European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk visited the Polish-Belarusian border to demonstrate European solidarity, according to Tusk’s statement on X.

The Polish Prime Minister said that Belarusian border guards “listened attentively” to their press conference at the frontier. Tusk wrote that the European Commission head had the opportunity to see the situation at the EU’s eastern border firsthand.

Since 2021, self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has refused to control the flow of refugees through his country to EU states, triggering a migration crisis. Poland responded by constructing a 5-meter electronic barrier along the Belarus border, equipped with thousands of cameras and surveillance technology designed to prevent illegal border crossings.

“I am here today to express Europe’s full solidarity with Poland as a frontline state. For many years now, you and the Polish people have faced deliberate and cynical hybrid attacks. I want to emphasize that Europe supports you in every possible way,” von der Leyen said during the visit.

The Commission President announced that the EU’s budget proposal for the next seven years would triple investments in migration, border management and protection. EU member states that share borders with Russia and Belarus will receive additional EU funding under the plan.

“I want to emphasize: Europe’s borders are a shared responsibility. Here we are at the Polish border, but also at the European border, and this is a shared responsibility,” von der Leyen said.

The visit comes as Poland continues to manage migration pressure along its eastern border, where the electronic barrier system represents one of the EU’s most technologically advanced border protection measures.

Russia is deliberately targeting Western-linked sites in Ukraine to send a message of defiance against diplomatic efforts to end the war, The New York Times reports. The strikes — aimed at an American-operated factory and European diplomatic offices — signal a calculated rejection of peace talks and Western involvement, according to officials and military analysts cited by the outlet.

Kremlin uses strikes to resist Western diplomacy

On 21 August, Russian cruise missiles hit a factory in Mukachevo run by Flex Ltd., an American multinational company best known locally for making Nespresso coffee machines. The plant, Ukraine’s largest employer in Zakarpattia Oblast, had no role in military production, according to local officials and the company itself. Nonetheless, it became a target just six days after US President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss possible paths toward ending the war.

A week later, two more Russian missiles struck central Kyiv, damaging buildings housing the European Union delegation and the British Council. The diplomatic quarter in Kyiv had previously been spared by Russian forces. Following the strikes, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen publicly accused Moscow of intentionally attacking EU diplomatic infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is now “striking at everyone in the world who seeks peace.”

These strikes were not isolated. NYT notes that more than half of American companies operating in Ukraine have already sustained damage from Russian attacks. The list includes major international names such as McDonald’s, Boeing-affiliated facilities, and a Philip Morris plant. The Flex factory alone, which employed around 3,000 people at the time of the strike, was the largest taxpayer in its oblast and produced only commercial consumer products.

A shift toward punishing peace supporters

According to NYT, the Kremlin’s choice of targets — foreign-linked civilian infrastructure and cultural institutions — suggests a deliberate effort to intimidate and punish those backing Ukraine’s defense and sovereignty through diplomacy, investment, or postwar security guarantees. Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko said the attacks are “a clear signal” that Putin now feels emboldened to extend the war beyond Ukraine and toward the West itself.

Franz-Stefan Gady, a military analyst based in Vienna, told NYT that Moscow is intentionally testing the boundaries of Western deterrence. The aim, he said, is to impose costs on Ukraine’s allies while avoiding direct military retaliation — a strategy designed to weaken Western resolve and push Ukraine into disadvantageous negotiations.

European governments are currently debating whether to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine, and the strikes appear designed to dissuade that. Volodymyr Dubovyk, director of the Center for International Studies at Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University, described the message from Moscow as clear: “Don’t you dare send your troops here.”

A pattern of escalation

The 28 August strike on Kyiv, which included hundreds of missiles and drones, killed at least 25 civilians — the deadliest attack on the capital since the Trump–Putin meeting. While none of the fatalities occurred at the damaged diplomatic offices, the choice of targets marked a dramatic shift in Russia’s strategy.

The Kremlin has dismissed negotiations as premature and rejected Western-proposed security guarantees for Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defense falsely claimed that its strike on the Mukachevo factory was aimed at the Ukrainian military-industrial complex. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told NBC News he had allegedly “never heard about” the Flex attack, while simultaneously denying that Russia targets civilian sites.

