As the war enters its 894th day, here are the top developments.
Here is the situation on Wednesday, August 7, 2024.
Struggle
- At least one person was killed and 12 others, including an eight-month-old baby, were injured on Tuesday when a Russian missile struck a residential area in the northeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Governor Oleh Syniehubov said a medical clinic was among several buildings damaged in the attack, which he said involved the use of an Iskander ballistic missile.
- Alexei Smirnov, acting governor of Russia's southwestern Kursk region bordering Ukraine, said a driver and a paramedic were killed and a doctor injured when a Ukrainian drone crashed into an ambulance near the town of Sudzha.
- Russia said it had sent reserve troops to the Kursk region and claimed that some 300 pro-kyiv fighters had crossed the border with the support of 11 tanks and more than 20 armoured vehicles. Smirnov later said the situation was “tense” but “under the control” of Russian forces. kyiv did not comment on the alleged incursion.
- Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, said Russia had captured 420 square kilometers (162 square miles) of Ukrainian territory since June 14, while the Defense Ministry said its forces had taken control of Tymofiivka, a village in the eastern Donetsk region.
Politics and diplomacy
- Niger's military rulers have cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine in solidarity with Mali, which broke ties with kyiv over comments by an official it said showed Ukraine's support for groups involved in an attack that killed dozens of mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group as well as Malian soldiers in July.
- Maria Andreyeva, one of the leaders of the Put Domoy (Road Home) group, which campaigns for conscripted men to return home from Ukraine, told AFP news agency she had abandoned her campaign amid pressure from the Kremlin. Andreyeva said she lost her job after Moscow designated her a “foreign agent”.
- A Prague court has sentenced Czech volunteer Filip Siman to seven years in prison for robbing civilians and dead soldiers while serving in the Ukrainian army. Siman was stationed in the devastated Ukrainian towns of Irpin and Bucha, where he robbed civilians and dead soldiers, Czech media reported.
Weapons
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had used more drones in combat than Russia last month and that the weapons were “already affecting the war in strategic terms.” He gave no figures.
- Zelenskyy also said Ukraine had allocated additional funding to its domestic missile program in a bid to narrow the capabilities gap with Russia, which has a variety of long-range weapons. “There will be more domestically produced missiles to come,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
