An explosion at the gunpowder workshop of the Elastik factory in Russia’s Ryazan region, Shilovsky district, has left multiple people dead and injured.
The Kharkiv Regional Defense Council has ordered the forced evacuation of families with children from the village of Odnorobivka, located in the Zolochiv community of Bohodukhiv district, due to escalating security concerns.
Ukraine’s Air Force said it intercepted 63 of 97 Russian drones overnight on 15 August. Russia also launched two Iskander-M missiles. Despite most drones being destroyed, the strikes killed and injured civilians in Kharkiv, Sumy, Donetsk, and Kherson oblasts, damaging homes, cars, farms, and infrastructure in at least 13 locations.
Amid the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, Moscow continues its daily long-range explosive drone attacks against Ukrainian cities, targeting civilians.
Nationwide civilian toll in latest wave of attacks
The Air Force reported that Shahed attack drones, decoy UAVs, and ballistic missiles were launched from five directions, targeting both frontline and rear settlements. Aircraft, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups were used to repel the assault, but local officials in four oblasts confirmed fresh deaths and injuries alongside severe property damage.
“Impacts from missiles and 34 UAVs were recorded at 13 locations,” the Air Force reported.
Kharkiv Oblast: four killed, two injured
Kharkiv Oblast head Oleh Synehubov said Russian forces attacked five settlements in the last 24 hours, killing four people and injuring two.
Russian attacks killed a 64-year-old man in Kozacha Lopan. In Nechvolodivka, Russian forces killed a 69-year-old man and a 69-year-old woman and injured a 76-year-old woman. In Nova Kozacha, Russian strikes killed a 38-year-old man and injured another 38-year-old man. The attacks damaged detached houses in Kozacha Lopan and Nova Kozacha, two houses and a car in Nechvolodivka, and a garage, two cars, a tractor, and a vegetable storage building in Borova. Russian forces used guided aerial bombs, a Molniya drone, FPV drones, and other UAVs.
Sumy Oblast
The Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported 100 strikes on 46 settlements in 16 communities between the morning of 14 August and the morning of 15 August.
In Miropilska community, a 32-year-old man was injured by an FPV drone. In Sumska community, a gas station was hit by a Russian UAV, burning a civilian vehicle and injuring its driver, who suffered burns. Damage was reported to houses, apartment buildings, civilian cars, and non-residential buildings in Bilopilska, Velykopysarivska, Vorozhbianska, and Hlukhovska communities. Russian forces used guided bombs, multiple rocket launchers, FPV drones, and other UAVs. Eleven people were evacuated from border areas during the day.
Donetsk Oblast: two killed, seven injured
Donetsk Oblast head Vadym Filashkin said Russian shelling on 14 August killed two civilians — one in Kostyantynivka and one in Virivka — and injured seven others across the oblast.
Kherson Oblast: Russian “human safari” continues
The Kherson Oblast Military Administration’s morning report, covering 06:00 on 14 August to 06:00 on 15 August, said Russian artillery and drone attacks on more than 40 settlements killed one person and injured five others, including a child. Damage included apartment buildings, 22 detached houses, gas pipelines, outbuildings, and a private car.
This morning, around 08:00 on 15 August, Russian artillery hit central Kherson, injuring a 52-year-old man. Another update said a 40-year-old Kherson resident was injured in the same shelling, suffering blast injuries and a concussion. Also around 08:00, a drone struck a home in Kherson, injuring a 45-year-old woman with a concussion and head injuries.
Additional information emerged about earlier shelling in Shliakhove, Beryslav community, which killed two men aged 86 and 56 several days before. Later still, three medical workers — two women aged 47 and a 28-year-old man — sought treatment for blast injuries and concussions sustained in a previous day’s Russian shelling of Kherson.
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Alaska’s Anchorage is preparing for the 15 August meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, as local protesters warn it could lead to a deal undermining Ukraine. The meeting is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Alaska time (22:00 Kyiv time) at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a Cold War–era military installation once used to counter the Soviet Union.
Since taking office in January, Trump has failed to make any tangible progress toward ending Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, despite repeatedly promising to end it within 24 hours. The main obstacle is that Russia has not altered its war goals, which amount to Ukraine’s capitulation, and continues to reject any compromises.
Trump and Putin’s first meeting since White House return
This will be the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin since Trump returned to the presidency this January. According to the White House, Trump will leave Washington at 06:45 Eastern time (13:45 Kyiv time) and return early on 16 August, Reuters reports. The Kremlin initially claimed the meeting would begin at 11:30 a.m. local time (22:30 Kyiv time).
Trump previously told reporters on 14 August that he would know “in the first few minutes” whether the meeting was worth continuing, adding it would “end very quickly” otherwise. He said his aim was to “set the table” for another meeting that would also involve Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Speaking to Fox News Radio, Trump said there was a “25% chance” the Alaska talks would fail, according to BBC. He also said “give and take” on boundaries between Russia and Ukraine might be necessary, prompting concern in Kyiv and among allies.
Putin’s praise and demands
AP says Putin praised what he described as Trump’s “sincere efforts” to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Russian leader suggested long-term peace could include a nuclear arms control agreement with the US.
Russia demands for a full ceasefire include complete control of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, full occupation of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, NATO membership ruled out for Kyiv, and limits on Ukraine’s armed forces.