Following the attacks, President Trump said he was “not happy” with Russia’s actions. However, the US response so far has been limited to verbal disapproval, with no new sanctions or retaliatory steps announced.

Armin Papperger, head of German defense conglomerate Rheinmetall, said Ukraine will soon receive its first ammunition from a new plant in Unterlüß, Lower Saxony, Deutsche Welle reports. 

First deliveries and 2026 plans

This year, 25,000 shells will be sent to Ukraine. The factory could produce 150,000 or more next year.

“We will increase production to 350,000 for Germany and Ukraine. Next year, we can deliver at least 100,000, and later possibly 200,000 shells to Ukraine,” Papperger noted.

Ukrainian plant: plans and challenges

Rheinmetall is building a similar factory in Ukraine, but bureaucracy is slowing the process.

“I discussed this with Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal. I told him: it can be done in 14 months. Currently, the civilian part isn’t ready; a concept is needed,” the CEO explained.

He added that the plant could be ready in 12–14 months if organizational issues are resolved.

Drones in Ukraine

The company also plans to invest in drone production — not small quadcopters, but larger, high-tech systems.

“If there are opportunities — we will do it,” Papperger added.

Instead of peace: parades, missiles, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in China on a four-day visit, RBC reports. 

He was invited by Xi Jinping to a military parade marking the anniversary of the end of World War II. This comes just as US President Donald Trump’s deadline for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop the war is expiring.

Trump’s deadline and Russia’s new attacks

The American president gave Putin two weeks to decide on negotiations.

SCO Summit in China: Who’s attending?

Beyond the parade, Putin will participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, scheduled from 31 August to 1 September in Tianjin. The SCO includes Russia, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus.

More than 20 world leaders are expected. The Kremlin dictator plans to meet with Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A Russian drone caught filming its own camera test in a Chinese factory before being shot down in Ukraine

India between China and the US

Earlier, Trump imposed tariffs on India over its imports of Russian oil, which fuels Moscow’s war machine. This sparked outrage in Delhi, which pointed out that Europe continues buying Russian oil without facing sanctions.

According to The New York Times, Trump also pressured India to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. After Delhi refused, he retaliated with tariffs.

Against this backdrop, India may strengthen cooperation with Russia and China, both key players in the oil and gas market, and part of the “axis of upheaval”, the growing anti-American collaboration between the nations. 

Germany is reconsidering its position on sending troops to enforce ceasefire efforts in Ukraine, a shift from its stance two weeks ago, Bild reports. 

Following talks at the Alaska summit, Germany signaled readiness to send troops to Ukraine as part of a potential peacekeeping mission should the war be frozen. 

However, with the realization that Russia is unlikely to agree to ceasefire proposals, German officials are now prioritizing financial support to strengthen Ukraine’s defense, according to Bild. 

Both Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil have expressed skepticism about peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, citing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lack of interest in negotiations. 

Financial support as a form of “security guarantee” allows Germany to bolster Ukraine’s defense capabilities without direct military involvement. 

“Even if the guns fall silent and there is an agreement between Russia and Ukraine, the German government wants to secure the security guarantee primarily with money,” Bild reports, citing government sources.

Bild reports that Germany may cover part of Ukrainian soldiers’ salaries, while continuing training and supporting expanded weapons production with German defense firms.

Deploying German soldiers to monitor a ceasefire is “off the table for now,” with changes only possible if Trump acts and Russia ends the war, which “shows no signs” of happening, government sources said.

Ukraine pushes for stronger Western security commitments

The concept of security guarantees for Ukraine has been a central topic in international discussions in recent weeks. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has outlined a three-pillar framework, focusing on sustained military support, NATO-level backing, and continued sanctions against Russia as key elements of any post-war arrangement.

However, Russia has broadly rejected Western proposals, calling them attempts to turn Ukraine into a “strategic provocateur” on its borders. This refusal complicates any potential implementation of security guarantees.

Discussions in the West, including considerations of additional support mechanisms such as private military contractors, continue as countries seek ways to bolster Ukraine’s defense while avoiding direct military escalation. 

Several hundred people gathered in Kyiv to bid farewell to 24-year-old Nadiya Halych and her two-year-old daughter Angelina, who died in Russia’s massive attack on the capital on the night of 28 August, reports Suspilne Kyiv.

