Ukraine war latest: New Magura sea drones strike Russian radar systems in occupied Crimea

Key developments on Aug. 3:

• Ukraine's new Magura naval platforms strike Russian radar systems in occupied Crimea for 1st time, military intelligence says
• Most key Russian ballistic missile manufacturers circumvent sanctions as Ukraine faces interceptor shortage, Zelensky says
• Russian attack on gas station in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast kills 3, including rescue worker and his 8-year-old son
• Russian attack on 'transport infrastructure' in Odesa Oblast wounds 13 people, governor says

Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) used newly developed Magura naval platforms carrying FPV (first-person-view) drones to strike two Russian radar-related targets in occupied Crimea, the agency said on Aug. 3.

The operation, carried out by HUR's Group 13 special unit in late July, targeted a command vehicle belonging to a Podlet radar system and a Parol-4 identification friend-or-foe radar interrogator, according to the agency.

HUR said the operation marked the first time the new Magura platforms had enabled Ukrainian forces to launch FPV drones against Russian ground targets in occupied Crimea.

"From now on, our Maguras threaten the Russian occupiers on land as well — this fundamentally shifts the fight into a new dimension," HUR said.

HUR said Group 13 had previously destroyed nine Russian vessels and damaged five others using Magura naval drones. The unit had also destroyed three helicopters and two fighter jets and damaged another helicopter, according to the agency.

HUR first publicly presented its latest Magura sea drones on May 14, 2025. The platforms have played a key role in Ukraine's Black Sea campaign, with Group 13 using them to strike 17 Russian naval and aerial targets as of May 2025, according to the agency.

Separately, explosions and fires were reported across occupied Crimea overnight on Aug. 3.

Local residents reported explosions in Kerch, and the Crimean Bridge, which connects the occupied peninsula with mainland Russia, was closed at around 1 a.m. local time, according to a local monitoring channel.

Most key Russian ballistic missile manufacturers circumvent sanctions as Ukraine faces interceptor shortage, Zelensky says

Most of the 17 key Russian companies producing ballistic missiles can evade sanctions by operating through foreign jurisdictions, President Volodymyr Zelensky said at an annual meeting of the heads of Ukraine's diplomatic missions on Aug. 3.

Closing these loopholes is particularly urgent as Ukraine faces a shortage of missiles capable of intercepting Russian ballistic weapons. During Russia's recent large-scale attack on Aug. 1, Ukrainian air defenses shot down only one of 27 ballistic missiles due to a shortage of Patriot interceptors.

At the meeting, Zelensky called for closer coordination of sanctions among partner countries, saying this would allow them to impose secondary sanctions on banks and other financial institutions that help Russia pay for supplies for its defense industry, a Kyiv Independent journalist reported from the event.

"Some key Russian enterprises involved in ballistic missile production are not under sanctions imposed by the U.S., the U.K., Japan, Switzerland, and other jurisdictions," Zelensky said.

According to Zelensky, some of these institutions operate through offshore jurisdictions with fewer restrictions on international transactions, as well as through China, which has not joined Western sanctions against Russia.

Zelensky also mentioned Freya, a Ukrainian equivalent of the Patriot air defense system that Fire Point is building in cooperation with European partners.

The president said the new anti-ballistic system could become a shared European project providing "integrated protection."

"Ukraine is capable of manufacturing both the missile itself and the launcher," Zelensky said.

"The decisive factor is cooperation with those European countries and companies that have the radars, sensors, and everything else required for an effective anti-ballistic system."

Russian attack on gas station in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast kills 3, including rescue worker and his 8-year-old son

A Russian attack on a gas station in central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast killed three people, including a rescue worker and his eight-year-old son, and injured six others, the State Emergency Service reported on Aug. 3.

The attack occurred in the town of Shyroke, which sits on a highway about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Kryvyi Rih. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Oleksandr Hanzha, who reported a higher injury count of 11, said that a fire broke out at the attack site and the gas station, and cars were damaged.

The report comes as Russia scales up its attacks on gas stations in front-line regions, including in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, trying to grind down Ukrainian logistics. Over recent months, while Ukraine's long-range strikes have caused a fuel crisis across Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine, with attacks on refineries, Russia has quietly been systematically targeting gas stations.

Earlier, regional officials said in late July that Russian forces had destroyed all gas stations along the highway between Poltava and Kharkiv.

Russian attack on 'transport infrastructure' in Odesa Oblast wounds 13 people, governor says

A Russian attack on an unidentified "transport infrastructure" in southern Odesa Oblast wounded 13 people, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Aug. 3.

Without disclosing the location of the attack or which weapon was used, Kiper said a fire broke out at one of the facilities and that firefighters were working to extinguish it. He reported that four of the injured victims were hospitalized, with one of them in critical condition, and that the number of casualties is rising.

The attack comes as Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry reported that Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure. Russia has launched five attacks on seaport facilities, three on civilian vessels in ports, and two on vessels in the Ukrainian Sea Corridor over the first three days of August, according to the ministry.

The Ukrainian Sea Corridor is a temporary Black Sea passageway that Ukraine established after Russia unilaterally withdrew from the international Black Sea Grain Initiative.

"Russia continues targeted attacks on Ukraine's transport infrastructure, seaports, and civilian fleet," the ministry said in its Telegram post.

On top of the facilities struck in Odesa Oblast, Russia attacked an undisclosed number of civilian vessels in ports of Greater Odesa and the Danube Region, which are Ukraine's key maritime and river logistic hubs, the ministry said.

Over July, Russia launched 67 attacks on seaport facilities, 35 attacks on civilian vessels in ports, and 22 attacks on vessels in the Ukrainian Sea Corridor, according to the ministry.