Conflict monitor
The ground front is near-frozen while the deep-strike duel escalates: Russia's August 1 and 5 barrages on Kyiv killed 26 in the capital region, with zero missiles intercepted on August 5 as Zelenskyy disclosed interceptor deliveries are running at a third of 2025 levels — pushing Ukraine toward a US Patriot production licence discussed with Trump on July 28, while NATO's Ankara pledges (€70 billion for 2026) hold and formal diplomacy remains stalled since the failed February Geneva talks.
The war has entered its fifth summer with Russia's ground offensive stalling — a net gain of roughly 97 sq km in the first half of 2026 at a cost of nearly 40,000 casualties in June alone — even as both sides escalate deep strikes: Russia's July 1-2 barrage on Kyiv was its largest air attack of the war, while Ukraine's drone campaign has knocked out an estimated 30-43% of Russian refining capacity, forcing Moscow to import gasoline from India. Peace diplomacy is frozen after Putin rejected Zelensky's June ceasefire-and-summit offer, and the war continues to reshape India's defence calculus, from delayed S-400 deliveries to a procurement tilt toward drones and counter-drone systems.
Updated 5 Aug 2026 · updates logged below as they happen
Changelog
Russia's two-hour barrage on Kyiv — 24 ballistic missiles, four Zircon and Oniks missiles and 115 drones — kills 17 and wounds at least 44 with zero incoming missiles intercepted, as Zelenskyy discloses Ukraine has received only a third as many air-defence interceptors this year as by the same point in 2025.
An overnight Russian ballistic-missile and drone attack on Kyiv kills at least nine people and wounds 33, two days after strikes that killed at least ten across Ukraine.
Zelenskyy and Trump meet for just over an hour at the White House, with the conversation centring on a US licence for Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptor missiles itself and on reviving peace diplomacy with Russia.
NATO's first Ankara summit pledges €70 billion in military support for Ukraine in 2026 with sovereign commitments to at least equal levels in 2027, as Trump offers Ukraine a licence to build Patriot interceptors (likely manufactured in Europe) and allies launch a $40 billion, five-year drone and counter-drone initiative.
Ukraine's General Staff says systematic deep strikes have disabled 42.7% of Russia's oil refining capacity, with eight refineries hit in the past month and industry losses of $13.5 billion since August 2025.
Russia hits Kyiv with the largest air attack of the war — more than 70 missiles and nearly 500 drones over 11 hours — killing at least 25 people and injuring over 80 in mainly residential districts.
With refinery strikes cutting fuel output to a two-decade low, Russia begins seaborne gasoline imports from India — an initial 60,000 tonnes dispatched and roughly 400,000 tonnes a month planned.
Ukrainian marines of the 801st Special Marine Detachment raise the flag over the Kinburn Spit for the first time since 2022 after Russian forces abandon positions guarding the Dnipro-Buh estuary.
ISW reports Russian tactical gains in eastern Kostyantynivka after troops enter Novodmytrivka, with a Ukrainian brigade commander describing his forces as semi-encircled in the key Donetsk fortress city.
Putin rejects Zelensky's June 4 open-letter offer of a full front-line ceasefire and a face-to-face meeting, saying at the St Petersburg forum he sees 'no point' in talks for now.
India receives its fourth S-400 squadron from Russia roughly two years behind the original schedule after war-driven delays, with the fifth and final squadron expected by late 2026.
Trilateral US-Ukraine-Russia talks in Geneva (February 17-18) collapse after two days over Donbas territory and security guarantees, yielding only a ~500-per-side prisoner exchange that began March 5.
5 tagged stories
Russia's August 5 barrage killed 17 in Kyiv with zero missiles intercepted; Zelenskyy says interceptor supplies are at a third of 2025 levels — days after he and Trump discussed a US licence for Ukrainian Patriot interceptor production.
A single-source report says the fifth and last S-400 squadron will reach India in November 2026, completing the $5.43 billion contract signed with Russia in October 2018 after years of Ukraine-war delays. Official corroboration is awaited.
NATO's first summit in Ankara locked in €70 billion for Ukraine in 2026 with matching commitments for 2027, saw Trump offer Ukraine a licence to build Patriot interceptors, and launched a $40 billion, five-year drone and counter-drone push.
Hundreds of drones and more than 70 missiles struck Kyiv on 2 July, killing at least 27 people and injuring over 100 — the deadliest strike on the capital this year and, by the mayor's account, the largest air attack of the war.
Deep strikes have achieved what no front-line offensive managed — a nationwide Russian fuel crisis conceded by Putin himself, pushing one of the world's great oil powers into seaborne gasoline imports, including from India.
