WAR IN UKRAINE: August 8, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 531
At least seven people have been killed in a Russian missile attack on residential buildings in the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk, officials say. Two missiles hit the town - the second as rescuers were searching for victims of the first. The number of people injured has jumped to 81, the head of the Donetsk OVA Kirylenko said. Among them are 39 civilians, 31 policemen, seven employees of the State Emergency Service and four military personnel. Twelve high-rise buildings, a hotel, buildings of the prosecutor's office and pension fund, pharmacies, shops, cafes and cars were damaged. Pokrovsk lies about 70km (43 miles) north-west of Donetsk city, which is occupied by Russian forces. Before the war it had a population of around 60,000 people - BBC/UA media
Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces continued in the country’s southeast, Kyiv said on August 8. Ukrainian troops continue to carry out attacks against the invading Russian Army in the direction of Berdiyansk and Melitopol in the province of Zaporizhzhya, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on its daily update. It said that Ukraine’s forces carried out nine strikes over the past day targeting the areas where the Russian Army’s “personnel, weapons, and military equipment are concentrated.” - RFE/RL
The President's Office denies Ukraine has softened its position on peace talks: the Wall Street Journal reported, citing anonymous European officials, that Ukraine didn't press the demand for a full withdrawal of Russian troops to start peace talks at the Aug. 5 meeting in Saudi Arabia. Representatives of the Ukrainian delegation denied it to the Kyiv Independent.
A Ukraine-linked hacker group said on Telegram that it had hacked the website of Moscow's municipal property registration bureau, saying "the information about state officials, politicians, military, and special services officers who support the Ukraine war had been handed to Ukraine's defense forces."
Ukraine’s SBU detains a woman who was preparing an assassination attempt on Zelensky - Mykolaiv Military Administration. The Security Service says that on the eve of the president's trip to Mykolaiv Oblast, a Russian informant was gathering intelligence about the planned visit. Zelensky was in Mykolaiv Oblast in late July.
On a visit to Niger, U.S. Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said she raised concerns over claims the coup leaders had asked Russia's Wagner mercenary group for help in maintaining control of the country. "The people who have taken this action here understand very well the risks to their sovereignty when Wagner is invited in," she said.