On Jul. 29, Russian missiles struck educational institutions in Zaporizhzhia and Sumy, causing deaths and significant damage to civilian infrastructure. Ukraine responded with a precision attack on the Chonhar bridge, a key route connecting Crimea with the occupied part of the Kherson region, using Storm Shadow missiles.

The media reported on Ukraine using North Korean Grad missiles (probably seized from the Russians). Volodymyr Zelensky visited special forces soldiers near Bakhmut, and in St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin made peace talks conditional on Ukraine stopping the offensive.

On Jul. 30, the war moved back into the heart of Russia. Ukrainian drones struck the Moscow business centre "Moscow-City," damaging skyscrapers housing offices of Russian ministries. President Zelensky commented that "the war is returning to its decision-making centres." On the southern front, General Tarnavskyi reported "significant progress" towards Melitopol. At the same time, the scale of forced mobilization in the occupied territories was revealed, which was said to have covered up to 60,000 men from the outset of the invasion. The information was floated for the first time about a planned peace summit in Saudi Arabia (Jeddah) without the participation of Russia.

The last day of July was marked by the tragedy in Kryvyi Rih, where Russian ballistic missiles destroyed a section of an apartment block, killing six people (including a 10-year-old child) and injuring 80.

The beginning of August 2023 brought an escalation of hostilities both on land and at sea, with Ukrainian forces continuing their offensive in the south and the Russians intensifying pressure on the Kupiansk and Lyman sectors. On the first day of the month, the Kherson City Clinical Hospital became the target of Russian shelling, as a result of which an otolaryngologist was killed and the surgical and specialist care wards were seriously damaged. At the same time, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malar reported persistent but unsuccessful attempts to stop Ukrainian advances towards Bakhmut, while the Pentagon estimated the involvement of Ukrainian forces in the counteroffensive at 150,000 soldiers. On the eastern front, there was a significant increase in the intensity of Russian shelling, which was aimed at distracting Ukrainian units from key attack directions.

The following days brought an increase in drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, including particularly severe attacks on the Danube river port of Izmail, where nearly 40,000 tons of grain destined for foreign markets were destroyed. In response to the Russian naval blockade, at least six civilian freighters ignored warnings and entered Ukrainian ports under monitoring by NATO aircraft. On the land front, the Ukrainians achieved local successes, driving the Russians out of positions near Andriivka on the outskirts of Bakhmut and continuing difficult fighting towards Melitopol and Berdyansk. At the same time, a symbolic process of removing the USSR emblem from the Motherland monument was underway in Kyiv, as part of a broader policy of decommunization and preparations for renaming the monument Mother Ukraine.

The turning point in early August came with Ukrainian operations using naval drones that struck Russian targets on the high seas and at naval bases. In parallel, on the international arena, a summit for a peaceful resolution of the conflict with the participation of 40 countries began in Jeddah, to which Russia was not invited, and President Zelensky announced the rapid commencement of pilot training on F-16 fighter jets.

The humanitarian situation remained tragic, as evidenced by further shelling of medical facilities and orthodox churches, including the historic St. Catherine's Cathedral in Kherson. Despite reports of slow progress measured in hundreds of meters, the Ukrainian command emphasized the systematic destruction of Russian artillery and logistics behind the front. Exhausting fighting also continued in the Staromaiorske and Robotyne areas, where dense minefields and concrete fortifications significantly slowed down troop movement. In the context of Western support, the media reported on delays in the delivery of promised German weapons, while Russia officially doubled its defence spending, allocating more than a third of the state budget to military purposes.

Illustrative photo/AI generated