The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has confirmed that Ukrainian drone units struck the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia’s Rostov Oblast overnight on 21 August. It also reported two additional strikes: one on a UAV warehouse and logistics hub in occupied Donetsk, and another on a fuel storage facility in Voronezh Oblast.

Confirmed refinery strike in Rostov Oblast

The General Staff said Ukrainian drone units, operating in coordination with other defense components, struck the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Rostov Oblast. The facility is one of the largest fuel suppliers in southern Russia and is involved in supporting Russian armed forces. The refinery’s total reservoir capacity exceeds 210,000 cubic meters. Numerous explosions were recorded, and the target was confirmed hit.

Drone warehouse and logistics hub hit in occupied Donetsk

Separately, Ukrainian special operations forces struck a drone storage facility and logistics hub in occupied Donetsk. The strike aimed to reduce the enemy’s capacity to use long-range UAVs. The General Staff confirmed explosions at the site and direct hits.

Fuel base targeted in Voronezh Oblast

In addition, the General Staff reported a strike on a fuel and lubricant storage site used by Russian occupying forces in Voronezh Oblast. The extent of the damage is still being clarified.

More attacks today

Earlier today, the General Staff had also reported an attack on a Russian fuel train in occupied Crimea.

According to media reports, Ukrainian forces struck multiple targets overnight on 20–21 August: the Rostov refinery, a railway substation in Voronezh Oblast, and a GRU base in Crimea. S

The Institute for the Study of War reported 8 August that surrendering remaining territories in Donetsk Oblast as a ceasefire prerequisite without securing a final peace agreement would grant Russian forces tactical advantages for future military operations.

“The surrender of the rest of Donetsk Oblast as the prerequisite of a ceasefire with no commitment to a final peace settlement ending the war would position Russian forces extremely well to renew their attacks on much more favorable terms, having avoided a long and bloody struggle for the ground,” the ISW analysed.

Such concessions would compel Ukraine to abandon what the institute terms its “fortress belt” — the primary fortified defensive line established in Donetsk Oblast in 2014. The ISW emphasizes that “conceding such a demand would force Ukraine to abandon its ‘fortress belt,’ the main fortified defensive line in Donetsk Oblast since 2014 — with no guarantee that fighting will not resume.”

The fortress belt consists of four major cities and multiple smaller settlements positioned along the H-20 Kostyantynivka-Sloviansk highway. The defensive line stretches 50 kilometers from north to south — approximately the distance between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland — and housed over 380,537 residents before the current war.

Sloviansk and Kramatorsk anchor the northern section of this defensive network, functioning as logistics hubs for Ukrainian military operations throughout Donetsk Oblast. Kramatorsk currently serves as the oblast’s provisional administrative center, replacing Donetsk City, which remains under Russian occupation. The southern portion of the fortress belt includes Druzhkivka, Oleksiyevo-Druzhkivka, and Kostyantynivka.

The defensive infrastructure originated following Ukraine’s 2014 military operations against pro-Russian proxy forces. These forces initially captured Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, and Kostyantynivka in April 2014, but Ukrainian troops regained control by July of that year.

The ISW reports that Ukraine has invested 11 years in strengthening these positions, building “significant defense industrial and defensive infrastructure in and around these cities.” This sustained development effort represents substantial financial and strategic commitments that would be lost under any territorial concession scenario.

The analysis suggests that Russian forces would gain considerable operational advantages by securing these positions without conducting costly urban warfare operations. The fortress belt has served as what the ISW describes as “a major obstacle to the Kremlin’s territorial ambitions in Ukraine over the last 11 years.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the evening of 13 August that Ukrainian forces will not voluntarily withdraw from territories in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts currently under their control, speaking to journalists three days before a scheduled Alaska meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

“We will not leave Donbas – we cannot do this. Everyone forgets the first part – our territories are illegally occupied. For the Russians, Donbas is a bridgehead for a future new offensive. If we leave Donbas of our own free will or under pressure – we will open a third war,” Zelenskyy said, according to Radio Liberty.

