As the war enters its 916th day, here are the top developments.
Here is the situation on Thursday, August 29, 2024.
Struggle
- At least 14 people were injured and several others killed in a Russian-directed bomb attack in the eastern city of Kupiansk. In his evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there were fatalities but did not give a figure. The attack also damaged the city hall building.
- At least eight people were injured after a Russian missile hit Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih, as residents observed an official day of mourning for the four people killed in a Russian attack the day before on a hotel in the city.
- Ukraine's prosecutor general's office said a family of four was killed when their home in the village of Izmailivka was hit by a Russian-guided bomb. Izmailivka, which had a pre-war population of about 200 people, is close to the front line in the east, where Russia has been trying to capture the strategic center of Pokrovsk.
- Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin said two people were killed in separate attacks near Chasiv Yar that damaged more than a dozen homes.
- The state news agency TASS, citing the Russian Defense Ministry, said its forces had taken control of the settlement of Komyshivka in Ukraine's Donetsk region.
- The Ukrainian General Staff reported on Wednesday that “fierce fighting” had taken place in several settlements near Pokrovsk. “So far, the enemy has made 38 attempts to storm Ukrainian positions. Fighting continues in 14 locations,” the General Staff said.
- CIA Deputy Director David Cohen said Russian President Vladimir Putin would launch a counteroffensive to try to retake territory in the Kursk region captured by Ukrainian troops, but would encounter “an uphill struggle.” Ukraine launched a surprise attack on the Russian region on Aug. 6 and has claimed to have taken about 100 settlements.
- Russia’s National Guard, Rosgvardiya, said in a statement that its sappers had found a shell from what they said was a US-supplied HIMARS multiple launch rocket system 5 kilometres (3 miles) from the Kursk nuclear power plant, as well as a rocket fragment, which they said was packed with 180 unexploded munitions. Moscow has accused Ukrainian forces of trying to attack the plant. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the claim.
- Vasili Golubev, regional governor of the Rostov region in southern Russia, said a Ukrainian drone strike caused a fire at an oil depot in the Kamensky district. No casualties were reported.
- A Ukrainian drone strike also sparked a fire at an oil depot in the Russian town of Kotelnich in the northern Kirov region, about 1,100 kilometers (685 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
Politics and diplomacy
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the biggest problem facing kyiv was that its allies were afraid to approve new policies to support Ukraine for fear of an escalation of the situation. Kuleba’s comments came a day after Russia’s foreign minister said the West was “playing with fire” by considering allowing Kiev to strike deep into Russia and warned of the risks of a third world war.
- NATO members reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen Ukraine’s defences at a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. “We must continue to provide Ukraine with the equipment and ammunition it needs to defend itself against the Russian invasion. This is vital to Ukraine’s ability to continue fighting,” said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
- The Russian Foreign Ministry has banned 92 US citizens from entering the country, including journalists, lawyers and heads of major military and industrial companies. The list, published on Telegram, includes 14 employees of the Wall Street Journal, five senior journalists from the New York Times and four from the Washington Post.
- A Russian military court has sentenced Artyom Lozovoi, a 39-year-old engineer, to 18 years in prison for a failed attempt to blow up a military recruiting office, the state-run TASS news agency reported. Lozovoi was found guilty of multiple charges, including treason.
- Anastasia Zibrova, a dog trainer from the Moscow region, was sentenced to five years in prison for criticizing the Russian attack on the Kramatorsk train station that killed 61 people in April 2022, according to Russian legal aid and monitoring group OVD-Info.
- In a third case, a Russian military court sentenced Ukrainian Andriy Martsenyuk to four and a half years in prison for preparing to set fire to a local military police station, Interfax reported, citing the local branch of the FSB security service.
