As the war enters its 888th day, these are the main developments.
Here is the situation on Thursday, August 1, 2024.
Fighting
- Ukraine’s air force said it repelled one of Russia’s largest long-range drone attacks of the war, shooting down all 89 drones launched at Kyiv, the surrounding region and other areas. The attack mostly targeted the capital and its surrounding region where authorities said more than 40 drones were shot down. An air raid alert remained in place most of the night. No civilian or critical infrastructure took a direct hit, but debris damaged the roofs, windows and facades of 13 private residences in the region, authorities said.
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Ukraine’s military said it struck a storage facility for weapons and military equipment in the western Russian region of Kursk overnight and it was working to assess the damage. Russia, it said, engaged its air defences to try to counter the attack, but explosions were visible at the target locations. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said earlier it had destroyed one incoming drone and a Ukrainian Neptun guided missile over the Kursk region.
- Romania’s Ministry of National Defence said it had found drone fragments at a third location near the border after last week’s Russian attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure. The debris was found near the village of Ceatalchioi across the Danube river from Ukraine.
Politics and diplomacy
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with French media that Kyiv does not want China to act as a mediator in the conflict with Russia, but hoped Beijing would put more pressure on Moscow to end the war. China has a “no limits” partnership with Russia and did not attend the first peace summit on Ukraine held last month in Switzerland, but it has recently stepped up diplomatic efforts and hosted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba last week. Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine would like to see Russia attend the next summit.
- A Russian court ordered Laurent Vinatier, a French researcher arrested in Russia in June, to remain in custody ahead of his trial on charges of unlawfully collecting information on military issues. Vinatier, an adviser with the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, was arrested in Moscow as tensions flared over French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments about the possibility of deploying French troops in Ukraine.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin doubled upfront payments for volunteers to fight in Ukraine. All Russians who sign a contract with the army will now receive an upfront payment of 400,000 roubles ($4,651). The decree also recommends that regional authorities match this payment from their budgets with at least the same amount.
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Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, demanded an explanation from Russian authorities over the death in captivity of Oleksandr Ishchenko, one of 22 Ukrainian prisoners put on trial in connection with their association with the Azov Brigade. The unit, designated as a “terrorist” group by Russia, played a key role in the three-month defence of the port of Mariupol in 2022.
Weapons
- The first batch of long-awaited F-16 fighter jets, which are equipped with a 20mm cannon and can carry bombs, rockets and missiles, have arrived in Ukraine. “F-16s in Ukraine. Another impossible thing turned out to be totally possible,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Denmark has committed to donate 19 jets in total, while the Netherlands has promised to deliver 24 and Norway six.
