The strikes hit the industrial zone of the former research institute (97 Ilyicha Ave.). The facility was used as a concealed deployment site for personnel and the headquarters of russian units. As a result of the strike, the enemy suffered significant personnel losses.

The underground parking garage of an unfinished residential complex was also hit. The two-level complex was used as a shelter for launchers and armored vehicles. The facility was hit by at least 6 missiles.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, during the full-scale war, the russian army has also lost 12,304 tanks (+4), 25,237 armored combat vehicles (+7), 48,694 artillery systems (+53), 2,065 multiple launch rocket systems (+3), and 1,590 air defense systems (+2).

The enemy’s aircraft losses amount to 440 aircraft and 354 helicopters. These figures have not changed over the past day.

Also destroyed were 2,404 ground robotic systems (+17) and 483,367 operational-tactical level unmanned aerial vehicles (+1,762). russian forces have lost 5,052 cruise missiles, 35 ships and boats, and two submarines — no increase in these figures was recorded over the past day.

In addition, the russian army’s losses include 140,248 vehicles and fuel tanks (+494) and 4,602 units of special equipment (+10).

— In Kharkiv, an enemy drone hit the balcony of a high-rise building: one person was injured.

— In Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district, debris was reported to have fallen on the grounds of an educational institution, while in the Podilskyi district, it fell in the courtyard of a residential building.

— Two people were injured in Kryvyi Rih as a result of two ballistic missiles striking an industrial enterprise.

— Three people were injured as a result of an enemy attack on Zaporizhzhia.

— As a result of a strike on a residential building in the Sumy oblast, a 66-year-old woman was killed, while four other people sought medical assistance.

“Hungary condemns russian military aggression, fully supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, and recognizes Ukraine’s right to self-defense. Russia’s actions pose a threat to Hungary, Europe, and the global order, and also place the Hungarian minority living in Zakarpattia in serious danger, which is why we support all efforts aimed at initiating negotiations to achieve lasting peace and long-term security guarantees”, - the directive says.

The report recalls that in mid-July, Hungarian Defense Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said that the country was “closing the door” to russia and needed to “restore trust” with its allies. He added that russian intelligence had “tried to get in through the back door”.

The previous Hungarian government under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán maintained close ties with moscow, blocked EU sanctions against russia, criticized Kyiv, and hindered other European countries from adopting aid packages for Ukraine.

Russian forces are systematically striking civilian infrastructure in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the Donetsk oblast. The 81st Separate Slobozhanshchyna Air Assault Brigade reported this, publishing photos of the aftermath of russian attacks.

Over the past few weeks alone, shops, residential buildings, businesses, educational institutions, a bank and a post office have come under attack. russian attacks have also damaged civilian vehicles that were parked in courtyards or on the streets.

More than 190 homes have been damaged in total, dozens of people have been injured, and there have been fatalities.

Since August 21, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk have officially been recognized as active combat zones. The brigade noted that this status merely formally enshrined what the cities’ residents face every day.

“Cities that the enemy is trying to intimidate and destroy. Cities that we are defending”, - the 81st Brigade emphasized.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky awarded American entrepreneur and engineer Elon Musk the Order of Freedom. The head of state signed the relevant decree No. 835/2026 on August 26.

According to the document, Musk was awarded “for outstanding personal merits in protecting human life and freedom, and developing relations between the peoples of Ukraine and the United States of America”. The decree refers to him as an entrepreneur, engineer, and head of SpaceX and Tesla.

The Order of Freedom is a state award of Ukraine given for outstanding and special merits in upholding Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence, consolidating Ukrainian society, developing democracy, social and economic and political reforms, as well as defending constitutional human rights and freedoms. It may be awarded to Ukrainian citizens, foreigners, and stateless persons by presidential decree.

Musk became one of the foreigners awarded the Order of Freedom by President Zelenskyy in 2026. Earlier, on August 21, the state award was presented, in particular, to the presidents of Estonia, Alar Karis, Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, and Finland, Alexander Stubb, as well as Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

1. CIA Director John Ratcliffe secretly arrived in moscow aboard a C-17 military transport aircraft. The official purpose of the visit has not been announced; it is unknown whom he met with. Russian sources link it to a possible prisoner exchange. But Western analysts note that aircraft of this class are not used either for transporting high-ranking officials or for delivering groups of people. It is assumed that Ratcliffe secretly brought something to moscow or took something out of moscow. On the same day, putin signed two classified decrees…

According to Axios, the United States informed Ukraine about the arrival of the high-ranking delegation and asked it to suspend strikes on moscow until its departure.
The request to “not to strike moscow” is a precedent of a fundamental nature. For the first time, it has been publicly documented that Washington is asking Kyiv to restrict military operations not for the sake of a peace process, but for the sake of its own bilateral agenda with the kremlin. Ukrainian long-range strikes are becoming a subject of bargaining between the United States, russia, and Kyiv.
The likelihood that Ratcliffe’s goal in russia was to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine is low.
Many analysts note that the Washington official’s visit took place against the backdrop of yet another indefinite postponement of special envoys Witkoff and Kushner’s trip to Kyiv.

