Key developments on Aug. 6:
- Moscow claims clashes with Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk region, Kyiv hasn't commented
- Ukraine's missile program to get additional funding, Zelensky says
- Russian missile attack on Kharkiv kills 1, injures 12, including infant
- State Department: The arrival of F-16s has not changed US policy on Ukrainian strikes inside Russia
- Ukraine's project helps to locate 588 missing Russian soldiers
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that Ukrainian soldiers broke into the territory of Russia's Kursk region on Aug. 6.
The statement came after Russian pro-war Telegram channels wrote that a sabotage and reconnaissance group with heavy equipment had entered the Kursk region in the morning.
Kursk region lies on the border with Ukraine's Sumy Oblast, which has been experiencing daily Russian attacks since the liberation of its parts in April 2022.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed around 5 p.m. local time that up to 300 soldiers of Ukraine's 22nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, equipped with tanks and armored vehicles, had allegedly attacked Russian units near the border settlements of Nikolaevo-Darino and Oleshnya in the Kursk region.
According to the Russian ministry, the clashes are ongoing, and "reserves of the Russian group of troops are heading to the Kursk direction."
Ukraine's 22nd Separate Mechanized Brigade has not commented on these claims, which cannot be independently verified.
Earlier in the day, Aleksey Smirnov, the governor of Russia's Kursk Oblast, claimed that Russian border guards "prevented a border breakthrough" in the Sudzhansky and Korenevsky districts.
Andrii Kovalenko, the head of an anti-disinformation department at the National Security and Defense Council, said that Russia "doesn't control the border."
"Russian military commanders lie about controlling the situation in Kursk Oblast," he wrote in the Telegram post.
In the meantime, multiple explosions were reported in the city of Sumy and the surrounding region on Aug. 6, amid intensified Russian missile and glide bomb attacks on the region throughout the day.
Russian troops attacked infrastructure near Sumy, the local authorities said. No casualties were reported.
Separately, Ukrainian authorities said that forces in the area downed a Russian helicopter, a ballistic missile, and two drones.
The crowd-sourced monitoring website DeepState shared pictures on Aug. 6 appearing to show a downed Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter and two destroyed tanks amid reports of a cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast.
The photos could not be independently verified.
In March, three anti-Kremlin Russian armed groups units launched incursions into Belgorod and Kursk oblasts from Ukraine, allegedly resulting in clashes with Russian forces in several settlements. The incursions were immediately followed by relentless Russian attacks on the regional capital of Sumy and the region.
Andrii Yusov, a spokesperson of Ukraine's military intelligence, confirmed to the Kyiv Independent at the time that anti-Kremlin militias' raids made Moscow "change plans" on a possible new attack in Ukraine's northern sector.
When asked by the Kyiv Independent about Russian claims on Aug. 6, the Freedom of Russia Legion, which was involved in two raids before, and the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces refused to comment.
Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) and the Armed Forces of Ukraine refused to comment on the matter.
Khrystyna Holynska
Ukraine's missile program to get additional funding, Zelensky says
Ukraine will allocate additional funding for the country's missile program, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 6.
The decision was made at the commander-in-chief headquarters meeting on Aug. 6. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Minister for Strategic Industries Alexander Kamyshin briefed the president on the production of Ukrainian drones and missiles.
"There will be more missiles of our production," Zelensky said, without providing details.
Ukraine began actively developing its missile program after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. In late July, Zelensky said the program had "good dynamics."
"We are getting closer to being able to use our own missiles, and not just rely on missiles from our partners," he added.
Ukraine has continuously pressed its Western allies for longer-range weapons but faced hesitation about delivering arms that could potentially be used to strike within Russian territory. The U.S. granted Kyiv limited permission to use certain American weapons to strike Russian targets near the region's border.
The British Storm Shadow missiles, as well as their French equivalent SCALP, have a range of up to 250 kilometers (150 miles), while the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) sent to Ukraine by Washington can fly roughly 300 kilometers (190 miles).
Kyiv has repeatedly struck targets deep inside Russia with homemade weapons, mainly with drones. Ukraine's arsenal reportedly includes arms with a range of over 1,000 kilometers.
Kateryna Denisova
Russian missile attack on Kharkiv kills 1, injures 12, including infant
A Russian missile attack against Kharkiv on Aug. 6 killed one person and injured 12 others, including an eight-month-old baby, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Russia struck the Shevchenkivskyi city district with an Iskander missile at around 10 a.m., damaging a clinic, cars, and other civilian infrastructure, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Two of the victims have been hospitalized, the governor said. More people are thought to be trapped under the rubble.
Attacks on population centers in Kharkiv Oblast intensified after Russian forces launched a new cross-border offensive in the northern part of the region in May.
While Ukrainian troops have halted the advance, Russia continues to hold a handful of border settlements.
Owen Racer
State Department: Arrival of F-16s has not changed US policy on Ukrainian strikes inside Russia
The U.S. policy on Ukrainian strikes deep into Russian territory with American weapons remains unchanged, despite the arrival of F-16 fighting jets in Ukraine, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press briefing on Aug. 5.
The U.S. gave Ukraine permission on June 1 to use some American-supplied weapons, including HIMARS rockets, to strike targets in Russia located near the border with Kharkiv Oblast after Russia launched a renewed offensive in the region on May 10.
Ukraine is still prohibited from using ATACMS and other long-range U.S.-supplied weapons for strikes deeper inside Russia.
The U.S. will decide on the use of American-made weapons provided to Ukraine, including F-16 fighters, for strikes in Russia depending on the situation on the battlefield and the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to Miller.
"My answer has not changed today (Aug. 5), which is we constantly look at the needs of the Ukrainian military, we assess the security situation, and we try to be responsive to their needs," Miller said.
This process "has been going on from the very beginning to the present day," the spokesperson added.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Aug. 4 that the first batch of F-16s had arrived in Ukraine and that the jets were already being used by Ukrainian pilots.
Kyiv received a number of F-16s one year after the launch of the Danish-Dutch-led "fighter jet coalition" at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023.
Ukraine has been promised at least 79 F-16s from the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Belgium.
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American air superiority fighter that Kyiv has requested from its partners since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Martin Fornusek
Ukraine's project helps to locate 588 missing Russian soldiers
Ukraine's project "Khochu naiti" ("I want to find" in Russian) has helped to locate 588 missing Russian soldiers since its launch in January, as reported on the service's Telegram channel on Aug. 5.
Some 533 of the Russian soldiers were found alive among prisoners of war (POW), and 100 of them had already been released to Russia as a part of a prisoner exchange.
Fifty-five were identified as deceased. The remains of 33 of them were handed over to Russia.
The service said it had received 20,098 requests from relatives of Russian soldiers since the start of the year.
The project was launched in January by Ukraine's POW Coordination Headquarters as a sign of Ukraine's commitment to the principles of international humanitarian law, its website reads.
"Russian officials do not properly communicate with the relatives of soldiers. No one informs the families about what happens to Russian Army servicemen after they end up as invaders and occupiers in Ukraine," Ukraine's military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov said when presenting the project.
"(The project) concerns the missing soldiers, POWs, and those killed."
In September 2022, Ukraine's POW Coordination Headquarters launched the project "Khochu Zhit" ("I want to live" in Russian) with the support of the Defense Ministry and military intelligence. The project was created for Russian and Belarusian service members to surrender as prisoners of war voluntarily.
The spokesperson for the "Khochu Zhyt" project said on March 31 that they receive 50 to 100 appeals from Russian soldiers and their relatives every day.
