Ukraine war latest: Zelensky cites new Ukrainian, Russian casualty figures

Key developments on July 31:

• Russian military deaths 14 times higher than Ukraine’s, Zelensky says
• 5 special forces soldiers missing, 3 injured after ammunition detonation at training ground in Western Ukraine
• Khartiia brigade commander Obolienskyi targeted in assassination attempt, Zelensky says
• Ukraine's assault regiments ordered to halt recruitment amid allegations of misconduct, media reports
• Ukrainian forces strike oil refinery in Russia's Volgograd Oblast, aircraft factory in occupied Crimea, military confirms

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed new estimates of military casualties on both sides of Russia’s full-scale war, saying that around 50,000 Ukrainian service members had been killed and approximately 400,000 wounded.

Speaking in an interview with Fox News, Zelensky added that many Ukrainian troops remained missing in action.

"It's difficult to say. I don't want to be very open about it because Russia will understand what's going on with our army," Zelensky said.

Zelensky also estimated that Russian forces had suffered around 1.6 million military casualties since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, including approximately 700,000 killed.

The latest Ukrainian death toll cited by Zelensky is lower than the figure he gave five months earlier. In February, he said that at least 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been officially confirmed killed on the battlefield.

The true scale of military losses is difficult to determine because neither Ukraine nor Russia discloses complete figures.

According to the latest study by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Russia suffered an estimated 1.4 million battlefield casualties between February 2022 and June 2026, including up to 450,000 troops killed.

In addition, Russia’s monthly losses in 2026 significantly exceeded the number of new troops it recruited.

The study also estimated Ukraine's losses at between 525,000 and 625,000 casualties, including between 125,000 and 150,000 troops killed.

Combined military casualties on both sides exceeded 2 million, according to CSIS.

5 special forces soldiers missing, 3 injured after ammunition detonation at training ground in Western Ukraine

Three Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SOF) service members were injured and there is "no contact" with five others following an ammunition detonation at a military training ground in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, western Ukraine, the Special Operations Forces reported on July 31.

"Search teams are currently examining the site," the SOF said in a post on social media.

The incident began at around 11:55 a.m., and the ammunition continued detonating until 7 p.m. The cause and circumstances remain unclear.

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) opened criminal proceedings into a possible violation of rules regarding the handling of weapons, ammunition, explosives, or other hazardous materials.

Khmelnytskyi Mayor Oleksandr Symchyshyn said there was no confirmed information on fatalities. Several residential and municipal buildings were damaged, while some public transport routes were changed as a safety precaution.

Police warned residents in the area where debris could potentially land and cordoned off the zone, Symchyshyn said.

The explosion follows another major ammunition detonation earlier in July. On July 6, a large-scale Russian attack struck a warehouse in Vyshneve, a town on Kyiv’s western outskirts, triggering secondary explosions that killed seven people and injured 29.

Khartiia brigade commander Obolienskyi targeted in assassination attempt, Zelensky says

Khartiia Brigade Commander Ihor Obolienskyi survived an assassination attempt, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on July 31 following a briefing by acting Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) chief Oleksandr Poklad.

"We will definitely respond to this attempted strike against Ukraine and the Ukrainian commander," Zelensky said in a post on X.

The president added that the attacker and his accomplices had been detained and that legal proceedings were underway.

Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing law enforcement sources, that a 69-year-old man suspected of preparing an assassination attempt against Obolienskyi was detained in Kharkiv near a local barbershop.

The man was allegedly recruited by Russian special services who posed as SBU officers and convinced the Kharkiv resident that Obolienskyi was a "traitor." The operatives sent him an AI-generated image showing Obolienskyi standing next to the Kremlin wearing a T-shirt with Russian symbols, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

The suspect approached the brigade commander from behind, but his weapon reportedly malfunctioned at the moment of the attack. A Makarov pistol and ammunition were seized from him during the arrest, the report read.

The detainee also said he had received the weapon from an unidentified person in Kharkiv on the instructions of his handler.

Law enforcement officers are currently working to identify the person who provided the weapon, analyzing surveillance footage, checking for possible accomplices, and determining whether information about the service member's movements was leaked.

A criminal case has been opened, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

Russian intelligence services have repeatedly recruited Ukrainian citizens to carry out assassination attempts against Ukrainian military personnel and other public figures. The attempted attack on Hero of Ukraine Obolienskyi is not the first such case reported this year.

The SBU said on March 13 that it had detained a Ukrainian drone operator recruited by Moscow to assassinate Andrii Biletskyi, commander of the Third Army Corps.

Later that month, law enforcement agencies dismantled a Russian intelligence and sabotage network consisting of 10 individuals who were collecting information on Ukrainian forces and planning contract killings of public figures, including volunteer Serhii Sternenko and Ilya Bogdanov, a fighter with the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said.

Russian special services attempted to assassinate Andrii Yusov, an officer with Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), at least twice in 2026.

In February, the SBU, in cooperation with Moldovan law enforcement, uncovered a spy network planning assassination attempts against at least five public figures, including Yusov.

A similar case emerged in June, when law enforcement officers detained a former military service member and his intermediary who planned to kill Yusov using an FPV (first-person-view) drone in Kyiv in exchange for a $100,000 payment.

