Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: GIAN MARCO BENEDETTO / ANADOLU AGENCY / ANADOLU AGENCY VIA AFP 09:49, 04 September 2023

On the 558th day of the Russian invasion, authorities received a new bomb threat in all schools in Kiev on Monday, three days after the first, the Ukrainian capital's military administration said, and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced Monday that he had submitted his resignation to parliament.

THE ESSENTIALS

"The Kiev police have again received a message about the mining of all schools" in Kiev, the administration said on Telegram. "Necessary measures" are being taken by law enforcement and rescue workers, she added without elaborating. The previous alert, which turned out to be false, was on September 1, the first day of the new school year in Ukraine, the second since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Key takeaways:

  • A new bomb threat took place in all schools in Kiev, three days after the first
  • Ukrainian forces say they have recaptured three square kilometers from Russian forces near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
  • Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced that he had submitted his resignation to Parliament after several corruption scandals
  • Ukrainian forces shot down 17 Russian drones in southern Odessa region of Ukraine

New bomb threat in all Kiev schools

Kiev, a city of more than 3 million inhabitants before the Russian invasion, has 420 schools, the "absolute majority" of which operate face-to-face, according to the town hall. "240,000 schoolchildren have started their face-to-face studies" this year in Kiev against only 94,000 for the previous school year, said Friday the mayor of the capital, Vitaly Klitschko, on Telegram.

Faced with the permanent risk of Russian bombing, shelters have been set up in 417 establishments that can accommodate up to 190,000 people, the mayor added. While the fighting is taking place in eastern and southern Ukraine, major cities far from the front line regularly experience Russian missile or drone explosive strikes. According to the presidency, 3,750 Ukrainian schools have been destroyed "by Russian missiles and bombs" since the beginning of the conflict.

Ukraine claims limited gains on the southern front and near Bakhmut

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry claimed "successes" last week in its difficult counter-offensive on the southern front, and to have recaptured three square kilometers from Russian forces near Bakhmut (east). Ukrainian forces "continue their offensive operations in the Melitopol sector" and "have achieved successes near Novodanylivka and Novoprokopivka" in the south, Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar told state television, adding that Kiev's army has also recaptured three square kilometers near the eastern city of Bakhmut.

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Defence Minister Reznikov announces his resignation in Parliament

Oleksiy Reznikov, Ukraine's defense minister, announced Monday that he had submitted his resignation to parliament, a day after the announcement of his replacement by Volodymyr Zelensky, after several corruption scandals within the ministry against the backdrop of the Russian invasion.

"I handed my letter of resignation to Ruslan Stefanchuk, speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament," Oleksiy Reznikov, in office since November 2021, said on X (ex-Twitter). "It has been an honor to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the Ukrainian army over the past 22 months, the most difficult period in Ukraine's modern history," he added.

17 drones shot down in Odessa region, damaged buildings

Ukrainian forces shot down 17 Russian drones in Ukraine's southern Odessa region and buildings were damaged in the port city district of Izmail, the local governor said Monday. "Seventeen drones have been shot down by our air defense forces (...). In several localities in Izmail district, warehouses and production buildings, agricultural machinery and equipment of industrial enterprises were damaged," Kiper said on Telegram.

"Several fires broke out on the territory (of civilian infrastructure) due to the fall of debris" after the drones were shot down, added the governor, adding that the fires were subsequently extinguished. According to the governor, the attack lasted three and a half hours and caused no casualties or injuries. The Operational Command for Southern Ukraine described a "major night attack" using drones against "civilian infrastructure in the Danube area".

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The river port of Izmail has become one of the main exit routes for Ukrainian agricultural products since Moscow ended the grain export agreement in July. On the night of Saturday to Sunday, Russian drones had struck industrial sites on the Danube, said the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. The Russian army said it had carried out a raid using these devices against the port of Reni, also in the Odessa region.