A resident in front of an apartment block damaged by a Russian missile attack, Kharkiv, Ukraine, August 31, 2024 (Ivan Samoilov/AFP)

Will A Kamala Harris Presidency Approve Ukraine’s Long-Range Strikes Inside Russia?

Saturday’s Coverage: Zelenskiy Fires Head of Air Force After Death of F-16 Pilot

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1417 GMT:

Three people have been killed and 11 injured, some seriously, by Russian rockets on the town of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

Russia struck a residential area and high-rise buildings in the city center, damaging apartment buildings, houses, and cars.

Kurakhove is west of Russian-occupied Donetsk city.

The toll from a Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv has risen. The military administration reported, “Russia is terrorizing the Kharkiv again. Strikes on civilian infrastructure, on the city. As of now, there are 41 victims, including five children. All necessary services involved in the rescue operation.”

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted:

UPDATE 0817 GMT:

Three civilians have been killed and 17 injured by overnight Russian attacks.

In the Sumy region in northern Ukraine, a 23-year-old man was killed and four other drivers wounded in an attack damaging around 20 grain trucks used to harvest and transport crops.

A resident was killed and four injured in Donetsk in the east. In Kherson in the south, one was killed and one injured when the Russians damaged an educational institution, three homes, and cars.

Eight people, including a pregnant woman, were also injured in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

UPDATE 0544 GMT:

Russian officials claim a mass Ukrainian drone attack on several regions early Sunday, including Moscow, Tver, Voronezh, Tula, Kaluga, Bryansk, Belgorod, Lipetsk, and Kursk.

Russia’s Defense Ministry declared that 158 drones were downed overnight.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said at least nine drones were downed in the region, including one near the Gazprom-owned Moscow Oil Refinery. A refinery building was damaged and a fire set, reported Russia’s State-owned Ria Novosti.

UPDATE 0516 GMT:

The US is providing another $800 million in assistance for Ukraine’s repair of energy infrastructure damaged by Russian missile and drone attacks.

Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister, announced the aid during a visit to Washington on Saturday.

Presidential Chief of Staff Andrii Yermak posted, “Ukraine’s energy infrastructure urgently requires restoration, and in this context, our US partners play a crucial role.”

Reports are circulating that the Zelenskiy Government is considering the dismissal of Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of Ukrenergo, the State-run company managing the power grid.

A source said, “Kudrytskyi is accused of improperly implementing previous decisions of the headquarters of the supreme commander-in-chief and poor protection of Ukrenergo facilities.”

His firing would require a majority vote from Ukrenergo’s six-member supervisory board.

Appointed in 2020, Kudrytskyi is also facing a pre-trial investigation ordered by the High Anti-Corruption Court last month.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: In its latest mass killing of civilians in its 30-month invasion of Ukraine, Russia slew five people in Chasiv Yar in the east and two others in the Kharkiv region on Saturday.

The five men in Chasiv Yar, in the Donetsk region, perished from Russian shelling that hit a home and a high-rise building in the morning.

Officials urged residents to evacuate from the city, a strategic hub on high ground which has been under sustained attack in an 11-month Russian offensive.

In Kharkiv, two women were killed by a Russian guided bomb on a village. Ten more civilians, including children, were injured.

On Friday, at least seven civilians, including a 14-year-old girl, were slain in Russian bombing of a 12-story residential building and a playground in Kharkiv city. Another 97, including 22 children, were wounded.

A day of mourning was declared in Ukraine’s second city, as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy promised, “Russia will be held accountable for all its evil deeds.”

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelenskiy said:

We are also discussing air defense with our partners – systems that are especially needed now, before the start of the school year, to provide more safety for Ukrainian children in schools, for our cities, and our energy infrastructure. We have agreements with partners on air defense systems and missiles for these systems. It’s crucial to implement everything as quickly as possible.

The President added:

I appeal to the US, the UK, France, and Germany. We need the ability to genuinely and fully defend Ukraine and Ukrainians. We require both: permissions for long-range capabilities and your long-range shells and missiles.

Vital decisions — exactly the ones that can influence events in the right way — cannot be postponed.