Estonia’s ban on Russians with visas, McDonald’s returning to Ukraine, two-year bond payment deferrals – The New Voice of Ukraine newsletter

• Russian invaders are advancing toward Maryinka and Pisky in Donbas.

The village of Pisky especially has been a flashpoint for the last few weeks, as Russian forces attempt to break through the northern Donetsk city suburb into Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk. However, they have yet to be successful, Ukraine’s General Staff reports. Russian forces continue to use heavy artillery against Ukrainian positions all along the Donbas contact line, but are otherwise currently stuck in place.

• Russia shells Kharkiv’s city center, though no casualties are reported.

City mayor Ihor Terehov stated that the attack likely came from a modified S-300 air defense system, which has been adapted for ground targets. Windows, balconies, and cars were all damaged by the strike, which landed in the courtyard of a residential building, a Kharkiv law enforcement official stated. Massive shelling also took place all around Kharkiv Oblast, which, as Ukraine’s formerly second-largest city on the country’s northeastern border with Russia, has taken the brunt of Russia’s attacks against Ukraine.

• Estonia moves to ban entry to Russian citizens on Estonian-issued Schengen visas.

According to the Estonian Foreign Ministry, this rule will take effect on Aug. 18, but will contain a number of exceptions, including Russian embassy employees and their family members working in Estonia, employees directly involved in the transportation of goods and passengers, those who have the right to freedom of movement under EU law, people visiting close relatives, and people entering for humanitarian reasons. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that visiting Europe is a “privilege, not a human right,” in light of widespread support for Russia’s genocidal invasion of Ukraine by Russian citizens abroad.

• The open-source Oryx intelligence analysis group has provided a more detailed breakdown of Russian losses after an explosion at a Crimean airbase.

The group confirmed the four Su-30SM multirole aircraft had been destroyed, as well as six Su-24M/MR strike/tactical reconnaissance aircraft (five destroyed, one damaged). Analyst Oliver Alexander tweeted “between 9-14 aircraft” had been destroyed as a result of the blasts. The cause of the blast remains unknown, with speculation ranging from a Ukrainian special forces raid, an ATACMS long-range missile attack, which Ukraine does not officially possess, or more conspiratorial claims, including a stealth U.S. B-2 bomber airstrike.

• Russia has again shelled the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

In total, Russians shelled the plant three times on Aug. 11, striking the on-site fire department and the area next to the spent radioactive storage facilities. The plant was unable to change shifts as a result, leaving the plant’s workers and scientists at risk of being exposed to greater than the daily allowed dose of radiation. As of 5:00 p.m., radioactive background levels at the plant remained within safe norms.

• McDonald’s has announced plans to reopen in Kyiv and Western Ukraine.

The decision was made following extensive consultations with Ukrainian officials, including with Foreign Ministry Dmytro Kuleba. As a result, McDonald’s locations around in the capital, and in safer areas of western Ukraine, will be “working with suppliers to get product to restaurants, making the physical properties ready to serve customers, bringing restaurant teams and employees back on site, and implementing enhanced procedures and protocols to support the safety of our people and customers,” said Paul Pomroy, McDonald’s head of international operated markets.

• Ukraine has received consent from bondholders to defer payments for two years.

According to the Ministry of Finance, this consent applies to about 75% of Ukrainian state securities in circulation, adding that it had obtained at consent from at least 50% of each of Ukraine’s 13 Eurobond issues. The bonds in question total to approximately $20 billion, and the two-year delay will allow the state budget to save approximately $5 billion in payments.

• The day’s long read: Russia is doomed to economic oblivion as long as Ukraine’s partners remain united on sanctions.

In a new study by the Yale School of Management and the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute, researches argue that Russia has already lost 40% of its GDP due to multinational firms withdrawing from the country. Current rosy numbers published by Rosstat, Russia’s statistics agency, are fabrications, the authors say.

• Don’t miss: Life in occupied Enerhodar, under the shadow of Europe’s largest nuclear plant.

NV speaks to Dmytro Orlov, mayor of Enerhodar – currently living in Zaporizhzhia – about how the locals are continuing their lives, Russian behavior, and the threat posed by a Russia-caused nuclear catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

• NV Exclusive: Interview with former NATO chief General Philip Breedlove.

The former commander-in-chief of NATO Forces in Europe, General Philip Breedlove, talks about the liberation of Kherson and Russian shelling from Ukrainian territory in this interview with NV.

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