The funeral service drew residents from the destroyed building in Darnytskyi district, neighbors, relatives, friends and classmates of the deceased Nadiya. 

Nadiya’s former homeroom teacher Natalia remembered her as a good student. “She was a cheerful and kind person who loved her younger sister,” the teacher said.

Near the damaged building, Kyiv residents created an improvised memorial where they bring flowers and toys alongside other tributes.

The attack occurred during Russia’s massive strike on Ukrainian cities on the night of 28 August, when Moscow deployed 629 aerial attack weapons. Residential high-rises in Kyiv sustained damage, particularly in Dniprovskyi district, where the attack destroyed an entire building entrance.

In the capital, 21 adults and four children died. Dozens more sustained injuries.

Russian forces targeted Kyiv with drones and missiles during the nighttime assault. The Darnytskyi district suffered the heaviest damage, with an entire entrance of a five-story building completely destroyed.

Rescue operations at the partially destroyed five-story building in Darnytskyi district concluded on the morning of 29 August. Search and rescue teams worked for over 30 hours. Twenty-two building residents died, including four children. The total death toll from the Russian attack in Kyiv reached 25 people.

On the evening of 29 August, the State Emergency Service announced that consequences of the rocket-drone strike in Kyiv had been eliminated. Rescuers operated at 19 locations across six districts of the capital, involving over 700 rescue workers, nearly 150 pieces of equipment and seven dogs. They managed to save 15 people, including four children.

Russia’s oil cash machine is breaking down. Rosneft just posted a catastrophic 68% profit collapse, with free cash flow plunging 75%. This is the clearest sign yet that Western sanctions combined with Ukrainian strikes are systematically dismantling the Kremlin’s war funding.

The numbers are brutal: net income crashed from 773 billion rubles ($9.68 billion) to just 245 billion ($3.07 billion) in the first half of 2025, while revenue fell 18% despite steady production.

Most telling?

Free cash flow collapsed to just 173 billion rubles ($2.17 billion)—a 75% drop that’s catastrophic for a company that paid out $6.78 billion in dividends and needs billions more for Arctic projects and war funding.

Ukraine’s drone war pays dividends

Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin’s complaints tell the whole story. He blamed “tighter EU and US sanction restrictions” for forcing steeper discounts on Russian crude, while a stronger ruble crushed export earnings.

Even more revealing, Sechin is now publicly griping about the OPEC+ strategy (the cartel of 22 major oil producers, including Russia and Saudi Arabia, that coordinates global production), showing Russia can no longer influence global oil policy from a position of strength.

The man once skeptical of OPEC cooperation is now begging the cartel to prop up prices.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone strikes are systematically crippling Russian refining capacity. Depending on sources, up to 17% of Russia’s refining capacity is offline, with some regions introducing fuel rationing and wholesale gasoline prices up 45% despite falling global crude prices.

The strategic validation

For Western policymakers, Rosneft’s collapse validates the slow-squeeze approach.

The company still managed to raise capital spending 10% to 769 billion rubles ($9.63 billion), focusing on remote Arctic projects like Vostok Oil that won’t deliver volumes for years. But it’s paying 2024 dividends of 542 billion rubles ($6.78 billion)—more than triple this year’s actual cash generation.

That math doesn’t work long-term.

Watch these numbers

Two metrics matter most: Russian crude discounts to Brent prices and USD/RUB exchange rates. Small moves in either can swing Russia’s oil revenues by billions.

Rosneft now budgets conservatively at $45/barrel oil—signaling Moscow expects prices and sanctions pressure to persist. Combined with Ukrainian infrastructure strikes and Western financial restrictions, Russia’s oil empire faces its toughest test since the Soviet collapse.

The takeaway for global energy markets: economic warfare is working—slowly and systematically.

Russian forces launched a series of drone and artillery attacks on Kherson on the morning of 31 August, causing significant damage to civilian and public infrastructure, local officials reported.

Civilians are frequently targeted in the city, with homes, public spaces, and energy facilities regularly hit, leaving residents at constant risk.

“A woman was fatally injured in the Dniprovskyi district after an explosive device was dropped from a drone,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of Kherson Regional Military Administration.

The National Police of Ukraine also reported that Russian forces shelled a park in the Central district, killing a 74-year-old man. 

Other strikes damaged homes, garages, and vehicles, and left several residents and police officers injured across Kherson Oblast.