Ukraine rejects these conditions as surrender. A Kremlin source told Reuters some terms could be agreed due to sanctions pressure, but both sides would allegedly face “uncomfortable compromises.”
European and Ukrainian concerns
BBC notes that Zelenskyy and European leaders fear Trump could make concessions without Ukraine’s participation. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met Zelenskyy in London on 14 August and warned that “international borders cannot be, and must not be changed by force.” Macron said Trump had clarified NATO would not be part of any future security guarantees, but the US and other parties should be involved.
The New York Times reports that five principles agreed in a call between Trump and European leaders include keeping Ukraine “at the table” for follow-up talks, avoiding land swaps before a ceasefire, securing postwar guarantees, and increasing pressure on Russia if negotiations fail.
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The peace that kills: How the Alaska summit could end Ukraine without ending the war
Protests in Anchorage ahead of summit
Anchorage Daily News reports that on 14 August, several hundred demonstrators lined busy intersections in Anchorage, waving Ukrainian flags and holding signs critical of both Trump and Putin. One sign read “Putin won’t stop at Ukraine,” while another declared “Zelenskyy should be here,” reflecting demands that Ukraine be included in the talks.
Protesters told ADN they feared the summit would exclude Kyiv from decisions affecting its future. Organizers plan additional demonstrations during the summit, while the Alaska GOP will hold a rally in support of Trump at the same location.
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Global crowds demand “no new Munich” as Trump-Putin summit excludes Zelenskyy
BBC reported that Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Merezhko said he has “no high expectations” for the Alaska meeting, calling it “already a diplomatic win” for Putin. He warned that “the fate of Ukraine should be decided by Ukrainians” with the direct participation of President Zelenskyy, and said the lack of transparency around the summit creates “lots of risks” for Ukraine’s security and future.
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Ukraine currently detains more than 100 foreign mercenaries from 33 countries who were recruited to fight for Russia, according to the I Want to Live project from Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War on 1 August 2025.
The captives show Russia’s expanding global recruitment drive, while Moscow abandons foreign fighters by excluding them from prisoner exchanges despite Ukraine treating all detainees according to international standards.
The captured fighters include citizens from Cameroon, Morocco, Somalia, Senegal, Egypt, and dozens of other nations recruited through Russia’s expanding global recruitment network, according to the I Want to Live project.
The scope of foreign captives exposes Russia’s systematic recruitment from economically vulnerable populations worldwide, with Moscow’s promises of wealth and stable careers leading fighters into Ukrainian POW camps where Russia shows no interest in their release.
Russia’s global recruitment reaches 121 countries
The Coordination Headquarters reports that Russia has recruited fighters from 121 countries since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The I Want to Live project, which encourages voluntary surrender, stated that “Russia actively bribes, deceives, and coerces individuals from neighboring Central Asian countries and more into signing contracts.”
The photographs of mercenaries released by Ukrainian authorities represent only a fraction of foreign fighters captured during what the Coordination Headquarters called Russia’s “meat grinder” assaults. Many were recruited through false promises of non-combat roles or civilian employment, only to be deployed directly to front-line positions within days of arrival.
Previous reporting by BBC Russian Service documented over 500 foreigners from 28 countries killed while fighting for Russia, with the actual numbers likely significantly higher due to incomplete record-keeping of non-Russian casualties.
Standard treatment despite abandoned status
The foreign prisoners receive the same treatment as Russian soldiers in Ukrainian prisoner-of-war camps, according to the I Want to Live project. “They sleep in the same facilities, receive the same food and medical care, and have access to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross,” the project stated.
Some countries have sent embassy staff to visit their detained citizens, though Russia has shown no interest in including foreign fighters in prisoner exchanges. “For Russia, these fighters are considered ‘third-rate’ and hold no value to Moscow while in captivity,” the Coordination Headquarters stated.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly stated their commitment to Geneva Convention obligations in treating detainees, contrasting sharply with documented treatment of Ukrainian prisoners in Russian custody, where international monitors report systematic torture and denial of medical care.
Recruitment targets economic desperation
Russia’s recruitment strategy particularly targets migrants and students from economically challenged nations. Forbes Ukraine reported in May 2024 that Russian recruiters operate in at least 21 countries, using databases of foreign nationals who previously sought employment in Russia.
The recruitment extends across continents, from Central Asian republics like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to African nations including Burkina Faso, Mali, and the Central African Republic where Wagner Group maintains military bases. Cuban authorities have issued conflicting statements about their citizens’ participation, while Nepalese and Indian nationals have been documented among both casualties and prisoners.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in August 2025 that Ukrainian forces reported encountering mercenaries from China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and African countries, adding that “we will respond” to this escalating threat.
Exchange complications and repatriation challenges
The presence of foreign fighters complicates prisoner exchange negotiations, as Russia typically excludes non-Russian nationals from swap arrangements.
The case differs significantly from Ukrainian foreign volunteers, who serve under official military contracts and maintain clear legal status under international humanitarian law. The International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine operates under direct Ukrainian military command, ensuring proper combatant status for its members. Ukraine has also announced plans to grant citizenship to foreign fighters serving in its Defense Forces and their families.
With intervention from international organizations and home countries, some foreign fighters may eventually return to their homelands, though the Coordination Headquarters warned that “their stories serve as a warning to other money-seekers: Putin’s war devours everyone indiscriminately, and being a mercenary in the Russian army means becoming expendable in a foreign criminal war.”
