KRAMATORSK, UKRAINE – AUGUST 10: Residents look at the devastation of residential buildings bombed by Russian forces on August 10, 2025 in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. (Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)
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Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 1,265.
Russian Attacks on Ukraine
Between August 8-11, Russian daytime strikes killed at least 23 and injured more than 100 non-combatants across the country. In the eastern province of Donetsk, Russian shelling killed eight civilians and injured 34 other residents. Another eight people were killed in southern Kherson region, with at least 28 others wounded. In bordering southeastern Zaporizhzhia oblast, or region, drone attacks and other strikes resulted in six civilian deaths, injuring 28 others. In northeastern Kharkiv oblast, Russian attacks killed one person and wounded 18 others.
Trump and Putin to Meet in Alaska
Days after U.S. envoy Steve Witcoff visited Moscow, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin each confirmed plans to meet in Alaska on Aug. 15. During a Aug. 11 press conference, President Trump asserted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not attend the upcoming meeting as he has already participated in numerous talks without yielding significant progress. President Trump also said the upcoming summit is an opportunity to quickly gauge the possibility of a deal, saying, “In the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made.”
Trump also indicated that the negotiations might include discussions on territorial exchanges between Russia and Ukraine. He described the territories seized by Russia as “very valuable,” adding that the U.S. would try to facilitate the return of some of them to Ukraine. According to President Trump, talks could expand to a trilateral format involving all three presidents or bilateral discussions between Putin and Zelensky, following the summit.
Some European politicians have expressed concern over the conciliatory U.S. approach to the negotiations. “The military pressure is not strong enough, and U.S. sanctions haven’t yet been applied. If they were, the impact on the Russian economy would be significant,” said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. He emphasized the need for progress from Friday’s meeting. “Either in the direction of increasing pressure on Russia, or that Russia realizes of its own accord that this war cannot go on,” he continued.
In addition, European officials pushed Washington to use its economic leverage to enforce any ceasefire with strict consequences for Moscow, if violated. The talks, hosted by U.K. Foreign Minister David Lammy on Aug. 9, included U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and key Europeans, joined by top Ukrainian security advisors.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials remain deeply skeptical of Russia’s commitment to peace. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Moscow’s refusal to take meaningful steps toward ending the conflict, emphasizing that “sanctions are needed, pressure is needed” from the U.S. and Europe to compel change. Some more optimistic observers highlighted that Ukraine successfully resisted pressure from Washington to accept unfavorable peace agreements earlier this year. Since then, European partners have adopted a more authoritative tone of support for Ukraine and the country itself has increased military production.
However, concerns persist in Kyiv over President Trump’s suggestion of territorial concessions, an approach many fear would reward Russian aggression. There is also apprehension that President Putin, meeting tête-a-tête with Trump, may seek to portray Ukraine as the primary reason for his failure to broker peace, potentially justifying punitive measures against Kyiv. Regardless of the outcome of the meeting in Alaska, its prospects appear bleak for Ukraine even before it begins: The U.S., by allowing Putin to meet on its soil, lends him legitimacy instead of holding him accountable as a war criminal.
Since the beginning of 2025, Russia has pummeled Ukraine with some 29,000 Shahed drones and decoys along with more than 900 missiles. The drones alone carried as much as 1,700 metric tons of explosives that rained down on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. With an estimated cost of $200,000 per unit at the beginning of the war, Moscow’s drone war has cost as much as $5.7 billion this year. Adding in the ballistic and cruise missiles dispatched, which are far more expensive per unit, brings the total price tag of Russia’s 2025 aerial campaign to almost $13.4 billion.
July was the most intense month in terms of Russian attacks to date, with more than 6,000 drones launched. Ukrainian officials privately confess that their current air defense stockpiles, most importantly Patriot missiles, cannot keep up with the pace of Russia’s attacks: as the Kremlin improves the engineering of its weapons, it takes more air defense missiles for Ukraine to down Russian projectiles. Ballistic missiles are among the hardest threats to stop, often requiring Ukraine to fire two or even three countering missiles to down a single target.
Kyiv has also been far from passive. Ukraine has tripled its long-range drone strikes on Russian territory since January, launching nearly 14,000 drones this year; of these, almost 3,300 units were launched in July alone. With an average price tag of $80,000-$90,000 each, these drones range from advanced combat models to decoys meant to overload Russian defenses. Forbes Ukraine estimates the total value of drones launched against Russia at $700 million to $1.1 billion. In addition, Ukraine has deployed at least 48 domestically-produced Neptune cruise missiles and 29 U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
Last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set ambitious production goals for his country for 2025: 30,000 long-range drones and 3,000 cruise and drone-missiles. Yet, as of now, Russia is spending roughly thirteen times more than Ukraine in this domain, betting that relentless pressure from the skies will wear down Kyiv. Ukraine, in turn, is betting that better precision and swiftly scaling production will begin closing the gap with Russia before human and financial costs become unbearable.
By Danylo Nosov, Karina L. Tahiliani