Kherson sits on the bank of the Dnipro River, directly opposite Russian-held territory, making it vulnerable to repeated short-range attacks.

Since its liberation in November 2022, residents have faced so-called “human safaris,” in which Russian forces hunt civilians in the streets using explosive drones.

A fire broke out at warehouse facilities in Balashikha, a Moscow suburb, with the blaze covering 4,000 square meters, according to Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations.

The affected buildings belong to the Balashikha Experimental Chemical Plant and TDK company, which sells household chemicals, Baza reported.

Over 80 specialists and 30 units of equipment have been deployed to combat the fire, along with Mi-8 and Ka-32 helicopters.

Eyewitnesses report that flames have spread to neighboring buildings.

“Firefighters have not yet been able to extinguish the fire in the warehouse premises in Balashikha,” according to local observers.

No casualties have been reported, according to the Emergency Ministry. The warehouse facilities housed operations of both the Balashikha Experimental Chemical Plant and TDK, a company specializing in household chemical products sales.

The fire response involves aerial support, with helicopters assisting ground crews in the firefighting operation across the 4,000-square-meter area.

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi reported to President Zelensky on 31 August that Russian forces have sustained over 290,000 killed and injured across the entire front line since the start of 2025.

The heaviest Russian casualties occurred in Donetsk Oblast, particularly on the Pokrovske direction where Moscow concentrated its main efforts but failed to achieve any strategic objectives, according to Syrskyi.

“Throughout the front, in just eight months of this year, the Russians lost over 290 thousand of their military personnel killed and seriously wounded,” Syrskyi said in his report. “They suffered the heaviest losses precisely in Donetsk region, without realizing any of their strategic tasks.”

Ukrainian units continue executing assigned missions in Donetsk Oblast and systematically destroying occupying forces. Stabilization measures are currently underway on certain sections of the front.

President Zelenskyy highlighted that Ukrainian units weekly replenish the “exchange fund” with Russian prisoners of war. The briefing also analyzed the situation on the Zaporizhzhia direction and in border areas of Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts, with Ukrainian forces prepared for new attacks.

“We analyzed in detail the situation on the Zaporizhzhia direction and the Russian intentions. Also the situation in the border areas of Sumy Oblast and in Kharkiv Oblast,” Zelenskyy said. “We will continue our active actions exactly as needed for Ukraine’s defense. Forces and means are prepared. We have also planned new diplomatic strikes.”

The report comes after Ukraine’s General Staff previously said that Russia’s seasonal offensive campaign ended with no results.

Ukrainian forces have liberated the village of Myrne near Kupiansk, removing a key Russian position used to control the approach road to the city, Suspilne and Deep State reported. 

Ukrainian troops take back Myrne near Kupiansk

Suspilne reports that Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for the “Dnipro” operational-strategic grouping of forces, confirmed on the evening of 30 August that Myrne had been freed from Russian control.

“As of now, Russians have been pushed out of Myrne. There’s no information on wounded or killed enemy troops. Our forces are advancing further,” he said.

Maps published by DeepState on 29 August had already shown that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had regained control over the village, located northwest of Kupiansk. The settlement had allowed Russian forces to observe and control the road leading directly into the city.

Russian forces launch new attacks after losing ground

On 31 August, the General Staff of Ukraine reported nine Russian attacks over the previous day targeting positions near Petropavlivka and Kupiansk. Militarnyi notes that Russian troops are concentrating combat-ready units north of Kupiansk, continuing to exert pressure on Ukrainian defenses.

Despite this, Ukrainian forces are holding their lines. Units from Ukraine’s 10th Army Corps, together with attached elements, recently repelled the first Russian mechanized assault in this direction in a long time. 

A massive Russian drone attack left 29,000 people without power in Odesa Oblast on the morning of 31 August, regional officials said.

The coastal city of Chornomorsk, just south of Odesa, suffered the most damage, oblast governor Oleh Kiper reported on Telegram. Critical infrastructure in the area is currently running on generators.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, reported that four of its facilities in Odesa Oblast were hit during the overnight attack.

Private houses and administrative buildings were also damaged. One person was reported injured.

Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia attacked Ukraine with 142 drones, 126 of which were shot down. 

