(Updated: )
Key developments on Aug. 30:
- Russian attack on Kharkiv kills at least 7, including child, injures over 90
- Ukrainian forces advance 2 kilometers into Kursk Oblast, Syrskyi says
- Russia claims downing of 18 drones overnight, Kaluga airport reportedly attacked
- Zelensky dismisses Air Force Commander Oleshchuk
- EU to train additional 15,000 Ukrainian troops by end of 2024, Borrell says
Editor's note: The article was updated according to the latest casualties' report from local authorities.
Russian forces attacked the city of Kharkiv on Aug. 30 with UMPB D-30 munitions, killing at least seven people, including a child, and injuring 97 others, local authorities reported.
The Russian strike hit a 12-story residential building in the city's Industrialnyi district, causing a fire. At least three people were killed, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
Kharkiv's Nemyshlianskyi district also came under attack, killing a 14-year-old girl, according to Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov. There are 22 children among the injured, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said.
Russian forces also hit downtown Kharkiv and the city's Slobidskyi district, damaging a warehouse building and three houses, the governor said.
Syniehubov said that 20 of those injured are in serious or "extremely serious" condition.
"There may be people on the upper floors of the hit building, including at least one woman. There is a risk that the building will be destroyed," he added.
The body of a woman was removed from the rubble in the evening, bringing the death toll of the attack to seven.
President Volodymyr Zelensky urged partners to allow Ukraine to strike military air bases on Russian soil with Western-supplied weapons.
"We need strong decisions from our partners to stop this terror. This is an absolutely fair need. And there is no rational reason to limit Ukraine's defense," he said following the attack.
Attacks against population centers in Kharkiv Oblast intensified after Russian forces launched a new cross-border offensive in the northern part of the region in May. While the push has been halted by Ukrainian troops, Russia continues to hold a handful of settlements just across the border.
Alfonso Prat-Gay
Ukrainian forces advance 2 kilometers into Kursk Oblast, Syrskyi says
Ukrainian troops have pushed 2 kilometers (1.4 miles) deeper into Russia's Kursk Oblast, capturing 5 square kilometers (2 square miles) of territory, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi announced on Aug. 30.
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, including the town of Sudzha, according to Syrskyi on Aug. 27.
These claims have not been independently verified by The Kyiv Independent.
Syrskyi confirmed that the offensive in Kursk Oblast is ongoing, while the most challenging conditions on the front line persist in the Pokrosvk direction in Donetsk Oblast.
Elsewhere along the front, the situation is described as "complicated but under control," Syrskyi added.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 28 that Ukraine continues to "expand the territory under our control in the designated areas near the border of Ukraine," but did not provide specific details.
Citing Russian milbloggers, the Institute for the Study of War on Aug. 28 said that Ukrainian forces "are now attempting to dig in and hold select areas they recently seized."
Speaking at the Ukraine 2024 Independence forum in Kyiv on Aug. 27, Zelensky said that the ongoing Kursk incursion is one part of a plan for victory that he would present U.S. President Joe Biden during a meeting in September.
Francis Farrell
Russia claims downing of 18 drones overnight, Kaluga airport reportedly attacked
Russia claimed on Aug. 30 it had shot down 18 Ukrainian drones overnight in four different regions.
In a post on Telegram, Russia's defense ministry said 11 drones had been downed in Bryansk Oblast, four in Kaluga Oblast, two in occupied Crimea, and one in Belgorod Oblast.
It did not report any damage or casualties.
According to the Mash channel on the messaging app Telegram, two of the four drones downed in Kaluga Oblast were intercepted on the approach to Kaluga International Airport.
The Kyiv Independent cannot independently verify the claims. Ukraine's military has not yet commented on the alleged attack.
Ukrainian forces regularly conduct drone strikes and sabotage acts on Russian territory, targeting military bases, oil refineries, and industrial facilities.
Ukraine has previously targeted Moscow with drone attacks.
Kyiv does not always claim official responsibility for reported attacks on Russian soil.
Kateryna Hodunova
Zelensky dismisses Air Force Commander Oleshchuk
President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Ukraine's Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk on Aug. 30.
The decision was announced on the Presidential Office’s official website.
Oleshchuk has served in the position since Aug. 9, 2021.
In his evening address, Zelensky thanked Ukrainian pilots, engineers, and soldiers of mobile firing groups and air defense units.
"(I thank) everyone who is really fighting for Ukraine — for the result. And it is also necessary at the command level. We must strengthen ourselves. And we must take care of people. Take care of the personnel. Take care of all our soldiers," the president said without elaborating on the reason for the dismissal.
Oleshchuk's dismissal came a day after the Ukrainian military confirmed that, the F-16 fighter jet, which had been recently delivered to the country and was being operated by Ukraine's top pilot Oleksii Mes with the call sign "Moonfish," had crashed while defending against a mass Russian drone and missile attack against the country on Aug. 26. Mes was killed in the crash.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry said it had established a special commission to look into what caused the crash.
Oleshchuk said that Ukraine had "received a preliminary report" from the U.S., which he said "has already joined the investigation into the causes (of the crash)."
An unnamed U.S. defense official told Reuters that the crash "did not appear to be the result of Russian fire" and said that other causes, including "pilot error" and "mechanical failure," were being investigated.
Oleshchuk pledged to get to the bottom of the crash, and said that "no one has hidden anything (or is) hiding anything (now)."
Lieutenant General Anatolii Kryvonozhko, commander of the "Center" Air Command, was appointedas Ukraine's acting Air Force commander.
Martin Fornusek
EU to train additional 15,000 Ukrainian troops by end of 2024, Borrell says
Defense ministers of European Union states agreed to increase the number of Ukrainian military personnel trained under the EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine (EUMAM) program, the EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said on Aug. 30.
EUMAM, established in October 2022, aims to enhance the training of the Ukrainian military. The program has already trained approximately 60,000 Ukrainian service members, primarily in Germany and Poland.
The ministers decided to raise the target to 75,000 by training an additional 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers by the end of the year, according to Borrell.
Borrell said that the training will be adapted to the battlefield situation and conducted in coordination with Kyiv. He also announced the opening of a coordination center in Ukraine's capital.
Borrell described EUMAM as the "most successful training mission the EU has ever launched."
Politico and Die Welt reported on Aug. 27 that the EU is considering specific "political and operational conditions" under which it would send instructors to Ukraine.
The document notes that Ukraine requested in-country training due to logistical and cost considerations. However, some EU member nations fear that training on Ukrainian soil could escalate conflict with Russia.
Mariana Lastovyria
