Ukraine War News Today - Top Stories and Breaking Updates from Kyiv Post

Sources told Bloomberg that US-Russia talks could see Ukraine pushed to cede the entire Donbas and Crimea regions, as summit drama and new polls show shifting public opinion on ending the war.

American and Russian officials are working towards a potential deal to end the war in Ukraine that would formalize Russia’s control over territory seized during its military invasion, according to people close to the talks.

The plan under discussion would be linked to a possible summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin planned for as early as next week, the sources said. 

Viktoria Roshchyna, who worked freelance for several Ukrainian news outlets, disappeared in August 2023 on a reporting trip to the Moscow-held part of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region.

Dozens of mourners packed into a cathedral in central Kyiv on Friday to pay their respects to independent journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity last year aged 27.

Her body, which Russia returned in February, remained in a closed coffin throughout the service.

Oschadbank guarantees €837M in Dutch drone contracts, creating a secure payment system to fast-track defense production and reduce corruption risks. Kyiv eyes the model for future defense financing.

Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank has guaranteed €837 million ($967 million) in Dutch-funded drone contracts, creating a protected payment channel that speeds cash to Ukrainian manufacturers and reduces corruption risks – a model Kyiv hopes will guide future defense financing deals.

The Netherlands will purchase drones directly from Ukrainian private producers under the arrangement – similar to Denmark’s weapons procurement model – but with a key difference. Dutch payments will be deposited into an escrow account at Oschadbank, which then issues a first-tier guarantee to The Hague that the funds will be used strictly for the contracted drones or returned if obligations aren’t met.

The SBU said it had provided the NABU chief with evidence in the treason case against two employees and denied allegations of pressure made earlier by NABU and SAPO on Friday.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) denied accusations by the heads of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) that it was withholding evidence in the treason case against two NABU employees.

The statement came after a Friday press briefing by NABU and SAPO chiefs, in which the two said the SBU has yet to disclose case files on the NABU staff accused of treason, adding that pressure is being exerted on the agencies. 

Zelensky urges the IMF to create a new aid program as Ukraine faces a multibillion-dollar gap in 2026, with current funding set to expire and Russia’s war dragging on beyond forecasts.

Facing a multibillion-dollar funding shortfall as Russia’s war drags on beyond forecasts, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday he spoke with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva about a new financial assistance program to cover Ukraine’s soaring defense and social costs.

In 2026 alone, Ukraine’s financial gap for social expenditures linked to increased defense needs is estimated at $10-19 billion. Economists from the EU and IMF warn that Russia’s continued strikes on civilians suggest the war will extend well beyond the 2025 end date assumed in current financial planning, leaving Kyiv without enough funding to cover essential costs.

The Indian prime minister’s Friday phone call followed an earlier in-person meeting between his national security advisor and Putin in Moscow this week.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signaled positive progress with Russia following a Friday phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, even as Washington’s threat of 50% tariffs on Indian imports looms.

Modi, addressing Putin as “my friend,” said the two held a “very good and detailed conversation” in an announcement on Friday, Aug. 8, following their call, during which the war in Ukraine was discussed.

Host Ambassador Natalka Cmoc talks with Ukraine’s Business Ombudsman Roman Waschuk about reform, entrepreneurship, and Ukraine’s fight to rebuild amid war and challenges.

HUR struck Russia’s 90th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade in the Krasnodar region, killing at least 12 troops, wounding dozens, and destroying military equipment.

On the morning of Friday, Aug. 8, two powerful explosions rocked the settlement of Afipsky in Russia’s Krasnodar region, hitting a military base of the Russian Air Defense Forces’ 90th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade. The operation was carried out by Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (HUR), a source in HUR told Kyiv Post.

As a result of the blasts, at least 12 Russian servicemen were killed and dozens wounded. Military equipment located on the base was also destroyed, the HUR source said.

Ukrainian partisans say they scouted a key Moscow plant making air defense systems for the invasion of Ukraine, passing intel to Kyiv for possible action.

Agents of the Ukrainian partisan movement “ATESH” said they’ve conducted reconnaissance of one of the key enterprises of Russia’s military-industrial complex — the Moscow Radio Engineering Plant, which is under the control of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

ATESH is a Ukrainian partisan movement operating in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories and in Russia, gathering intelligence and sabotaging military targets to weaken the Kremlin’s war effort.

Airspace was closed near Novaya Zemlya as Russia readies a possible Burevestnik missile test, sparking fears of radioactive emissions in the Arctic.

The Russian state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, appears poised to test its controversial nuclear-powered Burevestnik missile in the coming days, as military officials seal off airspace and vessels take observation positions in the Barents Sea.

