone attack hits Danube port infrastructure, Ukraine says (Reuters)
- Russia says destroys four Ukraine inflatable boats in Black Sea (Reuters)
- Ukraine says troops breach Russian lines, heavier defences lie ahead (Reuters)