2. Kramatorsk endured a massive airstrike on residential neighborhoods — more than 20 people were wounded, including a two-month-old infant. There were fatalities in Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv. Russian drones damaged the international Vynohradivka–Vulcănești border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova, and traffic has been suspended.
Strikes on border crossings toward the EU are a new category of targets: not military infrastructure, but civilian corridors. This is the second border crossing in a week after Tabaki and, at the same time, a signal to Chișinău. The logistics of Ukrainian exports bypassing the Black Sea ports are being put at risk.

3. Ukrainian drones attacked the Afipsky oil refinery in Krasnodar region for the fifth time since the beginning of the year. The refinery has a capacity of 7.2 million tons of oil per year. According to the Benzonavt service, AI-95 gasoline is available at only 22% of russian gas stations: in Moscow, at 161 out of 786 stations.
A shortage of AI-95 at 80% of gas stations is no longer an isolated episode, but a systemic failure of the fuel market in the aggressor country, becoming perceptible to ordinary consumers across the country for the first time.

4. The United States announced “Operation Economic Outcast” — a package of secondary sanctions against Iran and 60 global companies in the fields of digital assets, gold, technology, aviation, and maritime transport. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of the world’s oil supplies pass, pushed prices from $60 to $110 per barrel.
The Iranian crisis is the main external factor affecting the continuation of the war in Ukraine. It works against Kyiv in three directions at once. Economic: the near doubling of oil prices provides moscow with windfall revenues that offset the damage from strikes on oil refineries. Resource-related: a shortage of air defense systems and interceptor missiles, the lack of which Zelensky has spoken about. Political: Washington’s attention is being redistributed, and Ukraine is slipping down the list of priorities.

5. Zelensky reported the arrival of a new batch of missiles for air defense systems: “a few more missiles for Patriot have come in”, several Crotale systems with ammunition, and AIM missiles. The supplying countries were not named.
The diversification of air defense — Crotale and AIM instead of relying solely on Patriot — is a forced adaptation to the chronic shortage of American interceptors ahead of winter. The wording “a little, we need more” effectively acknowledges that Ukraine did not receive the 300 Patriot missiles requested the day before.

6. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he would not support Ukraine’s accelerated accession to the EU: membership is possible only if all conditions are met, “without exceptions”. On the same day, Slovak police prevented the arson attack on a facility producing drone systems — three foreign nationals were charged, and the lives of around 70 employees and equipment worth tens of millions of euros were at risk.
A dual structure of russian pressure on the EU is evident: forceful sabotage against the defense industry combined with the use of friendly politicians to obstruct Ukraine’s European integration.

7. The High Anti-Corruption Court arrested former Deputy Head of the Office of the President Iryna Mudra with the possibility of posting bail of UAH 20 million — the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office had requested UAH 150 million. She is involved in the NABU “Forrest Gump” case concerning the laundering of UAH 150 million to post bail for a defendant in the “Midas” case.
The signal is ambiguous: anti-corruption bodies are demonstrating that they are functioning, but the 7.5-fold reduction in bail will be interpreted as an indicator of the continued influence of the defendants. Given that corruption among the president’s inner circle has already become a topic in leading international publications, this directly affects partners’ willingness to increase their support.

— Russia attacked Chernihiv with drones, with two children among the wounded.

— One of Wildberries’ main warehouses is on fire in russia following a drone attack.

— Russia attacked an enterprise in Zaporizhzhia, causing a fire.

It is noted that among the victims of russia’s aggression in Ukraine are 820 children. Another 51,273 civilians, including 3,126 minors, were wounded.

DiCarlo emphasized that the actual number of people killed and injured is likely “significantly higher”, as the UN cannot independently verify data from a number of territories where fighting is ongoing or which are under russian control.

At the same time, DiCarlo drew attention to the fact that the number of civilian casualties has continued to rise in recent months. In July, at least 437 civilians, including 17 children, were killed in Ukraine, and 2,610 were wounded. This was the highest monthly figure since May 2022.

