Key developments on Aug. 31 - Sep. 1:
- Russia attacks Kharkiv, injuring at least 47, including medics, children
- Russia claims 158 drones downed in mass attack targeting refinery, power plants in Moscow, other regions
- F-16 fighter jet in Ukraine unlikely shot down by 'friendly fire,' NYT suggests
- Ukraine presents US with list of targets in Russia it wants to hit with ATACMS missiles
- Russian troops partially go on defensive near Lyptsi in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine's military says
- Russia has not provided humanitarian corridor from Kursk, says Ukrainian official
Russia launched an attack at the city of Kharkiv on Sep. 1, injuring at least 47 people, local authorities reported.
At around 1 p.m. local time, the first explosions were heard in Kharkiv. The Saltivskyi and Nemyshlianskyi districts of the city came under attack, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov.
According to the preliminary data, the city was struck by Iskander-M ballistic missiles, the Prosecutor General's Office said.
As of 2 p.m. local time, 22 people were injured in the Saltivskyi district and six in the Nemyshlianskyi district. Two people are in serious condition, Terekhov said.
Later in the day, Terekhov added that two children and two medics suffered injuries in the attack on the Saltivskyi district.
As of 6:44 p.m. local time, the number of casualties has risen to 47 people, including seven children, the State Emergency Service reported.
KAMILA HRABCHUK
The youngest victim of the attack is three months old, according to Terekhov.
Kharkiv's Palace of Sports was destroyed in the recent attack on the Nemyshlyansky district. Rescuers are continuing to dismantle the rubble of the sports facility, as there may be people under it, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Energy infrastructure in Kharkiv also came under attack, the Energy Ministry reported. The ministry did not specify which facility was attacked or the extent of its damage.
"Russia is terrorizing Kharkiv again," President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on his Telegram.
"All the necessary means for the rescue operation have been deployed," Zelensky said, adding: "And all the necessary means worldwide should be involved to stop this terror. This requires not extraordinary means, but sufficient courage of the leaders — the courage to give Ukraine everything it needs to defend itself."
Syniehubov reported that Russia had struck the city nearly 10 times. The Russian attack damaged a shopping center, a sports facility, and residential buildings.
Russia often uses "double-tap" attacks" against Ukrainian cities: After the first strike, Russia hits the same target again after emergency workers have arrived arrive at the scene. Medical workers and rescuers, as well as police officers, are often affected by such attacks.
Attacks against population centers in Kharkiv Oblast intensified after Russia launched a new cross-border offensive in the northern part of the region in May. While the push has been halted by Ukrainian troops, Russian troops continue to hold a handful of settlements just across the border.
Russia on Aug. 30 attacked the city of Kharkiv with UMPB D-30 munitions, killing at least seven people, including a child, and injuring 97 others.
Chris York
Russia claims 158 drones downed in mass attack targeting refinery, power plants in Moscow, other regions
Dozens of drones reportedly targeted several Russian regions overnight on Sept. 1, including Moscow, Tver, Voronezh, Tula, Kaluga, Bryansk, Belgorod, Lipetsk, and Kursk, according to local officials.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that 158 drones were downed overnight.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed that at least nine drones were downed in Russia's capital region. One of the drones was reportedly destroyed near the Moscow Oil Refinery, according to Sobyanin. One of the refinery's buildings was damaged and a fire was reported following the attack, Russia's state-owned Ria Novosti outlet reported.
The refinery, owned by Gazprom Neft, the oil division of Russian gas giant Gazprom, is located in southeastern Moscow. No casualties were reported.
The Baza Telegram news channel, which is closely associated with Russia's security services, reported that loud explosions were heard near the Konakovo Power Station in the Tver region, one of the largest energy producers in central Russia.
Daria Svitlyk
The Russian Telegram channel Astra reported two fires in the Tver region near local gas distribution infrastructure, citing videos from local residents.
At least three drones reportedly targeted the Kashira Power Plant in the Moscow region, according to Mikhail Shuvalov, the head of the Kashira city district. He said that the attack did not result in any fires, damage, or casualties.
The Kyiv Independent could not immediately verify these claims.
Additionally, some 34 drones were shot down over the Bryansk region in southwestern Russia, the region's governor, Alexander Bogomaz said via his official Telegram channel.
More than 10 drones were destroyed over the Voronezh region and several more were downed over Lipetsk, Kaluga, Ryazan and Tula regions, governors of the regions said in posts on Telegram.
Two more were also downed in the Kursk region, which has been partially controlled by Ukraine, said the region's acting governor, Aleksei Smirnov.
As Kyiv's incursion into Kursk Oblast enters its fourth week, Ukraine reportedly controls over 1,290 square kilometers (500 square miles) and 100 settlements, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Aug. 27.
Officials said that there were no reported injuries or damage according to preliminary information.
In Belgorod Oblast, some 14 drones were reportedly shot down. Several houses, cars, and commercial properties were damaged after repelling an aerial attack, according to regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Kateryna Hodunova
F-16 fighter jet in Ukraine unlikely shot down by 'friendly fire,' NYT suggests
"Friendly fire" from a Patriot missile battery is unlikely to have caused the downing of a U.S.-made F-16 fighter jet, the New York Times reported on Aug. 31, citing two undisclosed senior U.S. military officials.
Ukraine's General Staff confirmed on Aug. 29 that the F-16, which had been recently delivered to the country and was being operated by pilot Oleksii Mes, had crashed while defending against a mass Russian drone and missile attack on Aug. 26. Mes was killed in the crash.
The cause of the accident remains unclear, but early investigation suggests that a Patriot anti-aircraft system shot out the F-16, The Telegraph reported on Aug. 31.
