Mass Events Banned in Ukraine Over Independence Day Attack Threat

From August 22 to 25, mass events have been banned in Kyiv. The city authorities have been advised to be careful and not ignore the sirens, local media report. The likelihood of Russian missile attacks during Ukraine’s celebrations of the 31st anniversary of it independence on Aug. 24 is believed to be high.

“We are actively preparing for the new week, which is very important for all of us, for our country” President Zelensky said in his evening speech on Saturday.

“Our Flag Day, our Independence Day is ahead… We should be aware that this week Russia may try to do something particularly nasty, something particularly cruel. Such is our enemy. But in any other week during these six months, Russia did the same thing all the time – disgusting and cruel.”

Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications (StratCom) said on August 24: “The threat of massive shelling on the territory of Ukraine with S-300 missiles is obvious. Considering the arrival of several trains [from Russia] before Aug. 20, it is clear that the Russians are preparing to attack Ukraine on Aug. 24,” StratCom said on its website and Telegram channel.

Meanwhile, Oleg Zhdanov, a military expert and reserve colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that Belarus is already preparing for a massive missile attack on Ukraine on Independence Day. He believes that the enemy can attack from three sides at once – not only from Belarus but from the Black Sea and Russia.

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“In my opinion, preparations are underway in Belarus. Most likely, they will conduct a massive strike that will involve the maximum number of launchers and the maximum number of missiles.”