WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Kharkiv struck by missiles after Ukraine launches mass drone attack on Russia
At least 47 people, including five children, were injured on Sunday after Russian missiles struck a shopping mall and events complex in Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv, officials said.
Earlier in the day, Russia said Kyiv had launched one of the biggest drone attacks against it since the full-scale war began, targeting power plants and an oil refinery, while Moscow's forces made further gains towards a key town in eastern Ukraine.
The Kharkiv attack prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to renew calls on allies to allow Kyiv to fire Western-supplied missiles deeper into enemy territory and reduce the military threat posed by Russia.
The fighting comes at a critical juncture in the two-and-a-half year conflict. Russia is pressing an offensive in eastern Ukraine while trying to expel Ukrainian forces that broke through its western border in a surprise incursion on Aug. 6.
Last week, Russia pounded Ukraine with its heaviest airstrikes of the war, hitting targets including energy facilities.
Moscow, which denies targeting civilians, says damaging Ukraine’s energy system is a legitimate military goal. Its drone and missile barrages have killed thousands of civilians since the conflict began in February 2022.
Ukraine, with a rapidly expanding domestic drone industry, has stepped up its own attacks on Russian energy, military and transport infrastructure.
Kyiv is also pressing the United States and other allies for permission to use more powerful Western-supplied weapons to inflict greater damage inside Russia and hit Moscow's abilities to attack Ukraine.
"All the necessary forces of the world must be brought in to stop this terror," Zelenskiy said on his Telegram channel, in response to the Kharkiv attack that Ukrainian officials said involved at least 10 missiles.
"This does not require extraordinary forces, but enough courage on the part of the leaders - courage to give Ukraine what it needs to defend itself."
In Kharkiv, rescue workers and volunteers carried injured civilians to ambulances outside the shopping complex. Shattered glass and debris were strewn across the ground and people fled to a metro station for safety.
Earlier, Russian officials said air defence units had destroyed 158 drones launched by Ukraine overnight, and that debris caused fires at the Moscow Oil Refinery and at the Konakovo Power Station in the neighbouring Tver region.
Kyiv has yet to comment on the drone barrage. Russia rarely discloses the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukraine's air attacks.
RUSSIA'S NUCLEAR DOCTRINE
Zelenskiy said that last week alone Russia had used 160 missiles, 780 guided aerial bombs and 400 attack drones against cities and troops across Ukraine.
He called on Telegram for "a decision on long-range strikes on missile launch sites from Russia, destruction of Russian military logistics, joint shooting down of missiles and drones".
Kyiv's allies are wary of how Russian President Vladimir Putin would respond if their weapons were used against targets far inside Russian territory.
Russia's TASS state news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying Moscow would change its nuclear doctrine in response to the West's actions over the conflict. He did not specify what the changes would entail.
Russia's existing nuclear doctrine, set out in a decree by President Vladimir Putin in 2020, says it may use nuclear weapons in the event of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatens the existence of the state.
Russia, which accuses the West of using Ukraine as a proxy to wage war against it, has said before it is considering changes.
"The work is at an advanced stage, and there is a clear intent to make corrections", TASS cited Ryabkov as saying.
Some hawks among Russia's military analysts have urged Putin to lower the threshold for nuclear use in order to "sober up" Russia's enemies in the West.
ADVANCES IN EASTERN UKRAINE
In eastern Ukraine, where the heaviest fighting of the war is concentrated, Russian forces continued to advance towards Pokrovsk, a vital military huband transport link to towns and cities further north.
Ukraine had hoped that its surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk region launched last month would force Russia to re-deploy troops and take pressure off besieged forces in the east, but so far it does not appear to have had this effect.
Russia's defence ministry said its forces had captured two more settlements in Donetsk region and were "continuing to advance deep into the enemy defences". One of them, Ptyche, is 21 km (13 miles) southeast of Pokrovsk.
At least three people were killed and nine wounded in Russian shelling of Kurakhove, a town around 35 km south of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukraine's army chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, described the situation as "difficult" around Russia's main line of attack in eastern Ukraine.
Also on Sunday, Ukrainian forces shelled Russia's southern Belgorod region, injuring 11 people, including two children who were seriously hurt, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Russia delivers 15 precision strikes at key Ukrainian energy sites, airfields over week
Russia delivered one massive and 14 combined strikes by precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at key Ukrainian energy sites and airfields over the past week in the special military operation in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Friday.
"On August 24-30, the Russian Armed Forces delivered one massive and 14 combined strikes by long-range precision weapons, Kinzhal hypersonic air-launched ballistic missiles and attack unmanned aerial vehicles, hitting vital Ukrainian energy and aerodrome infrastructure sites, fuel depots, arsenals of Western-made air-launched weapons and artillery munitions," the ministry said in a statement.
The strikes also targeted UAV production workshops, naval drone storage facilities, temporary deployment sites of Ukrainian nationalist formations and foreign mercenaries, it specified.
Ukraine’s army loses 16,910 troops in all frontline areas over week
The Ukrainian army lost roughly 16,910 troops in battles with Russian forces in all the frontline areas over the past week, according to the latest data on the special military operation released by Russia’s Defense Ministry.
The latest data show that the Ukrainian army suffered roughly 3,580 casualties from Russia’s Battlegroup North, more than 3,450 casualties from the Battlegroup West, over 4,840 casualties from the Battlegroup South, 3,720 casualties from the Battlegroup Center, 860 casualties from the Battlegroup East and 460 casualties from the Battlegroup Dnepr.
Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicts 3,580 casualties on Ukrainian army over week
Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicted roughly 3,580 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed four enemy multiple launch rocket systems, including a US-made HIMARS launcher in its area of responsibility over the week, the ministry reported.
"During the week, Battlegroup North units continued destroying Ukrainian armed formations in the Kursk Region. Operational/tactical aircraft and army aviation helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and artillery inflicted losses on personnel and equipment of units from four mechanized brigades, a tank brigade and two air assault brigades of the Ukrainian army and three territorial defense brigades. Russian forces also thwarted the enemy’s attempts to deploy reserves from the territory of Ukraine," the ministry said.
In the Volchansk and Liptsy directions, the Battlegroup North units struck formations of a Ukrainian marine infantry brigade, two territorial defense brigades and two National Guard brigades, it specified.
"Over the week, the enemy’s losses in the Battlegroup North area of responsibility amounted to 3,580 personnel, six tanks, 181 armored combat vehicles and 103 motor vehicles. Russian forces also destroyed four multiple launch rocket systems, including a US-made HIMARS rocket launcher, 35 field artillery guns and 12 electronic warfare and counterbattery radar stations," the ministry said.
Russia’s Battlegroup West liberates two communities over week
Russia’s Battlegroup West liberated the settlements of Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and Sinkovka in the Kharkov Region over the past week, the ministry reported.
"Battlegroup West units liberated the settlements of Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and Sinkovka in the Kharkov Region as a result of well-coordinated operations," the ministry said.
Reuters/Tass