ICYMI
Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
This story is from yesterday, but probably worth noting here:
300,000 Troops, 1,000 Aircraft: Russia Schedules Biggest War Games In Almost 40 Years
By RFE/RL
Russia's defense minister said the country will hold its biggest military exercises since almost 40 years.
Sergei Shoigu said on August 28 that the drills, called Vostok-2018, will involve almost 300,000 troops, more than 1,000 aircraft, both the Pacific and Northern Fleets, and all Russian airborne units. They will take place in the central and eastern military districts, in southern Siberia, and the Far East.
"This is the biggest drill to take place in Russia since 1981," Shoigu said in a statement.
He was referring to the Zapad exercises that year, which involved Soviet and other Warsaw Pact forces and were the largest war drills ever carried out by the Soviet Union and its allies.
The Vostok-2018 exercises are set to be carried out from September 11-15 with the participation of Chinese and Mongolian military personnel.
The maneuvers come as relations between Moscow and the West have deteriorated to a post-Cold War low. Tensions have been stoked by Russia's seizure of Crimea, its role in wars in Syria and eastern Ukraine, and its alleged election meddling in the United States and Europe.
In recent years, Russia's military has stepped up the frequency and scope of its military exercises, reflecting the Kremlin's multiyear focus on modernizing its armed forces and its tactics.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that such war games were “essential” in the current international situation, which he said is “often aggressive and unfriendly toward our country.”
NATO spokesman Dylan White said that Russia had briefed the alliance, which planned to monitor them.
"Vostok demonstrates Russia’s focus on exercising large-scale conflict. It fits into a pattern we have seen over some time: a more assertive Russia, significantly increasing its defense budget and its military presence," White said in a statement.
Russia last held large-scale war games in September 2017, in regions bordering NATO countries in the Baltics.
Moscow and Minsk said the joint maneuvers involved some 12,700 troops in the two countries combined, but Western officials have said the true number may have been around 100,000.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and Interfax
Activist Says Agents Searched Her Home In Crimea, Accused Her Of 'Terrorist Ties'
By the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine -- Security officials in Russia-annexed Crimea have searched the home of a local Ukrainian activist on suspicion of having ties to “terrorist organizations” in Ukraine.
The activist, Olha Pavlenko, told RFE/RL on August 29 that agents from the Federal Security Service confiscated her mobile phone, flash-memory cards, and notebooks that contained poems.
Pavlenko, a member of the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Crimea, said the search of her home in Crimea’s capital, Simferopol, lasted three hours.
"After my lawyer arrived, I allowed [the FSB officers] to enter and they showed me a warrant saying that I am suspected of having ties with terrorist organizations based in Ukraine proper," Pavlenko said.
She added that she was ordered to go to the Investigative Committee for questioning and that she will discuss with her lawyers when to report.
There was no confirmation of the search by authorities.
The Ukrainian Culture Center in Crimea is a group promoting Ukrainian culture and language in the region. Its activists have been under pressure since Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014.
One of the center's leaders, Leonid Kuzmin, fled Crimea in 2017 after he received threats from unknown people and was pressured by police.
Russia has prosecuted and imprisoned several Ukrainians on what rights activists say are trumped up, politically motivated charges since Moscow seized the Black Sea region.
In March 2017, the European Parliament called on Russia to free more than 30 Ukrainian citizens who were in prison or subject to other conditions of restricted freedom in Russia, Crimea, and parts of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia-backed separatists.
Russia seized Crimea after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was pushed from power by massive street protests in February 2014.
Russia also fomented fighting in eastern Ukraine, where more than 10,300 people have been killed since April 2014.