As per the Barents observer media outlet, from Aug. 7 to 12, Russia has closed a 500-kilometer (311-mile) stretch of airspace along the western coast of Novaya Zemlya, according to a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) issued by aviation authorities.

India has reportedly paused plans to buy US weapons following Washington’s decision to slap a 50% tariff on all Indian imports due to New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil and weapons.

India has reportedly paused its plans to buy US weapons as ties between Washington and New Delhi reached a new low.

US President Donald Trump had previously slammed India’s purchase of Russian weapons and oil before blindsiding India with an additional 25% duty on all imports on Tuesday, bringing the total to 50% – one of the highest of all nations.

The head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office claims Moscow’s budget deficit ballooned by $13 billion in July alone – official Moscow figures point to an even higher figure.

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, said on Friday that Russia’s budget deficit rose by $13 billion in July, bringing the total deficit this year to $54 billion.

Yermak also said Moscow’s expenditure rose by “20.8% year-on-year, while revenues increased by only 2.8%.”

After the US Patriot manufacturer said one radar system was beyond repair, a German team worked sixteen hours a day six days a week to get the job done.

A Patriot air defense system critically needed to protect Ukrainian cities from Russian ballistic missile strikes is back in action thanks to an elite team of German technicians fixing war damage the American manufacturer said was impossible to repair, the major German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported on Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Maik Keller, Deputy Commander of the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, said in an FAZ interview that German civilian and Luftwaffe (German Air Force) engineers successfully overhauled a radar unit for an MIM-104 Patriot air defense system that had been technically destroyed in a Russian attack.

Trump and Putin may meet next week for talks on ending the war in Ukraine, but Putin has ruled out Zelensky’s attendance, fueling debate over the chances of real progress.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are apparently close to engaging in direct negotiations aimed at ending Russia’s war against Ukraine. The meeting is expected to take place next week, although Putin has rejected the idea of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also attending. Commentators see things moving forward despite the many obstacles.

Fuses could blow

After a short-lived law curbing NABU and SAPO’s independence, anti-corruption chiefs now warn the next move could be to replace them, urging the SBU to reveal treason case evidence against its staff.

Heads of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies do not rule out that, following the current accusations, pressure on them could escalate, with the next step being an attempt to remove the heads of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

“Pressure has never stopped – it takes different forms, both veiled and direct. Legislative changes are a form of pressure. Any hints, whether direct or indirect threats, are pressure. Over these last few days, we have gone through a serious test,” said SAPO Head Oleksandr Klymenko.

Both sides have confirmed preparations for a summit are underway and that a meeting could take place next week -- though no firm date has been set.

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are set to hold talks in a bid to end the war in Ukraine, triggered by Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

Trump has spent his first months in office trying to broker peace -- after boasting he could end the war in 24 hours -- though multiple rounds of peace talks, phone calls and diplomatic visits have failed to yield a breakthrough.

Privates Shagaa Saktaagai and Dmitriy Ivanov returned home after months of detention in Ukraine, and the Russian army sent them right back into combat.

Two Russian soldiers volunteering to fight in Ukraine were taken prisoner for a second time, on the battlefield they had given themselves up to Ukrainian troops once before, a Ukrainian NGO reported on Aug. 4.

Private Shagaa Mikhailovich Saktaagai, a resident of the remote central Siberian region of Tuva, had returned to Russia in a June prisoner exchange, and was sent back to combat and taken prisoner again by Ukrainian troops in July, a report by the Russian soldier advocacy group Khochu Zhit (I want to live) said.

Russian media filled the gap caused by the news blackout following Wednesday’s meeting with details of what Steve Witkoff had for breakfast: “La Grande Cheburek” – a Crimean specialty.

As Russian and international media hunted for scraps of information relating to Wednesday’s meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, the pro-Kremlin media filled the void with details of the American’s breakfast.

According to the independent Meduza news site, almost a dozen Russian news outlets including RIA Novosti, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Vechernyaya Moskva, Lenta.ru, and the Russian Senate’s in-house newspaper all led with detailed accounts of Witkoff’s breakfast dish, which he ate ahead of the meeting.

Defense tech firm Baykar’s latest video showcases its Ukrainian-engined Akıncı twin turboprop-powered strike drone testing next-gen Alpagut and Eren loitering smart weapons with pinpoint precision.

Turkish defense giant Baykar has released footage of its Bayraktar Akıncı strike drone undergoing tests with two Ukrainian-made turboprop engines and the latest generation of loitering smart weapons.

The video, shared on X by Baykar’s technical director and co-owner Selçuk Bayraktar, shows the Akıncı taxiing down the runway, taking off, and executing precision strikes under remote control from a ground station.

Senior Kyiv Post correspondent Stefan Korshak joins World Talks to discuss rumors of a Trump-Zelensky-Putin summit, fallout from the Witkoff-Putin meeting, and skepticism in Ukraine over US-led talks.

