On 5 August, fighting continued near Bakhmut. The Institute for the Study of War reported that Russian forces had started using Iranian drones in Ukraine, including the Shahed 129 model.

In the following days, the Russians attempted to seize Bakhmut using tanks and artillery. They also intensified their attacks towards the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. 

On 8 August, the U.S. Department of Defence announced the 18th military aid package of $1 billion for Ukraine. 

Incidents around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant were becoming increasingly frequent. On 11 August, the U.S. State Department called on Russian forces to cease all military activities near the plant and to support the establishment of a demilitarized zone in the area. This appeal came in response to the shelling of the nuclear plant with at least ten missiles, which had damaged a fire station and an administrative building on the site. Neither side claimed responsibility for the attack. A few days later, António Guterres, the UN Secretary General, echoed the US call. He appealed for the creation of a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, after a storage facility for radioactive materials had been hit in the recent shelling. Russia refused to comply, claiming that it was protecting the plant from “terrorist attacks.”

Pro-Russian authorities of Zaporizhzhia submitted a motion to organise a referendum on joining Russia. The referendum was to be held on 11 September 2022. 

Mark Krutow, a journalist from Radio Svoboda, revealed that the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, responsible for the massacre of civilians in Bucha, was redeployed to Donbas and then decimated in the battles of Izium and Sloviansk. By eliminating both the perpetrators and witnesses of the Bucha massacre, the Kremlin authorities attempted to cover up war crimes committed in the Kyiv region. 

Photo Antonio Guterres. By Chuck Kennedy. US Department of State. CC BY-SA 3.0