The Ukrainian leader challenged potential American positioning on territorial concessions. “Of course, I would like to see America’s position given how it all started – our territory was occupied, Ukrainians are being killed, and after that they tell me: ‘Listen, do you want to stop being killed? You need to leave.’ And what security guarantees? Leave Donetsk oblast?” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy said earlier that Kyiv would not recognize any Ukraine-related decisions made at the US-Russia Alaska summit. The Ukrainian president characterized the Trump-Putin meeting as potentially significant only for bilateral US-Russia relations, calling the very fact of the meeting Putin’s “personal victory.”

“It is impossible to talk about Ukraine without Ukraine, and no one will accept this. Therefore, the conversation may be important for their bilateral track, but they cannot decide anything about Ukraine without us. I hope that the US president understands and takes this into account,” Zelenskyy said at the “Youth Here” forum.

In domestic policy developments, Zelenskyy announced he has instructed the government and army to work on lifting travel restrictions for men under 22 years old. “This is a positive, correct story that will help many Ukrainians maintain ties with Ukraine and pursue education in Ukraine,” the president said.

Since Russia’s invasion, Ukraine has maintained martial law and general mobilization. Men aged 18 to 65 cannot leave the country’s territory. Men aged 25 to 60 are subject to mobilization, while men aged 18 to 24 can be called for basic military service, which during martial law lasts three months.

Russians forcibly conscript Ukrainians, coercing them into fighting against their own country. The Russian 132nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade is now fully staffed by residents of the temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk Oblast and illegal migrants, according to the DeepState project. 

According to the report, the 132nd Brigade has long been predominantly staffed by residents of the occupied settlements of Donetsk Oblast. Recently, it has been massively reinforced with illegal migrants, mainly from Central Asian countries.

This information is particularly alarming amid ongoing US-Russia negotiations. US President Donald Trump openly states that a peace deal would include some “swapping” of territories with Russia. This means that Russia can further conscript more people from occupied territories to the war against their relatives, friends, and other Ukrainians. 

“The Russian command has set the task to reach the eastern outskirts of Dobropillia in the near future,” analysts say.

The invaders aim to capture Dobropillia because it is the last major city before Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, where Russia has concentrated nearly 100,000 soldiers. Taking Dobropillia would allow them to shell logistics routes to Pokrovsk and open the way for further attacks on Kostiantynivka.

DeepState also emphasizes that the 132nd Brigade has historically consisted mainly of marginal elements and criminals from the occupied districts of Donetsk since 2014, while the command has come directly from Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has firmly rejected US President Donald Trump’s proposal to exchange part of Ukraine’s territory in return for peace. Trump’s suggestion, which did not specify which areas might be swapped, struck a nerve with many Ukrainians, The New York Times reports.

Zelenskyy’s direct refusal risks angering, who has made brokering a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow one of the central goals of his foreign policy, even if the deal would disadvantage Ukraine.

“Peace as trap”: Ukraine may face pressure from US and Russia to accept Kremlin’s demands, says diplomat

This could leave Ukraine vulnarable to concessions it may need to make amid Kyiv’s dependency on Western aid and weapons in the struggle against Russia. 

Trump pushes for concessions

Trump has previously accused Ukraine of making excessively tough demands for a ceasefire. This time, he stated that some territories would need to be swapped and returned. There will be an exchange of territories for the benefit of both sides, he said. His vague comments sparked widespread outrage among Ukrainians.

Ukraine refuses to give up land

Zelenskyy’s stance reflects the overwhelming sentiment in Ukrainian society: territorial concessions are unacceptable. A Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll found that over half of Ukrainians believe the country should not cede any land “even if this makes the war last longer and threatens the preservation of independence.”

Military experts warn that such a deal would mean abandoning a key fortified defensive line in northern Donetsk Oblast, between Sloviansk and Kostiantynivka, which has so far held back Russian advances.

Peace talks in Alaska and Moscow’s advantage

Trump has agreed to hold peace talks next Friday in Alaska. For now, Moscow’s approach, not Kyiv’s, appears to have the upper hand on the diplomatic front.