Ukrainian forces have recaptured 745 sq km of territory in the southeastern Oleksandrivka sector since the start of the year, Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday.

The operation, which Ukraine says began in January, has brought 26 settlements back under Ukrainian control across the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, the president said. He said the offensive was carried out “with precision – exactly as planned”.

Zelensky also said on Telegram that his forces struck Russia’s Novorossiysk naval base overnight with drones, missiles and unmanned boats.

Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of the Krasnodar region where the port city is located, said a “massive” wave of Ukrainian attacks had targeted the area and killed at least two people, including an eight-year-old child.

Earlier, two of Russia’s biggest grain terminals at the southern Black Sea port city suspended operations as a result of the overnight Ukrainian drone strikes, industry sources told Reuters.

It comes despite Ukraine agreeing to pause drone strikes on oil tankers using the Novorossiysk port after a request from US vice president JD Vance, according to a report in the Financial Times citing Ukrainian officials.

Kyiv made significant battlefield gains ‘exactly as planned’, Zelensky says

Ukrainian forces have recaptured 745 sq km of territory in the southeastern Oleksandrivka sector since the start of the year, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday.

The operation, which Ukraine says began in January, has brought 26 settlements back under Ukrainian control across the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Zelensky said the offensive was carried out “with precision – exactly as planned”.

The gains broadly align with assessments by Ukrainian open-source monitoring group DeepState, which has confirmed the recapture of 19 settlements and Ukrainian advances in six other areas.

The reported territorial gains refer specifically to the Oleksandrivka sector, rather than Ukraine’s overall battlefield position.

Russia continues to make advances elsewhere along the front, particularly in Donetsk, although analysts say its overall rate of territorial gains has slowed this year.

Relations with Armenia ‘even more constructive’, Zelensky says

After speaking with Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the relationship between the two countries was becoming “more constructive”.

He wrote on Facebook: “Relations between Ukraine and Armenia are now becoming even more constructive, and it is important that we maintain a continuous dialogue.”

The leaders discussed Zelensky’s recent visit to Armenia and identified priority areas for further cooperation, according to The Kyiv Independent.

Zelensky also thanked Pashinyan for congratulating him on the 975th anniversary of the founding of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra – one of Ukraine’s most prominent Orthodox Christian sites.

“It is an important date for Christians throughout our region,” Zelensky said.

Armenia has increasingly distanced itself from traditional ally Russia under Pashinyan’s government, seeking closer ties with the West.

Relations between Moscow and Yerevan have deteriorated since Russia failed to prevent Azerbaijan’s September 2023 offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Ukraine’s Izmail port infrastructure on fire after Russian attack, local authorities say

Russia launched an overnight attack on Ukraine’s Danube port city of Izmail in the southern Odesa region, sparking fires and damaging port infrastructure, local authorities said on Thursday.

The strike hit the port area, according to officials posting on Telegram.

Located near Ukraine’s border with Romania, Izmail is home to the country’s largest Danube River port and serves as a key export hub for grain and other commodities.

Russian city's water supply suspended after Ukrainian drone strike

Andrei Kravchenko, mayor of the Russian city of Novorossiysk, has said that the Black Sea port's water supply had been suspended after damage caused by Ukrainian drones overnight.

An emergency situation had been declared, Kravchenko said according to Reuters, adding that officials were working to assess the damage.

He said in the same statement, which was posted on the Max messenger, that several educational facilities had been damaged in the strikes.

Ukraine bombs Russia's Black Sea naval base with drones and missiles, Zelensky says

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said on Telegram that his forces struck Russia's Novorossiysk naval base overnight with drones, missiles and unmanned boats.

Earlier, two of Russia's biggest grain terminals at the southern Black Sea port city suspended operations as a result of the overnight Ukrainian drone strikes, industry sources told Reuters.

Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter and most of those exports are shipped via its Black Sea ports like Novorossiysk. Russia's main grain lobby group warned last month that Ukrainian drone attacks could shut down grain exports via the Black Sea in the near future, pushing up prices and causing hunger in Africa and the Middle East.

Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of the Krasnodar region where the port city is located, said a "massive" wave of Ukrainian attacks had targeted the area and killed at least two people, including an eight-year-old child.

Ukraine destroys missile system protecting Putin’s $1bn Black Sea palace

Ukraine is destroying air defence systems near Russian president Vladimir Putin’s $1bn palace on the Black Sea coast, according to reports.

Two attacks over the last week have targeted military assets in Gelendzhik, around 12 miles from the Russian leader’s holiday home.

On 7 August, Ukrainian drone attacks struck Volna Kupol Garant, Russian electronic warfare equipment designed to jam Starlink communications over an area of 20 sq m, The Moscow Times reports.

On Sunday, a further strike was launched on an S-400 anti-aircraft missile system and launch pad just 500m away from the previous attack.

Major Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces said the S-400 had fired six missiles on Sunday night before it was left “ablaze and sputtering for three hours”.

Maira Butt reports:

Ukrainian strikes on Putin’s refineries force Russia to turn to India for gasoline

Russian officials have resorted to importing gasoline from the likes of India amid a rise in Ukrainian drone strikes on its major refineries, a new report has revealed.

Kpler, a data and market intelligence provider, said new data showed Russia received its first shipment on 5 August and more was likely on the way.

India’s oil processor Nayara Energy Ltd, which is backed by Russia’s top oil producer Rosneft PJSC, has been identified as the source of the fuel.

The transfers were made to Russia-linked tankers via shipments off Egypt, Bloomberg reported.

“The emergence of Indian barrels is particularly notable,” said Sumit Ritolia, lead analyst at Kpler.

The cargoes, which complement continued imports from Belarus and other neighbouring markets, highlight “the severity of the current domestic gasoline imbalance, and the extent to which lower refinery runs are reshaping Russia’s traditional product trade flows,” he said.

Trump says Russia agreed to release American ex-Marine after discussions with Putin

Russia released an American military veteran on Tuesday, allowing his return to the US after four years of what his family and US officials allege was wrongful incarceration and abusive treatment that left him near death.

Robert Gilman, a 32-year-old Massachusetts teacher and former Marine, was freed after president Donald Trump said he spoke with Russian president Vladimir Putin about his release, which Trump said was “very much on a Humanitarian Basis.”

“We appreciate this decision, and the fact that Russia asked for no one in return – No exchange took place,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted a photo on social media of a gaunt-looking Gilman draped in an American flag and surrounded by his family aboard an airplane.

Zelensky says Moscow using more North Korean missiles on Kyiv

Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces used ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea in an overnight attack which targeted the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

A company said seven workers at its steel plant were killed and 21 injured.

In addition to the ballistic missiles, North Korea is preparing to deploy more of its troops to Russia, Zelensky said late Monday.

“Every step Russia takes – increasing ballistic missile production, bringing in North Korean equipment, preparing for mobilisation – all of this shows that Moscow is preparing not for peace, but for escalation,” Zelensky said on social media.

What are Patriot missiles – and why are supplies dwindling worldwide?

Demand for the US Patriot air defence system has increased this year as Ukraine’s war against the Russian invasion and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has depleted supplies of interceptor missiles.

Ukraine is seeking further Patriot interceptors to defend itself against Russian ballistic missile attacks, while the Iran war has drained stores in the US and the Gulf.

Meanwhile, some European countries are hanging onto missiles that they may require for their own defence.

Here, The Independent takes a look at what Patriot missiles are, and why they are important to Ukraine.