European and Ukrainian officials said they worry Russia is using the cease-fire offer as a ploy to avoid new U.S. sanctions and tariffs while continuing the war in Ukraine. Photo: Gavriil Grigorov/Zuma Press; Francesco Fotia/Zuma Press

Russian forces made a sudden thrust in eastern Ukraine in recent days, as Russian leader Vladimir Putin seeks a battlefield advantage ahead of talks with President Trump on Friday.

The infantry penetration, which analysts and soldiers said stretched several miles deep near the Ukrainian city of Dobropillya, is a rare move in a war where defenses have gained the upper hand and Russia has struggled to add to the around 20% of Ukraine that it has occupied for much of its 3½-year invasion.

Key developments on Aug. 9-10:

Ukrainian drones hit oil refinery 2,000 km from border in Russia’s Komi Republic

Ukraine liberates village in Sumy Oblast, General Staff says

Drones strike Saratov oil refinery in Russia

Ukraine, Europe reject Putin’s ceasefire proposal, present counterproposal to US ahead of Trump-Putin meeting, WSJ reports

Ukraine hits storage site for Shahed-type drones, imported parts in Russia’s Tatarstan 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 (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent.

HUR’s comments confirm earlier reports from Russian media outlets and local officials that a refinery in Ukhta was struck by drones.

The attack marks Kyiv’s first confirmed drone strike in Russia’s northwestern Komi Republic.

Ukrainian drones hit the Lukoil-Ukhta refinery, which supplies Russian forces with fuel and lubricants, according to HUR. The refinery was targeted as part of a special operation by Ukraine’s military intelligence.

The drones struck a petroleum tank, causing it to spill, HUR said. The attack also damaged a gas and gas condensate processing plant that produces propane-butane and gasoline.

Local residents also report power outages and mobile internet outages in Ukhta.

Earlier in the evening, local Telegram channels reported a drone attack in Ukhta targeting the Lukoil refinery, which authorities evacuated. The independent Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta also said that flights at the airport were temporarily suspended.

Rostislav Goldshteyn, the acting head of the Komi Republic, said on social media that workers at enterprises in the drones’ flight path were evacuated and that there were no casualties. He did not provide details on which enterprises were evacuated and did not mention an oil refinery in his post.

In June 2024, a large-scale fire was reported at the Lukoil refinery in Ukhta, though Russian officials said it was caused by “non-compliance with safety regulations” and not by a Ukrainian drone attack.

The Lukoil plant specializes in processing blended crudes from oilfields in the Komi Republic, shipped to the facility via the Usa-Ukhta pipeline.

The alleged strike on the Ukhta refinery comes shortly after reports that Ukrainian drones hit an oil refinery in Russia’s Saratov Oblast on Aug. 10, causing explosions and a large fire.

Ukraine has deployed homemade long-range drones to hit oil depots, military sites, and airfields deep inside Russia, in an attempt to slowly grind down Russia’s war machine.

Ukraine liberates village in Sumy Oblast, General Staff says

Ukrainian forces liberated the village of Bezsalivka on the state border with Russia in Sumy Oblast, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Aug. 10.

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.

The General Staff said that it “eliminated” 18 Russian soldiers in the operation. The Kyiv Independent was unable to independently confirm the claim.

Bezsalivka is located adjacent about 30 kilometers west of the heavy fighting elsewhere in Sumy Oblast, where Russian troops have advanced to within 30 kilometers of the regional capital of Sumy.

The 33rd Assault Regiment and 24th Assault Battalion took part in the operation to liberate the village, according to the General Staff.

A map of Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast (Nizar al-Rifal/The Kyiv Independent)

After Ukrainian forces’ withdrawal from territory held in Russia’s neighboring Kursk Oblast — taken during Kyiv’s surprise cross-border incursion in summer 2024 — the border areas have seen an uptick in fighting.

Over May and June, Russian forces made signficant gains on Ukraine’s side of Sumy Oblast shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the military to begin creating a “security buffer zone” along the border with Ukraine.

Ukraine’s defense of the area stabilized over June, and in the end of July, pushed Russian forces out of several small villages.

Drones strike Saratov oil refinery in Russia

Drones attacked an oil refinery in Saratov on Aug. 10, sparking a large fire and explosions, according to local reports.

Footage posted on Russian social media showed what appeared to be drones overhead and the activation of air defense systems. Residents reported hearing a loud explosion before flames engulfed the facility.

Saratov Governor Roman Busargin confirmed damage at one of the region’s industrial sites. One person was reported killed in the attack, and others were reported injured.

Reports also indicated air defense activity and explosions in the cities of Lipetsk and Voronezh.

The information came from local Telegram channels and could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials have not commented on the incident.

Earlier, dozens of flights were delayed at Russia’s Sochi airport following reported drone attacks. Ukrainian drones also targeted a storage facility in Russia’s Tatarstan Republic which housed Shahed-type drones.