The growing number of foreign captives highlights Russia’s increasing dependence on external recruitment as domestic mobilization efforts face issues and the conflict’s casualty toll continues rising after more than three years of warfare.
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Ukraine’s corruption fighters survive presidential assault but face ongoing threats. Ukraine’s corruption investigators are back to charging million-dollar schemes after surviving a July attempt to strip their independence. But they’re working under a government that still has the administrative tools to derail sensitive cases and has demonstrated its willingness to use them.
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The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has confirmed successful strikes on two strategic targets: the Syzran oil refinery in Russia and a Russian military command post in the temporarily occupied city of Yenakiieve, Donetsk region.
Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar has accused Russia of deploying its intelligence services to undermine his campaign against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the Kremlin’s closest ally in the European Union. Bloomberg reports that the Kremlin’s Foreign Intelligence Service released a statement portraying Magyar as an alleged stooge of the European Commission, repeating language Orbán has used to attack him.
The current government of Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán, has consistently acted as an ally of Russia — purchasing Russian gas and oil, opposing the European Union, of which Hungary is a member, and taking a stance against Ukraine as it defends against Russia’s invasion. Budapest has resisted EU aid for Ukraine and promotes anti-Ukrainian propaganda to domestic audiences, falsely portraying Ukraine as a warmongering state that allegedly oppresses ethnic Hungarians.
Kremlin statement echoes Orbán’s rhetoric
On 13 August, Russia’s spy agency published the accusations from Moscow, aligning closely with Orbán’s campaign narrative, Bloomberg reports. The next day, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó backed the Russian claims, saying the statement contained “nothing new.”
Rising stakes in April’s elections
Magyar’s Tisza Party currently holds double-digit leads in public opinion polls ahead of elections scheduled for April. The race is unfolding against the backdrop of a sluggish economy and persistent allegations of corruption. Bloomberg notes that Moscow’s involvement is expected to further raise the stakes and reopen debate about Hungary’s position within NATO and the EU, which Orbán has challenged over the past decade.
Magyar warns of renewed foreign interference
In a Facebook post, Magyar drew parallels to the Soviet era, recalling the departure of Soviet troops from Hungary in the early 1990s.
“After 34 years, Russia again wants to directly meddle in Hungarian politics, again it wants to unabashedly influence the decision of Hungarian voters,” he wrote.
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Russian forces launched a ballistic missile strike overnight on a village in the Koriukivka community of Chernihiv region, causing damage to an agricultural enterprise and several residential homes.
John Healey dismissed suggestions that the UK’s approach to the Ukraine war is to ‘watch and wait’ as Russian and American delegations arrived in Alaska for crunch talks
Trump is flying to Anchorage for his meeting with Putin with a team which has no grasp on facts, or truth, and therefore no grasp on reality either, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley
Russia will try to use the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to build closer ties with the US and at the same time create additional tension between America and Europe.
Ukraine’s campaign to erode Russian air power in the Black Sea region has taken a heavy toll on the 43rd Naval Assault Aviation Regiment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Militarnyi reports. The regiment, stationed at the occupied Saky airfield in Crimea, began 2022 with a full squadron of 12 Su-30SM multirole fighters. In the three years since the full-scale invasion began, seven of those aircraft have been destroyed in confirmed incidents, with two more damaged. The unit’s fleet has been reduced to less than half its original strength.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has been targeting Russian military aviation with all available means, including cruise missiles, man-portable air-defense systems, other anti-air weapons, sabotage, and long-range drones. The Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula often becomes a target for long-range attacks, where the Ukrainian hit Russian air defense assets, Navy ships, and other military installations and equipment.
From full squadron to crippled force
According to Militarnyi, the 43rd regiment’s first confirmed Su-30SM loss occurred on 5 March 2022 over Mykolaiv Oblast. Both crew members ejected and were taken prisoner. One of them, Major Oleksii Holovenskyi, was the squadron commander at the time. The other, Captain Aleksei Kozlov, served as the aircraft’s navigator. This loss marked the beginning of a series of blows to the unit.
Just months later, on 9 August 2022, Ukrainian Security and Defense Forces struck the Saky airfield, which had been captured by Russia after 2014 and became home to the regiment under military unit number 59882. The attack destroyed three Su-30SMs outright and damaged another. The same strike also destroyed five Su-24 bombers and damaged three more, inflicting serious damage on the regiment’s overall combat capabilities.
Shoot-downs and unprecedented tactics
The Russian regiment’s losses continued into 2024. On 11 September, Militarnyi reports, Russian forces lost contact with a Su-30SM around 5 a.m. The Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) later confirmed that a special operations unit had downed the aircraft using a man-portable air-defense system.
In 2025, Ukraine introduced new tactics that marked a milestone in aerial warfare. On 2 May, working jointly with the Security Service of Ukraine and other defense forces, HUR targetedanother Su-30SM in the Black Sea. The aircraft was destroyed by an AIM-9 missile launched from a maritime drone — the first recorded instance in history of a manned aircraft being shot down by such a platform.
The latest confirmed crash near Zmiinyi (Snake) Island
The most recent confirmed loss was reported by the Ukrainian Navy yesterday, on 14 August 2025. According to the Navy, its intelligence service intercepted Russian radio communications revealing the sudden loss of contact with a Su-30SM southeast of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island in the Black Sea. Defense Express reports that the aircraft crashed under still-unclear circumstances while on a combat mission.
