Russia-Ukraine war live: three injured from Russian shelling on city of Kherson | Ukraine

What is Ukraine’s goal and what does it consider victory? Mykhailo Podolyak. adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed these questions today:

“Ukraine’s strategic goal, in addition to the unconditional return of territories, is to create conditions that make it impossible for aggression to be repeated in the future,” he posted on Twitter.

“Conversely, any ‘war freezing scenario’ with Russia’s territorial annexations fixed, as some Western observers are considering, and without Ukraine’s NATO membership (because the war is not over) will only encourage Moscow to increase its appetite and return to war after a short break.”

“That is why there is no alternative to Ukraine’s Peace Formula: strengthening the army, accelerating the supply of weapons, de-occupation of the territory, regime change in Russia, compensation from the new government, and mandatory punishment of war criminals.”

Ukrainian troops destroyed two Russian ammunition storage points early this morning in occupied Olesky in the Kherson oblast, said Vladyslav Nazarov, spokesperson for southern command.

Three injured from Russian shelling of Kherson city

Here’s video of Ukrainian border guards placing a new sign on Snake Island.

“The next border sign will be installed in our Ukrainian Crimea after its liberation by the defence forces of Ukraine,” a uniformed man said, standing before a post painted blue and yellow like the country’s flag, in a video shared on Facebook by the head of the border service, Serhiy Deineko.

As Russian troops continue conducting airstrikes on the Kharkiv oblast, 111 people – including 36 children and four individuals with disabilities – were evacuated yesterday from the Kupyan district, said Oleg Sinegubov, the head of the Kharkiv regional state administration.

A total of 204 people have been evacuated since 9 August, including 71 children, Sinegubov said.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces is estimating that Russia lost 560 personnel yesterday – bringing the total of Russian personnel lost to 253,850 since the start of the invasion in February 2022.

Here’s more video of the aftermath of the Ukrainian attack on the Crimean bridge yesterday.

Ukrainian forces fired three missiles yesterday at the bridge, which connects occupied Crimea with Russia.

The bridge – built after Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 – had only fully reopened in May after explosions in October damaged both the road portion of it as well as the rail portion.

Though the missiles were seemingly shot down by Russian air defence, Russia’s foreign ministry condemned the incident as a terrorist attack and warned that it would not go unanswered.

The number of Russian desertions in Ukraine is increasing, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said.

Russian military patrols and military personnel have been going door-to-door searching for deserting servicemen in the Russian-occupied settlement of Hornostaivka in the Kherson oblast.

“The occupants are leaving their places of service and trying to hide in abandoned buildings,” the general staff said in its morning update.

Russian troops launched seven missiles, and conducted 47 airstrikes and 43 multiple-launch rocket system attacks yesterday across 120 settlements around the country, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said in its morning briefing.

There were 39 combat engagements, the general staff said.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force conducted 10 airstrikes yesterday on concentrations of Russian troops, weapons and military equipment. A Ukrainian missile and artillery troops hit one Russian anti-aircraft missile system, one ammunition depot, one electronic warfare station and three artillery systems.

Here are some of the latest images coming in from the agencies:

Britain’s defence ministry said on Sunday there was a realistic possibility that Russia no longer funds the activities of the mercenary Wagner group.

The defence ministry said in a daily bulletin the Russian state had acted against some other business interests of the Wagner owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, after he led a failed mutiny against the Russian army’s top brass in June.

“If the Russian state no longer pays Wagner, the second most plausible paymasters are the Belarusian authorities,” it said, adding that this would be a drain on Belarus’s resources.

The ministry said the Wagner Group was moving towards downsizing and reconfiguring to save on staff salary expenses at a time of financial pressure.

More on how Ukraine’s counteroffensive is faring.

Ukrainian forces reportedly made tactically significant advances while continuing operations on at least two sectors of the front on Saturday, along the administrative border between Zaporizhia and Donetsk oblasts, according to the US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War’s regular update.

Geolocated footage published on August 11 indicates that Ukrainian forces made marginal gains near Urozhaine (9km south of Velyka Novosilka) in the Zaporizhia-Donetsk Oblast border area … Russian milbloggers claimed late on August 12 that Russian forces abandoned their positions in Urozhaine after days of intense fighting, although ISW has not yet observed visual confirmation of these claims.

The thinktank also reported that a Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces were using electronic warfare systems to disrupt Russian communications in western Zaporizhia Oblast and retain large artillery and precision munitions stocks to support interdiction efforts against Russian forces there.

Opening summary