Victorious news on 897th day of war: Ukraine controls gas station in Russia’s Suzha, new weapons for Ukrainian infantry

Ukrainian infantry to be reinforced with new weapons

Valerii Riabykh, a military expert and development director at Defense Express, noted that Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has authorized the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use a new, more powerful rocket-propelled infantry flamethrower, surpassing the current RPV-1. 

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

"It should be noted that an infantry flamethrower has now been officially codified and approved for use by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Although its name is not specified, its technical specifications are similar to those of the RPV-16, with some differences, suggesting that it is an improved version of the flamethrower introduced in 2018. This is a formidable weapon that can significantly enhance the capabilities of our infantry. It is employed by specialized CBR (chemical, biological, and radiological) defense units, where it is considered a standard issue," explained Valerii Riabykh.

Ukraine signs visa-free agreement with one more country

The Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Mauritius, Dmytro Kuleba and Maneesh Gobin, have signed a visa-free regime agreement. This was reported by Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Today, on August 8, the ministers held talks and discussed, among other things, the deepening of ties between Ukraine and African countries, prospects for trilateral trade, and investment cooperation with Mauritius. At the end of the talks, Kuleba and Gobin signed a visa-free agreement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that "at this stage will primarily facilitate the trips of Mauritian investors and businessmen to Ukraine in search of new work opportunities in our country. After the end of the war, the agreement will help to increase the number of Ukrainian tourists in Mauritius."

Photo: Wikipedia

Ukraine controls gas metering station in Sudzha, used for EU transit

The Washington Post reports that Ukraine has taken control of the gas metering station in Sudzha, Kursk region. This gas distribution station is important for gas transit to Europe.

According to an adviser to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity, the Ukrainian military took control of a gas metering station in Sudzha, about 8 km from the Ukrainian-Russian border. The Ukrainian side has not yet officially commented on the events in the Kursk region.

At the same time, WP adds that the fighting in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation has been going on for the third day in a row and, according to the Russian military, Ukraine has taken part of Sudzha and several border villages.

Ukraine launches new online platform to overcome bureaucracy in the army

On Thursday, August 8, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, together with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, presented the Army+ platform. This was reported by Espreso correspondent Kateryna Halko.

Zelenskyy announced the launch of Army+ today, which will initially offer basic functions such as electronic reports and military IDs. He stated that in the future, the app will include additional services, such as courses and training programs.

"The purpose of this app is to free the Ukrainian army from tedious paperwork so that commanders and soldiers do not waste their time on outdated and unnecessary bureaucracy and paperwork," the president said.

The Prime Minister, in turn, said that digitalization in Ukraine covers most areas – reconstruction, education, healthcare, social protection, business support, law enforcement – and therefore should cover the army as well. 

"This is basically Diya (public services portal - ed.) for the military, created by the military, taking into account the needs of the military. Currently, Army+ is fully integrated into the legal framework of Ukraine. On July 30 this year, the government issued a separate resolution regulating the operation of this electronic tool. That is, the services are already starting to function and can be used by the military," Shmyhal said.