Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin could attack Nato within weeks, US intelligence warns

The reluctance of allies to provide the weapons needed to take the fight to Moscow has seen the Ukrainians carry out their own campaign against their enemies’ infrastructure – but, Keir Giles writes, we know by now that Russia’s leader is happy to let his country burn:

Russia’s war on Ukraine has entered its latest phase, with each side making use of increasing numbers of long-range munitions to strike deep into the other’s territory.

In the early summer of this year, there was a surge of optimism across the media when it became clear that Ukraine was stepping up its strikes at enormous ranges into Russia, and there was little that Moscow could do about it.

But that optimism needs to be balanced against the new reality that with anti-missile interceptor systems exhausted, there is not much Ukraine itself can do to blunt Russian missile attacks.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy was officially welcomed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on Saturday during his official visit to the Serbian capital.

Zelensky arrived in Serbia on Friday, marking his first visit to the Balkan nation since taking office.

The same day, the Serbian president told journalists that the meeting would touch on their countries’ paths to EU accession, as well as economic and energy cooperation, according to Serbian broadcaster RTS.

Last month, Vucic traveled to Kyiv for the 5th Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit, but did not sign a post-summit declaration that condemned Russia amid the ongoing Ukraine war.

Serbia has been an official candidate for EU membership since 2012 and formally opened accession negotiations in 2014.

While progress has been made on several chapters, talks have slowed in recent years due to concerns over Belgrade’s alignment with EU foreign policy, particularly regarding sanctions on Russia, with which Serbia maintains close relations.

A funeral was held Saturday, Aug. 8, for Ukrainian soldier Oleksii Yukov, the leader of a search team recovering the remains of fallen soldiers from frontline areas.

After 27 years of recovering the remains of soldiers killed in World War II and, since 2014, those killed in the war with Russia, Yukov was killed several days ago while returning from another search mission.

Founded by Yukov in February 2022, the independent Platsdarm organisation consists of 10 volunteers specialising in search and recovery operations.

The team often works in highly dangerous conditions, entering so-called “gray zones” near active fighting to recover the remains of fallen soldiers and return them to their families.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Thursday that Kyiv had struck further oil facilities deep inside Russia during nighttime attacks, intensifying its strategy to cripple Moscow‘s wartime economy and embarrass the Kremlin.

These persistent strikes have caused fuel shortages and rattled Russians, while heartening Ukrainians who face regular Russian barrages that Kyiv’s weakened air defences struggle to counter.

Zelenskyy, speaking on social media, specified two targets: a refinery in Bashkortostan, over 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) behind the eastern front line, and another in the Yaroslavl region, nearly 700 kilometres (400 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Ukraine has hit a major logistics hub of Russian online retailer Wildberries in Yekaterinburg, east of Moscow, continuing its three-week campaign of near-nightly strikes.

At least 20 Wildberries warehouses have been attacked since July 18, sparking major fires, destroying entire warehouses of stock, and disrupting its vast logistics network across the world’s largest country. A Reuters review of satellite imagery shows at least 1.18 million square metres of storage space – more than a fifth of the company’s capacity – has been damaged or destroyed.

The strikes are part of a campaign by Ukraine to “bring the war home” to ordinary Russians and raise the cost to Russia of continuing the conflict that Moscow launched in February 2022.

President Volodymyr Zelensky had his first official visit to Serbia on Friday, one of the few European countries that have maintained friendly relations with Russia.

“Important talks are scheduled for today and tomorrow,” the Ukrainian president said.

“We will discuss expanding economic ties between our countries, relations with the European Union, and other areas where we can find practical opportunities that benefit our peoples, as well as security issues,” Zelensky added.

A drone entered Bulgarian airspace on Saturday and exploded close to an international gas pipeline shortly after crossing the border from Romania.

Bulgaria’s prime minister Rumen Radev said the drone exploded just after 5 a.m. about 100 meters (330 feet) inside Bulgarian territory.

It was not detected or identified while flying through either Romanian or Bulgarian airspace.

“There are no casualties or damage to buildings. The area has been cordoned off. We continue to monitor the situation,” Radev said following a government emergency meeting.

Radev said the unmanned aerial vehicle exploded around 200 meters from a Romanian compressor station, and about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from Bulgaria’s compressor station on the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and strengthen surveillance. Following this incident, we will also redeploy border police anti-drone detection and countermeasure capabilities from the border with Turkey to the border with Romania,” Radev said.

It was unclear where the drone had originated or whether it was linked to Russia or Ukraine.

In Russia, six people were wounded when a fire broke out at the Ilsky Oil Refinery in the southern Krasnodar region due to debris from a falling drone, local officials said.

Ukraine’s almost daily long-range drone and missile strikes using domestically developed weapons have battered Russian oil facilities for months. The operation has brought a fuel crisis that is embarrassing the Kremlin.

Two grandparents and their 3-year-old grandson were killed after multiple Russian drones destroyed their home in the Brovary district of Kyiv region, northeast of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, early Saturday.

Three other members of the same family and a neighbor who came to their aid were hospitalised, local authorities said.

The attack reduced the house to rubble and wrecked outbuildings and cars.In the city of Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least one other person died in a “strike involving six ballistic missiles against civilian infrastructure.”