25 August 2023

August 2023 in brief

Two missiles struck central Pokrovsk about 40 minutes apart, killing 10 people, among them a senior rescue officer, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said, and a missile hit the main square and drama theatre in Chernihiv, killing seven, including a 6-year-old girl, according to Ukrainian officials. ^[1][2] The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission had verified 9,511 civilians killed and 17,206 injured since the invasion by late August, a minimum, and WHO recorded attacks affecting health facilities in Kherson and Lyman. ^[1][2][3][4] Russian drones damaged nearly 40,000 tonnes of grain at the Danube port of Izmail, Ukraine's infrastructure minister said, and a Russian patrol ship fired warning shots at and boarded a cargo ship bound for Izmail. ^[1][2] Ukraine announced temporary routes for civilian ships, not agreed with Russia, and the first vessel to use them left Odesa carrying more than 30,000 tonnes of cargo. ^[1][2] Ukraine said it had retaken Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia oblast, sea drones attacked the Novorossiysk naval base, where a Ukrainian official said a landing ship was badly damaged, and drones damaged transport aircraft at Pskov airfield, TASS reported. ^[1][2][3] Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died with all 10 people on board when a private jet crashed in Tver region; Kremlin spokesman Peskov called suggestions that the Kremlin ordered it an absolute lie, and the Pentagon said its initial assessment was that he was likely killed. ^[1] Saudi Arabia hosted talks in Jeddah on Ukraine's peace proposals without Russia, and 22 Ukrainian soldiers returned in what was the last prisoner exchange of 2023. ^[1][2]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.