Ukraine, Europe reject Putin’s ceasefire proposal, present counterproposal to US ahead of Trump-Putin meeting, WSJ reports

Ukrainian and European officials rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal for a ceasefire in exchange for Kyiv to cede its eastern territories to Russia, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Aug. 9.

The EU and Ukrainian officials instead offered a counterproposal to U.S. officials ahead of a planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin on Aug. 15 in Alaska.

Putin told U.S. envoy Wikoff during a meeting on Aug. 6 that Russia would agree to a full ceasefire if Kyiv withdrew its forces from Donetsk Oblast, giving Moscow full control of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as well as Crimea.

President Volodymyr Zelensky firmly rejected on Aug. 9 the idea of ceding any Ukrainian territory to end Russia’s war, with talks on the proposal beginning in the U.K. with U.S., Ukrainian, and EU officials on Aug. 9.

Two European officials familiar with the talks told the WSJ that Europe aims to draw a unified red line with Ukraine, insisting that EU officials should be involved in any potential peace negotiation with Russia and reiterating that Ukraine’s future cannot be discussed without Kyiv’s participation. The development comes as Trump has suggested he will include Ukraine in future negotiations only after an initial meeting with Putin.

A map showing Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine as of 2025. (The Kyiv Independent)

The counterproposal presented to Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg and Witkoff, also demands that a ceasefire be enacted before further steps are taken, adding that territory can only be exchanged in a reciprocal manner, the news agency reported.

“You can’t start a process by ceding territory in the middle of fighting,” one European negotiator told the WSJ, amid Trump’s comments on Aug. 8 that Moscow and Kyiv would likely include “some swapping of territories.”

“Well you’re looking at territory that’s been fought over for three-and-a-half years… So we’re looking at that, but we’re actually looking to get some back,” Trump said during a press conference alongside the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. “Some swapping, it’s complicated.”

“We’re going to get some back. We’re going to get some switched. There will be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both,” Trump added.

Expressing concern with the Washington’s openness to begin negotiations surrounding the framework of Putin’s proposal as well as skepticism toward Putin adhering to the ceasefire, a European official told the WSJ that “the proposal is much worse than Trump said on the call,” with another adding that it gives “Putin everything he wants in exchange for nothing.”

A senior European official said that any agreement reached in Alaska between the U.S. and Russia would not hold much weight without the participation of European leaders.

Amid Europe’s disapproval of the initial proposal, Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, said on Telegram earlier in the day that unspecified European countries will make “titanic efforts to disrupt the planned meeting between President Putin and President Trump,” adding that such efforts amount to “provocations and disinformation.”

Ukraine hits storage site for Shahed-type drones, imported parts in Russia’s Tatarstan Republic

Drones operated by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) struck on Aug. 9 a storage facility in Russia’s Tatarstan Republic housing Shahed-type drones and foreign components used in their assembly, the agency reported.

This is not Ukraine’s first strike on Tatarstan since the beginning of the full-scale war in 2022, as the region’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone is home to a facility that manufactures Shahed-type long-range attack drones and other reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Ukrainian drones from the Security Service’s Special Operations Center “A” flew roughly 1,300 kilometers (about 800 miles) to strike a logistics hub in the village of Kizil-Yul, igniting a fire at the site, the SBU’s statement read.

“The Security Service (of Ukraine) continues its systematic efforts to demilitarize Russian military facilities deep inside enemy territory. Storage sites for Shahed drones, which the enemy uses to terrorize Ukraine every night, are among our legitimate military targets,” SBU said.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claims.

Russia has not officially commented on the reported strikes.

Note from the author:

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What could happen at Trump-Putin meeting? Submit your question for live Q&A

Michael Clarke, our military analyst, is back tomorrow to answer your Ukraine war questions.

It could be a hugely significant week for the future of the conflict and peace in Europe, with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meeting in Alaska on Friday.

With Volodymyr Zelenskyy sidelined from the talks, can we expect a peace deal?

Use the form at the top of this page to get in touch with your question for Clarke before what could be a pivotal meeting. He’ll answer them live tomorrow at 2pm.

Russian troops make sudden gains in ‘gift to Putin’ before Trump summit

Russia has seized 10km of land in a shock eastern offensive, according to open source data.

A sudden thrust near the mining town of Dobropillia, near Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, has taken Ukraine by surprise, Ukraine’s DeepState war map shows.

It could become a serious problem for Kyiv if left unchecked, according to both Ukrainian and Russian military bloggers.

“This breakthrough is like a gift to Putin and Trump during the negotiations,” said Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser.

Ukrainian military spokesperson Viktor Trehubov said only small groups were penetrating defensive lines and this did not amount to a breakthrough.

Control of Donetsk will play a key part in talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

Putin has reportedly told Trump he wants Ukraine to hand over the remaining 25% of Donetsk that Kyiv controls in any peace settlement.

Experts at the Institute for the Study of War say it would take Russia years of bloody fighting to capture the rest of the region.

Analysis: ‘Russians pushing very hard’

Russia is attacking strong Ukrainian defences built up in the Donbas since 2014, defence and security analyst Michael Clarke.

