President Zelenskyi establishes Council for deoccupation of Crimea, a decree published on the web site of the Office of the President states. The decree designates the President as the council’s chair, and the permanent representative of the President to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea as the council’s secretary. The council shall consist of the following members: the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, specified deputy heads of the Office of the President, government members, and, upon consent, heads of the specified parliamentary committees, heads of the parliamentary delegations to PACE, to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly; and the head of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis.
Main tasks of the council shall be: (1) to elaborate priorities for deoccupation and reintegration [of Crimea], and restoration of sovereignty of Ukraine that are consistent with the Strategy for Deoccupation of Crimea of March 24, 2021; (2) to participate in elaboration of Ukraine’s position in key areas of the Crimea Platform; (3) to improve the legislation on deoccupation and reintegration of Crimea and Sevastopol.
The second summit of the Crimea Platform will be held virtually on August 23.
Russia’s war on Ukraine will end with Ukraine restoring sovereignty over Crimea, just like it began with Russia’s occupation of Crimea, President Zelenskyi said in an evening address on August 9.
It’s time that West moved from timidity, half-measures to take down dictator – The Observer
Six months into the war, the West provides timid support that helps Ukraine not to lose, but is not enough to fully defeat Russia. Taking Putin down needs to become a strategic goal of the West, Simon Tisdall, columnist at The Observer, and deputy opinion editor at The Guardian wrote in a column.
Russia continues attacks on Kharkiv
Russia struck the Saltivka neighborhood in Kharkiv injuring five people, of which two are in grave condition. One person was treated on the spot, reports from head of the investigation department of the National Police in Kharkiv region Serhiy Bolvinov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration Oleh Synehubov, and mayor of Kharkiv Ihor Terekhov said. “An attack on the Saltivskyi district. Two injured. That’s another strike near near a public transportation stop,” Terekhov said on Telegram.
Another strike hit the roof of a nine-story apartment block in the Saltivskyi district, Terekhov added. There were no casualties, preliminary reports said. A garage area caught fire.
In a third episode, a strike damaged cars and a children’s playground, and blew out windows in an apartment block, Terekhov later added. There were no casualties, preliminary reports said.
Russia continues to advance on Bakhmut, makes no gains
The Russian forces launch incessant attacks all along the frontline, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said. They made attempts to advance in some areas, particularly in Donbas. On the Bakhmut axis, the Russian forces used fire support to advance in some areas. They conducted airstrikes near Soledar and Yakovlivka. They also attempted to storm a neighborhood toward the village of Vershyna from an area near the Vuhlehirska thermoelectric power plant. The Russian forces took losses and retreated.
© bahmut.com.ua 
© bahmut.com.ua
Explaining Ukraine podcast. Russia’s nuclear terrorism, again. Weekly digest, 8-13 August
Russia has taken Europe’s biggest nuclear plant as a hostage and threatens to provoke a major nuclear disaster in Ukraine. At the same time, Russians are showing weakness with apparent incapacity to defend targets in the occupied Crimea. This is the weekly digest of the “Explaining Ukraine” podcast. Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, and Tetyana Ogarkova, Ukrainian scholar and journalist, in charge of international outreach at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre.
How Ukrainian art has fought Russian imperialism. Ukraine in Flames #157
As Ukraine fights for survival against the power that has sworn to eliminate its sovereignty and national identity, culture is one of the key frontlines. And while attention is drawn to the battlefield, which is where the outcome of this war will be decided, culture and art also demand our attention. It is not always easy to pay, as Ukrainian art in all of its forms has suffered from Russian colonial oppression throughout many centuries, from language prohibition in the Russian empire to the executed Renaissance to the creeping suffocation by modern Russia. In 2014, however, a lot has changed, and after February 24th, 2022 these changes became irreversible. We talked to the prominent Ukrainian producers, actors, directors and publishers and present you Ukraine In Flames #157.
Speakers:
- Oleh Shcherbyna, producer, CEO Fresh production
- Slava Krasovska, Ukrainian actress
- Oleksandr Khomenko, Ukrainian film and music video director, founder of the “MUR” project
- Oleksandr Krasovytsky, Folio publishing house.
