Ukraine Conflict Update: 2 – 8 September 2023

Situation Summary

In the Donetsk region, fighting concentrated in the area of Bakhmut, around the western and northern parts of Donetsk city, in the areas north of Kramatorsk, and around Vuhledar. Ukrainian forces reportedly gained ground near Avdiivka, south of Bakhmut, and west of Vuhledar by the end of the week. Ukrainian forces also continued to advance south-east of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhia region. Clashes additionally continued along the Kreminna-Svatove-Kupiansk line in the Luhansk and Kharkiv regions, with Russian forces claiming territorial gains west of Svatove and east of Kupiansk. 

Russian shelling, airstrikes, and missiles reportedly killed over 30 civilians in the Donetsk, Kherson, Odesa, and Zaporizhia regions. On 6 September, Russian missiles hit the central market in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, killing 16 civilians and wounding 34. A Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region on 8 September killed a police officer and injured 74 civilians. Russian missiles and drones continued striking Ukraine’s ports and grain infrastructure on the Danube river in the Odesa region, with drone debris found in neighboring Romania.¹

Meanwhile, Ukrainian security service and unspecified pro-Ukrainian groups reportedly orchestrated several explosions in the occupied parts of the Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson regions, targeting Russian soldiers, security service officers, a Russian-appointed regional head of customs, United Russia party headquarters, and polling stations where Russian occupation authorities were staging ‘regional elections.’²

For more information, including previous situation summaries and an interactive dashboard, visit our Ukraine Conflict Monitor.