Ukrainian Drone Attack on Remote Russian Airfield

Three hours ago, the Chinese news center 腾讯 quoted Russian, Ukrainian and Western reports about Ukrainian drones having attacked a remote Russian military airfield on August 30.

卫星照片曝光，至少2架伊尔-76受损！俄媒称乌军已在地面炸毁24架战机

Satellite photos exposed that at least 2 Il-76s were damaged ! Russian media said the Ukrainian army has blown up 24 war planes on the ground.

美国遥感卫星数据公司星球实验室(Planet Labs)发布了遭无人机袭击后的俄罗斯普斯科夫机场卫星照片，在卫星照片上能明显看到两架伊尔-76运输机受损，从受损位置推测无人机试图攻击伊尔-76运输机的油箱部分，在其中一架伊尔-76运输机附近，还有两辆疑似消防车的红色汽车。

Planet Labs, a US remote sensing satellite data company, released satellite photos of Pskov airport in Russia after the drone attack. On the satellite photos two damaged Il-76 transport aircraft can clearly be seen. From the damaged position it is speculated that the drones tried to attack the fuel tank part of the Il-76 transport aircraft. Near one of the Il-76 transport aircraft, there are two red cars suspected as fire engines.

Editor's Note: Russia's Pskov airfield (普斯科夫机场) is situated north of Belarus, near the border to the Baltic states Estland and Lettland. That means it is more difficult to reach than most other military airfields in Western Russia.

需要说明的是，由于当地云层太厚，卫星并未拍到普斯科夫机场的整体照片。稍早一些，乌克兰军情总局（GUR）宣称，在对普斯科夫机场的发起的自杀式无人机袭击中，乌克兰军队摧毁了4架伊尔-76运输机，机场的加油设施也受到了攻击。俄罗斯方面否认了这些说法，并称没有任何人员和物质损失。

It should be noted that due to the thick local clouds, the satellite did not take an overall photo of Pskov airfield. Earlier, the Main Intelligence Service of Ukraine (GUR) announced that Ukrainian forces destroyed four Il-76 transport planes in a suicide drone attack on Pskov airfield. The airport's refueling facilities were attacked, as well. The Russian side denied such claims and said there were no human and material losses.

在分析了俄罗斯国防部、媒体和开源情报机构的报告后，俄罗斯媒体Verstka称自去年开战后，截至目前，乌克兰军队对俄罗斯、克里米亚和白俄罗斯的空军基地发起了至少9次袭击，在这些袭击中，至少有24架飞机被损坏。

After analyzing reports from the Russian Ministry of Defense, media and open-source intelligence agencies, Russian media outlet Verstka said that since the start of war last year, the Ukrainian army has launched at least nine attacks on air bases in Russia, Crimea and Belarus so far, in which at least 24 aircraft have been damaged.

Map of Russian military airfields attacked and aircraft damaged (number/type) by
Ukrainian suicide drone attacks since the beginning of war (2022 - August 2023).

Die Berliner Mauer 1961-1989Erinnerungen von Zeitzeugen

The Berlin Wall 1961-1989 - Memories of Contemporary Witnesses

The Berlin Wall in August 1961 - Course of the sector border (red line)
Die Berliner Mauer im August 1961 - Verlauf der Sektorengrenze (rote Linie)
Originalaufnahme: Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung

In einigen Fällen verlief die Sektorengrenze direkt an der Häuserfront. Gehörte das Haus zum Westen, dann wurden Durchbrüche zu den Kellern der Nachbarhäuser geschaffen, damit die Bewohner von einer Nebenstraße aus in ihre Wohnungen gelangen konnten. Soweit die Keller während des Krieges als Luftschutzkeller vorgesehen waren, existierten bereits vorbereitete Mauerdurchbrüche, um die Druckwelle explodierender Bomben abzufangen und die Flucht der Schutzsuchenden durch einen anderen Hauskeller zu ermöglichen. Gehörte das Haus zum Osten, dann wurden die Fenster in den unteren Etagen zugemauert und die Bewohner möglichst bald zwangsweise umgesiedelt. Später wurde das Haus abgerissen, wobei manchmal eine "Geisterfassade" übrig blieb.

Am Tag des Mauerbaus und vereinzelt auch danach, gab es in solchen Ostberliner Grenzhäusern noch Bewohner, denen es in einem unbeobachteten Moment gelang, aus dem Fenster oder vom Balkon zu springen, - in ein bereit gehaltenes Sprungtuch der Westberliner Feuerwehr. Die hatte am 13. August einen unerwarteten Goßeinsatz. W.W. (=> Bericht der Berliner Feuerwehr zum Mauerbau 1961)

English Version:
In some cases, the sector boundary ran directly along the front of the houses. If the house belonged to the West, then openings were made to the basement walls of neighbouring houses so that residents could get to their apartments from a side street. As far as such cellars had been intended as air-raid shelters during the war, there were certain wall spots already prepared to intercept the blast wave of exploding bombs and to enable those seeking protection to escape through another basement. If the house belonged to the East, then all windows on the lower floors were bricked up and residents were forcibly resettled as soon as possible. Later, these houses were demolished, sometimes leaving a "ghost façade".