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Debris found after Russian Su-30 crash near Ukraine’s Snake Island in Black Sea, Navy says
Intercepted communications indicated that Russian forces launched a search-and-rescue operation in the area. Ukrainian Navy statements said wreckage had been spotted floating on the sea surface, but there was no confirmed information on the fate of the pilots. Russian rescuers have not reported recovering either crew member.
Damage compounding destruction
Militarnyi notes that in addition to the seven destroyed Su-30SMs, the regiment has suffered damage to two others. One was damaged during the August 2022 strike on Saky airfield, while another was hit on 1 July 2025 by a long-range Ukrainian UJ-26 Bober drone in another attack on the same base.
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Overnight on 15 August, drones struck the Rosneft-owned oil refinery in Syzran, Samara Oblast, sparking large fires at the facility. Located about 800 km from the front line, the plant is a major fuel supplier for both civilian needs and Russian military forces. The attack prompted emergency measures, including airspace closures and restrictions on mobile internet access across the region.
In recent weeks, Russia has faced almost daily drone strikes aimed at military, defense-industrial, and fuel sites to hinder its war effort amid the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. The strike came just one day after another drone attack targeted the Lukoil oil refinery in Volgograd, sparking a major fire there.
Explosions before dawn ignite major blaze
Media reports and social media posts, including videos shared by the Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+, showedmultiplefires and heavy smoke rising from the refinery after the strike. Residents said the first explosions occurred around 04:00, with at least ten blasts heard in total. The footage captured several points of fire and dense black smoke billowing over the complex.
Authorities impose emergency plan “Kovyor”
Samara Oblast governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev claimed that Russian forces destroyed 13 drones and did not confirm any damage to the facility. He announced that the “Kovyor” emergency plan had been activated, grounding aircraft and closing airspace, and that mobile internet restrictions were in place “for public safety.” Residents, however, reported ongoing fires at the refinery.
Strategic fuel hub hit again
The Syzran refinery processes about 8.9 million tons of crude oil annually, producing gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and bitumen. It supplies fuel to Samara, Saratov, and Penza oblasts, parts of central Russia, as well as airfields and military units of the Central and Southern Military Districts. Damaging the facility disrupts fuel deliveries to Russian occupation forces.
The plant has been attacked before. Ukrainian drones also struck it in February and March this year, causing fires then as well.
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The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) delivered record results in the first half of 2025: 370 new investigations, 115 suspects charged, and 62 convictions — wartime performance that exceeded even their substantial late-2024 numbers. This week, they announced charges against a senior Defense Ministry official accused of soliciting $1.3 million in bribes to rig military housing contracts.
Yet simultaneously, a parliamentary commission has begun examining their work, a timing that raises questions about the government’s true intentions.
The question isn’t whether NABU and SAPO can function — they clearly can — but whether they can work undisturbed when the same political forces that tried to subordinate them in July remain in power, wielding the same administrative tools that could disrupt sensitive investigations.
July’s warning shot
The agencies formally regained their independence on 31 July after mass protests forced parliament to reverse controversial Law 12414. But the nine-day subordination to the Prosecutor General wasn’t an isolated misstep — it was the culmination of pressure that had been building since NABU charged former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, a member of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s inner circle.
What made July different wasn’t just the attempt to strip institutional independence. It was how quickly UAH 120 million ($2.9 million) appeared for Chernyshov’s bail, and how rapidly 70 raids materialized against NABU officials when the agencies refused to back down.
The message was clear: there are limits to how close anti-corruption investigations can get to the president’s political family.
The speed of that bailout also raised uncomfortable questions in Brussels, where officials watching Ukraine’s EU accession bid wondered how deep corruption networks run.
Since then, nothing fundamental has changed.
The same officials who designed Law 12414 remain in office. The same networks that mobilized Chernyshov’s bail remain intact. And crucially, parliament left three dangerous provisions that weaken the broader prosecutorial system.
The tools that remain
While NABU and SAPO regained their statutory independence, the government retained legal mechanisms that could still disrupt their work:
No competitive selection for prosecutors during martial law: Anyone with basic legal credentials can be appointed to senior positions without open competition, potentially placing loyalists in overlapping jurisdictions.
Dismissal through “reorganization”: Prosecutors can be fired by dissolving or restructuring their units, bypassing routine disciplinary procedures.
Sweeping case control for the Prosecutor General: The Prosecutor General can requisition any case, halt proceedings, and give direct instructions to investigators.
The government can’t longer directly control NABU and SAPO, but it can create pressure points. Many high-profile corruption cases involve multiple jurisdictions. The Prosecutor General can, for example, influence sensitive investigations without formally touching the agencies’ autonomy by controlling appointments, reassigning personnel, or pulling case materials.
As the Agency for Legislative Initiative warned, the ability to appoint prosecutors without competition “undermines selection standards, contradicts the principle of prosecutorial independence, and creates risks for the legitimacy of personnel decisions.”
Why Western allies are watching
EU officials welcomed NABU’s and SAPO’s restored independence, but of course, they’re keenly tracking whether administrative pressure continues. Any perception that Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions operate under political constraint could slow accession talks just as they gain momentum — exactly when Ukraine needs the perspective of a future EU membership most.
