Russia-Ukraine war updates: Russia claims Moscow targeted by drones

You can read more about what Russia called one of the biggest drone attacks on Moscow here.

Find out more about the Ukrainian parliament’s vote to join the International Criminal Court here.

For all our coverage on the Russia-Ukraine war, head over here.

We will be closing this live page soon. Here’s a look at some of today’s developments:

• Intense battles are ongoing in eastern Ukraine, particularly around Pokrovsk, where Russia is pushing forward in an attempt to take full control of the Donetsk region.
• Ukrainian forces continue their push inside Russia but have slowed down as Russia deploys reinforcements and launches air strikes.
• Russian authorities say they have shot down 11 Ukrainian drones over the Moscow region in one of the most significant attempts to hit the capital city. Russian and Ukrainian forces both claim the downing of dozens of projectiles launched by the other side.
• Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, asserts there will be no talks between Moscow and Kyiv “until the complete defeat of the enemy” in light of the Kursk incursion.
• Ukraine’s parliament ratifies the Rome Statute, required to join the International Criminal Court and eventually the European Union, but with a caveat that exempts Ukrainian citizens from war crimes for seven years.

The foreign policy chief of the European Union says Ukraine’s offensive into Kursk damages the “narrative” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Josep Borrell said in a post on X that allowing Ukraine to use Western weapons to hit Russian forces even inside their territory would have important effects, including strengthening Ukrainian self-defence, saving lives in Ukraine, and helping advance peace efforts.

The top diplomat said he will discuss further support for the Ukrainian military with the country’s foreign minister when he meets him in Brussels next week.

Ukraine’s Kursk offensive is a severe blow to Russian President Putin’s narrative.

Lifting restrictions on the use of capabilities vs the Russian military involved in aggression against Ukraine, in accordance with international law, would have several important effects:

1/3

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 21, 2024

Aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia says airports in Russia’s Arctic cities of Murmansk and Apatity resumed operations after a brief airspace closure.

Since the start of the Ukraine war, Russian airports have frequently carried out similar closures due to potential or actual Ukrainian drone attacks.

Murmansk Governor Andrei Chibis confirmed a drone threat to the region but offered no further details.

Several Russian media outlets later circulated a video purportedly showing the downing of a drone in the Murmansk region. Reuters could not immediately verify the video.

The Murmansk region is home to an airbase for strategic bombers near the city of Olenegorsk.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Ukraine did not consult his country about its August 6 incursion into Russia and he expects the advance to be limited.

Speaking at a news conference after talks with Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Chisinau, he also said Germany would continue to be what he said was Ukraine’s biggest supporter in Europe.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has said Germany’s support for Chisinau strengthens Ukraine and regional security, after a meeting with Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Moldovan capital.

The German leader was also received with military honours by Prime Minister Dorin Recean at the government buildings.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been welcomed by President Maia Sandu at the Presidency in Chisinau. #Moldova #Germany #Diplomacy #Scholz pic.twitter.com/DjIoYG3uqE

— State News Agency Moldpres (@MoldpresAgency) August 21, 2024

The Russian military says Ukrainian forces launched two explosive drones against targets in the territory of Belgorod, with air defences successfully intercepting them.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Russian territory, said the village of Konovalovo in the Volokonovsky district was attacked by a drone, causing damage to an electricity line and disrupting power.

“In the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka in the Shebekinsky urban district, as a result of shelling, windows were broken in one private house, the gate and outbuilding were damaged, and the glazing in the second was damaged,” he wrote.

According to Gladkov, border municipalities are being equipped with electronic warfare gear to counter drone attacks.

Russian authorities have urged people in the border areas to stop using dating apps and limit their use of social media for security purposes amid the Ukrainian incursion.

Russia’s interior ministry issued the advisory, telling residents of Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod, as well as military and police personnel stationed in the territories to stay away from “online dating services” and be mindful of streaming videos from sensitive locations.

“The enemy actively uses such resources for information gathering,” the ministry said in a post on its official Telegram channel.