A Finnish analyst presents his assessemnt of the current situation in the Russo-Ukraine war.

1.   Russia cannot afford a just peace. It is far from achieving its strategic objectives and has made this war existential—for Ukraine, and for Putin’s regime.

2.    Putin launched this war not just to seize land, but to erase Ukraine’s sovereignty, culture, and history. He’s said it openly. This is a genocidal war. Russia has committed war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and mass child abductions. Putin is wanted by the ICC. That’s not opinion—it’s fact.

The latest US diplomatic push comes a day after Cambodia’s prime minister announced he had nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize.

US President Donald Trump will host the leaders of sworn enemies Armenia and Azerbaijan on Friday, touting the prospect of sealing a long-sought peace deal between the two regional rivals after decades of conflict.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev will attend a “Peace Signing Ceremony” at the White House, Trump posted Thursday on his Truth Social platform.

What Putin and Trump may agree over the heads of Ukraine and others is not what Ukraine or Europe need.

Putin played hard to get, and in the end may get exactly what he wanted, which was a bilateral “Great Power” summit with Trump.

Putin will surely hope that at that summit the two leaders can divide the world - Ukraine for Putin, Greenland, et al for Trump.

At least 207 people who attended anti-government protests in countries like Poland, Lithuania, the UK, Canada and the US were identified by Belarusian authorities.

Belarusian authorities carried out sweeping raids to arrest people accused of taking part in anti-government rallies abroad earlier this year, the AP news agency has reported.

At least 207 people who attended anti-government protests in countries like Poland, Lithuania, the U.K., Canada and the U.S. were identified by Belarusian authorities, the AP reported, citing Belarus’s Investigative Committee.

Russia unleashed 104 drones overnight, striking Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Sumy regions. There were injured, homes destroyed, and fires broke out despite most drones being shot down.

On Thursday evening, Russian forces launched a massive drone assault on Ukraine that continued overnight into the morning after sunrise, Friday Aug. 8, targeting multiple regions and leaving several civilians injured, according to Ukrainian officials.

In the Buchansky district of the Kyiv region, three women aged 16, 56, and 80 were injured in an early-morning strike, regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said on Telegram.

A former US Ambassador to Ukraine tells the Kyiv Post that Trump should avoid meeting Putin without Ukraine’s presence, while the State Department claims it’s focused on “actions over trust.”

WASHINGTON DC – Former US Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor has a stark message for President Donald Trump ahead of his potential summit with Vladimir Putin: impose the promised sanctions on Russia and China immediately and insist on a trilateral meeting that includes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In an interview with the Kyiv Post in Washington, Taylor stressed that a ceasefire requires the agreement of both Russia and Ukraine, making a meeting without Kyiv’s presence unproductive.

Trump State Department pushes for direct dialogue after Witkoff met Putin in Moscow. A prominent Democratic senator argues that sanctions are the key to leverage and pressure on the Kremlin.

WASHINGTON DC - The United States has for the first time gained a clear diplomatic roadmap for what Russia would need to end the war in Ukraine, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The announcement comes as the administration explores a potential meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, an idea that critics condemn as a sign of weakness without securing Ukraine’s participation in the room.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• US and Russian officials continue to provide updates about a possible meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future, but exact details remain uncertain.
• Putin may have used his meeting with Witkoff to propose a long-range strikes moratorium, which would allow Russia to stockpile long-range drones and missiles and renew devastating large-scale strikes against Ukraine after the moratorium expires. A strikes moratorium will also handicap Ukraine’s ability to continue its long-range strike campaign aimed at attriting the Russian defense industrial base and wartime economy.
• Russia has significantly scaled up its drone and missile production in 2025, allowing Russia to rapidly increase the size of its strike packages that it launches against Ukraine.
• Putin likely claimed to Witkoff that Russia’s territorial ambitions are limited to the seizure of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts. Putin is likely attempting to frame Russia’s seizure of the four oblasts as inevitable in order to push Ukraine and the West to capitulate to Kremlin demands.
• Russia’s occupation of the four oblasts is neither inevitable nor imminent, as Russian forces will face serious operational obstacles in what are likely to be multi-year endeavors.
• Russian objectives are not limited to the occupation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts, however, despite Kremlin attempts to frame Russia’s war aims as such in an effort to make its demands seem more reasonable. Russia has not abandoned its more extensive, original war aims.
• Putin’s war aims are also not limited to territory.
• The Kremlin is engaged in a delicate balancing act between feigning interest in negotiations to Trump and conditioning Russian society to accept nothing short of Putin’s desired full victory in Ukraine, no matter how long it takes.
• Russian forces advanced in the Toretsk direction and likely completed the seizure of Toretsk.