On the day the Wall was built and occasionally afterwards, there were still residents left in East Berlin border houses who managed to jump out of the window or from a balcony, - just into a jumping mat held ready by the West-Berlin fire brigade. Therefore, the fire brigade had an unexpected large-scale operation on August 13 (=> Link to a Berlin Fire Brigade report referring to 1961). W.W.

PDF-Link:

Erinnerungen eines Westberliners
an die Berliner Mauer 1961-1989

Ein Resümee von Wolfgang Wiesner © 2023

Die folgende Tonaufnahme lässt einen Zeitzeugen zu Worte kommen,
dessen Schicksal in meinem Resümee ausführlich beschrieben wird.

India Celebrates - Russia is Shocked

India accomplishes its first ever spacecraft landing on the moon, — days after Russia failed. The Chandrayaan-3 uncrewed spacecraft made a “soft landing” on the southern polar region of the moon on Wednesday, August 23 shortly after 6 p.m. Indian time.

Video: The technical details of a time-consuming but low-cost Indian moon mission.


Russia's foreign minister Lavrov congratulates
his Indian counterpart at the BRICS Summit.

Only some days earlier, on Saturday, August 19, Russia’s first moon mission in 47 years had failed when its Luna-25 spacecraft had spun out of control and crashed into the moon after a problem preparing for pre-landing orbit, thus underscoring the post-Soviet decline of a once mighty space program.

The crash of a Russian business plane near Moscow is adding to the gloomy situation after Russia's space failure. It is at the origin of today's breaking news, as Russia's 'warlord' Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed as a passenger and is now believed to be dead. Speculations about the reason of that air crash are now spreading worldwide.

Jeddah Summit - How to reach Global Peace ?

Last UPDATE included at Midnight

Today, Saturday August 5, 2023, the Jeddah Summit is to begin.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host peace talks regarding Ukraine, in the city of Jeddah, provided that the talks will include the United States and a number of Western and developing countries.

The talks, according to US officials, are aimed at developing common principles for ending the war and discussing what kind of military assistance Kiev needs to deter a Russian invasion from attacking Ukraine again.

Earlier, US officials said that US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will be present on behalf of the United States. Ukraine said other major developing countries, such as India and Brazil, would also attend.

The talks are the second in a series of meetings organized by Ukrainian President Andriy Yermak's chief of staff, and the first took place earlier this year in Copenhagen.

The photo is showing Zelensky together with Saudi Crown Prince Salman
in an article published today, 5 August 2023. [Al-Youm Assaabiae اليوم السابع]

Here is a quotation from Al-Youm Assabiae / The Seventh Day اليوم السابع:

عبر الرئيس الأوكراني فولوديمير زيلينسكي عن شكره للمملكة العربية السعودية على تقديم منصة لمفاوضات السلام في أوكرانيا، في إشارة إلى قمة جدة التي تنعقد اليوم السبت.

وقال زيلينسكي ـ في بيان نُشر على الموقع الرسمي للرئاسة الأوكرانية - "في جدة بالمملكة العربية السعودية، سيبدأ اجتماع لمستشاري رؤساء الدول وممثلي وزارة الخارجية بشأن صيغة السلام، وسيتم تمثيل العديد من البلدان من قارات مختلفة، بما في ذلك بلدان الجنوب العالمي".

وأشار زيلينسكي إلى أن اجتماعا مماثلا (لقمة جدة) عُقد مؤخرًا في كوبنهاجن، مضيفا: "نحن نتحرك خطوة بخطوة نحو عقد قمة عالمية للسلام"، موجها الشكر لجميع الداعمين لخطة السلام والذين انضموا بالفعل إلى الجهود المشتركة من أجل التنفيذ الكامل لها.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his thanks to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for providing a platform for peace negotiations in Ukraine, referring to the Jeddah summit that will be held today [Saturday August 5, 2023].

Zelensky said - in a statement posted on the official website of the Ukrainian presidency - "In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a meeting of advisers to heads of state and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will begin on the peace formula, and many countries from different continents, including countries of the Global South, will be represented. "

Zelensky pointed out that a similar meeting like the Jeddah Summit was only recently held in Copenhagen, adding: "We are moving step by step towards convening a global peace summit," thanking all the supporters of the peace plan who have already agreed on joint efforts for its full implementation .

China's Role in Jeddah

[China Times 中时新闻网 August 6]

中國外交部網站4日晚發布，中方將派團，由中國政府歐亞事務特別代表李輝出席在沙烏地阿拉伯吉達舉行的烏克蘭和平峰會，外媒一致認為中國將是此次談判的關鍵。烏克蘭總統澤倫斯基則在會議期間的當地時間5日下午2點04分，在社群媒體以烏克蘭文和中文發文，對中國持續受洪災影響的民眾，表示慰問及支持。

The website of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs released on the evening of the 4th that China will send a delegation, including Li Hui, the special representative of the Chinese government for Eurasian affairs, to attend the Ukrainian peace summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Foreign media agreed that China will be the key to this negotiation . Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a message in Ukrainian and Chinese on social media at 2:04 pm local time on the 5th during the meeting, expressing condolences and support to the people in China who continue to be affected by the flood.