Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,283

Here are the key events on day 1,283 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is how things stand on Saturday, August 30:

Fighting

• The Ukrainian military said it had carried out an overnight strike on a facility in Russia’s Bryansk region that was responsible for the flow of diesel fuelling Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.

• Kyiv’s General Staff said the fuel pumping station in the village of Naitopovichi had a capacity of approximately 10.5 million tonnes per year, and that the strike had caused a fire.

• Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said the Russian army had sped up its rate of advance in Ukraine and was taking control of some 600 to 700 square kilometres (231- 270sq miles) each month compared to 300-400 square kilometres (115-154sq miles) at the start of this year.

• Belousov also said that Russia had inflicted significant damage on Ukraine’s military and industrial infrastructure, carrying out 35 strikes this year on what he called 146 critically important targets. He also claimed that 62 percent of key enterprises in “Ukraine’s military-industrial complex” suffered damage.

• Emergency crews have completed rescue operations in the aftermath of a huge Russian drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, as authorities revised the death toll from the attack upward to 25.

Weapons

• The United States Department of State has approved the potential sale of Patriot air defence system sustainment and related equipment to Ukraine for an estimated cost of $179.1m, the Pentagon said.

Peace talks

• Deadly missile and drone strikes on Ukraine “cast doubt on the seriousness of Russia’s desire for peace”, the US told the United Nations Security Council, warning that Washington could punish Moscow with economic measures if it continues the war.
• Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko told the UNSC that “Russia continues to choose killing over ending the war” with its continued attacks.
• Russia’s deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said Moscow was prepared to consider a summit with Ukraine “provided that there is thorough prior preparation for such a meeting and the substantive content of it; otherwise, it would simply not have any meaning”.
• Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged allies to swiftly elevate talks on security guarantees for Ukraine to the level of leaders, as European Union defence ministers pledged to train Kyiv’s troops on Ukrainian soil in the event of a truce with Russia.
• European defence ministers meeting in Copenhagen expressed “broad support” for expanding the bloc’s military training mission to operate inside Ukraine, the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said.
• President Zelenskyy said he expected to continue talks with European leaders next week on “NATO-like” commitments to protect Ukraine, adding that US President Donald Trump should also be involved in the discussions.
• The Ukrainian leader also said he wanted Ukraine’s allies to ratify any security guarantees through their parliaments, invoking a 1994 deal in which Kyiv agreed to give up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security assurances that proved insufficient to deter Russia’s invasion.
• Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said proposals on security guarantees for Ukraine would increase the risk of conflict between Moscow and the West by turning Kyiv into a “strategic provocateur” on Russia’s borders.
• Estonia’s Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said the best security guarantee for Ukraine would be membership in NATO.

Regional security

• Germany and France have outlined plans to cooperate more deeply on security, including a missile early-warning system, following a meeting between Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Emmanuel Macron.

Politics and diplomacy

• The Ukrainian president’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak held a meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss Russia’s latest deadly strike on Kyiv and the need for pressure on Moscow to bring peace closer.

• Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova said French President Macron had spoken in a manner unbecoming of a head of state when he called Russian President Vladimir Putin “an ogre at our gates”.

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised “a beautiful life” for the families of “martyrs” who perished fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine, state media said on Saturday, praising bereaved relatives for the heroism of their sons and husbands.

• US Vice President JD Vance has lashed out at what he called “journalistic malpractice” by German-owned US news outlet Politico after it criticised President Trump’s envoy and Ukraine negotiator Steve Witkoff. “It’s a foreign influence operation meant to hurt the administration and one of our most effective members,” Vance wrote on X.
• Russia and China jointly oppose “discriminatory” sanctions in global trade that hinder the world’s socioeconomic development, President Putin said in a written interview with China’s official Xinhua news agency. Putin will be in China from Sunday to Wednesday, on a four-day visit that the Kremlin has called “unprecedented”.