Ukrainian army attacks Moscow region, Russian army attacks Ukrainian village

Ukrainian forces have carried out another of their largest drone attacks on Russia, firing 800 drones just two days after a similar barrage.

On the other hand, Russia attacked a village in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine with missiles, killing 10 people and wounding 17, and destroying houses.

This continues the exchange of long-range attacks, while both sides are pinned down on a 1.250-kilometer front line in eastern and southern Ukraine, where they are paralyzed by drone attacks and ground robots that disable the movement of personnel and hinder supplies.

Ukraine's goal is for Russian society to feel the consequences of the war and to put pressure on President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a peace settlement, but Putin shows no such intention.

"Putin continues to drag out the war instead of accepting Ukraine's realistic proposals for a ceasefire and an end to the bloodshed," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha said in a post on the X platform.

Russian air defenses intercepted 791 Ukrainian drones last night over several regions, as well as over annexed Crimea and the Black and Azov Seas, the Defense Ministry in Moscow announced.

According to the Associated Press, it was the second largest drone attack since January 2025.

More than 600 Ukrainian drones flew towards the Moscow region, where 180 were shot down, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

Officials reported no deaths or major damage.

In the region surrounding Moscow, three people were wounded, said the governor of the region, Andrei Vorobyov.

Three people were also injured in neighboring Ryazan region, where three private homes were damaged, said Governor Pavel Malkov.

The overnight attack set fire to another warehouse belonging to Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer that has been systematically targeting Ukrainians. Ukraine says the company helps supply the Russian military, a claim Moscow denies.

Wildberrys claims the warehouse was only slightly damaged.

Coverage of the attack in pro-government Russian media has been largely discreet, but the state-run RIA Novosti news agency has it among the top stories on its website's homepage, as "one of the biggest attacks on Moscow since the beginning of the summer."

Russian oil exports at lowest level since late April due to Ukrainian attacks

Russian crude oil exports by sea have fallen to their lowest level since late April, particularly affected by Ukrainian drone attacks and threats to Black Sea oil infrastructure, the American agency Bloomberg reported today.

Shipments are down for the fifth week in a row, the biggest drop in a comparable period since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In the four weeks ending August 16, Russia exported an average of 3,58 million barrels per day, according to ship movements analyzed by Bloomberg.

The decline worsened last week, when no crude oil was loaded at Novorossiysk, a strategic Russian port on the Black Sea that was the target of a Ukrainian attack on Wednesday. However, some facilities continued to operate over the weekend, Bloomberg notes.

Previous Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries paradoxically boosted exports, as crude oil that could no longer be refined was sent abroad. But Kiev's new attacks now target ports and ships involved in exporting, limiting this ability as well.

However, Russian exports remain relatively high: despite five weeks of constant decline, their average level since the beginning of 2026 remains higher than that recorded since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia continues to ship a large portion of its oil to Asia. Volumes destined for China have reached about 1,22 million barrels per day over the past four weeks. Data for India is more difficult to gather, as many tankers only mark their final destination at the last minute.