“The Russians are obviously conducting an offensive to try and break through it in a fairly determined way,” he says.

“What they’re trying to do is to cut all of the ties between the south and Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

“The Russians are pushing very hard to get around to the north of Pokrovsk and now to move north of Dobropillya.”

Taking place so close to the Trump-Putin summit, the timing of the attack was pointed, Clarke says.

He says it is “to indicate to the Ukrainians that [Russia] can take the Donbas, whether the Ukrainians give it up voluntarily or not.”

Watch Clarke’s full analysis below…

US President Donald Trump’s decision to launch strikes on Iran presents Russian President Vladimir Putin with peril and opportunity: the attacks hit a strategic partner of Moscow, but they may open a potential window for Russia’s diplomatic relevance.

Following the US strikes on key nodes of Iran’s nuclear complex, Tehran is looking to Moscow. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Sunday he would be heading to Russia for consultations with Putin Monday.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of a meeting in Istanbul of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Araqchi said he would hold “serious consultations with the Russian president” on the escalation of a conflict that has now drawn the United States in directly.

That’s little surprise. Iran and Russia have deepened ties in recent months, with the two countries concluding a strategic partnership deal during a visit by Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian to the Kremlin in January. And Araqchi’s visit seems to have already been in the works: Andrea Mitchell of NBC News said Friday the Iranian foreign minister told her he would be heading to Moscow.

The official reaction of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the US strikes on Iran has been one of unequivocal condemnation. In a statement published Sunday, the Russian MFA said Moscow “decisively condemns” US strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, saying the “irresponsible decision to subject the territory of a sovereign state to missile and bomb attacks, regardless of the arguments surrounding it, grossly violates international law, the UN Charter, and UN Security Council resolutions, which previously unequivocally classified such actions as unacceptable.”

Strong words, despite the clear irony: One aspect of Moscow’s partnership with Tehran has been the transfer of drone technology that has allowed the Russian military to continue its bombardment of Ukrainian cities.

But Iran-Russia strategic partnership is not a mutual defense pact. The Russian government has also made clear in recent weeks that the partnership deal does not oblige it to come to Iran’s defense if it is attacked. And in his most recent public comments on the Israel-Iran conflict, Putin has taken a somewhat measured tone.

In remarks at the plenary session of the 28th St Petersburg International Economic Forum Friday, Putin referred to Tehran’s “legitimate right” to carry out uranium enrichment for civilian nuclear energy development but nodded to what he called “Israel’s security concerns” over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. And the Russian president suggested – in somewhat roundabout fashion – that Russia could play an intermediary role in ending the conflict.

“We have set forth our position to both parties,” he said. “As you know, we maintain contact with Israel as well as with our friends in Iran. We do have certain proposals involving Russia.”

“I must emphasize that we are by no means positioning ourselves as intermediaries,” Putin added. “We are merely putting forward ideas.”

Ahead of Israel’s launch of a surprise aerial campaign against Iran on June 13, Russian diplomats had already put forward one concrete proposal: That Russia could take custody of Iran’s nuclear material for conversion into reactor fuel.

Russia’s diplomatic leverage over Iran has been an important card in Putin’s hand. Russia was one of the signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 deal to curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Even though Russia has been increasingly isolated from the West since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow’s influence over Tehran has been often viewed as a key to any negotiated agreement with Iran.

In a commentary published before the US strikes on Iran, Andrey Kortunov of the government-linked Russian International Affairs Council said Russia’s strategic partnership with Iran could potentially give Russia the ability to play the role of “impartial mediator” for resolving or ratcheting down the conflict.

“In this way, Moscow would strengthen its influence in the region following the fall of Bashar Assad’s Syrian regime” last year, Kortunov wrote. “However, the ongoing escalation is accompanied by serious risks and potential costs for Moscow. The fact remains: Russia failed to prevent Israel’s massive strike against a state with which it signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement just five months ago. Moscow is clearly not ready, beyond political statements condemning Israel’s actions, to provide Iran with military assistance as well.”

Much has changed since the JCPOA was signed: Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018; Iran responded by expanding its program of enriching uranium; and the collapse of the regime of Assad, a client of both Russia and Iran, and Israel’s decapitation of Hezbollah dealt a debilitating setback to Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance.”

The conflict in the Middle East is now evolving even more rapidly following direct US military intervention. Russia is now on a less sure footing economically – Russian Minister of Economic Development Maksim Reshetnikov said last week the Russian economy was on the brink of recession – although a spiraling crisis in the Middle East could spike oil prices, a cornerstone of Russian economic power.

Speaking last week in St. Petersburg, Putin quoted Mark Twain when asked about the impact of the war on Ukraine on Russia’s economy, saying “As a well-known writer once said: ‘The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.’”

But that war continues unabated, at a high human and economic cost to Russia. With the US entering into a direct military involvement in Iran, it is unclear if Putin will continue to enjoy the same geopolitical leverage he had in the past.