Russia-Ukraine War: List of main events, day 888 | Russia-Ukraine war news

As the war enters its 888th day, these are the key developments.

This is the situation on Thursday, August 1, 2024.

Fighting

• Ukraine’s Air Force said it repelled one of Russia’s largest long-range drone strikes of the war, shooting down all 89 drones launched in Kiev, the surrounding region and other areas. The attack mainly targeted the capital and the surrounding region, where authorities said more than 40 drones were shot down. An air raid warning remained in effect for most of the night. No civil or critical infrastructure was directly hit, but the debris damaged the roofs, windows and facades of 13 private homes in the region, authorities said.

• The Ukrainian military said it attacked a weapons and military equipment depot in the Kursk region of western Russia overnight and was working to assess the damage. Russia, he said, activated its air defenses to try to contain the attack, but explosions were visible at the target locations. The Russian Defense Ministry previously said it destroyed a drone and a Ukrainian Neptun guided missile over the Kursk region.

• Romania’s Ministry of National Defense said it found drone fragments at a third location near the border, following last week’s Russian attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure. The wreckage was found near the village of Ceatalchioi, across the Danube River in Ukraine.

Politics and diplomacy

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with French media that Kiev does not want China to act as a mediator in the conflict with Russia, but expects Beijing to put more pressure on Moscow to end the war. China has an “unlimited” partnership with Russia and did not participate in the first peace summit on Ukraine, held last month in Switzerland, but has recently intensified diplomatic efforts and hosted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at the last week. Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine would like to see Russia participate in the next summit.
• A Russian court ordered Laurent Vinatier, a French researcher detained in Russia in June, to remain in custody ahead of his trial on charges of illegally collecting information on military matters. Vinatier, an adviser to the Geneva-based Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, was arrested in Moscow as tensions rose over French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments about the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has doubled initial payments for volunteers to fight in Ukraine. All Russians who sign a contract with the army will now receive an advance payment of 400 thousand rubles ($4,651). The decree also recommends that regional authorities match this payment from their budgets with at least the same amount.

• Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, has demanded an explanation from Russian authorities over the death in captivity of Oleksandr Ishchenko, one of 22 Ukrainian prisoners put on trial in connection with his association with the Azov Brigade. The unit, designated a “terrorist” group by Russia, played a key role in the three-month defense of the port of Mariupol in 2022.

Weapons

• The first batch of long-awaited F-16 fighter jets, equipped with a 20mm cannon and capable of carrying bombs, rockets and missiles, has arrived in Ukraine. “F-16 in Ukraine. Another impossible thing turned out to be entirely possible,” wrote Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on X, formerly known as Twitter. Denmark has committed to donating 19 jets in total, while the Netherlands has promised to deliver 24 and Norway six.