Fatal Russian strikes in Donetsk, Kharkiv – DW – 03/08/2025

The head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst or BND) believes that Russia is seeking to “test the unity of the West” in order to determine whether NATO countries really would trigger Article 5 – which stipulates that an attack against one of the trans-Atlantic alliance’s members will be considered an attack on all.

“We very much hope that’s not the case and that we don’t end up in a situation where it’s put to the test,” BND chief Bruno Kahl told DW on Saturday. “But we have to assume that Russia wants to test the unity of the West.”

According to Kahl, the precise timing of any potential Russian “testing” of Article 5 depends on the course of its ongoing invasion of Ukraine which, three years on, is still consuming massive amounts of Russian military supplies and manpower.

“An early end to the war in Ukraine will enable the Russians to focus their energy where they really want it – against Europe,” he said. “It could be that a concrete danger for Europe emerges sooner than we think.”

Kahl said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is keen to push NATO back and extend his own influence westwards – “ideally without any Americans in Europe.” But he said he hoped that the United States wouldn’t fall for that and expressed confidence that American and European intelligence services would continue to work together.

“We’re as reliant on the help of our friends across the Atlantic as they are on us,” he claimed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Kyiv remains “fully committed to constructive dialogue” and is “determined to do everything to end this war with a just and lasting peace as soon as possible.”

Writing on social media after what he called a “highly productive” meeting between Ukrainian and British diplomats in Kyiv, Zelenskyy announced that he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He said Ukrainian “diplomatic and military representatives” including Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov would remain in Riyadh for talks with US diplomats on Tuesday.

“Ukraine has been seeking peace from the very first second of this war,” he said. “Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively.”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has lamented “another tragic night in Ukraine” after at least 14 civilians were killed and 30 more injured in two separate Russian strikes on towns in Donetsk and Kharkiv (see earlier).

“This is what happens when someone appeases barbarians,” he said. “More bombs, more aggression, more victims.”

Tusk appeared to be referring to US President Donald Trump’s one-sided attempts to conclude some form of peace deal in Ukraine, efforts that have so far involved pressuring Kyiv to give up territory but not included any condemnation of Russian aggression.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently occupies about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

Australia is considering contributing to a “coalition of the willing” in Ukraine, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said on Saturday.

A Downing Street spokesman in London said on Saturday that Starmer had spoken to his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, and “welcomed” Canberra’s “commitment to consider contributing to a coalition of the willing for Ukraine.”

Britain and France have been at the forefront of proposals to deploy troops to Ukraine to enforce and maintain peace in the event of a ceasefire with Russia.

Additionally, the spokesperson confirmed that Starmer would travel to Paris on Tuesday to discuss the crisis with European defense chiefs.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has welcomed moves by European countries to boost defense spending but insisted that this must be accompanied by increased production of military equipment.

“We will need to spend more to keep ourselves safe,” he said in comments to be published in the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. “But we also need to quickly ramp up our defense production on both sides of the Atlantic. For far too long, we have produced far too little.”

Former Dutch Prime Minister Rutte said Europe didn’t just need ammunition, ships, tanks and planes, but satellites and drones, too.

His comments come as European countries rush to boost defense spending after US President Donald Trump froze American military aid to Ukraine and raised doubts about Washington’s commitment to the traditional transatlantic alliance.

Earlier this week, the European Union agreed an €800 billion ($866bn) plan to increase the bloc’s defense spending, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called a “watershed moment for Europe.”

Meanwhile, in Germany, the EU’s largest economy, lawmakers will this week debate sweeping changes to federal borrowing rules to fund increase defense expenditure, as well as a €500bn infrastructure fund.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned a Russian missile attack which killed 11 people and injured 30 more in the town of Dobropillia in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region overnight, not far behind the embattled frontline towns of Pokrovsk and Toretsk.

Zelenskyy accused Russia of carrying out a so-called “double tap” whereby emergency services responding to an initial missile strike are then intentionally targeted by a second strike soon after.

“This is a vile and inhumane intimidation tactic often used by the Russians,” he said. “Such strikes show that Russia’s objectives have not changed.”

A separate Russian drone strike in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region also killed three civilians and wounded seven, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

“Russian missiles keep relentlessly falling on Ukraine, bringing more death and more destruction,” said the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, adding that the attacks showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has no interest in peace.”

She said European nations “must step up our military support – otherwise, even more Ukrainian civilians will pay the highest price.”

A major Ukrainian drone attack damaged a tank at Russia’s Kirishi oil refinery, the governor of region said on Saturday.

Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region, said on Telegram, that the attack on the refinery was repelled.

“Air defences shot down one drone on approach, the other was destroyed over the territory of the enterprise,” Drozdenko said. “When the debris fell, the external structure of one of the tanks was damaged.”

The governor added that the emergency services were taking stock of the situation, while there hasn’t been any report of casualties.

The Kirishinefteorgsintez (KINEF) refinery, operated by Surgutneftegaz, is one of Russia’s largest, processing 6.4% of the country’s crude oil and supplying a substantial share of its gasoline and diesel.

Russian strikes on eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region  late Friday killed at least 11 people and wounded 30, Ukrainian emergency services reported.

“In the evening, Russians struck the center of Dobropillia. At least 11 people were killed and 30 others were wounded,” the service posted on Telegram.

The attack damaged nine buildings, including an administrative structure, and 30 cars, according to the emergency service.

Firefighters working to contain the fires after the attack were struck by another Russian barrage, which damaged a fire truck.

The suspension of US intelligence sharing with Kyiv has left Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region nearly surrounded as Russian forces advance, essentially cutting them off from supply lines

Ukraine had launched a shock incursion into Kursk last summer, however, the Ukrainian position in Kursk has deteriorated sharply in recent days, according to open-source maps.

Russian troops have regained control of key areas, closing in on Ukrainian forces and threatening to encircle them completely.

Open-source mapping from Deep State, a Ukrainian military blog, revealed on Friday that approximately three-quarters of the Ukrainian forces operating inside Russia had now been nearly fully encircled.

According to the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet, Russia is attempting to sever supply routes, while Kyiv is working to “stabilize the situation,” citing a source within a military unit.

“The situation (for Ukraine in Kursk) is very bad,” Pasi Paroinen, a military analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group, told Reuters. “Now there is not much left until Ukrainian forces will either be encircled or forced to withdraw.” 

The battlefield shift marks a significant setback for Kyiv, which had hoped to use its presence in Kursk as leverage in potential peace negotiations with Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that he is committed to securing peace by highlighting ongoing diplomatic efforts with international allies, including “intense work” with the United States.

In a post on X, Zelenskyy said discussions at various levels were planned for next week in Europe, the United States and Saudi Arabia.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Friday, the State Department said in a statement. Rubio said Trump was committed to ending the Ukraine war “as soon as possible,” according to the statement.

“The Secretary underscored President Trump is determined to end the war as soon as possible and emphasized that all sides must take steps to secure a sustainable peace,” the statement read.

European leaders have committed to working together to bolster the continent’s security as the US steps away from the role and Russia continues its attacks on Ukraine.

Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine on Friday, a day after the US paused intelligence sharing with Kyiv. 

US space company Maxar Technologies also blocked access to its satellite images for Ukraine on Friday.

Additionally, Ukraine’s situation in Russia’s Kursk region has reportedly deteriorated sharply in the last three days, after Russian forces retook territory as part of a gathering counteroffensive that has nearly cut the Ukrainian force in two.