Ukraine’s military has confirmed in its latest war update that battles are ongoing with Russian forces in the quest to control the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

The most intense of the 54 clashes detected have taken place around Pokrovsk, according to the Ukrainian army, which said Russian forces also launched a series of air strikes using guided aerial bombs.

The Ukrainian military reported Russian assaults around Kharkiv, Kupiansk, Lyman and Kramatorsk.

In Toretsk, it said Russian forces had launched five attacks so far today with backing from a bomber aircraft dropping 11 antifortification missiles on the Donetsk city.

As we reported earlier, Ukraine’s parliament voted to ratify the Rome Statute that would allow the country to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), and ultimately the European Union.

But the ratification controversially included a reference to Article 124 of the Rome Statute, which would exempt Ukrainian citizens from being prosecuted for war crimes for seven years, governing party politician Yevheniia Kravchuk said on Facebook.

The article concerns an applying state refusing to recognise ICC’s jurisdiction for the first seven years after joining.

Kravchuk said the ratification of the statute would give Ukraine more chances to “punish” Russians.

The @ua_parliament has ratified the Rome Statute of the @IntlCrimCourt! 281 votes in favor!

This step shows that even during the war, #Ukraine continues the path of reforms on our way to the EU!🇺🇦🇪🇺

The ratification of the Rome Statute will facilitate greater opportunities for… pic.twitter.com/1P8PupOZQ8

— Yevheniia Kravchuk (@kravchukev) August 21, 2024

Switzerland will adopt more measures of the EU’s 14th package of sanctions against Russia that was passed in late June.

“These include a clarification of the bans on Russian diamonds, making them internationally harmonised,” the government said in a statement.

“The Federal Council has also extended the deadlines for granting exemption permits with regard to the withdrawal of investments from Russia. The aim is to ensure that Swiss companies can legally terminate their business activities in Russia. The amendments will enter into force on August 27.”

The Swiss government pointed out that the 14th package contains further sanctions that are being closely studied and may be implemented later. In early July, 69 individuals and 47 entities were added to Switzerland’s sanctions list.

Moscow has criticised Switzerland for its participation in EU efforts against Russia, saying it no longer considers it a neutral country.

A former Russian defence official has lost an appeal against arrest, with a court ordering he will be held in pretrial detention on corruption charges.

Former Deputy Defence Minister General Dmitry Bulgakov was detained in Moscow last month pending an investigation and trial, Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement carried by state media. He is part of several recent high-profile military arrests.

“The court examined the appeal of Bulgakov’s defence and decided to leave the appeal unsatisfied and the decision of the first instance unchanged,” state news agency TASS reported, citing the judge’s decision.

The Russian Foreign Ministry says Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has confirmed he is ready to visit the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.

“We expect that an understanding of the danger that Ukrainian provocations against Russian nuclear power plants represent will prompt the IAEA’s management to take concrete action to ensure the safety of nuclear power plants in Zaporizhzhia and Kursk,” ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters, adding that Grossi could visit at the end of August.

This comes after Russian authorities accused Ukrainian troops of planning to attack the nuclear plant as part of their incursion into Russia, a claim Kyiv denied.

Grossi said during an interview on Tuesday that the Kursk plant “is already within artillery range” and the two active reactors inside it mean that “a very serious situation” could be triggered if the plant is hit.

The Zaporizhzhia plant is located in southeastern Ukraine and is occupied by Russia.

Here are some of the latest fighting happening in Kursk as documented by the Institute for the Study of War and Critical Threats Project, two US-based war monitors.

• Evidence suggests Ukrainian forces seized Vishnevka southwest of Koronevo, an area where heavy fighting continues. Ukrainian forces also advanced in eastern Koronevo, as well as in fields northeast of it, but met resistance.
• Russian forces appeared to regain some lost positions and advanced in fields south of Safonovka, some 30km (18.6 miles) from the two countries’ borders.
• Ukrainian forces were documented to operate on the Snagost-Liubimivka road, indicating that they “continue operating well within the maximalist claimed limit of Ukrainian advances in Kursk Oblast”.
• Ukrainian forces continued efforts to attack Russian pontoon bridges over the Seym River in Glushkovo Raion.