For Brussels, the July crisis and its aftermath matter beyond Ukrainian domestic politics.
The EU has made competitive selection for top prosecutorial positions a condition for Ukraine’s 2026 accession timeline. The current law doesn’t meet that requirement.
Administrative warfare
Beyond formal legal tools, the government has other ways to signal displeasure. The parliamentary commission examining NABU and SAPO, launched just weeks after their independence was restored, exemplifies this approach.
Commission chair Serhiy Vlasenko insisted the timing was coincidental, telling the news outlet Glavcom that the idea to create such a commission had been with him for a long time because, according to him, corruption had increased many times over in the last ten years.
Then there’s the case of appointing leading NABU investigator Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi to head the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB), which only materialized under external pressure tied to Western aid packages.
This puts Ukrainian civil society in a position of permanent vigilance. The Cardboard Revolution, which forced the government to retreat in July, proved that public mobilization works, but it also showed the limits of partial victories.
Citizens managed to save NABU and SAPO’s headline independence, but the technical changes that enable indirect interference remain.
Working in hostile territory
Nevertheless, NABU’s and SAPO’s continued casework proves the agencies are functional. They seem to pursue major cases without political interference. The Defense Ministry bribery investigation, which began in June, proceeded normally through the July crisis and resulted in charges this week.
But functionality isn’t the same as security. The agencies are working in what amounts to hostile territory — surrounded by political actors who view their independence as a constraint on executive power rather than a democratic achievement.
The real test will accompany the next high-profile case that touches Zelenskyy’s inner circle.
Will investigators proceed with the same determination they showed with Chernyshov? Will the Security Service launch another wave of “anti-Russian” raids against anti-corruption officials?
The war continues
NABU and SAPO proved Ukrainian civil society can force government retreats.
However, both anti-corruption agencies are still playing defense in a system where the same officials who tried to subordinate them remain in power, holding the same tools and probably the same views.
The next high-profile case touching Zelenskyy’s inner circle will show whether July was a genuine victory or a temporary tactical withdrawal.
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President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting today in Anchorage, Alaska, triggering protests across multiple continents as activists warn against territorial concessions that could reward Russian aggression.
The bilateral summit—Putin’s first visit to US soil in nearly a decade—deliberately excludes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy despite the war being the primary agenda item. Trump has indicated any peace deal will involve “some swapping of territories,” prompting fears of a repeat of 1938’s Munich Agreement.
Global demonstrations reject Ukraine sellout
From Helsinki to Sydney, protesters gathered under banners reading “DON’T SELL OUT UKRAINE” as the Alaska meeting commenced. Finnish demonstrators in Helsinki highlighted the parallels to previous failed appeasement attempts, while crowds in Prague carried signs explicitly referencing “no new Munich.”
“Ahead of the US president’s meeting with war criminal Putin, we call for no new Munichs,” said Vlada Dumenko of the International Center for Ukrainian Victory (ICUV). “Any future peace agreement must comply with international law, including the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the prohibition of changing borders by force.”
Rally in Helsinki, Finland, 12 August. Photo: Ukrainalaisten yhdistys Suomessa ry
The protests span continents, with demonstrations reported in:
Helsinki, Finland
Prague, Czech Republic
Warsaw, Poland
Munich, Germany
Stuttgart, Germany
Oslo, Norway
Sydney, Australia
Stakes of the Alaska meeting
Today’s summit represents Trump’s most significant diplomatic gamble since taking office, coming after his August 8 deadline for Putin to agree to a ceasefire passed without Russian compliance. Instead of imposing the threatened “secondary sanctions,” Trump opted for direct talks in Alaska—a location that Kremlin officials called “quite logical” given its proximity to Russia.
Trump has described the meeting as a “feel-out” session to gauge Putin’s willingness to negotiate, but has already signaled openness to territorial exchanges. “We’re going to get some back, and we’re going to get some switched. There’ll be some swapping of territories,” Trump told reporters.
European leaders issued a joint statement over the weekend insisting “the path in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine,” signed by officials from the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Finland, and the European Commission.
Ukrainian officials warn against concessions
Ukrainian activists fear the bilateral format gives Putin leverage to push for territorial gains while sidelining Ukrainian input. Any territorial concessions would violate Ukraine’s constitution and require parliamentary approval or a national referendum.
“Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” emphasized Hanna Hopko, chair of the National Interests Advocacy Network ANTS. “If the West is unable to counter this growing threat, it will forfeit its position at the heart of the international security architecture and be replaced by the rising authoritarian powers.”
Hopko argued that rather than territorial concessions, the West already possesses the tools to defeat Russia: “With America providing weapons, Europe holding the $190 billion in frozen Russian sovereign assets, and Ukraine’s Operation Spider Web—we already have the tools to defeat Russia and end this war. What’s needed now is the courage to use them.”
Anti-Alaska meeting rally in Prague, Czechia, 14 August. Photo: Photo: Jana Plavec
Historical parallels fuel opposition
The 1938 Munich Agreement, where Western leaders allowed Nazi Germany to annex parts of Czechoslovakia in exchange for promises of peace, has become a rallying cry for protesters opposing any Ukrainian territorial concessions to Russia.