In August, russian forces intensified large-scale strikes on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure, DiCarlo noted. On August 1, nine civilians were killed in Kyiv as a result of an attack involving ballistic missiles and drones, on August 5 — 18, and on August 20 — 17. In addition, on August 21, 16 people were killed and at least 140 were wounded, including 23 children, in a strike on the largest shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih.

“This morning, the russians attacked the city eight times. According to preliminary information, they used aerial bombs. Numerous high-rise residential buildings and an infrastructure facility were damaged. We are establishing the final consequences of these strikes. All relevant services are working at the scene,” the regional head noted.

At 12:44 p.m., the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor’s Office reported on Telegram: “At this time, at least 12 wounded civilians are known, including a two-month-old girl. The child is in serious condition”.

“Every day in the Donetsk oblast is a risk of coming under another russian strike. I urge everyone who still remains in the region: take care of yourselves! Evacuate to safer regions of Ukraine!” - Filashkin emphasized and reminded people of the evacuation contacts.

For evacuation: 0 800 500 121, +38 073 050 01 21.

For the evacuation of seriously ill people and people with disabilities: 0 800 33 26 14.

1. London is declassifying information about the British components of Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles and is transferring their production technology to Ukraine. This will make it possible to establish local assembly of cruise missiles on Ukrainian territory jointly with France.
In parallel, an agreement on artificial intelligence was signed: the UK is becoming the first international partner with access to the Ukrainian Avengers AI Labs platform, which collects combat data from thousands of frontline sensors. In exchange, Ukraine gains access to the British AI ecosystem — the third-largest in the world by scale. The transfer of technology instead of finished products frees Ukraine from the political cycles of donor countries: domestic production of cruise missiles cannot be “frozen” by a change of government in London or Washington. But the effect is delayed — it usually takes one to two years from licensing to serial production, so this resource will not take effect this winter.

2. The European Commission approved €6.1 billion under the Ukraine Support Loan program (total volume — €90 billion). Ursula von der Leyen clarified that the funds will go toward air defense and missile defense systems, missiles, ammunition, and radars. The fulfillment of the €19 billion commitment was separately confirmed.

3. Full-scale exercises of the Coalition of the Willing are scheduled for October–November 2026, involving around 1,500 French and British troops in Poland — as a demonstration of readiness to fulfill security guarantees for Ukraine after a ceasefire.

4. On the night of August 24, russia attacked Ukraine with Oniks cruise missiles, guided missiles, and 143 drones. The main strike hit the Odesa oblast: two Epicentr shopping centers were on fire, while food warehouses, energy infrastructure, and private houses were damaged.
The geography of the strikes — Odesa (ports, food warehouses, energy infrastructure), Chernihiv, Kharkiv — points to preparations for a winter campaign against infrastructure and the destruction of agricultural export logistics.

5. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed a strike on the Kamensky plant in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, the Rostov oblast — a state-owned defense industry enterprise producing solid rocket fuel for Uragan, Smerch, and Tornado-S multiple rocket launchers. A fire was reported at the facility. At the same time, drones attacked four Ozon marketplace logistics centers at once — in Krasnodar, Makhachkala, Adygeysk, and Nevinnomyssk. Large fires broke out at two locations, and the warehouses were closed.
The strike on rocket fuel production will lead to a reduction in fuel output, affecting the entire range of russian multiple rocket launchers and guided weapons with a lag of several months. The attacks on Ozon warehouses represent a fundamentally new category of targets: not the military, but the civilian-commercial sector that, according to the Ukrainian version, also facilitates military transportation. This brings the perception of the war into the everyday lives of russian consumers. Combined with the shutdown of the Perm oil refinery, a consistent picture is emerging: Ukraine has found an asymmetric response to the enemy’s twofold superiority in military spending.

6. U.S. President’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner postponed their visit to Ukraine, which had been planned for the second half of August. The stated reason was the intensification of missile and drone strikes on Kyiv last week. According to sources, the visit has been postponed but not canceled.
At the same time, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in Kyiv on August 24 that, in his understanding, the Americans do not want to send Witkoff and Kushner either to Kyiv or moscow until they see a real possibility of achieving results in negotiations.
The postponed visit of Witkoff and Kushner is the most telling development of the day. It demonstrates that russian strikes function not only as a military but also as a diplomatic tool: the intensity of the attacks physically blocks the negotiating track, while moscow bears no responsibility for this.

