Russia-Ukraine battle: Record of key occasions, day 1,268

Listed here are the important thing occasions on day 1,268 of Russia’s battle on Ukraine.

Right here is how issues stand on Friday, August 15:

Combating

• Ukrainian drones struck two Russian cities in assaults that injured at the very least 16 individuals, native authorities mentioned.
• 13 individuals have been wounded, two critically, when a drone struck an condominium constructing within the southern Russian metropolis of Rostov-on-Don, and three civilians have been wounded within the metropolis of Belgorod close to the border with Ukraine.
• The Ukrainian navy mentioned its drones hit a Russian refinery within the Volgograd area in a single day, inflicting enormous fires.
• Russia’s Defence Ministry mentioned Russian forces captured the settlements of Shcherbynivka and Andriivka-Klevtsove in Ukraine’s japanese Donetsk area.
• Ukrainian troops have stabilised an space of japanese Ukraine the place Russian forces had made a sudden push this week to pierce Ukrainian defences, the Donetsk area’s Governor Vadym Filashkin mentioned.
• Ukraine mentioned small teams of Russian infantry had thrust some 10 kilometres (six miles) in the direction of its fundamental line of defense close to the city of Dobropillia, elevating fears of a wider breakthrough on the entrance line that might additional threaten key Ukrainian cities.
• The Russian advance, coming as United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are because of meet in Alaska on Friday, seems geared toward pressuring Kyiv to surrender land in return for peace with Russia, observers mentioned.

Alaska summit

• Trump mentioned he believes Putin is able to finish his battle in Ukraine, talking on the eve of Friday’s summit between the 2 leaders within the metropolis of Anchorage, however a peace deal would seemingly require at the very least a second assembly involving Ukraine’s chief, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
• Trump and Putin will meet face-to-face on Friday earlier than holding a joint information convention, White Home spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt mentioned.

• Trump will go into talks with Putin hoping to realize a halt to the combating in Ukraine, however an answer to the battle will take longer, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned.

• Putin mentioned the US was making “honest efforts” to halt the battle in Ukraine and urged Moscow and Washington might agree on a nuclear arms deal as a part of a wider effort to strengthen peace.
• Putin mentioned “so as to create long-term circumstances for peace between our international locations, and in Europe, and on the planet as an entire”, there may very well be agreements reached “within the space of management over strategic offensive weapons”.
• The Kremlin warned it might be a giant mistake to foretell the result of the upcoming summit, the state-run Interfax information company reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned there have been no plans to signal any paperwork following the summit.
• The talks in Alaska between Trump and Putin current a viable likelihood to make progress on ending the battle in Ukraine, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s workplace mentioned in a press release.

Navy assist

• Zelenskyy mentioned he had an in depth dialogue on attainable safety ensures for Ukraine throughout a “productive assembly” with the UK’s Starmer.
• Zelenskyy mentioned Kyiv had to this point secured $1.5bn from its European allies to purchase US weapons as a part of a mechanism – the NATO Prioritised Ukraine Necessities Record initiative – that he mentioned “actually strengthens our defence”.
• French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned Trump expressed a willingness to European leaders on Wednesday that the US and different allies ought to be a part of giving Ukraine safety ensures to finish Russia’s battle in Ukraine.
• The US Company for Worldwide Improvement (USAID) didn’t monitor the makes use of of 5,175 Starlink terminals despatched to Ukraine, with almost half of the operational items ending up in areas totally or partly held by Moscow, in accordance with a report by the company’s inside watchdog.

Prisoners of battle

• The United Arab Emirates has efficiently mediated a brand new change of captives between Russia and Ukraine. Some 84 captives have been launched from either side, bringing the entire quantity exchanged by UAE mediation to 4,349.
• Ukraine introduced residence 84 prisoners of battle that included 51 civilians, Ukrainian officers mentioned, at the very least one among whom had been held for greater than a decade.

Regional developments

• Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin met with North Korean chief Kim Jong Un throughout an official go to to Pyongyang, the Russian parliament mentioned. Volodin, a detailed ally of Putin, conveyed greetings from the Russian chief and thanked Kim for North Korea’s help of Russia’s navy marketing campaign in Ukraine.

Financial system

• Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko ordered a assessment of all licences to mine strategic minerals within the nation, as a part of a broader effort to assist the war-ravaged economic system and safe new investments below a minerals cope with the US.