“Any retreat from Donetsk or Luhansk is not compromise—it is a strategic disaster,” protesters in Prague declared. “It would give Russia a permanent launching pad for future attacks, just as the 1938 Munich Agreement gave Hitler the green light to devour Europe.”
The Ukraine war, now in its fourth year since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, has evolved into what officials describe as a broader contest between democratic and authoritarian powers, with North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces and Iranian drones striking Ukrainian cities.
What happens next
White House officials describe today’s meeting as exploratory, with Trump stating he will know “probably in the first two minutes” whether a deal is possible. The president has indicated that successful talks could lead to a follow-up trilateral meeting including Zelenskyy.
However, Putin has shown little willingness to make genuine concessions. Russian forces continue their advance in eastern Ukraine, and Moscow failed to attend previous peace talks in Türkiye despite Ukrainian participation.
As one protester’s sign in Helsinki read: “Today’s leaders must remember that history judges not just intentions, but consequences.”
The summit in Anchorage is expected to conclude this evening, with both leaders potentially making public statements about next steps.
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Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO or SOF) struck Russia’s Olya port in Astrakhan Oblast on 14 August, targeting a vessel reportedly carrying Iranian Shahed drone parts and ammunition. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said the attack was part of efforts to weaken Russia’s ability to carry out airstrikes. Results of the strike are still being assessed.
Olya is a Russian sea port in Astrakhan Oblast, located in the Volga Delta on the right bank of the Bakhtemir River. The port has served as a link for transporting Iranian-made military goods, including Shahed-series drones and ammunition, across the Caspian Sea into Russia. Russia uses its Shaheds, both supplies from Iran and produced domestically, to arrack Ukrainian cities every day.
Ukrainian strike targets Russian military shipments from Iran
According to the General Staff, the Olya port facility is used by Russia as an important logistics hub for receiving military goods from Iran.
The targeted vessel, identified as Port Olya 4, was reportedly loaded with Shahed-type drone components and ammunition.
The operation was conducted by Ukraine’s SOF in cooperation with other branches of the Defense Forces. The military said the goal was to disrupt Russian logistics and degrade its capacity for sustained aerial attacks.
Special forces operation, not long-range drone strike
The mention of Special Operations Forces in the General Staff’s report indicates the strike was not carried out with long-range drones. It may have been a sabotage mission, unless the SOF has begun operating long-range aerial drones like those used by the Unmanned Systems Forces, the HUR intelligence agency, or the SBU security service.
No visual evidence from the area has yet emerged, and Euromaidan Press said it could not independently verify the report.
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Ukrainian defenders engaged in 149 combat clashes with Russian invading forces across various fronts over the past day, repelling numerous enemy attacks.
Units of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces, in coordination with other branches of the Defense Forces, carried out a strike on the port of Olya in Russia's Astrakhan region.
Russia suffered approximately 1,068,040 casualties in Ukraine between February 24, 2022 and August 15, 2025, with 940 soldiers killed or wounded in the past 24 hours.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes high-level dialogue between two permanent members of the Security Council – the United States and Russia – but stresses the need for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
European partners expect that following his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska, Russian leader Vladimir Putin will begin negotiations with Ukraine on ending the war without preconditions.
The stance of Ukraine and its partners on the path to peace is principle and clear: it cannot be defined without Ukraine, and negotiations can only be productive after a ceasefire is achieved.
After nearly eight years of imprisonment in Russia on charges of “espionage,” Alexander Shelest, a computer science professor at Donetsk National Technical University, has returned to Ukraine.
South Korea’s new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, says he will seek to restore a 2018 military agreement with North Korea aimed at reducing border tensions and urged Pyongyang to respond to Seoul’s efforts to rebuild trust and revive dialogue
In the first half of 2025, Ukraine exported goods worth USD 20.0 billion — a 4.2% decrease compared to January–June of the previous year. Imports during the same period totaled USD 38.6 billion.
Authorities in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast have expanded the mandatory evacuation zone for families with children, adding five new settlements due to intensifying Russian attacks. The decision was announced by Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration (RMA), on 14 August.
Why Druzhkivka matters
Druzhkivka, an industrial city of strategic importance, lies about 80 km northeast of Donetsk City and has remained under Ukrainian control since 2014. Once home to nearly 54,000 residents, its population has dropped sharply due to displacement. Its position along key transport routes makes it a vital defensive and logistical hub.
The new mandate covers Druzhkivka, Andriivka, Varvarivka, Novoandriivka, and Rohanske in the Andriivka community, where about 1,879 children currently live.
Escalating threats and governor’s warning
The evacuation decision followed a meeting of the regional commission on technogenic and environmental safety and emergency situations. Filashkin cited relentless Russian shelling—around 3,000 strikes daily—and urged parents to act:
“Take care of your loved ones — your children. Evacuate in time. Evacuate while it is still possible. Protect your loved ones and do not put them in danger.”
Children will be evacuated only with parents or legal guardians, using a coordinated process involving regional authorities, law enforcement, and local administrations.
Donetsk Oblast expanded mandatory evacuation to five more settlements amid rising Russian attacks. Photo: Vadym Filashkin via Facebook
Russian breakthrough near Pokrovsk raises alarm
Recent battlefield developments have amplified the urgency. Russian forces achieved a narrow but significant breakthrough north of Pokrovsk, advancing up to 17 km and seizing positions threatening Ukrainian supply lines. Another push near Dobropillia reached the Dobropillia–Kramatorsk highway, a key route for military logistics.