7. Occupied Mariupol was left without electricity, a large-scale power outage occurred in Donetsk, and part of the “LNR” was left without television and radio broadcasting for a week due to an accident.
The degradation of public utilities infrastructure in the occupied territories is becoming systemic and creating a problem of governability for moscow itself. The abandonment of electronic voting in the State Duma elections is an indirect acknowledgment that control over the territory is insufficient even for simulated procedures.

The russians launched nine strikes on Sloviansk, at least six of them bomb attacks. Eight civilians were wounded, including children: a girl born in 2009 and a boy born in 2010. Seven apartment buildings and 21 private houses, an educational institution, and an infrastructure facility were damaged.

Four people were wounded in Druzhkivka. The enemy shelled civilians with artillery and drones.

One person was injured in Kramatorsk, and two private houses and a walk-behind tractor were damaged.

As a result of the shelling of Bilenke, two civilians were wounded and three private houses were damaged.

— A person was killed in Kharkiv as a result of enemy shelling.

— In Kyiv, falling UAV debris caused walls to collapse at the level of the 14th floor of a 16-story residential building.

— The russians struck a checkpoint on the Ukrainian-Moldovan border.

— In russia, drones attacked the Afipsky Oil Refinery in Krasnodar Krai.

— In russia, airports in Kaluga, Krasnodar, Sochi, and Gelendzhik, as well as Vnukovo Airport in the moscow oblast, were closed due to the threat of drones.

“If we want to bring this war back to russia and make it painful for them, so that their society feels it and puts pressure on putin, I think this is one of the tools to push putin toward negotiations. Therefore, we need the same competitive number (of drones — ed.), not money, because they have twice as much money today. They spend even more — around €340 billion on the war”, - Zelensky said at a press conference following the “Coalition of the Willing” summit in Kyiv.

The president added that Ukraine spends €140 billion on the war, so it is necessary to be competitive in terms of the number of long-range strikes.

Burnham also emphasized the need for air defense for Ukraine, especially ahead of winter, as russia has “run out of options”, and vladimir putin “now hopes to achieve victory through a campaign of terror, using ballistic missiles against Ukrainian civilians”.

The British prime minister noted that russian missile launches must be stopped through sanctions and long-term support for Ukraine. He also asked British industry to support the Freyja anti-ballistic project to offer a cheaper alternative to Patriot.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking online at the meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing”, assured that he would monitor initiatives being undertaken to prepare Ukraine for winter. He also said he was proposing to convene a meeting of defense and foreign ministers in several weeks, “dedicated to combating the shadow fleet, to make sure that we are acting everywhere possible”.

According to him, the delay is related to the intensification of missile and drone strikes on Kyiv last week.

It is noted that Radio Liberty contacted the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv for comment regarding a possible visit by Donald Trump’s envoys to Ukraine.

It was previously reported that Witkoff and Kushner would visit Kyiv within two weeks as part of efforts to end the war.

“Today, as part of a special stage of the exchange, we are returning 10 of our soldiers via Belarus. These are servicemen of the Armed Forces and the National Guard of Ukraine. They defended the country in the Donetsk direction. All of them had been considered missing in action. And it is very important that we managed to bring them back. I thank everyone for the efforts. We are searching for each name of those who remain in captivity. And we will do everything to release them and bring them home”, - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on August 24.

He went on to note that “in all his plans for Ukraine, putin got the most important thing wrong. The enemy counted our resources, our stockpiles, our equipment, but failed to take into account what was key. People. The greatest achievement of Ukraine’s independence. The people who make up our state. People who take responsibility. People who do not want russia here and who fight tooth and nail for peace and independence”.

“The russians thought we were the younger brother, but life has proved that we are strangers to them. Every trait of our character is foreign to them. Everything that makes Ukrainians Ukrainians. They do not know what it means when hundreds of thousands of volunteers go to defend what they hold dear. And someone who was a teacher, an entrepreneur, a farmer becomes a warrior. For me, it is always an honor to receive from such people a part of their greatness, their strength. These – and the hundreds of thousands of other patches on our defenders’ shoulders – carry a light that God sees in the heavens and that makes Him stand with us. Hundreds of thousands of names, lives, and characters are holding the front and holding our independence. I thank all our warriors who, all these years, all these days, and right now, at this very moment, are fighting so that Ukraine lives. You defended our capital, liberated the Kyiv oblast, the Kharkiv oblast, and the Kherson oblast. You are not giving up our Donbas. You will not give up Ukraine. You are the best defenders. You are the best army in Europe. Period”, - the head of state said.

