Kremlin signals Putin's intention to visit occupied Donbas

President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Olha Stefanishyna from her post on Aug. 3.

The reported target is the Slavneft-Yanos oil refinery in Yaroslavl, over 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the Ukrainian border. It is one of Russia's five largest refineries, with an annual crude oil capacity of 15 million metric tons.

Aircraft scrambles along NATO's eastern border increased by 250% in July 2026 compared to July 2025, due to Russian military planes skirting Alliance airspace without flight plans.

The "landmark decision" marks the first time a foreign court has ordered the handover of a Russian ship tied to stolen Ukrainian grain.

Voice of America will resume its Ukrainian-language broadcasts and return some employees of its Ukrainian Service to work, Ruslan Petrychka, head of the broadcaster's Ukrainian Service, announced on Aug. 5.

President Volodymyr Zelensky met with British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting in Kyiv on Aug. 5, marking the British official's first visit to the Ukrainian capital.

A car explosion in Russia's Sverdlovsk Oblast reportedly killed a driver and put Vladimir Tkachuk, head of a company producing "Ghoul" attack drones, in intensive care.

Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told the Kyiv Independent that a shortage of interceptors was not the decisive factor behind Ukrainian forces’ failure to intercept missiles during the Russian strike on Aug. 5.

"It is impossible for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, given their current level of development, to join an organization that is guided by World War II doctrines," Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.K., Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said.

Despite the heightened threat in the current drone-dominated phase of the war, Yukov continued to head on repatriation missions from dangerous places, including the Sloviansk and Izium areas.