While Ukrainian commanders report stabilizing the front with reinforcements, analysts warn these advances could shift the strategic balance and increase risks for nearby civilian areas, including Druzhkivka.
Map: Deep State
Background on evacuations in Donetsk
Mandatory evacuations began in March 2023 in Bakhmut during heavy fighting. Since then, similar operations have taken place in Kryvorizka, Dobropilska, Druzhkivska, Lymanska, and Bilozerska communities as the front line has approached.
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When Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet in Alaska this Friday, the headlines will focus on the show: a US president hosting the Russian leader in a state once sold by the Russian Empire, with Ukraine’s fate hanging in the balance. But what’s invisible to many is a fundamental problem. The two men are not even negotiating the same war.
Trump and his advisers frame the war as a territorial dispute.
In Trump’s mind, ending the war is a matter of finding the right chunk of land to trade, a deal that can be signed quickly, sold to voters, and wrapped up before the next election cycle.
Putin’s view is entirely different. For him, this war is not about lines on a map. It is about the structure of Europe’s security order. His core demand, repeated for more than a decade, is a legally binding halt to NATO expansion, not just for Ukraine, but as a principle. That means rewriting the post–Cold War rules so that Moscow has a permanent veto over the alliances its neighbors may join.
It is, in effect, a constitutional rewrite of Europe’s security system.
But Putin’s demands go far beyond strategic reordering. According to Russian officials, Moscow seeks Ukraine’s complete “demilitarization,” “denazification”—Putin’s euphemism for regime change—and permanent “neutrality” barring any Western security guarantees.
Russia also wants all sanctions lifted and NATO forces rolled back from Eastern Europe entirely.
In other words, Putin is not negotiating over Ukrainian territory. He is negotiating over whether Ukraine will continue to exist as an independent state.
Trump is playing a game of Monopoly;
Putin is erasing countries from the map.
A protest against the Putin-Trump meeting in Alaska at the US embassy in Prague, 13 August 2025. Photo: Jana Plavec
What Ukraine cannot accept
This fundamental mismatch leaves Ukraine in an impossible position. Trump is willing to trade away frozen conflict lines, delayed NATO membership, and limited sanctions relief. But Ukraine needs what Putin refuses to give: genuine security guarantees, territorial integrity, and the sovereign right to choose its own alliances.
For Ukraine, accepting Putin’s terms would mean national suicide disguised as negotiation.
These are not positions Ukraine can compromise on—they are requirements for survival as an independent nation. Yet they are precisely what Trump’s deal-making approach treats as negotiable.
History’s warnings
There is no shortage of historical warnings about what happens when talks are built on such mismatches. Land swaps have been tried before as a way to paper over deeper disputes.
Kosovo and Serbia explored trading territory to normalize relations; it collapsed under nationalist backlash.
Serbia and Croatia’s postwar boundary negotiations left core tensions untouched, producing only fragile arrangements.
Estonia and Russia agreed to a border treaty in 2005; Moscow withdrew when Estonia joined NATO.
In each case, the failure came from mistaking a strategic conflict for a cartographic one.
Negotiating with shadows
There is a deeper risk that analysts have largely overlooked: Trump is negotiating with his own misunderstanding of Putin’s objectives. Because he believes the dispute can be solved by trading territory, he will interpret any territorial discussion as progress.
Putin, meanwhile, will see territorial concessions only as a means to secure the larger prize of a rewritten security order.
This misunderstanding becomes Putin’s greatest asset. Russian analysts describe Trump’s dealmaking approach as a “can’t-lose proposition” for Moscow. Putin can appear reasonable and open to compromise while presenting terms designed to eliminate Ukrainian independence.
Even if Trump rejects specific demands, Putin achieves his goal of being treated as Ukraine’s equal in determining the country’s future.
Trump and Putin will leave Alaska believing they have moved closer to a deal, but they will be moving along two separate tracks that never meet.
Trump will think he has made progress toward a territorial settlement;
Putin will have advanced his goal of erasing Ukraine as a sovereign state.
Asymmetry in preparation
If this were merely a matter of clashing goals, careful preparation could at least surface the differences and test for overlap. But here too, the asymmetry is visible. Putin arrives in Alaska with a tightly controlled plan, informed by months of private discussions with his closest advisers, and with clear red lines. Trump arrives without a detailed framework.
Successful summits rarely happen spontaneously.
Camp David in 1978 followed 13 days of intense, private negotiation and years of backchannel talks.
The 1986 Reykjavik meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev, itself considered a failure at the time, was built on months of arms control groundwork.
Alaska has none of this. The meeting was triggered by a visit from Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer turned envoy, who came back from Moscow with little more than a handshake agreement to meet.
That imbalance gives Putin the advantage. He can use the summit to appear open and constructive while presenting terms designed to lock in strategic gains.
Even if Trump refuses those terms, Putin will have succeeded in demonstrating to his domestic audience, and to wavering countries in the Global South, that Russia is negotiating directly with Washington, sidelining Kyiv.
A protest against the Putin-Trump meeting in Alaska at the US embassy in Prague, 13 August 2025. Photo: Jana Plavec
A timeline mismatch
Time itself favors Putin. Trump is thinking in months, hoping for a quick foreign policy win before the 2026 midterms.
