Politics Ukraine asks USA for permission to fire against Russia

Ukraine is asking its most important ally for permission to use long-range weapons against military targets in the Russian rear.

According to the Pentagon, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will receive his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umyerov in Washington today. During the meeting, Austin will receive information on the current combat situation, including the situation in the Russian region of Kursk, said Deputy Pentagon Spokeswoman Sabrina Singh.

According to a CNN report, the Ukrainian side also wants to present the US government with a list of potential targets in Russia. It is a matter of "concretely convincing the White House to lift the restrictions on attacks with long-range weapons on Russian territory", CNN quoted a Ukrainian official as saying.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyi's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, is also said to be taking part in meetings in Washington. With strikes on Russian command posts, airfields, ammunition depots and barracks, Ukraine could fend off many attacks before they even begin. So far, the USA has limited the use of its weapons against Russia to repelling the Russian offensive against the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is still struggling with the effects of the recent Russian airstrikes. Power cuts have been extended in many parts of the country due to damage to the energy system. Kiev also reported that four reactor units had to be temporarily shut down due to fluctuating voltage in the grid. According to the military, a new Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet crashed on Monday while defending against the largest Russian air attack to date, killing the Ukrainian pilot who had been trained in the USA. Russian combat drones attacked Ukraine again on Friday night. Russia's air defenses claim to have again shot down several Ukrainian drones over Russian territory. There were initially no details on possible damage or casualties.

Ukraine has to shut down four reactors

As a result of the heavy Russian air attack on Monday morning, reactors 1, 3 and 4 at the Rivne nuclear power plant had to be taken off the grid, the Ukrainian government wrote to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. The output of the nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has been increased. Due to voltage fluctuations in the grid, the third reactor unit of this plant was then shut down in the afternoon. "The Russian Federation continues to deliberately target Ukraine's energy infrastructure," the letter stated. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed the information and expressed concern about the increasing vulnerability of the Ukrainian energy grid. He announced another trip to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant next week.

Electricity for Ukrainians is being cut off even more frequently

As a further consequence of the Russian attacks, power cuts in Ukraine have been significantly extended once again. In a statement, the state utility Ukrenergo (Ukrenerho in Ukrainian) listed the capital Kiev and eleven other areas in the east and center of the country where consumers will have their electricity cut off for longer periods of time. The previous plans for staggered shutdowns have been temporarily suspended.

According to reports, for many districts in Kiev this means that there will only be electricity for around 12 hours throughout the day. The water often goes out along with the electricity. Many stores, restaurants and banks are maintaining emergency operations with diesel generators. Russia had already severely damaged many Ukrainian power plants in the spring. As a result, concerns are growing in Ukraine about an extremely difficult third winter of war.

Kiev loses a new F-16 fighter jet

According to the military, a new Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet has crashed while fending off a heavy Russian air attack. The recently delivered US-made aircraft proved to be very valuable during the mission and shot down four Russian guided missiles, according to the General Staff in Kiev. During the onward flight to the next target, contact with one aircraft was lost. "It crashed and the pilot was killed." After months of waiting in Ukraine, Selensky presented the first aircraft at the beginning of August. According to US information, quoted in the "Wall Street Journal", these were six former Dutch fighter planes.

In his evening video address on Thursday, Zelensky recalled the many Ukrainian soldiers who had been killed. In 2022, Russia had attempted to destroy the Ukrainians with a large-scale invasion, he said. However, Moscow had encountered the Ukrainians' great will to defend themselves. "The courage of our people. The strength of the Ukrainian character. And the gratitude of our entire people, our entire state, to every single soldier," he said. Kiev does not disclose how many soldiers Ukraine has lost since February 2022. Selensky spoke of 31,000 dead soldiers this February; experts assume a higher figure.