Ukraine's assault regiments ordered to halt recruitment amid allegations of misconduct, media reports

Newly appointed Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi ordered assault regiments of Ukraine's Ground Forces to temporarily suspend recruitment on July 26, Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported on July 31, citing sources in four units.

The reported order comes amid a series of media investigations into alleged mistreatment of soldiers and non-combat deaths in the 425th and 225th assault regiments, which were often directly subordinate to former Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on the battlefield. The units, however, have also been tasked with some of the most dangerous missions on the battlefield and have sustained significant losses.

Ukrainska Pravda did not disclose which assault regiments provided the information.

One source said their regiment was currently unable to recruit personnel from reserve battalions or newly mobilized soldiers assigned through enlistment offices. Another source confirmed that their unit had received notice of a "suspension of personnel allocations" following a decision by the new commander-in-chief.

A soldier who spoke to Ukrainska Pravda on condition of anonymity also said that transfers of personnel who had gone AWOL to the regiment had been put on hold.

"Two people were in the process of transferring to us after going AWOL," the soldier said. "They had already left their units and were waiting to join ours, but now I don't know what to do with them."

However, sources in the General Staff told the Ukrainian outlet Babel that no official orders had been issued to suspend recruitment in assault regiments, contradicting earlier media reports.

The General Staff has not publicly commented on reports of a possible ban on replenishing the personnel of assault units.

Yet, on July 29, the General Staff announced an inspection of the "fair distribution of personnel" across the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The review aims to assess the actual staffing levels of brigades, regiments, and corps, evaluate the effectiveness of personnel allocation among units, and identify ways to improve military personnel management, the General Staff said.

Ukrainska Pravda reported that at least two assault regiments — the 425th, also known as Skelia, and the 225th — had exclusive authorization to continuously replenish and expand their ranks. At the same time, other assault units, including the 1st Separate Assault Regiment and the 475th Assault Regiment, did not have the same authorization despite their battlefield effectiveness, the outlet reported, citing sources.

Two investigations published by Ukrainian media outlets this summer examined alleged mistreatment of soldiers in — the 425th and 225th regiments.

The Ukrainian outlet Texty reported that Oleh Shyriaiev, commander of Ukraine's 225th Assault Regiment, allegedly ordered troops to open fire on fellow soldiers who were retreating.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian outlet Babel reported that the 425th Assault Regiment had seen more than 30 non-combat deaths among Ukrainian soldiers, which the outlet linked to inadequate service conditions and alleged abuse.

Following the publication of the investigation on June 23, Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) launched a pretrial investigation into allegations of torture and deaths among mobilized soldiers in the regiment. The commander of the Skelia regiment, Yurii Harkavyi, is also suspended while the investigation is underway.

Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation charged two service members from the medical unit of the 425th Assault Regiment with allegedly torturing and unlawfully detaining two fellow soldiers, the agency said on July 28.

Ukrainian forces strike oil refinery in Russia's Volgograd Oblast, aircraft factory in occupied Crimea, military confirms

Ukraine struck an oil refinery in Russia's Volgograd Oblast and hit an aircraft plant in the city of Yevpatoriia in Russian-occupied Crimea on July 31, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the General Staff confirmed.

In the city of Volgograd, the Lukoil-Volgogradneftepererabotka refinery, one of Russia's largest oil refineries, with an annual crude oil processing capacity of 15 million metric tons, was targeted. The facility produces gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel and also supplies fuel used by Russian forces, the General Staff said.

A fire was reported at the site following the attack, the General Staff added.

Russian independent outlet Astra reported that a logistics complex belonging to Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries was targeted. The company also said it had temporarily suspended operations at the warehouse, where a fire broke out.

Astra also reported an overnight attack on another Wildberries facility in Zelenodolsk, Tatarstan.

The latest attacks on the Wildberries warehouses is part of Ukraine's campaign against Russian logistics hubs that sell and store dual-use goods, including items used in the production of Russian drones. Ukraine has previously struck more than 10 such warehouses across Russia.

Following the recent strikes, the company reportedly removed products from search results for the Russian-language terms "everything for the SVO" and "SVO," an acronym for "special military operation," the Kremlin's official term for its full-scale war against Ukraine.

Volgograd Oblast Governor Andrei Bocharov said a Ukrainian attack on Volgograd killed one woman and injured eight others. The governor added that fires broke out at an industrial facility and warehouse premises in the city but did not identify the affected sites.

Later in the day, the SBU said it was behind the attack on the Volgograd oil refinery, saying that the same operation also targeted two aircraft storage hangars and a production facility at an aircraft plant in Yevpatoriia, Russian-occupied Crimea. The SBU also said it struck the port of Taman in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, where a large-scale fire was reported.

President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on Ukraine's latest strikes deep inside Russian territory, saying that Ukrainian forces hit three logistics centers in Sarapul, Kazan, and Volgograd on July 31. The facilities were located 500 to 1,300 kilometers (310 to 800 miles) from Ukraine, Zelensky said.

Zelensky did not clarify whether the logistics centers were Wildberries warehouses.

Zelensky also confirmed strikes on the oil refinery in Volgograd, located nearly 480 kilometers (300 miles) from the front line, and the maritime terminal in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, located about 270 kilometers (170 miles) away.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the reported strikes or the extent of the damage.