He emphasized that “putin is stuck in the past”.

“He still looks at an old-style Ukraine – one that will stay silent, swallow it, endure it. That Ukraine exists nowhere except in his “little folders of reports”. Our state has long been different. Not an observer, but a player. Not a victim, but a fighter. We will not let them seize the initiative, deceive Europe and the entire world into thinking that they simply need to give up the Donbas, and everything will be over soon. We have no illusions. We don't trust them. We are not going to save the kremlin half a million soldiers. Russia keeps pushing back the dates when they will “definitely, any day now, take the entire Donetsk oblast”. It will keep pushing those dates back. Ukraine is different, and it does not give away what is its own. Russia does not want peace. It wants mobilization. Well, we take this in with a cool head. We act. We have to strengthen our military, have everything needed to hold our defense, our warriors must be supplied and equipped with everything so that the replenishment of the enemy army can be turned into fertilizer for our soil”, - Zelensky said.

He called for Europe, America, and the world to stand united with Ukraine:

“I am glad that the United States has lost all illusions about whether russia truly wants to end this war. I believe that America will lose all its contradictions and phobias about russia. The russians must be brought to the negotiating table. There finally must be sanctions that will make them howl. Ukraine must be given everything that will force them to end the war. And this is possible. About everything that protects Ukraine today, we were first told, “Impossible”, then, “Very difficult”, and then, “Not so fast”. And then America made a decision. It worked. And America’s strength was absolute. We are not asking you to fight for us. Give Ukraine everything it needs to stop this war, to stop it faster than putin can start the next one. To prevent that, we must act together. Europe must be Europe. United, ambitious, brave. China should no longer remain silent. When someone puts on a sailor’s uniform and cap and, badly pronouncing some words, talks about a nuclear strike, China must respond, must cool their ardor. China must prove its ambition to be one of the world’s leaders, not only economically and technologically, but also as a civilization – making it clear that no dictators have the right to threaten the planet with their old warheads”, - Zelensky urged, adding that Ukraine and the world together are capable of stopping putin.

“And again, not a word about the Kirovskyi and Leninskyi districts, which have been without power since 6 p.m. the day before! And judging by the responses from the district electrical networks, it is unknown when the electricity will return...” - the Donetsk residents commented.

At the same time, the “mayor” of Donetsk, Alexei Kulemzin, “officially” reported that today Donetsk “is scheduled to have a partial planned power outage in some districts of the city”: the Voroshilovskyi district, the Kalininskyi and Budyonnivskyi districts, and the town of Mospyne. Later, the Kyivskyi and Kuibyshevskyi districts were added to the list.

“On Ukraine’s Independence Day, Europe is demonstrating that our support is unwavering and concrete. Today we approved €6.1 billion for air and missile defense systems, missiles, ammunition, and radars that Ukraine urgently needs”, - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

According to her, against the backdrop of intensifying russian attacks, the EU is increasing its assistance to Ukraine so that it can protect its population and airspace. The funding is being provided as part of the Ukraine Support Loan (UASL), with a total volume of €90 billion.

On the night of August 24, 2026, several Ozon logistics centers were damaged or suspended operations as a result of drone attacks and threats, russian media report.

It is noted that warehouses in Krasnodar, Makhachkala, Adygea, and Nevinnomyssk came under attack by Ukrainian drones.

In Krasnodar and Makhachkala (Dagestan), large fires broke out at the facilities, employees were evacuated, and warehouse operations were completely halted.

In Adygea (Adygea) and Nevinnomyssk (Stavropol Krai), logistics center employees were evacuated; the facilities and goods stored there were not damaged. The warehouses were temporarily closed.

According to him, the issue of russia’s ongoing attacks on Ukrainian ports and obstruction of grain exports will also be raised — actions that exacerbate the global food crisis and put millions of people far beyond Ukraine at risk.

“I am grateful to Denmark, which holds the presidency of the UN Security Council, and to my colleague Lars Løkke Rasmussen for convening these emergency debates”, - Sybiha also noted.

— Russians attacked Konotop in the Sumy oblast with drones — gas service was disrupted in the city.

— Ukrainian UAVs attacked Ozon logistics centers in Makhachkala, Nevinnomyssk, Adygea, and Krasnodar.

— A warehouse of the “Kuchenland Home” home goods store chain is on fire in Krasnodar following the attack.

— An earthquake with a magnitude of 2.7 on the Richter scale occurred in the Poltava oblast.