Putin thinks in decades. His inner circle, according to Russian sources, has told him that Ukrainian resistance will collapse within months if Russia maintains military pressure.
Even a temporary ceasefire would allow his forces to regroup, while sanctions fatigue erodes Western unity.
For Putin, a pause is not a compromise. It is a tactical stage in a longer campaign.
For Trump, a pause can be sold as peace.
This is why a meeting that produces no concrete concessions from Moscow can still be useful to both men, but deeply damaging to Ukraine.
The real danger of Alaska is not that it produces a signed surrender. The danger is that it produces the illusion of progress.
The symbolism problem
Then there is Alaska itself. Meeting on American soil might seem like a show of strength from Trump, but to Putin, it means something else. Alaska was once Russian territory. Hosting the summit there sends an unintended message: that borders are temporary and land can be transferred through negotiation. In a war where Russia’s central claim is that borders can be rewritten by force, this is a gift.
Diplomats understand the power of location. In 2010, Serbia and Kosovo’s EU-sponsored talks were held in Brussels precisely to avoid symbolic claims to sovereignty. Choosing Alaska to discuss Ukraine’s future undermines the very principle the US claims to defend: that states have the right to keep their internationally recognized borders.
The real danger of Alaska is not that it produces a signed surrender. The danger is that it produces the illusion of progress.
Trump could emerge declaring the talks a first step toward peace, while Putin uses the meeting to reinforce his narrative: that Washington, not Kyiv, is the true counterparty in this war, and that Russia’s demands are the baseline for any serious negotiation.
A protest against the Putin-Trump meeting in Alaska at the US embassy in Prague, 13 August 2025. Photo: Jana Plavec
What success would require
Could Alaska succeed? Only if both leaders arrived with a shared understanding of the core dispute, a set of pre-negotiated principles, and Ukraine’s active participation.
None of those conditions exist.
Without them, the meeting is not a step toward resolution but a set piece in two domestic political dramas: Trump’s need to appear as the great dealmaker, and Putin’s need to appear as the indispensable architect of Europe’s future.
But the stakes are higher than political theater. Trump’s misunderstanding could lead him to pressure Ukraine into accepting a “peace” that eliminates its independence while allowing Putin to claim he negotiated rather than conquered.
The summit’s real risk is that Trump will declare victory while Putin advances his goal of eliminating Ukrainian independence, creating a framework that destroys Ukraine while calling it diplomacy.
That is why the Alaska summit may be remembered not as a turning point toward peace, but as the moment when the West negotiated away a democracy’s right to exist.
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We keep our reporting open and accessible to everyone because we believe in the power of free information. This is why our small, cost-effective team depends on the support of readers like you to bring deliver timely news, quality analysis, and on-the-ground reports about Russia's war against Ukraine and Ukraine's struggle to build a democratic society.
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A Russian Su-30SM multirole fighter jet has likely crashed in the Black Sea southeast of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island (Odesa Oblast), according to the Ukrainian Navy.
Naval intelligence interceptedradio communications indicating the loss of contact with the aircraft during a mission. The cause of the incident remains unknown.
Russian forces have launched a search-and-rescue operation; debris has been spotted on the sea surface, but the pilot has not been found.
Why this loss matters for Russia’s air force
The Su-30SM is one of the Russian military’s most capable 4th-generation fighters, used for air superiority, long-range patrols, escort missions, radar surveillance, and command-and-control.
FlightGlobal’s 2025 world air forces directory lists 365 Su-27/30/35 fighters in Russian service (exact Su-30SM numbers are not public). Each Su-30SM is estimated to cost between $35 million and $50 million, making every loss a major hit to Russia’s high-value combat fleet.
The aircraft has been used extensively in the war against Ukraine, including for the launch of Kh-31P and Kh-58 anti-radiation missiles aimed at suppressing Ukrainian air defenses.
Documented Su-30SM losses since 2022
Ukraine has reported multiple Su-30SM shootdowns and ground destructions since the full-scale invasion began:
Feb–Mar 2022: Several Su-30SMs downed over the Black Sea, Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv regions — some crashed into the sea, and in one case a pilot was captured.
Aug 9, 2022 — Saky/Novofedorivka, Crimea: Satellite imagery confirmed 8–9 aircraft destroyed, including around three Su-30SMs.
Sept 2024 — Black Sea: Ukraine reported downing a Su-30SM that had just fired a Kh-31P missile.
Apr 24, 2025 — Rostov-on-Don: Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) released video showing a Su-30SM (tail “35”) burning after a sabotage attack.
Aug 4, 2025 — Saky airbase, Crimea: The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said one Su-30SM was destroyed and another damaged, alongside strikes on Su-24s and an ammunition depot.
May 2, 2025 — Novorossiysk (claim): Ukraine claims naval drones armed with air-to-air missiles downed two Su-30s over the Black Sea — independent verification is pending.
Aug 14, 2025 — Zmiinyi (Snake) Island area: The latest suspected Su-30SM loss.
Strategic шmplications
The possible downing of another Su-30SM underscores Ukraine’s ability to inflict attrition on Russia’s front-line combat aviation. With high unit costs and a shrinking pool of trained aircrews, each loss erodes Russia’s air combat capability — particularly in contested zones like the Black Sea.
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US President Donald Trump said he does not rule out the participation of European leaders in a possible joint meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Connexion
