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Situation Summary
As Ukraine’s cross-border offensive into Russia’s Kursk region entered its third week, Russia and Belarus continued attempts to exhaust Ukraine’s resources by threatening the country’s northern regions. Russian shelling and airstrikes in the Sumy region remained at an all-time high in response to Ukraine’s ongoing incursion. Belarus also continued to amass its troops and military equipment along Ukraine’s border, pressuring Ukraine to stretch its forces to fortify the northern border area.1Nicole Wolkov, Davit Gasparyan, Karolina Hird, et al, ‘Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 26, 2024,’ Institute for the Study of War, 26 August 2024 While the advancement of Ukrainian troops has slowed down since the first week of the offensive, Ukraine is attempting to encircle thousands of Russian soldiers by targeting bridges across the Seym river.2Matthew Luxmoore, James Marson, and Ievgeniia Sivorka, ‘Ukraine Moves to Encircle Russian Troops in Kursk and Digs In for Long Fight,’ The Wall Street Journal, 22 August 2024
In eastern Ukraine, Russian forces continued offensive operations in the Donetsk region, reportedly occupying around 10 settlements in the direction of Pokrovsk and advancing towards Toretsk. Fighting also continued in the Kharkiv region along the border with Russia and the Kupiansk district. Meanwhile, reported clashes decreased in the Zaporizhia region amid the escalation in the east.
Russian shelling and airstrikes killed at least 31 civilians in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Zaporizhia, and Kherson regions. Over a third of civilian fatalities were recorded in the frontline areas of the Donetsk region. On 19 August, Russian forces shelled a medical facility and a residential area in frontline Zarichne, killing three civilians. Russian artillery and airstrikes hit Myrnohrad several times throughout the week, killing at least one civilian and an emergency worker and wounding at least five people, as well as damaging multi-story residential buildings, a pharmacy, and other civilian infrastructure.
