An oil depot in the Rostov region in southwest Russia burns after a Ukrainian drone strike, August 28, 2024

Tuesday’s Coverage: Russia Kills 15 in Largest Missile and Drone Barrage of Invasion

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1713 GMT:

Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin has said that around 38,000 residents — including 1,900 children — remain in the city of Pokrovsk, threatened by a gradually-advancing Russian offensive.

Filashkin said on national TV that the situation in the region is “dangerous and very difficult”.

Asked how much time people have for evacuation, Filashkin said that banks in Pokrovsk, which had a pre-invasion population of around 62,000, will be open until the end of this week. After that, money will have to be taken out from ATMs.

“This also applies to all areas of other services that cater for our population,” the governor said.

On August 15 the military administration of Pokrovsk called on residents to evacuate immediately, with Russian forces around 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the city’s outskirts.

UPDATE 1459 GMT:

Footage of the oil depot set blaze by a Ukrainian drone attack early this morning on the Rostov region in western Russia:

UPDATE 1426 GMT:

A family of four has been killed in an aerial bombing of their home in the village of Izmailivka in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

Rescuers recovered the bodies of the parents, ages 45 and 53, their 17-year-old son, and 24-year-old daughter.

There have been more casualties in Kryvyi Rih, where five civilians were killed by a Russian missile on Monday night.

Nine civilians were injured on Wednesday. Four men, aged 29, 41, 44 and 60, are being treated at a hospital for shrapnel wounds. A 54-year-old woman is recovering at home.[/two_third_last]

The attack sparked a fire and damaged infrastructure and cars.

In the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, three people were injured and a city administration building damaged by a Russian guided on the center of Kupyansk city.

In the Kherson region in the south, a woman was injured and trapped in her home by shelling.

UPDATE 1406 GMT:

Another Russian oil facility has been damaged by the longest-range drone attack during Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The UAV struck an oil products reservoir in Kotelnich in the Kirov region, more than 1,200 km (745 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

A Ukrainian military intelligence official claimed responsibility for the operation: “The Zenit oil depot is a facility of the enemy military-industrial complex and provides fuel to the Russian occupation forces.”

Governor Alexander Sokolov said air defenses shot down two drones while three others “fell” and started a fire near the facility. No casualties or damages were reported.

UPDATE 0729 GMT:

A Russian murderer — released from prison to fight in the invasion of Ukraine, only to kill an elderly woman — has been released a second time to return to the front.

Ivan Rossomakhin was released in 2022 from prison, where he was serving a 14-year prison sentence, to join the Wagner Group mercenaries.

After he was allowed to return home to Vyatskiye Polyany in the Kirov region in western Russia, he attacked and killed 85-year-old Yulia Byuskikh in her house.

In April, Rossomakhin, 29 was found guilty of Byuskikh’s rape and murder. He was sentenced to 23 years in a high-security prison for a killing which “involved extreme brutality”.

But Anna Pekareva, Byuskikh’s granddaughter, says the prison governor notified the family that Rossomakhin was released on August 19, one week after the start of his sentence.

“Grandma’s killer has escaped punishment for his crime – again – and has gone to fight in the war,” she says.

My first reaction was terror. I read the forensic reports and I know what this person did to my grandmother. It’s monstrous that he has been released again.

The fact that this is happening in the 21st Century….There are no words that can describe what’s happening.

UPDATE 0707 GMT:

Officials have confirmed the killing of two women, aged 83 and 86, and a 61-year-old man in Russian drone attacks on the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine on Tuesday.

The head of the regional military administration said the Russians carried out 205 attacks on nine settlements.

UPDATE 0643 GMT:

The death toll has risen to 16 from the largest Russian missile and drone strikes of its 30-month invasion.

The body of a fourth fatality was found under the rubble of a hotel in Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region in south-central Ukraine. Another woman remains in critical condition.

The hotel was hit by one of 127 Russian missiles fired on Monday. The Russians also attacked with 109 Iran-type drones, and followed up with 10 missiles and 81 drones on Tuesday.

UPDATE 0633 GMT:

Ukrainian defenders have downed another Su-25 warplane amid the Russian offensive in the Kramatorsk area in the Donetsk region.

Anti-aircraft units hit the jet with a Man-Portable Air-Defence System as the pilot was trying to fire on Ukrainian troops. The 28th Brigade published a video of one of two planes falling in mid-air.

Ukraine has recurrently downed Su-25s this year, as the warplanes provide close support to Russian attackers.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine’s latest drone attacks have set an oil depot on fire in Russia’s Rostov region, while another in the area burns 10 days after it was hit.

Russian Telegram channels reported that several oil tanks are ablaze at the Glubokinskaya oil depot in the Kamensky district on Wednesday. The Baza channel, close to Russia’s security services, said three tanks are burning after strikes by two drones.

Rostov Governor Vasily Golubev said several UAVs were destroyed, without acknowledging any damage.

Tanks are still on fire at a depot in the Proletarsk district after an August 18 attack.

Since last year, Ukraine has targeted oil refineries inside Russia to limit Moscow’s 30-month invasion. The attacks have struck facilities, in the Tatarstan region, up to 1,200 km (744 miles) from the border.

Ukraine War, Day 807: Kyiv Hits Oil Refinery 1,500 Km Inside Russia

Alexander Gusev, the governor of the Voronezh region, said debris from a Ukrainian drone over the region sparked a fire “near explosive objects” on Wednesday. Gusev said there was no detonation and the fire was extinguished after a temporary evacuation of residents.

Kazan International Airport in Tatarstan has suspended flights because of the threat of drones.

The Federal Air Transport Agency said restrictions were introduced at 7 a.m. “to ensure flight safety”, with planes being redirected to an airfield in Samara.