Ukraine war latest: Zelensky makes fresh plea for Patriots as Air Force stops publishing missile numbers

Key developments on Aug. 13:

• Ukraine could 'destroy all the Russians’ ballistic missiles' if US sells 10% of Patriot missile supply to Kyiv, Zelensky says
• Ukraine repatriates 261 bodies that Russia claims belong to Ukrainian soldiers
• Ukraine's Air Force faces backlash over decision to stop publishing Russian ballistic missile figures
• Scandal-hit Skelia assault regiment to fight under Azov command as Drapatyi's reforms gain momentum
• Head of Mykolaiv draft office arrested on corruption charges
• Massive explosion rocks Italian ammunition plant that produces artillery for Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on Aug. 12 that Ukraine could destroy all Russian ballistic missiles if the United States were to sell Kyiv 10% of its Patriot interceptor missile stockpile.

"This year I’m asking American partners to sell me 5% of missiles, what they have in their stocks," said Zelensky in an interview with CNN.

"If they sell us 5% we will go through the winter and save people’s lives. If they can sell us 10%, we will destroy all the Russians’ ballistic missiles," the president added.

The appeal for more interceptor missiles from Zelensky comes amid a severe shortage of air defense supplies for Ukraine. In July, Ukraine intercepted only 29 of the 195 ballistic missiles Russia launched at the country, making it the deadliest month for civilians since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, according to the UN.

"I have 1%," said Zelensky, referring to current Ukrainian acquisition of U.S. interceptor missiles.

Ukraine repatriates 261 bodies that Russia claims belong to Ukrainian soldiers

Ukraine repatriated the bodies of 261 people who Russia claims were Ukrainian service members, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs) said on Aug. 13.

During previous repatriations, Russia at times returned the bodies of its own soldiers to Kyiv, with Ukrainian officials alleging the practice may have been aimed at avoiding compensation payments to Russian families or reflected a "negligent attitude toward their own people."

Ukrainian investigators and forensic experts will conduct examinations and identification procedures to determine the identities of the repatriated bodies, the statement read.

Kyiv thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross for facilitating the repatriation and expressed gratitude to Armed Forces personnel involved in transporting the remains to state institutions and coordinating their transfer to law enforcement authorities and forensic experts.

Russian Gazprom oil refinery 1,300 km from Ukraine hit, General Staff confirms

Ukraine struck the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat oil refinery complex in Russia's Republic of Bashkortostan overnight on Aug. 13, the General Staff said.

"Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat is one of the largest oil refining and petrochemical complexes in the Russian Federation," it said in a post on social media.

"The processing capacity is up to 10 million tons per year. The enterprise produces, in particular, automotive gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil, bitumen, polyethylene and other oil products and polymers. It is involved in providing support to the Russian occupation army," it added.

The refinery is located around 1,300 kilometers (810 miles) from the Ukrainian border and was last hit overnight on July 14.

Ukraine's Air Force faces backlash over decision to stop publishing Russian ballistic missile figures

Ukraine's Air Force will cease publishing the exact number of Russian ballistic missiles launched and shot down in its daily morning updates, spokesperson Yurii Ihnat confirmed on Aug. 13 after several days without the figures appearing.

The move, while publicly explained as being made for security and communications reasons, has been criticized for reducing overall transparency between the military, the media, and Ukrainian public as a whole about an issue that directly affects them.

The last daily report to state a concrete number of Russian ballistic missiles was published on Aug. 8.

By Aug. 11, when Russian Iskander missiles, North Korean KN-23 missiles, and Zircon cruise missiles struck Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia, killing seven people and injuring dozens more, the types of missiles were disclosed but not the exact number.

First and foremost, Ihnat said, the decision was connected to a series of negative headlines about the Air Force's failure to down any ballistic missiles.

"I understand that everyone already knows everything and sees that the topic is very sensitive, especially for the capital," the spokesperson wrote.

"But when we put an official message - 28/0 (ballistic missiles intercepted), the result is that all our media write 'The Air Force did not shoot down a single missile,' and amplify it throughout the country. Meanwhile, enemy media will only copy all this and replicate it for themselves, giving a standing ovation!"

Scandal-hit Skelia assault regiment to fight under Azov command as Drapatyi's reforms gain momentum

Ukraine's notorious 425th Assault Regiment, better known as Skelia, has been assigned to the command of the 1st Azov Corps of the National Guard, the regiment's spokesperson Oleksii Bratushchak said on Aug. 13.

The large and controversial assault unit, which had numbered in the thousands and been fighting across multiple sector sectors of the front line in assault and rapid reaction roles, will also likely be brought together to fight in one sector, Bratushchak told Ukrainian YouTube Channel Butusov Plus.

The decision to comes on the back of a series of moves by new Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi, who, upon taking the post on July 21, quickly announced an audit of manpower allocation between units.

Skelia, which has received a disproportionate share of Ukraine's precious mobilized recruits, was expanded rapidly under the personal patronage and supervision of Drapatyi's predecessor as Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, to whom the regiment — along with other units of the newly-formed Assault Forces grouping — directly answered.

Soon after, the General Staff ordered flows of newly mobilized Ukrainian soldiers had ceased to units of the Assault Forces, including Skelia.

On Aug. 7, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing military sources, Skelia personnel began to be transferred to other units upon the order of the high command.

According to Bratushchak, the assignment of Skelia — part of the Ground Forces — to Azov's corps command does not entail the regiment's transfer into the structure of the corps, part of the Interior Ministry's National Guard.

Head of Mykolaiv draft office arrested on corruption charges

The head of the regional enlistment office in Mykolaiv Oblast has been detained for allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for issuing draft exemptions, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko announced on Aug. 13.

The arrest is the latest incident in a series of draft-related corruption investigations to sweep Ukraine over the past five years of full-scale war — and mounting mobilization crisis.

The head of the Mykolaiv Oblast regional draft office had been documented accepting $15,000 in bribes for failing to enforce mobilization measures, Kravchenko said.

Law enforcement officers arrested the suspect while he was accepting an installment of a $10,000 payment — compensation for allowing three men to continue evading mandatory military service.

The same investigation also revealed that the draft office chief received another $5,000 payment in exchange for preventing one recruit from being deployed to a military unit and instead sending him for another medical examination.

The suspect's home and workplace have been searched as part of the ongoing investigation, Kravchenko said. The Prosecutor's Office will request that the individual remain in custody and be formally removed from his position.