The major coastal city of Odesa is a regular target for Russian aerial assaults, which have repeatedly damaged infrastructure and disrupted daily life. These attacks have caused power outages, property damage, injuries, and deaths, highlighting the ongoing risk faced by residents.

A Russian Gerbera drone shot down over Ukraine was found to contain footage showing a camera test at a Chinese factory. Militarnyi reports that the footage was stored inside the onboard Viewpro A40 camera.

Chinese factory video found in shot-down Russian drone

Ukrainian defense forces recovered a Gerbera drone equipped with an A40 camera from the Chinese company Viewpro. According to Militarnyi, the footage discovered inside the drone showed a test of this camera conducted at Viewpro’s production site in Shenzhen.

The “About Communications by Serhii Flash” Telegram channel published the footage and stated that it showed the camera being tested at the Chinese factory. 

The Viewpro facility is located in the Aotexing Science Park in Shenzhen’s Nanshan District.

Cyber Boroshno geolocated the footage using coordinates 22.554448, 113.944050 and confirmed that it was filmed at that exact location. The community stated that although the address from the manufacturer’s website does not appear correctly on Google Maps, translating it into Chinese and checking it through Baidu confirmed the location with complete certainty.

Chinese components repeatedly found in Russian drones

Militarnyi notes that Russia continues to receive large volumes of components and finished products from China for use in military systems, including drones.

In March 2025, Militarnyi reported that a new 16-element CRPA antenna had been discovered inside a Shahed kamikaze drone. That antenna was designed to overcome Ukrainian electronic warfare systems.

Russia has also placed significant orders for drone battery systems and continues to cooperate with China in other areas related to unmanned weapons.

In July 2024, the New York Times reported that Russia was importing sanctioned equipment through Hong Kong for use in drone production and other weapons systems.

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EU foreign ministers are discussing a new package of sanctions against Russia in response to its ongoing war in Ukraine. 

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, made the announcement during a press briefing on 30 August following the ministers’ meeting in Copenhagen.

She stressed that “it’s clear that Russia is not preparing for peace. It is the opposite. They are preparing for more war.”

Kallas pointed to the 28 August strike on Kyiv, which killed 25 civilians – including four children – and damaged offices of several international organisations.

According to her, the aim of additional sanctions is “to further increase pressure on Russia to negotiate.”

Among the measures under consideration are secondary sanctions on states providing support to Moscow’s war effort.

Ministers also discussed broader import restrictions and tariffs on Russian goods.

“Efforts against shadow fleet ships must also be stepped up,” Kallas added. 

The foreign ministers also discussed the use of frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction. 

Militarnyi reports that a Ukrainian drone strike on 30 August 2025 destroyed two Russian helicopter gunships at the airfield in occupied Crimea’s capital, Simferopol. Satellite imagery published by the AviaVector X account confirmed the destruction of a Mi-8 and a Mi-24 helicopter at the site.

Satellite confirms two helicopters destroyed in occupied Crimea

According to Militarnyi, the drone attack took place at approximately 06:30 on 30 August, when Russian monitoring channels began reporting the movement of drones toward Simferopol. Following the reports, a powerful explosion occurred at the airport, followed by thick black smoke.

AviaVector’s satellite imagery captured on the same day showed two attack helicopters destroyed as a result of the strike. An earlier image from 22 August showed a group of military aircraft stationed close together at the airfield. Specifically, the photo documented five Mi-8 helicopters, three Mi-24s, one An-26, and one Tu-134UBL. Militarnyi notes that all these aircraft were concentrated in a small area.

Initial claims after the explosion suggested that aviation fuel tanks had been hit, but this information was later proven false. The satellite images confirmed that the damage involved airframes, not fuel infrastructure.

Russian Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters among the destroyed aircraft

Mi-8 helicopters are currently in wide use by the Russian Armed Forces and are the main transport helicopter in Russian military service. The exact model of the Mi-8 destroyed in Simferopol is unknown. However, Mi-8 helicopters are used by Russian forces for troop transport, strike missions, air defense tasks, and operations against Ukrainian naval drones.

Prior confirmed case of drone-launched missile strike on Mi-8s

On 31 December 2024, Ukrainian forces destroyed two Mi-8 helicopters using R-73 air-to-air missiles launched from a sea-based drone. This was the first confirmed use of this method to eliminate an airborne target.