The Russian invasion of Ukraine began 923 days ago. Thanks to the Kursk operation, we have captured more than 600 Russian prisoners who can be exchanged for Ukrainians held captive in Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Meanwhile, Russia has occupied the most territory of Ukraine in August since October 2022, and this year, three times more than in all of 2023, according to the US Institute for the Study of War. Here's what happened in and around Ukraine over the past 24 hours.
> Vladimir Putin came to Mongolia. Since its release by International Criminal Court The warrant for his arrest is the first visit by a Russian president to a country that has ratified the Rome Statute, which is the basis for the ICC's operation. Putin was not detained there, as Human Rights Watch, among others, had appealed earlier. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed disappointment with the attitude of the Mongolian authorities.
> Ministry of Defense Finland I want to introduce total ban on sales real estate to citizens Russiaarguing that they can be used in crisis situations and threaten the country's security. The ban will prevent destabilization of Finland in a difficult situation, said the head of the ministry, Antti Hakkanen.
> Thanks to the Kursk operation, we captured over 600 Russian prisoners who can be exchanged for Ukrainians held captive in Russia, the president said. Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with the Prime Minister Netherlands Dick Schoof in Zaporozhye.
Russian prisoners. Photo from the Ukrayinska Pravda portal Ukrainian Truth
> Poland and other countries bordering Ukraine are obliged to shoot down incoming Russian missiles before they enter their airspace, the Foreign Secretary said in an interview for the British daily Financial Times. Radoslaw Sikorski. – Membership in NATO does not absolve each country of its responsibility to protect its own airspace, he added.
> Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, visiting Zaporozhye in Ukraine, announced an aid package for Kiev worth over €200 million.
> An air raid alert was declared across Ukraine on Monday due to another missile attack Russian forces. Explosions were heard in Kiev and other cities. The Polish Operational Command of the Armed Forces reported that Polish and allied aircraft had been scrambled. The Ukrainian air force reported that its defenses had shot down 22 missiles and 20 drones.
> In August, the Russian army captured the largest amount of Ukrainian territory since October 2022, the AFP agency reported after analyzing data collected by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW). In August, Russian troops advanced, gaining 15 square kilometers (6.3 square miles) each day, mostly in the Donetsk region, AFP calculated. As it noted, the main offensive is aimed at capturing Pokrovsk, which serves the Ukrainians as an important logistics hub. On Sunday, the aggressor's troops were just under 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) from this city. In 2024, Russia gained an additional 1,730 square kilometers of territory. This is three times more than in 2023when Ukrainian counter-offensives proved effective in recapturing enemy-occupied territory.
Main image source: Ukrainian Truth