Here are the key events on day 1,276 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Here is how things stand on Saturday, August 23:
Fighting
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Russian troops have taken control of the settlements of Rusyn Yar, Volodymyrivka and Katerynivka in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defence said.
- Russian oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia could be suspended for at least five days after a Ukrainian drone strike on a facility in Russia, Hungarian and Slovak officials said. The attack by Ukraine marked the second time this week that Russian oil supplies have been cut to both countries.
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An energy facility at Unecha in Russia’s Bryansk region, through which the Europe-bound Druzhba oil pipeline runs, caught fire as a result of Ukrainian missile and drone attacks, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said, adding that the fire had been extinguished.
Residents of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk wait in line to collect water delivered by a tank truck [Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters]
Peace talks
- United States President Donald Trump renewed a threat on Friday to impose sanctions on Russia if there is no progress towards a peaceful settlement in Ukraine in two weeks, showing frustration at Moscow a week after his warm meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there is no agenda for a potential summit between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom he accused of saying “no to everything”.
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Lavrov said a meeting with Zelenskyy and a deal were possible, provided there was a proper agenda for such a session.
- Zelenskyy has accused Russia of doing everything it can to make sure that a meeting between him and Putin does not take place, and called on Ukraine’s allies to apply renewed sanctions on Moscow if it continues to show no desire to end its invasion of his country.
Politics and diplomacy
- Putin has said there was “light at the end of the tunnel” in Russia-US relations, and that the two countries were discussing joint projects in the Arctic and Alaska, signalling Russia’s optimism that it can mend relations with Washington and strike business deals with Trump, despite a lack of progress towards ending its war on Ukraine.
Regional security
- Russian forces have conducted an exercise in the Baltic Sea, including drills to repel an underwater attack, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said. It was the second time this month that Russia held naval exercises with an antisubmarine component, after President Trump ordered two US nuclear submarines to reposition closer to Russia.
- Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned neighbouring Belarus against staging “reckless provocations” during joint military drills with Russian forces in September.
- Kyiv called on its European partners to remain vigilant during the joint Belarus-Russia “Zapad” military exercises, and urged Belarusian authorities “to remain prudent, not to approach the borders and not to provoke” Ukraine’s armed forces.
- Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko dismissed as “complete nonsense” the idea that Minsk would utilise the mobilisation of military forces during the exercises to attack Ukraine.
Nord Stream
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An Italian appeals court has confirmed the arrest of a Ukrainian man suspected by Germany of coordinating attacks on three Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in 2022. The suspect faces charges of collusion to cause an explosion, anticonstitutional sabotage and destruction of important structures.
- The AFP news agency reports that the suspect in the attack on the Nord Stream underwater gas pipelines has refused to be extradited to Germany from Italy, where he was arrested.