These are the key developments as the war enters its 899th day.
Here is the situation on Monday, August 12, 2024.
Battle
- Officials in the Russian city of Kursk said 13 people were injured when debris from a destroyed Ukrainian missile fell on a nine-story apartment building. Alexei Smirnov, acting governor of Kursk, ordered local authorities to speed up the evacuation of civilians in the at-risk areas as the Ukrainian offensive in the border region continues.
- Moscow said it had thwarted “attempts” by Ukrainian forces to use armored vehicles to “penetrate deep into Russian territory.” Some of the fighting took place near the villages of Tolpino and Obshchy Kolodez, about 25 and 30 kilometers from the border, respectively.
- The Russian Defense Ministry said air defense units over the Kursk region destroyed 14 drones launched from Ukraine and four Tochka-U tactical ballistic missiles.
- Moscow and Kiev accused each other of setting a fire on the site of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The nuclear regulator International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its experts at the plant had seen thick, dark smoke rising from the northern part of the plant after several explosions. The fire was later extinguished and there was no evidence of an increase in radiation levels.
- Ukrainian forces have destroyed 53 of 57 Russian combat drones, Kyiv’s Air Force said. The drones were destroyed in different parts of Ukraine and included four North Korean-made missiles, the Air Force said.
- Analysts told AFP the next few weeks would be “critical” for fighting along the front line in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian military officials said the situation around Pokrovsk, about 15 kilometers from Russian positions, was particularly difficult.
Politics and Diplomacy
- Olha Saladukha, the acting president of the Ukrainian Athletics Federation, told AFP that the country’s performance at the Paris Olympics – winning three athletics medals on August 4 – could have an “explosive emotional impact” amid the ongoing Russian invasion. Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who won gold in the women’s high jump that day, dedicated her medal to the nearly 500 Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed since February 2022.