NEW: Ukrainian forces continued attacking throughout the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast on August 20 and recently made additional advances.

Kursk Tactical Updates 🧵(1/11) pic.twitter.com/b0KC6HZrL0

— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) August 21, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin has wrapped up his first trip in 13 years to the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya as is now back in Moscow.

As part of the unannounced trip, he sat down with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and later inspected troops and volunteers who are preparing to fight Ukraine. He also visited a mosque in the Muslim-majority territory that is part of Russia.

“As long as we have men like you, we are absolutely, absolutely invincible,” Putin told troops at the Russian Special Forces University, a training school in Chechnya’s Gudermes, according to a transcript on the Kremlin’s website.

Kadyrov, who is sanctioned by the US including for mobilising troops against Ukraine, told Putin that Chechnya had sent more than 47,000 troops since the start of the war to fight Ukraine, including about 19,000 volunteers.

Here’s a quick recap of the latest developments:

• Ukrainian forces continue to advance in their incursion into Russia’s Kursk region but have been slowed down by Russian reinforcements.
• The Russian military has kept pushing into eastern Ukraine and is positioning itself to take the Donetsk region as fierce battles rage.
• Russia said the Kursk offensive meant there would be no negotiations to end the war “until the complete defeat of the enemy”.
• Ukraine mounted one of its largest-ever attacks on Moscow last night, with Russian officials saying all 45 drones launched at Russian territories, including the capital, were shot down.
• Ukraine said its air defences shot down 51 drones and an air-launched cruise missile from Russia, but two ballistic missiles made impact.
• China’s Premier Li Qiang said at a meeting in Moscow that Beijing is ready to work with Russia to strengthen all-around practical cooperation.
• India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is heading to Ukraine on Friday, among other things to discuss a peaceful resolution to the war.

The governing militaries in the three West African nations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have written to the UN Security Council to denounce Ukraine’s alleged support for “terrorism” perpetrated by rebel groups in the Sahel region.

As part of a new grouping called the Alliance of Sahel States in the wake of military coups in the three countries, they urged the 15-member council to “take responsibility” for Ukraine’s actions and to prevent “subversive acts” that threaten regional and continental stability.

This comes after the Ukrainian military intelligence agency spokesperson said Malian rebels had received “necessary” information to conduct an attack in July, during which rebels said they killed at least 84 Russian-backed Wagner mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers over days of fierce fighting.

#AESinfo | 🇧🇫🇲🇱🇳🇪
🔴 #Urgent : Les pays de l'AES saisissent le Conseil de sécurité face au soutien présumé de l'Ukraine aux terroristes

Dans une lettre adressée au Président du Conseil de Sécurité des Nations Unies, les Ministres des Affaires étrangères du Burkina Faso, du Mali… pic.twitter.com/N5itG9wVKg

— AES INFO (@AESinfos) August 20, 2024

Translation: ESA countries refer Ukraine’s alleged support for terrorists to the Security Council In a letter addressed to the President of the UNSC. 

Ukraine’s military says Ukrainian forces are using US-manufactured HIMARS rocket systems to destroy pontoon bridges and engineering equipment in Russia’s Kursk region, targeting logistics in its major cross-border incursion.

Russian officials have said Ukraine has damaged or destroyed at least three bridges over the Seym River since Kyiv launched a major assault into western Russia on August 6 advancing up to 28 – 35 kilometres (17 – 22 miles).

“Where do Russian pontoon bridges ‘disappear’ in the Kursk region? Operators … accurately destroy them,” Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces said on Telegram messenger.

The statement said US-manufactured HIMARS rocket systems were used. It was first official statement from Kyiv that Western weapons are part of the unprecedented offensive.

Washington has made no direct comment regarding the use of US-made weapons in the Kursk region, while saying its policies had not changed and that Ukraine was defending itself from Russia’s attacks.