Ukraine troops with a launcher of a Patriot air defense system in anundisclosed location, August 4, 2024 (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

EA-Frontline Videos: Putin’s Isolation Over Invasion of Ukraine

EA-Ukraine Special: A Sitdown in Dublin to Analyze Russia’s Invasion

Thursday’s Coverage: Will NATO “Urgently” Ensure Air Defenses for Kyiv?

UPDATE 0615 GMT:

Russian outlets say Maj. Gen. Valery Plokhotnyuk was buried in Moscow on Wednesday, four dates after an attack on the birthday party of the commander of Russia’s Aerospace Forces.

A bomber detonated the explosive at the restaurant Balzi Rossi, where the celebration for Alexander Chaiko was being held. Plokhotnyuk is a relative of the commander.

UPDATE 0606 GMT:

Ukraine’s drones have struck a logistics complex of Russia’s leading ontail retailer Wildberries in Yekaterinburg, setting afire the facility for the second time within two weeks.

The area is more than 2,000 km (1,243 miles) from the border.

Sverdlovsk Governor Denis Pasler said air defense forces destroyed eight drones, but three of them fell on the roof of the logistics center. There were no casualties as 800 people were evacuated from the warehouse.

On July 25, the warehouse suspended operations after a drone strike. The facility is one of Wilberris’ largest, covering 150,000 square meters, processing up to 3 million items daily, and storing around 120 million.

Since July 18, Ukraine have struck 27% of Wildberries’ warehouse capacity in attacks on around 20 logistics centers, burning at least 14 of them down. Direct losses could exceed 100 to 200 billion rubles ($1.2 billion to $2.4 billion).

UPDATE 0557 GMT:

Committing a war crime, Russia is forming a military unit with Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The Russian Defense Ministry’s Volunteer Corps announced the formation of the first Ukrainian Volunteer Spetsnaz Brigade with the POWs and alleged Ukrainian defectors.

Reports of Russian forces forming combat units with Ukrainian POWs in November 2022.

The Geneva Convention prohibits the use of POWs in military activities on the side of the power that has captured them: “No POW may at any time be sent to or detained in areas where he may be exposed to the fire of the combat zone….[They shall not] be employed on labor which is of an unhealthy or dangerous nature.”

ORIGINAL CRIME: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is seeking “concrete results” of production of anti-ballistic missiles by the end of 2026.

Zelensky has said supplies of air defense missiles from partners are down 2/3rds amid Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s civilians and infrastructure. On Wednesday, the Russians fired 24 ballistic missiles — not one of which was intercepted — murdering 17 civilians and wounding 44.

Zelensky spoke of Ukraine’s role in the Freyja program for joint development of a European anti-ballistic system as an alternative to US-made Patriot systems.

Ukraine is capable of producing its missile and launcher, while our partners will provide the necessary components and critical elements – radars, sensors, and everything else required … Others spent decades developing their systems. Ukraine must do this as quickly as possible, with concrete results already in place by the turn of 2026–2027.

Last week Davyd Aloian, deputy secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, said Kyiv wants the prototype for Freyja to be ready within the first half of next year. He said an international steering committee, tasked with estimating research and development costs, will soon convene for the first time.

Leaders from 10 European countries, including Zelensky, and around a dozen defense manufacturers gathered at a summit in Paris two weeks ago to launch the ​anti-ballistic coalition.

Zelensky said he met with senior officials on Thursday “so that Ukrainian weapons manufacturers and developers can deliver real results….We are creating all the necessary conditions to make that happen.”

The President added, “Ukraine is also working to develop ballistic missiles of its own. The tests have shown strong potential. We need to turn this into a real weapon.”

While focusing on the domestic and European dimensions, Zelensky also spoke of the effective cut-off of US Patriots, amid the Trump camp’s restrictions on assistance and its depletion of stocks in its war on Iran.