American and Ukrainian investigators are looking at different versions of the crash, including mechanical failure or pilot error, according to the NYT.
Following the F-16 crash, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Ukraine's Air Force CommanderMykola Oleshchuk on Aug. 30. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that his removal was not connected to the deadly accident.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry has also established a special commission to investigate the cause of the crash. Oleshchuk said that Ukraine had received a preliminary report from the U.S., which he said is now part of the investigation.
At the same time, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Aug. 29 that she was "not aware of any assistance or requests for assistance from the Ukrainian side to us about this particular incident."
Singh declined to discuss the crash in more detail, repeatedly saying that such questions should be referred to Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine received its first F-16s at the beginning of August, a year after its allies formed the fighter jet coalition at the NATO summit in Vilnius to support Kyiv with training and aircraft.
Martin Fornusek
Ukraine presents US with list of targets in Russia it wants to hit with ATACMS missiles
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said in an Aug. 30 interview that he had submitted to senior U.S. officials a list of targets that Ukraine wants to hit with U.S.-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles in Russia.
The news came as a Ukrainian delegation arrived in Washington to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other Western officials.
Kyiv has long argued that restrictions on the use of long-range weapons are stifling its war effort, while Washington claimed that allowing Ukraine to hit deep into Russian territory with its weapons could escalate the conflict.
Ukraine has dismissed these arguments and has ramped up pressure to lift the ban in recent weeks amid the ongoing incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast. The White House has not budged on its position, despite some U.S. politicians backing Kyiv's demands.
"We have explained what kind of capabilities we need to protect the citizens against the Russian terror that Russians are causing us, so I hope we were heard," Umerov told CNN.
According to the minister, the list includes airfields used by the Russian army to launch strikes against population centers across Ukraine.
The targets on the list are within the range of long-range missiles, and Kyiv insists on lifting restrictions on the use of ATACMS to protect its people and infrastructure, Umerov added.
"They're killing our citizens. That is why we want to deter them, we want to stop them, we don't want [to] allow their aviation to come closer to our borders to bomb the cities,” the minister said.
In June the U.S. permitted Ukraine to strike Russian military targets just across the border but maintained its ban on attacks deep inside Russia with long-range weapons like ATACMS.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine's capture of the Russian town of Sudzha, located less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with Ukraine, shows that Western fears of Russian "red lines" are groundless.
Western countries have largely allowed Ukraine to use their arms in the Kursk incursion, but the U.S. and the U.K. have maintained their restrictions on the use of long-range missiles like ATACMS or Storm Shadow.
Isaac C. Flanagan
Russian troops partially go on defensive near Lyptsi in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine's military says
Russian forces have partially shifted to defense near the village of Lyptsi in Kharkiv Oblast, Vitalii Sarantsev, the Kharkiv group of forces' spokesperson, said on Sep. 1 on national television.
Lyptsi is located 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of the Russian border. The village was under Russian occupation from February to September 2022, and was again targeted during Russia's renewed offensive against Kharkiv Oblast in 2024.
Russian troops partially withdrew from the area at the end of June, according to Ukraine's military.
The Russian military is now trying to hold its positions in the Lyptsi area and regain the ones it has already lost, suffering quite significant losses in this sector of the front line, Sarantsev said.
"Some (Russian) soldiers of the units located on the front refuse to perform combat missions. In this section (of the front line), we partially improve our tactical position, and in case of favorable conditions, we counterattack the enemy," Sarantsev said.
The spokesperson said that, at the same time, Russia also keeps a considerable number of personnel near this area of Kharkiv Oblast.
"Of course, we are preparing for all possible actions of the enemy in order not only to deter it effectively but also to advance and regain our territories under favorable conditions," Sarantsev added.
The Kharkiv group of forces said earlier that Russian troops being transported into the embattled town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast were forced to retreat after suffering losses.
While initially gaining ground in May, the Russian offensive in northern Kharkiv Oblast has quickly bogged down, with Russian troops reportedly suffering heavy losses.
The intensity of fighting has decreased somewhat compared to other sectors, though several reports of Russia preparing new attacks have emerged since then.
Asami Terajima
Russia has not provided humanitarian corridor from Kursk, says Ukrainian official
Russia has not provided a humanitarian corridor for its citizens to leave Kursk more than three weeks after Ukraine began its incursion into the region, said Vadym Mysnyk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military's Operational Tactical Group Siversk.
Mysnyk made his comments during the government-run Telemarathon, Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform reported.
"We talk a lot with the locals. Even show them photos of destroyed Ukrainian cities, show films about the crimes committed by the Russians at the beginning of the war. They have different opinions. But for the most part they don't understand. They say that they want peace, that it is beyond politics, that everything stops or that they are given a corridor - the opportunity to leave the combat zone, which Russia does not provide," said Mysnyk.
Ukraine's cross-border incursion into neighboring Kursk Oblast began on Aug. 6.
According to Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, as of Aug. 27, Ukraine controlled 1,294 square kilometers (around 500 square miles) and 100 settlements, including the town of Sudzha.
These claims have not been independently verified by The Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine opened a hotline for Russian citizens in Kursk Oblast who wish to receive humanitarian aid or want to be evacuated to Ukraine amid the ongoing fighting in the area, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Aug. 14.
Around 200 civilians remain in the city of Sudzha out of 5,000 residents, Oleksandr Pavliuk, commander of Ukraine's Ground Forces, said on Aug. 31. The majority of them are retirement age. Russia is regularly shelling Sudzha and attacking it with guided aerial bombs and kamikaze drones, according to Pavliuk.
Dinara Khalilova
