The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]
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Russia’s war against Ukraine
An evacuation team member from the East SOS Charity Foundation (R) helps residents to load their belongings onto a bus evacuating them from the town of Dobropillia, Donetsk Oblast, on Aug. 10, 2025. (Genya Savilov / AFP via Getty Images)
Ukraine will not let Russia ‘deceive America,’ Zelensky says ahead of upcoming Trump-Putin summit. “We understand the Russians’ intention to try to deceive America — we will not allow this,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on Aug. 10.
Ukrainian drones hit oil refinery 2,000 km from border in Russia’s Komi Republic, military intelligence confirms. The attack marks Kyiv’s first confirmed drone strike in Russia’s northwestern Komi Republic. The strike hit the Lukoil-Ukhta refinery, which supplies the Russian army with fuel.
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Ukraine liberates village in Sumy Oblast, General Staff says. The General Staff’s statement comes as Russia continues to try advancing deeper into Sumy Oblast more than two months after opening a new front in the northeast.
Russian strikes on Azerbaijani energy sites in Ukraine may reportedly push Baku to arm Kyiv. Overnight on Aug. 8, Russian forces targeted a SOCAR oil depot in Odesa Oblast with five Shahed drones, igniting a fire and damaging a diesel pipeline. “These are deliberate attacks not only on these facilities, but also on our cooperation (with Azerbaijan),” Volodymyr Zelensky said.
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Ukraine war latest: Ukraine hits oil refinery 2,000 from border in Russia’s Komi Republic
A Ukrainian drone attack on Aug. 10 struck the Lukoil-Ukhta oil refinery in Russia’s Komi Republic, about 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) from the Ukrainian border, a source in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency told the Kyiv Independent.
Photo: STR / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Mobilization gridlock: How politics, policy, and public opinion are shaping Ukraine’s war effort
Ukraine is mobilizing around 30,000 people each month, a senior Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the country’s armed forces number roughly 1 million.
Photo: Presidential Office / Telegram
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Human cost of Russia’s war
‘This is terror’ — Russian bombs hit bus station, university in Zaporizhzhia, injuring at least 20. Emergency workers are still searching for more victims who may be buried under the rubble. “The Russians terrorize our people and all of Ukraine every day,” Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Ivan Fedorov said.
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,063,240 troops in Ukraine since Feb 24, 2022. The number includes 950 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
3 killed by sea mine explosions at beaches in Odesa Oblast. A man was killed at a beach about 60 kilometers south of the port city of Odesa, while another man and a woman were killed at a beach in Zatoka, further south, according to local authorities.
Trump, Putin to meet in Alaska, Kherson in crisis | Ukraine This Week
International response
White House not ruling out Zelensky’s participation in Alaska meetings, CNN says. One White House official told CNN that anything with Zelensky’s involvement would likely be scheduled after Trump’s meeting with Putin.
European leaders seek talks with Trump before Putin meeting, Bloomberg reports. As part of ongoing U.S.-Russia discussions, Putin told special envoy Steve Wikoff during an Aug. 6 meeting that Russia would agree to a full ceasefire if Kyiv withdrew its forces from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, granting Moscow full control of those partly occupied regions as well as Crimea.
‘It’s not gonna make anybody super happy‘ — JD Vance praises Trump as peacemaker while admitting Russia-Ukraine deal may fail. “Maybe this works out, maybe it doesn’t, but it’s worth the effort,” Vance said Trump told him ahead of the president’s Aug. 15 meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Slovakia’s Fico claims Ukraine will ‘have to pay dearly‘ ahead of Putin-Trump meeting. “No matter how the elephants’ negotiations on Aug. 15 turn out, the grass will suffer – in this case, Ukraine,” the Slovak Prime Minister said.
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